1. North-West Mounted Police*

2. NWMP Origins Established on May 23, 1873
Queen Victoria established the force by the request of John A MacDonald
Bring law and order to the West
Assert sovereignty over, the Northwest Territories
Need was particularly urgent because of the American whiskey traders *

3. Fort Hamilton“Fort Whoop-Up”
Officially Fort Hamilton, near what is now Lethbridge, Alberta
HBC abandoned the fort
Fort Whoop-Up was the nickname given to a whiskey trading post
Late 1800s, the post served as a centre for various illegal activities such as the sale of whisky *

4. History of Fort Hamilton
First built in 1869 by J.J. Healy and A.B. Hamilton who were two traders from Montana—to serve as a trading post
Within the first year it was destroyed by a fire but it was rebuilt
One type of alcohol was known as Whoop- Up Bug Juice, a highly-priced alcohol spiked with ginger, molasses, and red pepper, then coloured with black chewing tobacco
It did trade in furs, but was famous for the Whisky trades *

5. The name of Fort Whoop-up
Name was notorious and was the worst
Represented everything that was wrong in the west “a hive of scum and villany”
Lawless American desperadoes dealing noxious "whiskey" to an Indian population unaccustomed to alcohol
Buffalo hides by the hundreds of thousands being left as rotting carcasses
Starving Natives
General atmosphere of anarchy with no accountability *

6. NWMP Control
The outlaws and the supposed flying of an American flag on Canadian Soil prompted the NWMP to arrive
Arrived in October, 1874
Their task was to establish Canadian sovereignty in the territory and controlling the alcohol trade
First task came after a Native complained at Fort Macleod about a group of whiskey traders who had sold him overpriced Whiskey *

7. Two More Points
Smuggled their hootch across the frontier and set up trading posts throughout the area that is now southern Alberta and Saskatchewan
At any given time there was as many as 30 whiskey posts in the area *

8. The Presence of these Posts
Was just as damaging as the Small Pox Epidemic
Buffalo were disappearing due to the voracious appetite of eastern industries for their huge, tough hides
Natives couldn't even take the carcasses left behind because the hated "wolfers" poisoned the meat to kill wolves and coyotes for their fur
This lead them to turn to the alcohol *

9. ”As they keep the Indians poor, and kill directly or indirectly more Indians of the most warlike tribe on the continent every year, at no cost to the United States' Government, than the entire regular army did in ten years.”American Trader commented that the whiskey traders were doing a great service *

10. Cypress Hills Massacre
Took place in 1873
A group of ‘wolfers’ believed their horses had been stolen by a group of Nakoda (Assiniboine) camped nearby
22 Nakoda including women and children were killed
When the Dominion found out they were outraged *

11. Force Creation Was the result of the Cypress Hills Massacre
Originally was to be called the North West Mounted Rifles
Name changed to NWMP because it sounded less militaristic
Modeled directly on the Royal Irish Constabulary
First NWMP commissioner, Colonel George Arthur French *

12. George Arthur French *

13. George Arthur French
First Commissioner from October 18, 1873, to July 21, 1876
Born at Roscommon, Ireland
Educated at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Requested by the Canadian government, to be a military inspector
He led the force on its famous march to the foothills of the Rockies
Became head of the School of Gunnery at Kingston, Ontario
He resigned in 1876 and returned to duty in the British Army as a major-general.
The organizational skills he developed in Canada were used to establish local defense forces in India and Australia *

14. March to the Alberta Foothills
Set out from Fort Dufferin, Manitoba, on July 8, 1874 to Fort Hamilton
Group comprised 22 officers, 287 men – called constables and sub-constables – 310 horses, 67 wagons, 114 ox-carts, 18 yoke of oxen, 50 cows and 40 calves
The ‘Wolfers’ fled, sold or buried their supplies
If this March had failed, it would have set back Canada’s plans for the west by many years *