History of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, A.K.A. The RCMP

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are the Canadian national police service and an agency of the Ministry of the Solicitor General of Canada. The RCMP is unique in the world since it is a national, federal, provincial and municipal policing body. They provide a total federal policing service to all Canadians and policing services under contract to the three territories, eight provinces (except Ontario and Quebec), and approximately 198 municipalities and, under 172 individual agreements, to 192 First Nations communities. The early role was to have general law enforcement detachments established throughout the prairies and a patrol system instituted in order to police effectively the entire region establish friendly relations with the First Nations contain the whisky trade and enforce prohibition, supervise treaties between First Nations and the federal government The R.C.M.P. Assisted the settlement process by ensuring the welfare of immigrants, fighting prairie fires, disease and destitution. Between 1895 and 1920 the R.C.M.P. expanded dramatically. Mounted Police jurisdiction extended to the Yukon in 1895 and to the Arctic coast in 1903. There were a number of battles fought in the Northwest Rebellion of 1885, Duck Lake, Fort Pitt, Cut Knife Hill and the pursuit of Big Bear. …