The Men in Red
© Cher Gruener
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police was founded in 1873 as a result of unrest in the western part of Canada and continue to keep Canada safe today.
In May, 1873 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found their origins. The force began some 5 years after Confederation as a police force that could go between settlers and Native Canadians as more of the west was becoming settled. Wanted were men of sound constitution, between the ages of 18 and 40, active and able bodied. The pay ranged between 75 cents per day for sub-constables and a $1.00 per day for constables.
It was arranged that 300 men start initally, but only 3 groups of 50 men were brave enough to venture into this new law enforcement group. Their immediate goals were to control the liquor trade, to gain the confidence of the natives, and to basically perform any and all duties that one would relegate with a local police force. As time passed, they oversaw the settlement of the west, ensured the settlers' welfare, and fought illness and disasters of nature, such as fire and flood.
Trained in Toronto, the group of new NWMPs moved its way (via rail) through Chicago to Fargo, North Dakota and then made their way up through Dufferin, Manitoba. The Northwest Mounted Police (as they were known then) then met another small knot of NWMP and headed further west to modern day Alberta.
As time went on, the NWMP duties increased as well. Their jurisdiction increased to the Klondike during the gold rush and up to the Arctic coast in 1903. In 1903, the NWMP became the Royal North West Mounted Police from an edict by King Edward VII. As provinces expanded, (Alberta and Saskatchewan), the RNWMP had more districts to cover. During World War 1, the RNWMP were responsible for border patrols and the observation of any enemy. Following the war, their responsibilities spread to all the western provinces.
In 1920, federal policy was re-evalutated and the RNWMP took over the Dominion Police. The Dominion police were a small federal force of police initally founded to protect the parliament buildings in Ottawa (Ontario), the nation's capital. Their duties included naval dockyards, the national fingerprint bureau (as early as 1911), and the enforcement of laws concerning counterfeiting and white slavery.
With the joining of the two police forces (the Dominion police and RNWMP), they became the RCMP or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and again were in charge of policing each province. As technology broadened, so did the Mounties. Activities such as dealing with Identity theft, fingerprinting and analysis, and Internet fraud have come their way in recent years.
