RCMP Barracks

The North West Mounted Police arrived in the Canadian West before most settlers. This was by design. Canadian Prime Minister John A. Macdonald wanted to avoid the lawlessness and frontier wars that the United States had been plagued with during the height of settlement of its own West. A paramilitary force, with the mandate of maintaining the right, seemed to be the only solution.

By the time the NWMP barracks was moved to Regina in 1882 from its former headquarters at Fort Walsh , all of the treaties were signed with native groups and a peaceful, ordered settlement of the Canadian West was beginning. Regina , now the new territorial capital, was also to be the new home of the NWMP. Land was purchased out by the "Dewdney Section" of town - better known as the western outskirts. Temporary buildings - some of which served the post until 1905 - were constructed. The oldest building in Regina , the RCMP Chapel, was constructed on the grounds in 1883. (Ironically, it was a beer canteen and mess hall at the time of its construction. It was not converted to a chapel until 1895, at the behest of the wife of Commissioner Herchmer.)

The RCMP has become an enduring symbol of Regina . Although the headquarters of the RCMP were moved to Ottawa in 1919, the training function of the RCMP is still served in Regina at "Depot". An historic cemetery and the RCMP Centennial Museum both serve as reminders of the RCMP's long history in the Queen City .

  

Louis Riel
Louis Riel, the Metis leader, led two rebellions against the federal government on behalf of the Metis people in the North West Territories. More on this topic, click here...

  Title: NWMP Members
Date: ca. 1880
Retrieval Number: CORA-RPL-A-135
  Title: NWMP troops during inspection
Date: 1883
Retrieval Number:
CORA-RPL-B-370
  Title: Commissioner Herchmer
Date: ca. 1890
Retrieval Number:
CORA-RPL-A-134
  Title: People at the NWMP barracks
Date: ca. 1890
Retrieval Number:
CORA-RPL-A-128
  Title: Birds'-Eye view of the NWMP yard
Date: ca. 1890
Retrieval Number:
CORA-RPL-A-226
  Title: North West Mounted Police Barracks
Date: ca. 1890
Retrieval Number:
CORA-RPL-A-227
  Title: NWMP at Headquarters
Date: ca. 1891
Retrieval Number:
CORA-RPL-B-335
  Title: Horses grazing at the NWMP yard
Date: ca. 1900
Retrieval Number:
CORA-RPL-A-230
  Title: North of CPR [1906 Census]
Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1906
Page Number of Scanned Image: p. 41
  Title: North of CPR [1906 Census]
Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1906
Page Number of Scanned Image: p. 42
  Title: North of CPR [1906 Census]
Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1906
Page Number of Scanned Image: p. 43
  Title: North of CPR [1906 Census]
Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1906
Page Number of Scanned Image: p. 44
  Title: North of CPR [1906 Census]
Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1906
Page Number of Scanned Image: p. 45
  Title: North of CPR [1906 Census]
Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1906
Page Number of Scanned Image: p. 46
  Title: R.N.W.M.P. Barracks and Grounds Regina , Sask
Date: ca. 1915
Retrieval Number: CORA-RPL-A-111
  Title: The Inspector William A. Cunning family
Date: ca. 1919
Retrieval Number: CORA-RPL-B-334
  Title: RCMP Barracks
Date: 1937
Retrieval Number: CORA-A-552
  Title: RCMP Barracks
Date: 1937
Retrieval Number:
CORA-A-553

 

 

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