Fort Walsh is a National Historic Site of Canada that was a

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian paramilitary 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 to ...

(NWMP) fort. Administered by

Parks Canada Parks Canada ()Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 37 National Parks, three National Marine Co ...

, it forms a constituent part of Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. The fort was built in June 1875 and was named for its builder, inspector James Morrow Walsh. The fort was intended to curb the illegal whisky trade, protect Canada's nearby border with the United States, and aid with native policy. These factors had been brought to public attention following the Cypress Hills Massacre of 1873 and resulted in Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's establishment of the NWMP. Assiniboine chiefs Man Who Takes the Coat, Long Lodge, and Lean Man signed adhesion to Treaty 4 at the fort on September 25, 1877. Fort Walsh served as the NWMP headquarters from 1878 to 1882. In 1883 the fort was closed and dismantled. The site of the fort was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1924. The fort was later reconstructed in the 1940s to breed horses for the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

and the Musical Ride. Tourists can tour the fort's buildings, the former townsite, cemeteries, and the whisky trading post. On September 28, 2004, Fort Walsh became part of the Cypress Hills

dark-sky preserve A dark-sky preserve (DSP) is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory, that restricts or reduces light pollution or maintains and protects naturally dark night skies. Different terms have been used to describe these areas as national or ...

. On June 28, 1985, Canada Post issued "Fort Walsh, Sask., circa 1880", one of the 20 stamps in the "Forts Across Canada" series (1983–1985). The stamps are perforated × 13 mm and were printed by Ashton-Potter Limited based on the designs by Rolf P. Harder.

References

{{Authority control History of the Northwest Territories Maple Creek No. 111, Saskatchewan Museums in Saskatchewan Military and war museums in Canada History museums in Saskatchewan Parks in Saskatchewan National Historic Sites in Saskatchewan North-West Mounted Police forts Forts or trading posts on the National Historic Sites of Canada register Sitting Bull

See also

References