Six Months in the Wilds of the North-West

The March West was the initial journey of the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian para-military police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory ...

(NWMP) to the

Canadian prairies The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...

, made between July 8 and October 9, 1874. It was the result of the force being deployed to what is now

southern Alberta Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. In 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017.Cypress Hills Massacre and subsequent fears of a US military intervention. Their ill-planned and arduous journey of nearly became known as the "March West" and was later portrayed by the force as an epic journey of endurance.

Background

Sir

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

acquired approval for his new force on May 23, 1873, after Parliament, following a cursory debate, passed the ''Mounted Police Act'' into law unopposed. At this point, Macdonald appears to have intended to create a force of mounted police to watch "the frontier from Manitoba to the foot of the Rocky Mountains", probably with its headquarters in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

. He was heavily influenced by the model of the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

, which combined aspects of a traditional military unit with the judicial functions of the magistrates' courts, and believed that the new force should be able to provide a local system of government in otherwise ungoverned areas. Macdonald had originally also wanted to form units of Métis policemen, commanded by white Canadian officers in a similar manner to the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

, but he was forced to abandon this approach after the

Red River Rebellion The Red River Rebellion (french: Rébellion de la rivière Rouge), also known as the Red River Resistance, Red River uprising, or First Riel Rebellion, was the sequence of events that led up to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government by ...

of 1870 called their loyalty into question. In June 1873, around 30

Assiniboine The Assiniboine or Assiniboin people ( when singular, Assiniboines / Assiniboins when plural; Ojibwe: ''Asiniibwaan'', "stone Sioux"; also in plural Assiniboine or Assiniboin), also known as the Hohe and known by the endonym Nakota (or Nakoda ...

s were killed in the Cypress Hills Massacre, creating a national furore. In response, Macdonald used a

privy council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

Order-in-Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Kin ...

to implement the new legislation, formally creating the NWMP with the intention of mobilizing the force and deploying it early the next year. A report then arrived from Alexander Morris, the

Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories This is a list of historical lieutenant-governors of North-West Territories, Canada. The position of Lieutenant-Governor lasted from the acquisition of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory in 1869 to the creation of Alberta and Saskatc ...

, blaming the massacre on the activities of whisky traders at

Fort Whoop-Up Fort Whoop-Up was the nickname (eventually adopted as the official name) given to a whisky trading post, originally Fort Hamilton, near what is now Lethbridge, Alberta. During the late 19th century, the post served as a centre for trading acti ...

; Morris predicted that if action was not taken immediately, there would be a major uprising by the First Nations across the region, into which the United States might choose to intervene. Macdonald was not entirely convinced by the governor's analysis, but nonetheless he agreed to recruit 150 men and send them west to

Lower Fort Garry Lower Fort Garry was built in 1830 by the Hudson's Bay Company on the western bank of the Red River, north of the original Fort Garry (now in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). Treaty 1 was signed there. A devastating flood destroyed Fort Garry in ...

before winter weather blocked the route. Macdonald's

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

government then fell from power over the

Pacific Scandal The Pacific Scandal was a political scandal in Canada involving bribes being accepted by 150 members of the Conservative government in the attempts of private interests to influence the bidding for a national rail contract. As part of British Colum ...

and was replaced on November 7, 1873, by the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

administration of Alexander Mackenzie, who placed more credence on Morris's reports and had his own moral concerns about the whisky trade. These worries were amplified by calls from Washington for Ottawa to secure the frontier and so prevent American Indians from purchasing whisky in Canada. Mackenzie initially suggested sending a joint Canadian-United States military expedition, but, after Governor General

Lord Dufferin Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (21 June 182612 February 1902) was a British public servant and prominent member of Victorian society. In his youth he was a popular figure in the court of Queen Vict ...

and others noted the serious implications of inviting the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

to deploy into Canadian territory, he instead agreed to deploy the new mounted police to carry out the operation. Another 150 men were recruited in eastern Canada and sent west by railway and river boat through the United States to rendezvous with the first part of the force at

Fort Dufferin Fort Dufferin is a former Canadian government post near the Canada–United States border at Emerson, Manitoba. The fort was used during the 1870s as a base for the North American Boundary Commission and the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), ...

Deployment

The force was given orders to proceed to Fort Edmonton in order to resolve problems around Fort Whoop-Up, before then dispersing to various posts stretching westwards across the territories. From Fort Dufferin, one option was to trace the southern line of the frontier, following a well-established trail created two years before by the British and United States Boundary Commission. Morris disagreed with this approach, arguing that it might encourage an attack by the Sioux, and encouraged the NWMP to take a more northerly route. French finally agreed with Morris that the expedition would initially follow the trail, but would then steer away from the border and Sioux territory.

