# Canada's Mounties: Upholding the law for 140 years and counting **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 23, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116 "2013-05-23T13:52:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/1 "2013-05-23T13:52:03Z")
www.google.ca has a doodle today to commemorate the 140th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, originally called the North-West Mounted Police. The Mounties were [founded by the Canadian government in 1873](http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/hist/ori-deb/debuts2-eng.htm), to assert Canadian sovereignty over the west, chase out Yankee whiskey traders, and to provide law and order in advance of settlement, preventing the Indian wars that had happened in the US. The need and urgency for the police force was spurred by news reaching Ottawa of a massacre of Assiniboine by American whiskey traders in the [Cypress Hills Massacre](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypress_Hills_massacre) in the spring of 1873. Organized in 1873, the first 300 Mounties started out in the spring of 1874, on the [March West](http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/hist/ori-deb/debuts3-eng.htm). One group of 150 went over the [Dawson Trail](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawson_Road) in Ontario and Manitoba, and the other 150 went via Chicago. From that beginning, the Mounties have provided policing services throughout Canada for 140 years. Their motto: “Maintiens le Droit.” (“Uphold the Law.”) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/2 "2013-05-23T14:22:34Z")
I remember several years ago when Martina Hingis won a tennis tournament in Toronto she was more excited to receive a pair of Mounties-style high boots than she was to get a trophy. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/3 "2013-05-23T14:49:00Z")
Sam Steele is rightfully famous as the archetype of the NWMP. But there’s also the sad story of [Charles Dickens’s son Frank](http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=5478). From Wikipedia: “However, some of his superiors in the Mounted Police held unfavorable opinions about his overall competence, echoing his father Charles Dickens, who wrote in a letter to his friend on being asked by his son for three hundred pounds, a horse and a gun to set himself up as a gentleman farmer in the colonies, that the consequence of the first is that he would be robbed of it, the second, that it would throw him, and the third, that he would shoot his own head off.” ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/4 "2013-05-23T16:19:51Z")
The hard part for me is that I remember the hundredth anniversary so well. That makes me old. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/5 "2013-05-23T17:43:01Z")
And the Mountie quarters are still circulating! ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/6 "2013-05-23T17:47:56Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > And the Mountie quarters are still circulating! The only ‘collectible’ quarters worth collecting. Thanks for bringing this up, as I have just googled myself into the knowledge that these were only pressed in 1973, the 100th anniversary of the RCMP. Canadiana! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/7 "2013-05-23T18:13:18Z")
No need for a GQ. These should be easy enough. Do they still wear the [red uniform](http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/unif/images/diaguniform-1.jpg) in their day to day jobs? Or is that just a dress uniform for special details? Were Mounties on horseback? Is that the origin of the term? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/8 "2013-05-23T18:20:25Z")
Red serge is just for special occasions. Yes, they were Mounted Police. The only remnant of that now is the Musical Ride and the occasional use of horses in crowd control. > **[Musical Ride](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_Ride)** > > The Musical Ride of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is a special unit showcasing the equestrian skills performed by 32 cavalry who are regular members of the force. It holds events held in Canada and worldwide to promote the RCMP. The first official ride was held in 1887 in Regina, District of Assiniboia, and was commanded by Inspector William George Matthews. > In the 1920s and 1930s, there were two cavalry units, one in Regina and one in Ottawa. > The activities of the Musical Ride temporaril... ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/9 "2013-05-23T18:27:28Z")
Thanks Northern Piper. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/10 "2013-05-23T18:46:32Z")
Mounted officers are usually present on Parliament Hill during the summertime tourist season as well, but mostly for photo ops with tourists rather than any need for extra protection on the Hill. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/11 "2013-05-23T19:28:23Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Do they still wear the [red uniform](http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/unif/images/diaguniform-1.jpg) in their day to day jobs? > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Red serge is just for special occasions. I’ll add that, for everyday policing purposes, they look pretty much like an everyday police officer. Pale green uniform shirts, with appropriate shoulder patches, black trousers with a yellow stripe down the sides; and often nowadays, a bulletproof vest. Of course, they have the expected police equipment: cars with radios and computers and so on, guns, handcuffs, and pepper spray; and the list goes on. They look great in their red uniforms on ceremonial occasions, but you don’t want to mess with them during the course of their everyday duties! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/12 "2013-05-23T19:54:02Z")
We have mounties ride down our street quite often. Never dressed in red, though. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/13 "2013-05-23T20:52:36Z")
The one time I was interviewed by a Mountie, I was utterly impressed by…his stupidity. Nothing I have heard about them since has caused me to revise my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/14 "2013-05-23T23:54:16Z")
The only one I know of used to host that game show. IIRC his name was Mountie Hall. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/15 "2013-05-24T00:29:04Z")
[Nelson Eddy]_When I’m calling yoooooouuuuuuuu-oohoohoooooh-oohoohoooooh_[/Nelson Eddy] ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/16 "2013-05-24T01:48:13Z")
That tv show years ago = most of the knowledge people here have about them. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/17 "2013-05-24T01:51:24Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > That tv show years ago = most of the knowledge people here have about them. Exactly! It was very important to Mountie that the contestants know the retail price of just about everything. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/18 "2013-05-24T12:37:36Z")
Two of my uncles are ex-Mounties. One quit after a couple of years to go back to farming, but the other one stuck it out (in Surrey) until retirement. I think he said they spent a lot of time on drug busts. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/19 "2013-05-24T16:42:29Z")
[Let’s not forget their barn burning, their attempted bombing and the infamous taser incidents, among others](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_controversies_involving_the_Royal_Canadian_Mounted_Police). Not to mention their racism. It’s no wonder that in Quebec, their reputation is barely higher than that of a criminal gang. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116/20 "2013-05-27T07:35:08Z")
In the early fifties we visited Banff on vacation and my poor mother was faced with a Mountie on a motorcycle who looked for all the world like a California Highway Patrol officer: no red tunic, no campaign hat, no boots. She was devastated, to my Dad’s secret amusement. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-mounties-upholding-the-law-for-140-years-and-counting/659116.md?page=2)