a
member of a constabulary (a
police force organized like an army) organized in 1873 as the
Northwest Mounted Police to bring
law and
order to the Canadian Far
West and especially to
prevent Indian disorders. In 1904 the name was changed to the
Royal Northwest Mounted Police and in 1920 to its present
title, the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police.
a
member of the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police, a
police force established in Canada in 1873.
Having also been known as the
Northwest Mounted Police, the
Royal Northwest Mounted Police and, popularly, the Mounties, their original
purpose was to bring
law and
order to the Canadian
west and to
prevent the
incursions of some Americans who traded whiskey for buffalo hide, causing trouble with the Canadian
Indians and
inciting them to violence. The initial
complement of Mounties was 300 men who were the only
authority in a wilderness
area of more than 300,000
square miles. Their duties expanded to
include carrying mail to distant settlements, surveying, reporting on the
condition of roads, bridges and crops, fighting forest fires and
acting as judges between quarreling settlers. They also served to
help travelers and
care for the sick. The daring exploits of the original Mounties in pursuing and capturing offenders gained the
force quite a reputation and they were the
subject of many stories and movies. The familiar
phrase "The Mounties always get their
man" originated in the 1930s via the cinema and is a tribute to the
fact that few criminals escaped the Mounties once they were on the trail.