In 1870, Jean-Louis Légaré opened a trading post next to a Royal Northwest Mounted Police detachment near present-day Willow Bunch, Saskatchewan.

In 1877, having heard that Légaré treated native people fairly, Sitting Bull and his followers set up camp near his post. The two men became friends.

In the spring of 1881, with the depletion of the buffalo, Sitting Bull and his people had become nearly destitute. Légaré, at considerable personal expense, supplied them with enough food to stave off starvation.

It was Légaré who finally convinced Sitting Bull that it was futile to remain in Canada and arranged for his surrender to U.S. authorities at Fort Buford, Montana on July 20, 1881.

In 1885, during the Riel uprising (resistance), Légaré served as special constable and head of Métis scouts with the Royal Northwest Mounted Police. He subsequently ranched and kept a store at Willow Bunch until his death in 1918.