Robert Atkinson Davis

Who was Robert Atkinson Davis?

Robert Atkinson Davis was a businessman and Manitoba politician who served as the fourth Premier of Manitoba.

Davis was born in Dudswell, in the eastern townships of Lower Canada. As a young man, he worked in the mining fields of the US Rockies. He moved to Red River on 10 May 1870, and reportedly had a friendly meeting with Louis Riel shortly before the end of the Red River Rebellion. This meeting took place after Davis swam across the Red River to where Riel was hiding, called out to the guards in French, and the entire meeting took place in French as Davis was bilingual. Davis purchased a hotel in September 1870. This investment proved very profitable, and he was soon able to open several other stores in Winnipeg.

Davis assumed a significant role in Manitoba politics after the death of his first wife in 1872. He emerged as a spokesman for the province's recent Ontario immigrants, who opposed the Hudson's Bay Company's monopoly on transportation and opposed the continued prominence of the Métis in Manitoba politics.

Davis challenged HBC commissioner Donald Alexander Smith for the Presidency of the Provincial Agricultural Association in 1872. He lost this race, but was elected to both the Protestant school board and the new Winnipeg Board of Trade in February 1873. Davis also helped create the Manitoba society called "The Grange" in 1874.