Show STRICT BUT JUST chow how royal northwest mounted 1 police controlled indians it force did wonderful work in patrolling and keeping order in vast territory for decodes decades the mounted police of canada have been the subject of 0 unnumbered fiction stories such Is the remarkable record of the force that there are many true stories about it that far outrival any work of fiction of the best writers imagination when the monopoly of western canada by the gentlemen adventurers trading into hudson bay better known to the world as the hutsona hudsons Hud sona sons bay company was bought from the company in 1869 an army of criminals whisky smugglers cattle rustlers and gunmen poured in from west of the th mis missouri bourt river the chief stamping grounds were in alberta and sav sa katch katche ewan wm and their main business was trading bad whisky to the indians for furs fr to cope with these men protect th the indians and few white settlers th the premier of canada sir john A mae mac donald decided on the formation of a body of guards who as he put it would be without any gold lace in may 1873 the authorization of the royal northwest mounted police was wag made by the house of commons immediately men were recruited in the elty city of toronto under lieutenant colonel french from there they traveled by train to fargo N D tola this was then the end of steam locomotion to the great northwest with two field pieces and two mortars this little army marched miles from fargo to fort mcleod northwestern territory near the foothills e in the very heart of the Black teet indian territory yet the entire western region comprising square miles was taken over by the mounted police without a gun being fired the whole episode Is one of the most remarkable in the history of the canadian frontier the first mounted police tort fort was completed at mcleod in 1874 in the same year a detachment pressed on to the country of the wood cree and assiniboine indians indiana and established a post at fort edmonton miles to the north in 1875 inspector brisbols built a fort where the city of calgary now stands standi regina saskatchewan first known is as pile of bones by reason of the great stakes staked of buffalo skeletons etoni standing therean there in the early days was made the headquarters aegina retalee retain edthe the situation as headquarters until after the war when the headquarters was moved to ottawa shortly following the massacre of general custer in 1878 1876 at the battle of ifie the little big horn by the sioux chief sitting bull the chief entered canada nith several hundred braves and attempted to stir the canadian indians to war only the tact diplomacy and that self reliant bravery by which one man marches on and sways to his will a great number of men as the mounted police did nt at this time and on hundreds of other occasions prevented one of those terrible indian wars which were so common during the early settlement of eastern canada and the united states As it was sitting bull and his band were handled without bloodshed in the end they were escorted across the border by two constables perhaps the true secret of the success of the force with the indians lay in the fact that the indians had rights in the west and whenever adjudicating cajes cages where red men were concerned this fact was always to the fore with the police |