Manitoba Government NEWS Public Information Branch Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg SERVICE MANITOBA Phone 946-7439 Date: November 17, 1967.

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY November 20, 1874: Residents of this burgeoning frontier settlement of Winnipeg, called, with reason, "gateway to the West", were getting used to the appearance on the streets of members of the constabulary force raised in eastern for service in the western country. Their appearance in most cases was striking. They bore themselves like dis- ciplined soldiers, but were dressed in what might be termed bits and pieces of military and civilian dress. There was a good reason for their appearance. They had ridden into Winnipeg on November 7, completing an incredible journey totalling 1,959 miles within six months, through the heat of summer to unseasonably cold autumn and winter weather. They had ridden to the plains of southern Alberta, within sight of the snow-capped mountains, and then had swung back to Fort Qu'Appelle, Fort Pelly and to the place that had been designated as their headquarters, Fort Livingstone, near the confluence of the Snake Creek with the Swan River. This place on the Swan River was to have been a station on the original route of the first trans-continental railway. It had also been planned to use the place as the seat of the government of the North West Territories. When the column of the North West Mounted Police arrived in late October, they found that barracks of a sort had been constructed on an open plain strewn with boulders too large to move. Bush and prairie fires had destroyed hay put up for the winter rations for the livestock. Commissioner G.A. French decided that only a small detachment could winter there and pushed on with his main party to winter at Fort Dufferin. It was here the force had assembled earlier that year for its historic trek to the west. He had left detachments of his force building police posts in what is now southern Alberta and at Fort Edmonton. Roth men and mounts were in poor condition when they rode into Winnipeg. The tired horses were stabled in the facilities owned by pioneer William -Alloway and the men were billeted in various parts of the town. 0"7"th Their own historian, John Peter Turner, described the veterans of that his- toric rode: "In appearance they were a toughened and hard-bitten lot. None had com- plete uniforms: most of them had purchased odd pieces of clothing at Fort Qu/Appelle and at Fort Pelly. They remained in Winnipeg several weeks, then in bitterly cold weather proceeded in three detachments to Dufferin, the original starting place, 65 miles to the south." It is interesting to note that Fort Livingstone lost its importance when sub- sequent railway surveys located the railway line many miles to the south. Only for a short while did it serve as the territorial seat of government, which was moved to the present site Battleford. This was later moved to Regina when the first railway reached there in 1882. The headquarters of the Mounted police remained at Livingstone until 1876 when it was moved to the more central Fort MacLeod. Two years later it was moved east- ward to the post of . In 1882 Regina was chosen as the site of the headquarters of the force, bring- ing the wheel to a full turn by carrying out the intent of the government in 1874 to to locate the administrative headquarters of the police in the territorial capital. -30-