One of the major selling points of Fort Macleod’s bid for the Alberta Police and Peace Officer College has been the long history of policing in the community, dating back to 1874 with the arrival of the North West Mounted Police and continuing to this day in the form of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
“I think it’s been an important factor because part of what they’re looking for is a community to embrace the college, its staff and its students,” said Mayor Shawn Patience. “We have 132 years of history as a police town that we are proud of. We appreciate, protect and preserve the history of the North West Mounted Police, the Royal North West Mounted Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. We take a lot of pride in our policing history and it’s important to us.”
Patience said the pride Fort Macleod takes in that history was important to the bid.
“From our point of view it was important because it showed that we will open our arms to the college,” he said. “We welcome the police college and we want it here.”
The history of Fort Macleod begins with the history of the North West Mounted Police.
On October 13, 1874, a cavalcade of 150 uniformed men with arms and supplies arrived, charged with stopping the whisky trade and bringing law and order to the west, with Colonel James Macleod in charge.
Jerry Potts led the troops on a trek of more than 1,200 kilometres, which was made longer due to incorrect maps and inadequate guides. Upon arrival a fort was built on an island in the Oldman River, about a mile east of the current townsite. Housing a hospital, stables, living quarters, stores, kitchen and blacksmith shop, the fort was crudely constructed so it would be up before winter hit. That was the site of the fort until 1884, when it was moved away from the river bottom to a site on the west side of the current town. A restoration project is currently underway for the site.
About two weeks after their arrival the first call to duty came, with the arrest of whisky traders about 60 kilometres north of the fort at Pine Coulee.
The force received much support and respect from the large native population in the area, and just two months after the Mounties arrived Col. Macleod and Blackfoot Confederacy Chief Crowfoot met and began a fair and friendly relationship that was enjoyed for years by both parties.
Members of the detachment took on a larger than expected role in the young town, acting as undertakers, magistrates and postmasters in addition to their regular duties.
Fort Macleod was headquarters for the mounties until 1878 when it was moved to Fort Walsh after a reshuffling of the force.
In 1904 the force became known as the Royal North West Mounted Police. Fort Macleod remained headquarters of ‘D’ Division until 1919, when it joined ‘K’ Division, headquartered in Lethbridge.
After absorbing the Dominion Police, which had carried out policing in eastern Canada in 1920, the name was changed to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
A reserve squadron was in Macleod for three years until 1922, when the division was abolished. One non-commissioned officer and one constable were all that remained.
When the number of officers stationed at Fort Macleod began to dwindle in the early 1900s, a town police force was created in 1904. G.S. Cotter was the first police chief.
Later that year Fred P. Rhodes took over the job and his duties grew to include town and liquor licence inspection and pound keeping. He was replaced in 1911 by Chief Lawson.
The RCMP continue to look after the policing needs of Fort Macleod today, with eight members, including one corporal and one sergeant. They are supported by a detachment chaplain and a three support staff.
