Reports from the West had stressed the symbolic importance of the traditional British army uniform among First Nations, so the NWMP adopted a scarlet tunic and blue trousers. Applicants had to be males between the ages of 18 and 40, of sound constitution and good character, able to read and write in either English or French, and ride. Men from all walks of life applied, but many of those accepted had previous military or police experience. French , they were trained along the lines of a cavalry regiment.
They were drilled in the use of revolvers and carbine rifles, and light field artillery. On 8 July , officers and men of the NWMP set out from Dufferin, Manitoba , on a gruelling, two-month, 1,kilometre march across untracked prairie.
Men and horses endured extreme weather conditions, hunger, foul water, illness, and hordes of mosquitoes and black flies before reaching La Roche Percee in southern Saskatchewan. There, the contingent split. Jarvis, proceeded northwest to set up a police post at Fort Edmonton.
Meanwhile, French went south to Fort Benton to purchase supplies and fresh horses. Then he and Assistant Commissioner James F. Their objective was Fort Whoop-Up. The Fort Whoop-Up outlaws had fled before the police arrived.
Indigenous leaders like Blackfoot Chief Crowfoot were pleased when the police arrested a few whiskey traders who were still in the area. The illicit trade had been quashed without a shot being fired. For a decade and a half, the NWMP concentrated on building close relations with First Nations — ones that were complex, and not always beneficial to Indigenous people.
The police forged diplomatic links with the Blackfoot Confederacy, which included a friendship between James Macleod and Crowfoot. Such relations allowed the NWMP to play an essential role in convincing Indigenous leaders to sign treaties with the Canadian government and move their people onto reserves. Those treaties required First Nations to give up vast tracts of territory and their traditional way of life, reducing them to a state of dependency on the government.
Afterwards, the NWMP also failed to protect Indigenous interests amid the oncoming tide of white settlement, and the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Bad men and whiskey were killing us so fast that very few of us would have been alive today. The Mounted Police have protected us as the feathers of the bird protect it from the frosts of winter. I wish them all good, and I trust that all our hearts will increase in goodness from this time forward.
NWMP strength was increased to men, but that was insufficient for growing responsibilities, which now included a limited role in southern British Columbia. The fighting that followed killed hundreds of people, including eight NWMP constables, before the North-West Rebellion was crushed by the police and federal troops. After the rebellion, the government increased the NWMP to 1, men and appointed Commissioner Lawrence Herchmer to modernize the force.
My brother I believe you and am thankful. The NWMP quickly imposed law and order in the area. Many of the traders had already fled to the United States after an altercation with the Blackfoot Indians a year earlier.
The NWMP chased the rest of the traders back across the border. For the next few years, the NWMP enforced prohibition. They established a network of forts throughout the prairies and urged the natives to sign treaties with the Canadian government. The early success of the fledgling police force fortified Canadian authority on the western frontier. The NWMP earned a reputation for developing good relations with the local natives.
But they also paved the way for the displacement of the plains Indians by preparing the frontier for the onslaught of white immigration. Tales on the Trails Following their dreams, pioneers travel a nightmare journey across the Praires.
Winnipeg Boomtown The little prairie town enter a golden age as it becomes the gateway to the West read more Mounties Saddle Up A legendary police force is born on the western frontier. In , a legendary police force was born when Canada turned its attention to it vast unsettled frontier. Courtesy of the National Archives of Canada.
Many of these main events are introduced by an audiovisual overview, enlivened by narration, sound effects and music.
This was the first digital, multimedia history of Canada. It started out as a laserdisc in and the CD-ROM version has been used in schools across the country. It has been approved as a curriculum-supporting resource by provincial and territorial ministries of education. This online, public domain site is the fifth edition of the project. Home About Site Map Contact. Political Evolution in B.
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