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
"On the 17th instant I, Corporal Hogg, was called to the hotel to
quiet a disturbance." Hogg put the state of disorder mildly. He
proceeds: "I found the room full of cowboys and one, Monaghan or
'Cowboy Jack,' was carrying a gun and pointed it at me, against
sections 105 and 109 of the Criminal Code." It was taking long
chances, but the Mounted Police generally waited for the other man
to start things. In this case they were started right there and
then. For the Corporal goes on to say, "We struggled." This is
terse, but it involved much more than was said, as will later
appear. "Finally," proceeds the Corporal, "I got him handcuffed
behind and put him inside. His head being in bad shape I had to
engage the services of a doctor who dressed his wound and
pronounced it as nothing serious. To the doctor Monaghan said that
if I hadn't grabbed his gun there would have been another death in
Canadian history. All of which I have the honour to report.
"(S.) C. HOGG, Corporal."
The Officer who received this report puts on the finishing touch by a
memorandum upon it to this effect: "During the arrest of Monaghan the
following property was damaged: Door broken, screen smashed up, chair
broken, field jacket belonging to Corporal Hogg damaged, wall
bespattered." It looks as if Monaghan's ancestors may have hailed from
Donnybrook, and it must be admitted that he lived up to the traditions
of Fair day in that region. But he had never met a North-West Mounted
Policeman before and would probably be wiser in the future in regard to
raising a "disturbance" when one of them was at hand.
Another evening a "bad man" from Idaho "blew in" to Weyburn. He was a
sort of travelling arsenal and got very bold when he got into an unarmed
Canadian town. He began shooting holes in verandahs, and if any one went
to look out of a window the Idaho desperado threatened to "make him into
a sieve." A prominent citizen was made to hold out his hat as a target
for this pistol artist. This citizen remonstrated and warned the Idaho
man that there was a Mounted Policeman not many miles away who would
probably hear of the situation and come over. This enraged the
"gun-man," who offered to bet that no Mounted Policeman could arrest
him, adding, "if he comes to butt in to my game I will eat his liver
cold." A telephone message was sent to Corporal Lett. It took some time
to ride in, but Lett located the Idaho citizen terrorizing a bar-room.
Lett walked in and the Idaho man had his gun up in a second. No one knew
just how it happened, but Lett sprang at the desperado. There was a
grapple and a fall, but when they got up Lett had the Idaho "gun" in his
hand. The rest was simple. The gun-man had to hold out his hands for the
"bracelets." Whether he paid the bet or not no one has recorded, but
Lett got an extra stripe for his daring.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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