e
between the Government and the Indians there, posts were established now
at several points all over the vast area that the Mounted Police had to
control and guide. In some respects perhaps the most notable event in
the spring of 1875, was the sending of Inspector Walsh with "B" Division
to the Cypress Hills country, where a fort was built, named after this
active and venturous Inspector. And this Fort Walsh became the centre
around which for several years the Indian problem, in its various
phases, surged backwards and forwards in varying force, but sometimes
within dangerous possibility of becoming a tidal wave of destruction and
death. There is no finer chapter in Canadian history than the one in
which a mere handful of officers and men of the Mounted Police, with
endless patience, unflinching courage and consummate skill in open
diplomacy, kept the peace in an area larger than several European
kingdoms, and within whose precincts thousands of warlike and well-armed
Indians composed the reckless, restless and roving population. Years
afterwards, when the first Canadian railway had crossed the continent
away to the north, and conditions were entirely changed after treaties
had been made with the Indians and reserves allotted to them, Fort Walsh
was abandoned and dismantled, as it had served its purpose. A peaceful
ranch now occupies the site, but though the debris of the old fort is
strewed on the plain, the record of the men who made their headquarters
there and in similar places is an imperishable bulwark and citadel in
the life of our Dominion. Other posts were established about this
period, such as Fort Calgary, Fort Saskatchewan, Battleford, Carlton, in
what is now Northern Saskatchewan, Qu'Appelle in Saskatchewan and Swan
River, an early post, Shoal Lake and Beautiful Plains in the northern
section of Manitoba. All of these had their influence on the progress of
the West, but none had in the pathfinding days the halo of romance that
centred around Fort Walsh.

In the year 1875 Major-General Sir E. Selby Smith, who commanded the
Militia in Canada, made a tour of inspection throughout the Dominion and
spent some months under escort of the Mounted Police travelling from
Swan River to the far West. He was most favourably impressed by the
physique and initiative of the men, commended the work that had been
done, suggested the increase of the Force and the opening of some new
posts, but there were many items in the re