The March West was the initial journey of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) to the Canadian prairies, made between July 8 and October 9, 1874.
Mounted police preparing to leave Fort Dufferin in 1874, depicted by Henri Julien
The police in Dead Horse Valley in 1874, depicted by Henri Julien
Boundary Commission Trail plaque that also commemorates the route taken by the NWMP near Roche Percee, Saskatchewan
North-West Mounted Police
The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian paramilitary police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory to Canada from the Hudson's Bay Company, the Red River Rebellion and in response to lawlessness, demonstrated by the subsequent Cypress Hills Massacre and fears of United States military intervention. The NWMP combined military, police and judicial functions along similar lines to the Royal Irish Constabulary. A small, mobile police force was chosen to reduce potential for tensions with the United States and First Nations. The NWMP uniforms included red coats deliberately reminiscent of British and Canadian military uniforms.
North-West Mounted Police officers, Fort Walsh, 1878; Commissioner James Macleod sat centre
Mounted police preparing to leave Fort Dufferin in 1874, depicted by Henri Julien
Mounted police in Dead Horse Valley in 1874, depicted by Henri Julien
Mounted police and members of the Blackfoot First Nation at Fort Calgary, 1878
