The Riders of the Plains - Adventure and Romance with the North-West Mounted Police 1873-1910

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1L Jl L V T T, iT 7 J 0 i t Tt r - - - x THE PLAINS ADVENTURES AND ROMANCE WITH THE NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE 1873-1910 BY A. L. HAYDON ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS, MAPS, AND DIAGRAMS CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG CO. LONDON ANDREW MELROSE 1910 TO THE COMPTROLLER THE COMMISSIONER THE ASSISTANT-COMMISSIONERS AND TO ALL THE OIHEB OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE ROYAL NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE IN WHOLE-HEARTED ADMIRATION PREFACE TO have had the opportunity of writing the record of the Royal North-West Mounted Police is a great satisfaction and pleasure to me. This fine force, which has maintained the best tradition of the British race in doing its work silently, unostentatiously, and efficiently, has not received its full measure of recognition at the hands of the public. It is a characteristic of the Rider of the Plains that he does not waste words upon his deeds to this is due the general ignorance of his solid achievements. He has a manly aversion to the sentimentality that marks most of the descriptive magazine articles through which he has been introduced to the world at large, and apart from these I know of only two volumes that purport to give any serious and reliable account of his activities. It is time that an authoritative history of the Royal North-West Mounted Police should be added to the regi mental records of the British Empire. To do this has been my object in the preparation of this book. I have endeavoured to give a faithfully exact presentment of the wearer of the scarlet tunic, of the man and his work, without any more embellishment than he himself indulges in when telling his story unofficially. In addition to seeing the Mounted Policeman in all the varied phases of his life, in barracks and on the open prairie, it has been my good fortune and privilege to be admitted into the confidence of the corps, and thus to acquire exclusive and accurate vii PREFACE information and by personal and intimate contact with officers and men I have come to realise that the glamour and romance of the far north-west is not a thing of the past, but is still to be read between the lines that separate I have the honour to report from I have the honour to remain in regimental dispatches. All official records have been placed generously at my disposal, and so far as I am aware my errors are only errors of omission. Should any misstatements of fact, however, be detected, I shall be very grateful for correction. My dedication is my formal expression of thanks for the hospitality extended to me during my stay at headquarters and other R. N. W. M. P. posts. But in this preface I take the opportunity to acknowledge my particular indebted ness to the Comptroller, Colonel Fred. White, C. M. G V to Commissioner A. Bowen Perry, C. M. G., Assistant-Commissioner J. H. Mlllree, Superintendent G. E. Sanders, D. S. O., Superintendent R. Burton Deane, Inspector J. H. Heffernan, Inspector B. S. Knight, Inspector W Parker, Inspector A. Allard, Inspector E. A. Pelletier, Assistant-Surgeon S. M. Fraser, and, last but not least, the late Inspector Frank Church, whose sudden and untimely death, which occurred while this book was in the press, I deplore with all his comrades. I desire to add a separate word of thanks to Major-General Sir George A. French, K. C. M. G., the first Com missioner of the Mounted Police, for placing at my service invaluable material respecting the earliest years of the Force, and for courteously revising the chapters dealing with the history of the corps during his tenure of office. A. L. HAYDON. LONDON, March 1910. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. THE NORTH-WEST OP THE PAST. PA B An historical survey The early explorers the fur companies A new administration The half-breeds rebellion Extinction of the bison Disaffection among the Indians Illicit traders Colonel Robertson-Bosss reconnaissance, . . .1 CHAPTER H. THE COMING OF THE POLICE. Sir John Macdonalds scheme First steps towards organisation Lieut-Colonel G. A...