Calgary & Southern Alberta

"The Mounties": Courtesy of CBC Radio

One of the commonplaces in Canadian history has been that the NWMP brought law and order to Western Canada. Comparisons to conditions in the American West, actual or perceived, indicate that the Canadian West developed without the same degree of turmoil that characterised events south of the border. Although many factors contributed to this contrast, two stand out most prominently.

Legal authority in Western Canada, unlike that in the American West, preceded significant settlement. With a system in place designed to address both civil and criminal issues, the disputes that arose in the Canadian frontier environment were properly adjudicated. Moreover, along with most other Canadians, the Mounted Police assumed that society was composed of better and lesser classes of people. As representatives of the "better class", the police felt it was their duty to ensure that the West exhibited the most valued ideal of proper Canadian society – stability. In large measure, the police achieved their goal.

The NWMP became symbolic of all that was good in Canada and its officers became folk heroes to generations of Canadians. Their achievements notwithstanding, the status of the "Mounties" as a national symbol encouraged the public to embellish their success. The result was a corresponding glossing of western conditions. Historical research has verified that order largely prevailed. It does not follow, however, that crime did not occur.

As southern Alberta rapidly filled with newcomers, the small number of police was hard pressed to patrol the entire region. Cattle rustling, a crime present from the earliest days, increased in both frequency and degree of severity. As homesteaders, ranchers, and squatters competed for the best land, simmering disputes sometimes boiled over into confrontations. Calgary's illicit businesses – gambling, prostitution, and bootlegging – thrived, with many civic officials providing tacit approval and protection. Rapid immigration and settlement, conflicts over land rights, local power struggles, and increasing ethnic and cultural diversity all combined to make the task of the NWMP a difficult one.