Royal Bank LetterPublished by Royal Bank of Canada

Canada andMOUNTIES

The Royal CanadianMounted Police is

125 years old this year,and that is worthy

of celebration.We should be

glad to have thismost ’Canadian’ of

institutions among us,for in many ways,the Mounties havepassed on to us thekind of country we

have today ...

M any countries havetheir men onhorseback, charis-

matic and forceful leaderswhose military exploits arecommemorated by bronzestatues of them in ornateuniforms, mounted on mag-nificent steeds raring to gointo battle. Canada has aman on horseback, too, buthe is as different from theusual model as Canada’smainly non-violent history isdifferent from that of mostother lands.He appears not on pompous

memorials in parks and city squares, but on coins,postage stamps, posters, jigsaw puzzles, and even theoccasional T-shirt. He is the stereotypical RoyalCanadian Mounted Policeman, perhaps the best-rec~ognized symbol of Canada around the world.

He is not a king or general or presidente, but ananonymous constable or sergeant. He sits erectly inhis scarlet tunic and stiff-brimmed hat on a horsethat stands at attention like a good soldier. Theillustrated Mountie is the very embodiment of theCanadian constitutional ideal of peace, order, andgood government.

While the horseback motif might no longer reflectthe reality of the RCMP, "the force" has doubtlesscome by its sterling reputation honestly. It has earnedthe right to rank as one of the most famous policeforces in the world.

As this distinctively Canadian institution cele-brates its 125th anniversary this year, it can claimachievements unmatched in the annals of policinganywhere. Certainly, few police forces have had such a

positive effect on their nation’s history.If Canada today occupies the second

largest land mass in the world, it islargely due to the devotion to duty andoutright heroism of individual Mounties. Theshape of the nation, in all its awesome magnitude,has been defined by lonely police detachments show-ing the flag on the prairie, in the mountains, and onthe Arctic ice and tundra. More important, theMounties have been largely responsible for the civi-lized social character of a country that has always keptthe wild side of human nature on a tight rein.

When the North West Mounted Police came intobeing by an Act of Parliament on May 23, 1873, itlooked as if the young Dominion of Canada had takenon more than it could handle. In I870, when it wasonly three years old, it assumed ownership of 1.3 mil-lion square miles of land, an area larger than France,Germany, Italy and Spain combined. The natives thereliterally were restless. The M~tis of Manitoba hadalready risen in revolt, and the Indians farther westwere reported neither to understand nor approve ofthe new scheme of things.

As if Canada did not have enough on its plate, itadded another province in 1871: British Columbia.The former colony on the Pacific coast joinedConfederation on the condition that a railway be builtto link it to the East. Between the Red River and theB.C. border in the western mountains stretched a vastexpanse of country occupied almost exclusively bysome 30,000 Indians, few of whom had the slightestacquaintance with what, in those Victorian times, wascalled "the White Queen’s law."

The NWMP was primarily Prime Minister Sir JohnA. Macdonald’s baby. He was partly motivated by apledge his government had made in the contract withthe British government for the acquisition of theNorth West Territories (not to be confused with thepresent smaller, more northerly N.W.T.) to see to thecare and protection of its aboriginal inhabitants.

Terrible damage was being wrought to native soci-ety by whiskey traders who had filtered in from thewestern United States, then a land of anarchical vio-lence and deadly enmity towards Indians. Their rot-gutproduct was causing violence, debauchery and impov-erishment among the aboriginal tribes. Adding to thechaos were outbreaks of inter-tribal warfare. InOctober 1870, a battle between the Blackfoot andCrees in the present southern Alberta took at least 1 O0fatal casualties.

Three hundred

men wereexpected to tame

an uncivilized

land covering all

of the Prairie

provinces and

large parts ol

the Northwest

Territories oftoday.

