The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-03-12

tainly would be n new chief Of the
Sioux. When, finally after years OF
constant watching. Walsh prevailed on
the Sioux TO surrender to the United
States authorities. Sitting Bull gave
Walsh his war bonnet in recognition
of the "braveSt mar he had ever met"
Even during the rebellion in 1880 the
great tribes remained true TO the po-
lice and only Il few joined with the
Metis under Louis Rel. 1t was the
respect that the Indians had for the
scarlet and gold" that saved western
Can2da at that period from gravest
disaster.
Deeds Of Individual Bravery.
It was not alone in keeping the In.
dams in check that the police showed
bravery and tact. Col. Sam Steele, who
commanded the Strathcona Horse in
South Africa, rose from n sick bed,
faced and arrested the ringleaders Of
way strikers in the Rockies.
But 1t was In the long patrol Of the
terrible North that the best traditions
Of the force have been preserved.
They plunged into these unknown
wastes, hundreds of miles, sometimes
alone, sometimes in pairs, facing an
arctic winter TO rescue the unfOrtu-
nate or capture the w%rOngdoer. Deeds
were done that, if in other fields, would
have won the highest decorations.
Many won through, but others sleep
in that NOrthland waste, martyrs to
duty. On the Fort Resolution and
Dawson patrol, in 1911, Inspector Fitz-
gerald and three companions lost their
lives. Fitzgerald failing to arrive IT
his destination, Dempster was ordered
TO find Fitzgerald with Instructions:
Bear in mind, nothing is to stand in
your way until you get in touch with
this party" Dempster started into
the Wilds Of the terrible arctic winter
and, hundreds of miles from the post
of civilization, found Fitzgerald's COM
panionS lying together, with hands
crossed and faces covered. Fitzgerald
ldu NdICd " liz tDlll ducS ultIl lIley
died, and even after death. Then he
pushed IN, but was found with diary
and mail bag under his body, protect
ing if to the last. In his pocket was
found his will, written with a charcoal
stick, leaving everything to his mother
and concluding: "God bless you all
F. J. Fitzgerald, II. N. w. M. p"
He, like many others Of the force,
had paid the penalty Of the arctic pa.
troll. 1t took Inspector French two
years and an arctic patrol of 5000
miles TO investigate the murder Of Red
ford (American) and Street Cana
diam by Eskimo within the arctic cir
Gle. He found the Eskimo had
acted in self-defense and no ar
rests were made. Inspector La Nauze
chased the Eskimo murderer of Fa-
theirs Rouvier and lie ROux through
the islands of the Arctic ocean, but
finally arrived in Edmonton with his
prisoners. They were found guilty,
but the sentence was committed to
Imprisonment for life among their own
people, which means living under po-
lice supervision. They were in
capable Of realizing the seriousness
of their crime. Leaving Edmonton to
go back to arctic solitude they cried
like children on being separated from
the big Inspector who had captured
them and brought them to trial. Now
a police post on Coronation gulf has
haar nctohJSchnd nnl <ho.o t,~-r~
children Of the North are learning re-
sponsibility.
Always Did Their Best.
Struggling through the arctic wilds
a lone policeman has brought a maniac
strapped on a dog sleigh to civiliza-
ton. Alone with the mailman facing
the most terrible storms, he has won
through.
But all do not win through, as shown
by this last message found on one Of
the force caught in a terrible blizzard:
Lost. horse dead; am trying to push
ahead. Have done my best" There
never was a more deserving motto for
my force than the last words Of this
lying member Of the scarlet and gold.
Have done my best"
And so it has been In the arctic
wilderness or on the blizzard-swept
prairie, whether serving the empire in
the. StrathcOnas in South Africa, or in
the Garry Horse on Flanders fields,
the riders of the plains have always
done their best. Harvard graduate
or Canadian farmer, Texas cowboy or
French-C Canadian voyager, the English
aristocrat or the Scotch breed of the
prairie, the scarlet and gold held them
all, and always they did their best.
Fifty years they have been the guard
ians Of the wilds. The wilds have