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On the North West Mounted Police: Taming the West

David TrenholmApril 2nd, 2007HIST 2783 B2

Professor Stefan Jensen

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The North West Mounted Police is an organization that is often recalled alongside

names like John A. MacDonald, the Hudson Bay’s Company, Fort Whoop-Up and the

Blackfoot Indians. The N.W.M.P. is an intrinsic component of Canadian culture, history

and identity—it is known today, however, by a different name: the Royal Canadian

Mounted Police. In preserving the tradition, culture and mandate that shaped the

N.W.M.P., the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has risen to become one of the most

recognizable symbols in Canada, and one of the most recognizable symbols on the world

stage.1 The scarlet-clad Mountie is now synonymous with Canada around the world. It is

not a coincidence, then, that the history and origins of the R.C.M.P. are so closely

connected to that of its nation, specifically on the evolution and development of Canada.

It was in turbulent times when the burgeoning new government, the Dominion of Canada,

began setting its sights on the west in an effort to form a nation that spanned from the

Atlantic to the Pacific. With the Americans to the south, Prime Minister John A.

Macdonald had cause to worry about his plans of expansion, and it was from this

parliamentary concern that the idea of a pseudo-military police force formed. The North

West Mounted Police were intended to act as an arm of the Dominion Government in the

vastly under-represented Canadian west—there was little government control in the

North West Territories after the Dominion had acquired it. Rumours and reports of

violence, robbery, murder and other crime had also concerned the government, as

prospective settlers would be understandably more hesitant to move and expand into the

west if the area was unprotected and exposed to lawlessness. The pacification of the

various indigenous populations was also a concern for the government, preferably using

1 Rob Cameron, “About Us,” CanadianMountie.org, http://www.canadianmountie.com/aboutus.html (accessed March 14th, 2007)

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non-violent means. The clashing between American forces and the various native bands

of the United States discouraged Macdonald from addressing this issue with a military

solution, as the cost—both to human life and the federal treasury—could have been great.

The North West Mounted Police, then, was formed in 1873 and after only a short year

were deployed, beginning their historic 900-mile Great March West. Facing threats of

American expansion, lawlessness and restless indigenous peoples, the Dominion’s

solution of dispatching a Mounted Police Force has been seen as quite an effective one.

The initial three hundred members of the N.W.M.P. and their mandate were quite

capable, and certainly up to the daunting task of policing half a nation. They were not

only effective in representing the government and their sovereign claim to the affected

regions, but also in preserving law, order and the friendly relations that had been fostered

between the local aboriginal people. The North West Mounted Police, as a result of their

historic success in the west, have been immortalized in Canadian history. They remain an

important part of the development of Canada and the culture, nationalism and patriotism

that pervades it.

Cecil Denny, the knighted author and former member of the N.W.M.P.,

summarizes the current state of western Canada in 1873 quite easily in his narrative The

Law Marches West, “Violence was in the saddle over Canada’s West—battle, murder,

and sudden death, a composite of evils which, from the Red River to the Rocky

Mountains, year by year, exacted a grisly toll.”2 A sad state of affairs for a growing

country, indeed. The simple fact that violent crime on a such large scale was affecting the

west was disconcerting for the Dominion government; they had just acquired the North

West Territories and were hoping to settle it. Western lawlessness was widely

2 Sir Cecil Denny, The Law Marches West. (Toronto: J.M. Dent and Sons, 1972). 1.

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acknowledged, the reality of it was well documented; a particular case involving the

slaughter and mutilation of 30 Assiniboine by American wolfers had reached Parliament,

accelerating the formation and deployment of the Force. The Dominion government,

prior to this, had sent a colonel, Patrick Robertson-Ross, on an expedition to elucidate the

problem of law and order in the country.3 Colonel Robertson-Ross travelled from Ottawa

to the west coast, reporting back to the Prime Minister in three months’ time on the

perilous situation—that with no infrastructure in which to endorse it, law and order was

non-existent. He recommended the formation of a force of mounted riflemen that could

restore law and order in a peaceful and diplomatic manner. The Americans, too, were

also a problem that the Dominion was considering—manifest destiny, the American

ideology that involved the domination of the continent, concerned Canada. After the