The great John A. took a personal hand in the orga-nization of the proposed force, down to its clothing.He had been informed that the tribesmen regardedthe red coat worn by British troops who had previouslyserved in the West as a symbol of trustworthiness,good will and fair dealing. He therefore ordered theadoption of a scarlet coat with, in his words, "as littlegold lace, fuss and feathers as possible." A disdain offuss and feathers has been a characteristic of theMounted Police ever since.

A tradition is forgedMacdonald was well aware of the geopolitical

implications of his policy. The United States govern-ment was then waging a relentless war against thePlains Indians, and there was a possibility of an influxof Indian refugees into Canada which would beresented to the point of armed action by the Canadiantribes. American politicians were covetously eyeingthe huge jurisdictional vacuum across their northernborder. In the absence of Canadian authority, theycould justify moving troops into Western Canada, pos-sibly as a bridgehead for American settlement, on thegrounds that it was a potential staging area for Indianraids into the U.S.

The legislation which established the force calledfor the recruitment of 300 officers and men of goodcharacter, strong constitution, able to ride a horseand to read and write either English or French. Itwas to be a paramilitary body run by army officersand trained and equipped to do battle if neces-sary. Its first order of business was to stop thewhiskey trade. It was then to set up posts in theWest, make peace with and among the native peo-

ples, and enforce Canadian law.Its numbers were laughably small, con-

sidering that the U.S. had tens of thou-sands of troops in its western posses-sions. Three hundred men (at one point,the government thought that it could get

by with 150) were expected to tame

an uncivilized land covering all of the Prairie provincesand large parts of the Northwest Territories of today.

And what a land! Temperatures could range fromminus 50 Fahrenheit in winter to plus 100 in summer,and fierce storms were common in all seasons. Whenan expedition of 275 Mounties set out for the Far Westin 1874, they rode into a near-desert plagued byintense heat, dust, mosquitoes, locusts, thunder-storms, and "hailstones as big as walnuts." it wasalmost completely unmapped. The policemen trav-elled for days on end without seeing another humanbeing. There was scant vegetation to feed their horsesand oxen, which died by the score from exhaustionand malnutrition. What little water they found wasusually foul, sickening both men and animals.

The "Great March" from Manitoba to the RockyMountains did much to give the Mounted Police thetradition of endurance and resourcefulness for whichthey would become legendary. Before they had fin-ished building their log forts in the present Alberta,they were forging another tradition - that of dashing,determined action. They swept down on the whiskeytraders with such impact that, within a few weeks, theliquor traffic was almost totally extinguished. Theythen turned to the Indian practice of horse-stealing,ever a source of inter-tribal conflict. A handful ofMounties would gallop into a camp where they werehopelessly outnumbered and, more by force of charac-ter than of arms, collar horse thieves and haul them offfor trial.

Forestalling an all-out warThe officers in charge taught their men patience,

tact and understanding in dealing with natives, whileconvincing the Indian chiefs that the application of for-mal law was imperative. The chiefs greatly appreciatedthe NWMP’s efforts to rid their society of the scourgeof the whiskey trade. "If the police had not come to thiscountry where would we be now? Bad men andwhiskey were killing us so fast that very few of uswould be left today. The police have protected us asthe feathers of a bird protect it from the frosts of win-ter," the great chief of the Blackfoot Confederacy,Crowfoot, later said.

Some historians claim that the rapport betweenthe chiefs and senior officers of the NWMP was thesecret of success in bringing the Northwest under lawand order. Their mutual trust and friendship was sorelytested when emissaries of the Sioux, then locked in alife-and-death struggle with the U.S. Army, proposedan alliance with the Canadian tribes to drive the white

man from both sides of the border. The Canadianchiefs rejected their overtures, and promptly reportedthe discussions to the police.

In the late 1870s, after routing General Custer’sforces at the battle of the Little Big Horn, some 4,000Sioux, headed by their hero, Sitting Bull, crossed intoCanada. Their competition with the Canadian tribesfor buffalo meat threatened an all-out tribal war whichthe Mounties forestalled by appealing to the chiefs forforbearance and gradually persuading the Sioux toreturn to the U.S. under an amnesty.

