RCMP Museum ~ Musée de la GRC

Rebellion and the Iron Road

The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), completed in 1885, was seen as a symbol of east meeting west, but reality was less romantic. Labour disputes and unrest, exhausting working conditions and political pressure made construction difficult. The NWMP were given responsibility for policing the travelling labour of the CPR, keeping an eye on gambling and ensuring that liquor violations were dealt with promptly according to the law. A special contingent of members, led by the renowned Inspector Samuel B. Steele, maintained the peace along the new iron road.
More Sam Steele - Fort Steele info.

In 1885, the Canadian Government and the NWMP encountered a major setback in the attempt to achieve peaceful settlement in the west. Some Metis and Indians, frustrated by government inaction over their complaints, violently rejected authority in what became known as the North-West Rebellion. The first shots of the uprising were fired between a mixed force of NWMP and Indians and their Metis opponents at Duck Lake on March 26, 1885. This rebel victory brought about the mobilization of a military force which was transported west on the newly completed CPR. This military force, under Major-General Frederick Middleton, put an end to the rebellion.
More NWR info #1.
More NWR info #2.

Completion of the CPR opened up the west to a flood of new settlers, and under Commissioner L.W. Herchmer, the NWMP established a system of patrols and outposts throughout this vast territory.