In the mid-19th century, the future province of Manitoba was still part of
Rupert's Land, a territory owned by the
Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). By 1858, the population of the
Portage community had developed to the point where the necessity of
municipal corporation became evident. As Portage la Prairie had no government, laws or taxation at the time, Spence and a group of local settlers formed a
provisional government in January 1868, first calling it the
Republic of Caledonia before changing the name later to the
Republic of Manitobah, after a
local lake. The following month, Spence and his group wrote to the
British Colonial Office asking for the republic to be
recognized as a
political entity, but there was no reply.
Demise The republic never had clearly defined borders, and could not persuade local HBC traders to pay their taxes. By late spring 1868, the republic had been informed by the
Colonial Office in London that its government had no power. The republic's problems were compounded by a botched libel trial over accusations of the
misappropriation of tax funds. The Republic of Manitobah collapsed before it had a chance to blossom. Thomas Spence served in the council for
Louis Riel’s
provisional government, whose actions led to the formation of the Province of Manitoba within Canada on July 15, 1870. == Legacy ==