To the rescue of ConfederationMuch of the force’s work was directed towards

preparing the Indians for the inevitable demise of thebuffalo, on which they depended for food, clothing,fuel and shelter. No one could predict how soon andsuddenly the buffalo would disappear, as they did toall practical purposes in 1879. The Mounties, now withseveral posts scattered throughout the Northwest,found themselves ministering to a people on the edgeof starvation. The Indians’ retreat from the nomadicway of life to the relative confinement of reserves leftthe land open for white settlement.

In the meantime, the force again came indirectly tothe rescue of Confederation by imposing order on theconstruction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Theykept the peace among 4,000 unruly workers as the linepierced through country occupied by restive Indians,and they did it with exactly 31 men specially assignedto the task. Had the CPR not been completed onschedule in November, 1885, British Columbia wouldalmost certainly have seceded. The fact that it wasbuilt well within B.C.’s deadline was a credit to theprofessionalism of the Mounted Police.

The Northwest Rebellion under Louis Riel earlierthat year represented the last gasp of the old free-ranging hunting society. Mounted Policemen hadwarned repeatedly that neglectful and insensitive gov-ernment policies towards the M6tis and Indians couldlead to bloodshed. When it came, they were in thefront line of the campaign against the rebels, sufferingeight fatal casualties. It would not be the last time thatthe Mounties courted unpopularity among natives andothers by dealing with the consequences of misguidedgovernment policies.

The years between the rebellion and the turn ofthe 20th century saw the force engaged in overseeingthe settlement of hundreds of thousands of home-steaders and the mushroom-like emergence of west-ern cities. With the increase in population came an

increase in violent crime. The Mounties were becom-ing known the world over for their intrepid and relent-less tracking down of robbers and murderers, no mat-ter how far and long it took them. A legend grew upthat they "always got their man." In fact, they did notalways get their man - just nearly always. But it wasnot for lack of trying, no matter how toilsome orlethally dangerous the pursuit.

More often, however, their astonishing feats oftravel took the form of outdoor patrols in all kinds ofweather to check that all was well in the most remotecamps and homesteads in their enormous field ofjurisdiction. They cared for the sick, helped andinstructed the feckless newcomer, rescued thestranded, and escorted "lunatics" to asylums, mentalillness being a major problem in those lonely parts.

The Mountieswere becoming

known the world

over for theirintrepid and

relentless tracking

down of robbersand murderers,

no matter how farand long it took

them. A legend

grew up that they

"always got their

man."

Setting a Canadian styleTheir duties expanded in line with their fame. This

year is not only the 125th anniversary of the MountedPolice, but the 100th anniversary of the Klondike goldrush. When gold stampeders came up the Chilkootand White Passes from Alaska to enter the YukonTerritory, they were met at the summits by smalldetachments of Mounties who coolly relieved them ofall side arms, collected customs duties on their gearand provisions, and turned them back if they did notcarry sufficient supplies for a year. The "KlondikeArgonauts" made their long journey up the YukonRiver to Dawson City under the eyes of NWMP officerswho prevented them from doing anything reckless. Noone can tell how many lives were saved that way.

When the stampeders reached the gold rush capi-tal, they found a replica of an American frontier town,complete with saloons, gambling casinos, and dancehalls. But they soon learned that it was not the WildWest, and that was because of the omnipresence ofthe Mounties. In its brief heyday, Dawson City had apopulation of 14,000, with a high proportion of peoplewho had been convicted of crimes elsewhere. But itwas said to be as safe and law-abiding as Ottawa.

With their understated elan, the Mounties weresetting a Canadian style which was grudgingly appreci~ated by our more libertarian American neighbours. Itwas one of calm and courteous insistence that the lawmust be observed, and an assurance that it would beupheld at whatever cost. Mounties had given theirlives for that principle, but for the most part their fear-lessness had an almost hypnotic effect in deterringcrime and violence. The fact that the redcoats wereso few - the entire vast Yukon, with its proliferation

of mining camps, was policed and largely adminis-tered by a force of 285 - only added to their aura ofinvincibility.

