Mounties turn back clock to historic trail ride of 1874
RCMP officers mark Canada 150 by retracing march to Fort Whoop-Up
To Celebrate Canada 150, a group of 11 current and former RCMP officers spent Friday re-enacting the 1874 March West — the original long journey of 300 officers from Dufferin, Man., to Fort Whoop-Up, now Lethbridge.
The contingent rode 18 kilometres from Gymkhana Site in Josephburg to Fort Saskatchewan. This year the RCMP is celebrating 144 years of service.
“This is how the RCMP developed,” said Sgt. Jack Poitras before Friday’s ride. “To be able to take part in a re-enactment of them is a great opportunity to remind ourselves that this is what got us here.”
The re-enactment saw the riders, alongside three wagons, follow the same route as the final stage of a 1999 re-enactment of the entire March West. Officers were dressed in different, evolving eras of the force’s regalia, from original beige pants and helmets to the iconic brown felt campaign hats and blue pants worn today.
“Sir John A. Macdonald was prime minister at the time and decided that he needed some police out west because we had the whisky traders out here, down in Fort Whoop-Up,” said Poitras. “So we mounted 300 men, sent them west and came out in 1874.”
At the time the force was known as the North-West Mounted Police. It was created by Parliament to clear the way for western settlement and police the problem of illegal whisky traders from Montana operating in what is now southern Alberta.
The march is more known for the officers who followed a southerly route to Fort Whoop-Up, roughly along the Canada- U. S. border, although Friday’s re-enactment followed the path used by a group that went north to Fort Edmonton.
“It was a very long trek and, as you can imagine, there were no stores to buy supplies,” said Poitras. “It was a different era and things were hard. Some of the members, by the time they got out here, they’d worn the soles right off their boots. A little different from today, where you could just go to the store and buy another pair.”
Friday’s ride was delayed about a half- hour after a horse was spooked and took off running alone. Riders had to calm the horse and lead it back to the field, where the ride was set to begin. There was talk of leaving it behind over worries it might be spooked again by passing cars, but it did begin the march with the rest.
It was a very long trek and, as you can imagine, there were no stores to buy supplies. It was a different era and things were hard.