"The
region of the Saskatchewan is without law, order or security for
life or property; Indian massacres are unchecked even in the vicinity
of the Hudson's Bay Company's post, and all civil and legal institutions
are entirely unknown." These were the words of Captain F.
W. Butler after his return from the territories in 1870. Butler
had been on a fact-finding mission for Parliament. That year a
massacre in the Cypress Hills region demanded attention from Parliament,
and the Royal Northwest Mounted Police were established soon after.
The
Royal Northwest Mounted Police played a large part in taming the
wild frontier which is now Saskatchewan. These people marched
west to keep peace, halt illegal whiskey trade and protect the
new country's people.