Excerpt from The Riders of the Plains: A Reminiscence of the Early and Exciting Days in the North West

The fact of these American whisky traders from Mon tana coming into the Territories, drew the attention of the Canadian government to the vast unknown territory they held in the west, unknown, because the Hudson's Bay Com pany had never reported that any section of the country over which they had control was of any value whatever, for it was obviously to their interests, so they thought, to belittle the resources of Rupert's Land - a disastrous policy from the point of view of a settler, and one which retarded the settlement of that fertile. Country for many generations. There were vague reports that American traders from the south were doing, during the summer months, a large trade with the Blackfeet and other plain Indians, this trade on their part being done in whisky, while the Indians not only traded the robes gained by them during their sum mer hunts, but were becoming demoralized, and were trad ing horses, and almost: anything they owned, even to their women, for the horrible compound sold as whisky by these traders. This attracted the attention of the Canadian government, and in the year 1874 a force was organized and sent west into the then Rupert's Land to drive out these American whisky traders, and 6) get into communication with and gain the confidence of the thousands of wild, uncivilized Indians belonging to Canada, who roamed the western plains, and to try (a unique experiment) by moral suasion, to bring them into the ways of civilization. This was done by a small force. Of 300 officers and men from the year 1874 until the Canadian Pacific Railroad was built in 1885, and I write this book to give a short history of our march into this country. What' we found when we arrived. The work we did and the results thereof.

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