The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-06-25

C@-"C ~ O0A@0A&4 100000
Police and was given the task of en-
forcing dominion laws in all parts
of the Canadian commonwealth. This
newer system supplanted the plan of
combining the efforts and activities
of this organization to the North
west provinces only, where the or
g%anizatiOn had been the symbol of
law enforcement for more than 40
years.
In these later years it has been
quite generally forgotten that the
Scarlet Riders of the Plains" as
they came to be known, had their be-
ginning as a police organization, as
the result of the activities of "whis-
key runners''-the invasion of the
HudsOn's Bay cOmpany's territory in
Canada by American whiskey opera
tors and Indian traders, whose Oper-
tiOns had become a serious menace
to the British traders, and who, in
cidentally, we're setting a dangerous
example of laWlessness before the
native tribesmen. This was a prac-
tice and a condition which the Cana
dian government refused to tolerate.
These Northwest Mounted Police,
as an organization, have an interest
ing story, a tale that is most init
mately associated with the history of
the Northwest during the stirring
days of the seventies, at the time
when plains warfare and frontier
laWlessness Were at their zenith.
whisky" was the dominating
factor in the events which lead up to
the organization of the Northwest
Mounted Police; this, together with
the fact that the HudsOn's Bay com
pany, then enjoying the most gigan-
tic monopoly of trade ever granted
to a private corporation, influenced
the organization of this body by its
insistent demands for protection
against the invading American trad
ers.
Prohibition EdiCt at Fort Benton.
1t was in 1870 that the Fort Ben.
ton traders, who then controlled al
the traffic with the Indians in full
Z and buffalo robes in Montana, were
somewhat surprised by the unherald.
ed appearance of a United States
I marshal Mr.. Harding-Who an.
nOunced that he had come to put Z
stop to whisky trading with the In
dams. In Canada, to the north, The
HudsOn's Bay company furnished
Intoxicating liquors to the Indians
quite freely in connection with thei,
= trading operations, with the result
2 that the tribes of Blackfeet, the Ri
!, yer Crows, eros Ventres and Othe.
/ nations of redmen who ~freuuente,
= the Fort Benton post, demande,
whisky. The Indians stated that /
e they could not get liquor at For
t Benton they would carry their trad
e north to the British company. Thu
was CONSERVATION thrown into tn
= ranks of the American traders.
This United States marshal mad
. manifest his determination to carr,
S out the task that had been allOtel
g him and set about in this direction
by cOnfiscating several large stock
of the forbidden beverage. The re
b suit was that two or three of tn
American companies whose Operat
o ing headquarters were at Fort Ben
ton determined upon a counter plan
Rather than see their trade ruineI
l. by the edict of the government, the
decided to run the gauntlet! of in
d vading the HudsOn's Bay territory
n The representatives of two of thes
e b~ell1gerent concerns, set out O.
horseback for Helena, where the
purchased a large stock Of alcohO.
IS which, as has been many times e.
II planned, formed the base for the dc
It mOnizing beverage which was know
as Indian trade whiskey."
" Placing this on RATS it was flOaI
n ed down the Missouri river to abOU
the site Of the present city Of Grea
b Falls, where had been statiOne
teams and wagons with which {
transport It to the Canadian line.
The American traders who playe
the important role in these MAJ
Is euvers we're Joe Kipp and Joe Thou
as.
Ia Three days following the star
D. from the Missouri, Kipp l0okin
b. back. saw a lone rider following at
& steady lope, "It's the marshal" sal
D. Kip, "aud right here's where VI
stand him off,"
Isl Harding rode up and ordered Wir
d % turn his outfit around and head Z,