American Civil War, the army that had fought in it was largely idle, and many Americans

soon looked to the northwest with expansion in mind. They had done it before in

California, Texas and Oregon—it was a very real possibility that the same could occur in

Rupert’s Land; the North West Territories.4 A desire to establish a sovereign claim, then,

quickly joined a desire for law and order. The government also grew wary of the

indigenous populations to the west, and the possible obstacle they presented for safe

settlement and expansion—fears of warmongering Indians corrupted by American

whiskey-traders and firewater ran rampant in parliament. Furthermore, the matter of the

settlement of the American west was also cause for concern—it came at a great cost to

both the United States government and the aboriginal peoples of the mid-west—

parliament was looking for an acceptable, non-violent solution.5 The government sought

3 Tony Hollihand, The Mounties March West. (Edmonton: Folk Lore Publishing, 2004). 24.4 Hollihand, 14.5 Tony Hollihand, The Mounties March West. (Edmonton: Folk Lore Publishing, 2004). 14.

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an answer to these many problems that impeded Canadian expansion, and Prime Minister

John A. Macdonald responded with his proposed “mounted rifles”.

Prime Minister John A. Macdonald’s “mounted rifles” soon became known as the

North West Mounted Police. It was deemed that the term “rifles” carried a militaristic

tone—something the government wanted to discourage. The aboriginal populations of the

west, specifically the American mid-west, were wary of soldiers. The United States

cavalry forces were hated among many tribes in the mid-west, and this attitude was

exported across the border into Canada. It was Colonel Robertson-Ross himself that

suggested the Mounted Police be uniformed in red, in order to clearly distinguish the

difference between American and Canadian authority6—indeed, it would prove to be a

solid move, as the scarlet tunic of the Mountie became one of their most coveted

symbols. The Mounties, however, did not have an easy start. Although their mandate and

mission were established quite clearly and eloquently, putting it into action was another

matter entirely. General recruitment and supplying for the Force was disorganized and

rushed, due in part to the urgency that was impressed upon Ottawa with the receipt of

new reports detailing western violence and crime. Leadership was also called into

question, and Commissioner French—a Colonel from the Imperial Government—is

considered today as a sub-par commander that had his own personal agenda that did not

include the N.W.M.P.7 French’s allocation of supplies and resources for the Great March

was poorly arranged and disorganized, resulting in the loss of horses and the

malnourishment of many officers—something that he downplayed well after his

retirement.8 The Force can thank Commissioner French, however, for doubling the roster

6 Hollihand 24.7 Hollihand, 186.8 Tony Hollihand, The Mounties March West. (Edmonton: Folk Lore Publishing, 2004). 220.

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—Ottawa had initially approved a 150-man force, and it was only at French’s insistence

that it was doubled to 300. He could not fathom how 300, let alone 150 mounted-

policeman could effectively patrol over 300,000 square miles of territory inhabited by

over 15,000 indigenous people.9 The Force did march with 300, though, and its size

would not see an increase until after the capture of Fort Whoop-Up, when the Sioux

Indians under Sitting Bull had departed Canada for the United States.10 Despite these

obvious obstacles, however, and with such a large territory to patrol, the North West

Mounted Police performed surprisingly well. The organization owes its fame, in a large

way, to the early successes it enjoyed during their tenure on the vast prairie-lands of the

Canadian west.

The approach the North West Mounted Police took when faced with the issue of

lawlessness and order earned them a place in Canadian history as an important

contributor to the development of western Canada and the expansion of the nation from

sea-to-sea. In order to deal with the importation of American whiskey and the traders that

often accompanied such trade, the N.W.M.P. gave little quarter. The “victory” at Fort

Whoop-Up, the illustrious centre for vagabonds and whiskey-traders, was the first

objective for the fledging police force. Fort Whoop-Up very quickly bowed to the

authority of the Dominion, and within a few short days the Force had quickly established

a permanent residence—Fort Macleod—from where they could establish further control

over the area.11 General lawlessness and crime would continue to plague the North West

Territories, but now legal recourse existed—with the arrival of the N.W.M.P., along with

their stalwart resistance and tenacity, the trafficking of liquor and the sale of firearms had

9 Morris Longstreth, In Scarlet and Plain Clothes (Toronto: The Macmillian Company, 1933). 10.10 Delbert A. Young., The Mounties (Toronto and London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1968). 38.11 Hollihand, 202.

