The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1920-03-06
FAMOUS CORPS
ENDS ITS WORK
IN The W|LDS
Northwest Mounted Police Loses
Identity as Civilization
Lessons Its Need.
BODY HAS STIRRING HISTORY
+&1anged Far Into Arctic Wastes to Pun.
isa Crime, Maintain Order and Ex.
tend Relief-Won the Cont.
| dence Of the indian.

tend Relief-Won the Cont.
denee Of the indian.
OttaWa.-That famous corps, the
Royal Northwest Mounted Police has
'eeased to exist. It is now merged
with the Canadian mounted police.
For half century the scarlet and
fssld" Of the riders of the plains had
Been the symbol Of law and order in
4 territory az vast as the United States
west Of the Mississippi. From Hud-
ssa bay to the Rockies, from the Inter-
national boundary to and beyond the
Earctic circle Lucy carried security to
the law-abiding and terror to the law
treaktng. On the vast prairies, in
1nountains and forest, through the ice
fboand reaches of the arctic coast they
tz.&de the long PATROL" protecting the
settler, >succoring the weak and ad-
lnfaistering justice with a relentless
hand to white and red, to British and
lakea.
The march of civilization has
Brought into this vast territory pros
porous settlers, where the Royal North
west Mounted Police found the Indian
lsf the sun dance and scalp knife, the
texdtable Metis (the French half-breed
of the plains), and the outlaw who
tsenght this mo mans land' to escape
Justice and continue in crime. The In
den and Metis are now peaceful farm
ees, the ranch has been replaced by
the farm, and railways now cover the
country as thick as the Indian trails
sof the seventies. Only in the far north
is any of the original work Of the po-
Nice left. Here in the Great Barrens,
ia2ong lne desolate shores Of Hudson
bay and the Arctic ocean, through the
Rockies to Dawson will 'the scarlet
and gold" do the long patrol. The IA
Aeas corps has done its work and has
lost its identity in the new national
fierce. The uniform has been pre-
served; the romance and esprit dc
corps have gone.
Origin Of the Corps.
For nearly two centuries the Hud-
soa Bay company had ruled that vast
territory between Hudson bay and the
Rockies. when In 1870 the Dominion of
Canada acquired possession. The great
company had been a guardian to the
warlike Blackfeet, Assiniboines and
Cree Indians and kept in a fashion law
and order. The hardy Scotch factors
had in many instances married into
the tribes and their influence was pow.
erful and firm. Then came the change
h control. 1t became mo mans land"
With the great company without au-
thQ1ty and the dominion government
without any machinery to enforce its
ediets.
1t was a dangerous period. The Unit.
ed States government was seeking to
curb the fierce Sioux. They, in turn,
were making overtures to the Cana
dian Indians to join them. The whisky
runner was unchecked in his debauch-
cry Of the Indian. 1t was at this Pc
road that the Royal Northwest Mount
ed Police came into existence, and
since then have been the most potent
influence in preserving order in this
vast territory. Three companies were
nobilized at Winnipeg, or, as it was
then known, Fort Garry" Three other
companies came through the United
States and Joined them, and in all 500
men restored and preserved order in
a territory as large as Europe, without
a railway and peopled with nearly
100000 Indians rent with tribal wars
and embittered against the whites by
the depletion of the buffalo herds. the
almost sole source Of their existence.
It was then that the famous ''scarlet
and gold" uniform was adopted. To
the Indian the red" coat symbolized
the power Of "the great white mother"
and Colonel Robertson-Ross, organizer
of the force, suggested this uniform in
his report.
During my inspection in the north
west ascertained that some prejudice
existed among the Indians against the
color of the uniform worn by the men
of the Rifles, for many Indians said.
who are those soldiers at the Red
river wearing dark clothes? Our old
brothers who formerly lived there
(meaning H. MS Sixth regiment)
wore red COATS adding we know that
the soldiers of our great mother wear
red coats and are our friends ,"
And in this way, to impress the In
dams of the plains, was adopted the
uniform that has given distinctive
identity to this famous corps.
From the Red river the new force
made it's first long patrol. Through
what was then known as the Great
American desert it. struggled for SUI
miles, establishing posts and finally
wintering at Fort Mcleod. in the foot
hills of the Rockies. From there its
activities spread, until now on Hud-
son bay, Coronation gulf, the frozen
Arctic and the desolate Yukon are
posts from which patrols keep watch.
By horse, canoe and dog train they