The Mountie Always Gets His Man

1873

Canada has always had police to keep the peace. Perhaps the most interesting group of police are the Royal Canadian Mounted Police because they ride on horses to do their job. They are called Mounties because they get up, or mount, horses. This story is about one of the first ever Mounties

Sam Steele was the perfect type of man to be a good police officer. He loved action.He was strong and tall. He had a big body and he was brave. Men did what he told them without asking questions. Women thought highly of him. And as if that was not enough, he was also handsome!

In 1873, Sam was the third person to become a North-West Mounted Police ( NWMP ).Canada is the second largest country in the world. Not many people live in the north of Canada, but there are still problems there. The prime minister of Canada thought it would be best for the police who worked there to ride horses and carry guns. He made a new type of police and named them the North-West Mounted Police. But soon everyone called these police, the Mounties, and even today that is how they are called.During Sam's time as an NWMP, he did many important things. He stopped people from bringing alcohol to the western part of Canada. It was not legal to sell alcohol then. Sam also kept the peace as the Canadian Pacific Railway was built ( see 1884 ).He stopped a war between the European farmers in British Columbia and First Nations people.

Sam even had a town named after him, Fort Steele, in British Columbia. Sam settled an argument between a white settler who lied and said that a First Nations man had killed someone. Sam got the First Nations man out of jail and made friends with the First Nations people living there. They were so happy that in 1888, the First Nations'people named their town Fort Steele.

Sam worked hard and he was put in charge of Fort Macleod in Alberta. He met Marie-Elizabeth there. Sam married her and had three children during this time. Finally,Sam thought he could settle and have a quieter life with his family.

However, only a few years later, gold was found in Northern Canada ( see 1896 ). Almost overnight, 100,000 people went to Dawson City in the Yukon to look for gold.Canada needed strong men to control the people searching for gold. Also, since most were Americans, Canada needed someone to keep that land a part of Canada and not let the Americans take it.Mountie, Sam Steele, was that man.

SAM STEELE WAS THE MOST

When Sam first went north he arrived in Skagway, Alaska, USA. There he found many bad men and women who were gambling, stealing, drinking, partying and sometimes killing each other. Sam wanted to make sure these problems did not come to Canada.

That winter, the Mounties, with Sam as their leader, kept control. They set up borders and made people pay to bring things across it. They took guns from people. They put people in jail who hurt their horses. They made bad people leave Canada by taking them to the border. Sam even gave some poor people a bit of his own money. He very kindly wrote letters to the families of people who died that winter to tell them the sad news.

Many poor people were crossing the border and stealing from Canadians. Sam made a rule. Everyone who entered Canada had to have a tonne of food, tools, and clothes to support themselves. This meant that only people with money could come into Canada.This helped to stop thieves from stealing and causing trouble.

The Mounties had to do many things in the North. They had to keep the border safe. They had to settle arguments. They had to keep records of who owned the gold.Mounties had to keep the gold from getting into the hands of thieves. A Mountie would travel with gold shipments from the banks in Dawson City, through the Yukon, to the sea, and down south.

In the spring, Sam went further north to Dawson City. There he found people doing all the same things they had done in Skagway. Sam and his 51 Mounties cleaned up the town. They were helped by 50 special police living in Dawson City. These policemen helped to guard people in jail, guard the money in banks, and guard the gold. Sam also helped to set up a group who worked on health in Dawson City. Many people were dying of typhoid, an illness spread when things are unclean. Sam's special health group helped to care for those sick people.

It was a very big and difficult job for Sam and his Mounties. They were paid only 50cents per day. They did not have a house to sleep in so they camped in the open, under the stars. The NWMP were not permitted to marry until they had been Mounties for five or more years. This was so they could be moved at any time to a place where they were needed. It was a dangerous job, but it was a job where men felt important.

Sam and his group of Mounties did very good work in Dawson City. But there have always been people who try to get gold or money in a dishonest way. A few people who worked for the Canadian government wanted to get some of the Yukon gold without working for it. They needed to get Sam out of the Yukon, so they could do this. They sent Sam back south even though all the people living in Dawson City asked for him to stay.

Sam left Dawson City in 1899. Everyone living there went down to the sea to watch Sam leave on a ship. The clapped their hands and cheered until they could no longer see his steamboat.

Sam Steele and his Mounties made the gold rush in Canada one of the most peaceful in history. Sam made the NWMP famous all over the world.