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History Of The Royal Canadian Mounted Police

ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE HISTORY

July of 1874 seen the first detactchment of red coated young men begin their epic journey across seemingly endless miles of prairie, of which would become Western Canada.

After 14 days of travel, they reached the Roche Percee on the Souris River, their horses tired and their supplies dwindling, the commisioner of the NWMP had the men split up with the sickest horses and weakest men traveling the route along a 800 mile cart trail toward Edmonton, while the rest would take the more difficult 550 mile journey toward the foothills of the Rockies.

With their journey completed in October 1874, a small band of policemen were established on the western frontier, the beginning for one of the most recognized police forces in the world.

Their objective would be to curb the practice of white fur traders using alcohol as currency for buffalo hides. The Mounties were there to protect Native people from an increasing mecca of white settlers. They would become known by the people as everything from judge to jury to teacher to referee and to keep peace and order in a wilderness jurisdiction that went from western Manitoba to the Great Canadian Rockies and as far north as anyone had dared to go.

As early as 1897, the N.W.M.P. (North West Mounted Police), were representing Canada at Jubilee's and Coronations in Britain.

By 1914 the Mounted Police had gained an international reputation for the role played in Western Canada's early policing.

During the South African War members of the Force had been given leave of absence to fight with the 2nd Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles and the Lord Strathcona’s Horse. In 1904, King Edward VII granted the Force the prefix Royal, for its contributions, and it became the Royal North-West Mounted Police.

During the First World War the Prime Minister, at first, refused to grant leave for the members of the RNWMP to serve because of the high number of German immigrants to the Canadian prairie provinces, worried about potential attempts to sabotage the war effort.

By 1917, anxiety over the German settlers had diminished, but the government had become even more concerned over reports that United States pro-German sympathizers planned to cross the border and create unrest. As a result Ottawa terminated the provincial policing contracts of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and concentrated its resources on protecting the international boundary. It was not until 1918 that the government allowed the Force to send two mounted cavalry squadrons overseas. The "A" Squadron, served in France and Germany, and the "B" Squadron, formed part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Siberia.

Following the war, further changes were made to insure order was maintained in the west due to sky rocketing cost of living and industrial strife.

The federal government feared a revolt much like what occurred in Russia, so they decided that there must be a single federal police force. They absorbed the Dominion Police, in February 1920, which had been in charge of federal policing in Eastern Canada, moved the headquarters from Regina to Ottawa and formed the RCMP, which would be responsible for enforcing federal law from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

For a more detailed history of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police click here

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