Policing the plains : $b being the real-life record of the famous Royal North-West Mounted PoliceMacBeth, R. G. (Roderick George)
History
Policing the plains : $b being the real-life record of the famous Royal North-West Mounted Police
MacBeth, R. G. (Roderick George)
Northwest, Canadian -- History; Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Tragic but glorious was the fate of a young constable near Pendant
d'Oreille, who was out on special duty when a blinding snow-storm
gathered to the height of a blizzard across his path. Losing the way,
the troop-horse stumbled into a ravine and broke his neck. But the
athletic young policeman, who had developed muscle as well as mind in
his university, extricated himself and struggled on in his determination
to carry out his commission. The odds of blizzard and cold were too
heavy, and the gallant lad succumbed in the unequal contest. But he
would bring no discredit on the Police tradition, and when his body was
discovered by a search party the following words, scribbled with
freezing fingers, were found on a paper in his dispatch bag, "Lost.
Horse dead. Am trying to push on. Have done my best." In the long roll
of honour there are few more remarkable incidents than this of the young
policeman battling with the relentless elements which some of us have
witnessed raging on these Western plains. But he did not fail. From his
numbing hands he had passed on to others the supreme duty of upholding
the great tradition.
And then we can swing to another and lighter, but still very important
phase of Police life. In the nineties Superintendent Steele, who was at
Fort MacLeod, gives us some vivid and interesting pictures of social
evenings in the winter, and out-door sports in the summer. The Police
were leaders in these gatherings, but all the country-side turned out,
and the barrack hall was thrown open on occasion for winter gatherings.
There was wisdom in all this, for to teach people to enjoy proper
recreation and play is to make them better citizens and more cordial one
to the other. In the summer the Bloods and Piegans with their ponies and
dogs attended the sports, and took active part under the general
oversight of that incomparable scout and interpreter Jerry Potts.
In the roping of the huge wild steers there was much opportunity for the
display of skill and nerve. When these big steers had been run out and
had passed the line the cowboy on his trained pony followed at racing
speed. His pony seemed dowered with full knowledge of the methods, and
so watched the lasso thrown over the steer's head, when the wary pony,
with all four feet braced to meet the strain, came to a sudden halt.
This swift stop caused the steer to go heels over head and fall on his
back, the pony holding the rope tight till the rider dismounted and tied
the steer up in orthodox fashion, the pony watching every movement till
the task was finished.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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