They cared for

the sick, helped

and instructed

the feckless

newcomet;

rescued the

stranded, and

escorted

"lunatics" to

asylums...

The Yukon proved a launching pad for the con-quest of the Far North. Travelling by canoe, snowshoeand dog team, Mounted Policemen made patrols ofthousands of miles and set up police posts only hun-dreds of miles from the North Pole. They preventedforeign whalers from exploiting the Inuit, and intro-duced the Inuit themselves to a code of law that oftenclashed with their culture. But, as in the case of theIndian scouts who began serving with the force in the1880s, lnuits became valued partners of MountedPolicemen by assisting on patrols and serving as spe-cial constables.

That indefinable quality called classBy 1920, when the old Royal North West Mounted

Police became the Royal Canadian Mounted Policeand was given full responsibility for all federal lawenforcement, it was the administrative heart and soulof Arctic Canada. Up there, the men of the force werevery much more than just officers of the law. Theyserved as postmen, government paymasters, gamewardens, mechanical inspectors, justices of the peace,scribes, first aid men, midwives, and dentists, at leastto the extent of pulling teeth.

Naturally enough, the Mounties’ colourful exploitsattracted the attention of the world media. Writerswere quick to recognize that they had that indefinablequality called class. Numerous magazine articles andbooks appeared about them, and the fictional Mountiebecame a staple of pulp fiction, as he later would ofradio programs and comic books. Starting as early as1904, Mounties were featured in more than 250movies. Rarely did these bear any resemblance to real-ity. For one thing, movie Mounties were constantlyfilmed brandishing guns, whereas the genuine articlenever resorted to firearms unless all else had failed.

The conversion of the old Royal North Westers intothe RCMP hastened the modernization of the organi-

zation. The Mounties were soon to be foundexamining forensic evidence under micro-

scopes, doing plainclothes detectivework, and fielding underground

agents to smash nar-

"~A cotic rings. Its newly

formed marine division became the scourge of smug-glers and rum runners. Horses gave way to police cars,and the erstwhile Riders of the Plains became highwaypatrolmen and "town cops" as the force signed con-tracts to act as the provincial police in all theprovinces except Quebec and Ontario.

But the old panache remained. In the 1940s theRCMP schooner St. Roche, with a typically sparse crewof 10, became the first vessel to navigate the fabledNorthwest Passage in both directions. Its incrediblevoyage strengthened Canada’s claim on the HighArctic, adding to the assertion of sovereignty alreadymade by Mounted Police posts in the Arctic islands,and the painstaking exploration done by Mounties onextended expeditions by dog sled. Their superlativestyle had put Canada on the map figuratively, byattracting worldwide publicity. But they literally putlarge parts of Canada on the map of internationalrecognition by their physical efforts.

Living up to their mottoOne hundred and twentyqive years on, the

Mounted Police form a very different outfit from theirfounding fathers. To begin with, one can no longerspeak, in that old ringing cliche, of what a fine body ofmen they are; they are a fine body of men and womennow. The new Mounties are more likely to be followinga paper trail in a case of white collar crime than a trailthrough the frozen wilderness in pursuit of a crazedkiller. But they are as determined as ever to maintainthe right, as their motto prescribes.

As always, the Mounted Police are more concernedwith the prevention of crime than its punishment. Inthe beginning, that took the form of patient explana-tions of the law to the Plains Indians. It now takes theform of proactive community policing, a subject highamong the priorities of the modern force.

Like every institution these days, the RCMP mustsuffer the slings and arrows of hyper-criticism from themedia and politicians. And - satirization perhapsbeing the sincerest form of flattery - it comes in formore than its share of ridicule. But it remains a trulygreat Canadian institution, one that has done a greatdeal to shape our national heritage. It continuallyfaces hard questions, but the overriding question is:Without the Mounted Police, where would this countrybe today?