"Cows Sniff Out Clues To Solve a Murder"

The tale below was copied from the May 22nd, 1973, Regina Leader-Post. The paper had an insert celebrating the 100th anniversary of the mounted police, at that time. My subject line was the headline used for this article.

I have, thus far, been unable to locate Sgt. Anderson's first name. Too bad, I would have loved to give credit where it's due!

Commando #4973: Mountie Hunter

Mountie Drew Fraser and Ross McKinley were partners and best friends. But when Drew enlisted in the Canadian Army, Ross was left behind.

However, Mountie life was far from quiet for Ross as the destruction of the war in Europe had extended its deathly claw all the way to Canada. Trains and supply lines were being targeted with ruthless precision, destroying vital supplies for the Allies. So ruthless in fact it spelt only one thing – sabotage!

Hunting the German spies would push Drew to the edge and force him to make the ultimate sacrifice. But a Mountie always gets his man...

So reads the solicitation text for the issue of Commando below. 

Commando being war-themed magazine dating back to the early 60s, I had not expected to come across a story involving the RCMP in its catalogue. Indeed, looking at this specific issue on Commando's website, no other book was revealed from clicking the "Mountie" tag included in its listing.

The issue has a publishing date of November 2016. I purchased the digital version for the Kindle. The story begins in 1940 and tells the tale of two friends on the force over the course of the next five years or so. It was written by Alan Hebden, drawn by Vicente Alcazar, and its cover is the work of Janek Matysiak. 

It doesn't break any new ground, and as the two join the military we get away from the Mountie adventure aspect for the most part. Since the war stories are Commando's stock and trade , that's hardly surprising.

Character development is not a key goal, either, since Commando has rarely used the same ones in multiple tales anyway. Several pages in, you'd still be hard-pressed to tell Ross and Drew apart.

Still, it's entertaining enough, and since Mountie fiction is difficult to come by these days, relatively speaking, it's a solid addition to a collection. 

Canmore NWMP Barracks

What follows is a partial copy from the Travel Alberta website in reference to a tourist attraction. I like to store these things in the event that a site is updated and some of the material modified or removed.

The Northwest Mounted Police barracks, built in 1893, is Canmore's third oldest building after the Canmore Hotel and the Ralph Connor Memorial Church.

The two Mounties stationed at Canmore constructed the barracks from logs cut with dovetail notches and chinking mixed from mud and straw. The Mounties also added an open veranda that was not part of the approved plan. Finally, they built a barn and a corral for their horses.

Inside, the barracks included a jail, two bedrooms, an office, and a kitchen. Usually, the Canmore barracks were home to only one member of the NWMP at a time, occasionally two.

In 1918, Corporal Charles H. Clarke moved into the barracks with his wife, Dora, and their five children. The Clarkes built an addition on the east side of the building in 1923 with a sitting room and another bedroom to better accommodate the family. The barracks are maintained as it was when the Clarkes lived there.

The NWMP abandoned the barracks in 1929. The Department of Interior, which held the lease, at first rented the barracks but then sold them in 1931. The Town of Canmore bought the barracks in 1989, and a year later, the Alberta government declared it a provincial historic resource. 

Zane Gray' King of The Royal Mounted in The Secret of Roaring River (Part 1)

The following images are copied from the Miles City (Montana) Star newspaper. These specific strips ran from March 7th to 17th in 1939.

The best method of viewing/reading is probably to click on the first image then select the next strip from the menu at the bottom of the page. 

I'll be back later with part two of this particular story. It was not the first King tale to be told in the Star, nor the last. The King strip had already been running for years by 1939 and would continue to do so for several more. I just happened to land on a good hop-on point.

December 10th, 1879: "Constable Grayburn's Death - A Mysterious Affair"

The article from the Regina Leader-Post copied early last month piqued my interest in Marmaduke Graburn's story. Graburn has the unfortunate distinction of being the first member of the NWMP to be killed in the line of duty.

Here again, record are somewhat unclear. The article copied in the June post and the one below from the December 10th, 1879, Ottawa Daily Citizen refer to the young man as "Grayburn". However, his name is most often displayed as "Graburn", without the "y" in the middle.

The Citizen's story relays information from the official report to the Minister of the Interior. It seemed like as good a source as any, since there are discrepancies in the various retellings of Graburn's misadventure. 

"The Fort That Kept The Canadian West From Going Wild"

The article below appeared in the Regina Leader-Post on June 22nd, 1981. I enjoyed the way it recapitulated Fort Walsh's short history, and that it provided a couple of point I'll want to research further (being constable Grayburn's murder and the reasoning behind the fort's location).

"Looking for a few good men of sound constitution and exemplary character!"

The following announcement appeared in the March 24th, 1874, British Whig (Kingston), and was a regular feature for several days after. A slightly different version ran in the Brantford Expositor throughout late March and much of April of that year.   

Lief Crozier, the Nor'wester

I mentioned in the previous post (assuming you're reading these in chronological order) that I've recently begun reading the book Denny's Trek. It includes a list of the gentlemen that began the march west in 1874. 

Using that list as a reference, I searched the name Lief N. F. Crozier in a newspaper archive and came across an interesting series that appeared in the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix throughout 1985, celebrating 100 years of the northwest rebellion. Crozier was awarded a spotlight among the various people that were featured every few days in that paper that year. His entry is displayed below. 

I understand that these are geared towards the northwest rebellion in particular but still find it strange that his participation in the march west is not mentioned. In any event, if I come across other such profiles for member of the NWMP at the time, I'll be sure to add them here.

"Capt. Sir Cecil Denny, Pioneer Member of NWMP, Passes ON"

While I don't want this seldom-updated webpage to become little more than an accumulation of obituaries, I felt the need to include the one below.  

The book "Denny's Trek: A Mountie's Memoir of the March West" became available (on Amazon) at a very good price recently so I ordered it immediately. Only 20 pages in, it appears that it will be a captivating read.

Locating Sir Denny's obituary proved to be somewhat challenging due to an unexpected discrepancy in what seems, on the surface, as easily-verified information. Heritage House's "About The Author" section states that Denny died in October of 1928 but that is incorrect. He died on July 24th of that year.

As evidence, the article below is from the Wednesday, July 25th, 1928, Edmonton Journal. Apologies for the page breaks but it does read as left column first.

In looking for additional information about Denny's date of death, I found a Canadian Encyclopedia entry that stated he passed on August 24th of 1928. Obviously that is incorrect as well.

So what's the deal? Why is it so hard to pin down? 

This page provides a partial answer.  

Sir Cecil's monument was erected about 10 years after his death. A great irony is that the memorial marking the grave of Alberta's Chief Archivist is inscribed with an incorrect date of death; it is out by one month. However, if it is one thing I have learned about the men of the original NWMP, including Sir Cecil, it is that they had a good sense of humour. The story is often told of how Sir Cecil would tease Col. Macleod over the translation of the name "Calgary", saying that it actually meant "Cabbage Patch".

Fair enough then. Can't fault anyone for basing themselves on the man's actual gravestone. The August date error is quite understandable under those circumstances. The October one is still a little puzzling, however.