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dropped significantly. Local aboriginal groups, such as the Blackfoot, saw a significant

improvement with the absence of liquor from their settlements. Father Scollen, upon

visiting the Blackfoot, had reported in detail on these improvements.

The Blackfoot are becoming more and more prosperous. They are now

well clothed and well furnished with horses and guns. During the last two

years, I have calculated that they bought 2000 horses to replace those they

had given for whiskey. They are forced to acknowledge that the arrival of

the Red Coasts has been to them the greatest boon.12

The North West Mounted Police quickly earned the trust and friendship of the Blackfoot.

Crowfoot, the leader of the Blackfoot, had even refused an alliance with another

indigenous tribe across the border, as they had expressed interest in attacking outposts of

the North West Mounted Police—instead, Crowfoot warned the Mounties, and pledged

2000 Blackfoot warriors to any defense that would be necessary.13 The N.W.M.P also

enjoyed good relations with many other indigenous bands that inhabited the prairies—

Major Walsh reportedly had a good relationship with Sitting Bull, the Sioux mastermind

behind Custer’s demise at the Battle of Little Bighorn.14 The trust the N.W.M.P. managed

to cultivate between the aboriginal populations of the west became quite significant when

the Dominion government began signing treaties with them. The N.W.M.P. were often

chosen to facilitate the ceremonies, and in many cases, host them. While it is

disheartening that the Dominion government did not pursue such friendly relations with

the aboriginal peoples of the west as tenaciously, they did appreciate the efforts of the

N.W.M.P. and the affect such efforts had on the overall stability of the region—the

12 Tony Hollihand, The Mounties March West. (Edmonton: Folk Lore Publishing, 2004). 217.13 Hollihand, 224.14 Delbert A. Young., The Mounties (Toronto and London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1968). 35.

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Blackfoot remained close friends with the North West Mounted Police for many years.

Close ties with the aboriginal community is still seen and enforced today in the Royal

Canadian Mounted Police. Both share a history of collaboration and cooperation, a

history that is built upon compromise, honesty and trust.

The west was in disarray—American whiskey-traders, vagabonds and criminals

was the largest export to Canadian from across the border, and with no system in place to

keep criminal activity in check, lawlessness and disharmony was a very real problem for

the North West Territories. Fear of a violent Indian uprising, or worse, American

manifest destiny, had encouraged Prime Minister John A. Macdonald to draft a solution

that would address all of these many problems—Canadian westward expansion, after all,

would not occur beforehand. The North West Mounted Police was born then, along with

the many problems and obstacles that stood in the way of their mandate and mission—the

preservation of law and order. After a few short years of dangerous travel and hard work,

the North West Mounted Police was successful in establishing a presence in the west, and

a semblance of law and order soon appeared. The friendship that was fostered between

the N.W.M.P. and the local aboriginal groups would be recognized in history remarkably

different when compared to the turbulent relationship that the Americans shared with

their indigenous counterparts. The R.C.M.P., though, have not been always so vocal with

their history, and it has only been in recent years that information on their origins has

become widely available and popularized. This history has been closely tied with the

development of Canada as a nation, and the birth of the Canadian west. As a result of

such a close connection, the Canadian Mountie has been immortalized in literature and

film—the Mounties were a very popular figure in the golden era of film during the 1920s

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and 1930s. Such popularity, in turn, took the globe by storm, and it did not take long for

the world to become familiar with the famous Canadian scarlet-clad Mountie.

David Trenholm

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Bibliography

Denny, Sir Cecil, The Law Marches West (Toronto: J.M. Dent and Sons, 1972).

Griffiths, Alison, The Great Adventure: How the Mounties Conquered the West (Toronto: Viking, 1996).

Hollihand, Tony, The Mounties March West (Edmonton: Folk Lore Publishing, 2004).

Longstreth, Morris, In Scarlet and Plain Clothes (Toronto: The Macmillian Company, 1933).

Rob Cameron, “About Us,” CanadianMountie.org, http://www.canadianmountie.com/aboutus.html.

Young, Delbert A., The Mounties (Toronto and London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1968).