As a Canadian, I saw RCMP almost everywhere in Canada. But do I know RCMP or Mounties history? The answer is NO.
I read a book, and get the following.
The RCMP evolved from the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), created in 1873, by John A. Macdonald in response to the Cypress Hill Massacre, in which a conbination of alcohol, a dispute over a missing horse, and tensions between whiskey traders, Metis, and wolf-hunters led to a shooting spree that left twenty0three Assiniboine men, women, and children dead. The NWMP were charged with enforcing treaties with Canada’s Native peoples, trying to control the burgeoning American whiskey trade in the ares, and maintaining peace and order during the Klondike Gold Rush. The force had mixed results in the first two departments, but it had spectacular success in the klondike. The gold rush could have gone the other way: greed, gold, harsh conditions, an uncertain bureaucracy, prostitution, gambling – the klondike was a tinderbox waiting to go kaboom.
But with Sam Steele – arguably the most famous Mountie of all time, celebrated in novels, TV shows, comic books, and even a computer game called “The Yukon Trail” – leading the way, the NWMP became legendary. Canada’s equestrian constabulary was anointed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police by King Edward VII in 1920. Since then it has had many spectacular successes, made some mistakes, and had its share of tragedy.
