Royal Northwest Mounted Police
| North-West Mounted Police | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | NWMP |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1873 |
| Dissolved | 1920 |
| Superseding agency | Royal Canadian Mounted Police |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Federal agency | Canada |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Regina, Saskatchewan |
The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian police force. It was established in 1873, and in 1904 the name was changed to Royal Northwest Mounted Police. In 1920 it merged with the Dominion Police to become the current Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald first began planning a permanent force to patrol the Northwest Territories after the Dominion of Canada purchased the territory from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1870. Reports from Army officers surveying the territory led to the recommendation that a force of 100 to 150 mounted riflemen could maintain law and order. The Prime Minister first announced the force as the North West Mounted Rifles but concern from the United States of America fearing a military buildup led the Prime Minister to rename the force the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) when formed in 1873.
The North-West Mounted Police was established by an act of legislation from the Temporary North-West Council the first territorial government of the Northwest Territories. The Act was approved by the Government of Canada and established on May 23, 1873, by Queen Victoria, on the advice of her Canadian Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald, with the intent of bringing law and order to, and asserting sovereignty over, the Northwest Territories. The need was particularly urgent given reports of American whiskey traders, in particular those of Fort Whoop-Up, causing trouble in the region, culminating in the Cypress Hills Massacre. The new force was initially to be called the North West Mounted Rifles, but this proposal was rejected as sounding too militaristic in nature, which Macdonald feared would antagonize both aboriginals and Americans; however, the force was organized along the lines of a cavalry regiment in the British Army, and was to wear red uniforms.
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