The Royal Canadian Mounted Police
THE ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE
Members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will be seen by passengers who visit Waterton Lakes National Park. In the village of Waterton is located the barracks which house the local members of the Force. Members of this famous police organization are recognized by their bright red coats.
This force was established in 1873 by act of the Canadian Parliament and named the "North-west Mounted Police". The Dominion had purchased a vast northwestern territory from the Hudson's Bay Company; and the need for establishing law and order was a crying one. Lawless whiskey traders from the (then) Territory of Montana in the United States crossed the international boundary at will and sold liquor to the Canadian tribes of Blackfeet who inhabited the district near what is now Waterton Lakes Park. In addition, there was a state of warfare, strife and unrest all along the international border caused by the trouble between the United States Government and various Indian tribes of the plains.
When the North-west mounted Police entered what is now Alberta, they brought law and order. Many books have been written to recount the thrilling tales of heroism which the Force has shown in dealing with desperate situations created by Indians, outlaws, strikes the World War, floods, famine and the like. In the early days the Alberta headquarters of the Police were at Fort McLeod, about 40 miles north of the present town of Cardston.
Prior to 1901 the Force wore red coats, white helmets, white gauntlets and black boots. In 1901 the modern uniform with its stiff-brimmed Stetson hat, brown gauntlets, brown boots, smart field-service jackets and riding breeches was adopted.
In Waterton Lakes National Park the Police enforce the federal laws of the Dominion, all provincial laws of the province of Alberta, and regulations of the Dominion Government Park. In the barracks is a jail where offenders are lodged.
The strength of the R. C. M. P. in the Dominion of Canada at this time is approximately 2500, of whom about 100 men are stationed in Alberta.
When Director J. Edgar Hoover of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (the "G" men) visited Glacier and Waterton Lakes Parks in September, 1937, he paid a visit to the R. C. M. P. barracks at Waterton village where he was delightfully entertained by local members of the Force.
