In his letter to sister Mattie - Karl writes: “Remember 10 months ago there was nothing in this country except a few prospectors camps….”

In 1871, the United Colony of British Columbia agreed to join Canada contingent on getting a “wagon road” to connect to the east coast of Canada. The terms of the union agreement surpassed BC's request, with the Dominion of Canada committing to constructing a railway to connect the seaboard of British Columbia with the railway system of Canada within ten years from the date of the union. Subsequently, on July 20th, 1871, BC officially became part of the Dominion of Canada, and the railway construction promptly began.

This union opened the gates to the new frontier of Canada’s west, but the new government was leery, given what was going on south of the border.

You see, dear reader, the recent opening of the American West in 1865 after the American Civil War had led to social anarchy that sometimes spilled over the border. All the land west of the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean was considered the Wild West for a reason. The frontier was a place of regular gun battles, outlaws ruling in small towns, banks routinely robbed, and brawls in saloons were commonplace.

North of the border, law enforcement was left to the officers of the Hudson Bay fur-trading forts, where the iconic blanket was traded with fur trappers for pelts. Sadly, by the end of the 1800s, the trade item of choice became whiskey. One whiskey trader described the process: “The whiskey — nicknamed ‘firewater’ — was made from distilled alcohol mixed with chewing tobacco, ginger, red pepper, soap, molasses, red ink and sometimes laudanum. It was cheaply made, highly addictive and provided huge profits for the fur traders.”

The introduction of alcohol to the Indigenous communities was having a devastating effect. Simultaneously, with the railway expanding into BC, the “wild west” south of the border and new settlers moving into the area, havoc was on the horizon. A British army officer sent to investigate and reported: “…the region is without law, order, or security for life or property; robbery and murder for years have gone unpunished; massacres are unchecked even in the close vicinity of the Hudson Bay Company's post, and all civil and legal institutions are entirely unknown.”

The newly formed Canadian Government was worried and wanted to administer the new territory peacefully. To this end, it conceived the idea of a federal police force. In 1873, 150 recruits were sent for training and became the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP). Under the influence of Great Britain, a traditional uniform was adopted—a scarlet tunic and blue trousers.

The NWMP initially concentrated on fostering relationships with Indigenous communities. However, by the 1880s, more resources became necessary due to the damaging influence of alcohol, extensive buffalo hunting, agricultural failures, and increasing unrest. The railroad's construction brought unique problems, including gambling, alcohol consumption, labour conflicts, and prostitution.

By this time, the force was known as the Royal North-West Mounted Police, which was then changed again to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), informally known as the “Mounties.”

And that, dear reader, is how in Canada we ended up with the “Mild West”!