The march

The NWMP finally left Fort Dufferin on July 8, 1874. The 275 strong expedition was divided into six divisions, labelled A to F, supported by 310 horses, 143 draught oxen and 187

Red River cart The Red River cart is a large two-wheeled cart made entirely of non-metallic materials. Often drawn by oxen, though also by horses or mules, these carts were used throughout most of the 19th century in the fur trade and in westward expansion in Ca ...

s and wagons, stretching out at least along the track. The force took two field guns and two mortars for protection, cattle to use as food, and mowing machines for making hay. French had negotiated with the ''Canadian Illustrated News'' that the expedition be accompanied by Henri Julien, a journalist whom the Commissioner hoped would write a positive account of the new force. The teams made only a day at most, travelling under unpleasant and arduous conditions, made more difficult by the NWMP teamsters having little experience and the horses being unsuitable for draught work. On July 29, the badly depleted A Division, including those men suffering from dysentery, was left behind as the main force turned off the southerly trail and across the much drier and rougher plains to the north-west. Food began to run out and, due to the expedition having failed to bring any water bottles, the men had no option but to drink contaminated local water. Another detachment of the sicker men and livestock were left behind at

Old Wives Lake Old Wives Lake is a shallow saline lake in south central Saskatchewan, Canada, about 30 km south-west of Moose Jaw. The lake is fed by the Wood River but seasonal water relatively flattened the terrain, and as such results in significant ...

. On August 24 the expedition reached the Cypress Hills, where the weather turned wet and cold, and the expedition's horses began to die. French had thought Fort Whoop-Up would be found at the junction of the Bow and

South Saskatchewan The South Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada that flows through the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. For the first half of the 20th century, the South Saskatchewan would completely freeze over during winter, creating spectacular ...

rivers, but when they arrived on 10 September there was nothing to be seen, as the fort was in fact around away. The NWMP had expected the area to contain good grazing for their horses but it was barren and treeless. French described it as "little better than a desert" and his men were reduced to drinking muddy water gathered from marshland. Having sent out search parties with no success, the expedition now faced the total loss of their horses and imminent starvation. French abandoned the plan to move further towards Whoop-Up and instead travelled south towards the

Sweet Grass Hills The Sweet Grass Hills (Blackfoot: ''kátoyissiksi'', Cheyenne: ''vé'ho'ôhtsévóse'', Salish: ''ččaɫalqn '', "three peaks") are a small group of low mountains rising more than 3,000 feet above the surrounding plains southwest of Whitlash, Mon ...

, close to the border, where supplies could be bought from the United States. Yet more horses died from the cold and hunger and many of the men were barefoot and in rags when they arrived, having travelled a total of nearly . After resupplying, French sent divisions D and E back east, before taking B, C and F to travel to Fort Whoop-Up. The expedition had been badly planned and executed, and almost failed; Baker describes it as "a monumental fiasco of poor planning, ignorance, incompetence, and cruelty to men and beasts".

Conclusion

When the police arrived at Fort Whoop-Up on October 9, they were prepared for a battle, but the whisky traders were aware that they were coming and had long since moved on. The NWMP had received new orders from Ottawa to garrison the area and settled down to build

Fort Macleod Fort Macleod ( ) is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It was originally named Macleod to distinguish it from the North-West Mounted Police barracks (Fort Macleod, built 1874) it had grown around. The fort was named in honour of the then Commis ...

on an island in

Oldman River The Oldman River is a river in southern Alberta, Canada. It flows roughly west to east from the Rocky Mountains, through the communities of Fort Macleod, Lethbridge, and on to Grassy Lake, where it joins the Bow River to form the South Saskatche ...

Legacy

Early historians of the force stressed the epic nature of the expedition. The popular historian Arthur Haydon, for example, scorned the newspaper accounts which blamed the officers and men as "incapable", "inexperienced" and "careless", arguing that the march was "truly one of the most extraordinary on record", of which "all Canadians might well feel proud. By 1955, however, the historian Paul Sharp had suggested that the March West almost failed due to "misinformation, inexperience and ignorance" and criticism of the force's performance intensified after 1973. Ronald Atkin concludes that the expedition was "epic in its lack of organisation, in the poor way in which it was conducted and its incredibly close brush with disaster", Daniel Francis condemns it as "a fiasco of bad planning", with R. C. Macleod observing that "the difficulties of the Long March...were largely self-inflicted". Nonetheless, it rapidly became portrayed by the force as epic story of bravery, endurance and determination.;

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{cite book , last1=Stanley , first1= George F. G. , editor-last=Dempsey , editor-first=Hugh A. , year = 1974 , chapter = The Man Who Sketched the Great March , title = Men in Scarlet , publisher=Historical Society of Alberta and McClelland and Stewart West , location= Lincoln, U.S. , pages = 27–49 , oclc= 635848375 North-West Mounted Police History of Western Canada British North America