Fort Macleod

[RattlesnakeJack]

As mentioned in the "GAF Rules" thread, PJ Hardtack (Todd) and I were in Fort Macleod for a firearms display and presentation at the "Fort Museum of the North West Mounted Police", on the occasion of their commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of that venue's version of the "Musical Ride".  As promised, here are some photos I took .... just a reminder that the forum formatting limits the width of posted photos, but many of these shots are a 1000px wide, so if you'd like to see a larger version, right click on it and then select "Show image in new tab" or equivalent command.

The full Troop ready for Review -


Various shots during one performance -










"Eyes Right" -


"The Carousel" - the two sets of four riders pivoting around the center of the line -


"The Dome" - lances lowered to center of circle and then raised, in unison.  (Unfortunately I seem to have missed getting a shot of them actually forming the "dome" ....)




"The Charge" -


My efforts to verbally give an idea of what is going on in some of the above images really points out the inadequacy of static photos for giving a good impression of such activity.  Accordingly, if you are interested, here are links to a couple of short videos i took during the performance. 
(Sorry, but I seem to have forgotten how to embed the videos right in the post!     )

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Now, here are Todd and Sandee in their personas as Serjeant Jock and Mrs. Mary McMurphy .... part of the Columbia Detachment of the Royal Engineers posted in British Columbia, 1858-1863, during its Gold Rush era -


Our firearms display -


Todd's long guns, with my repro NWMP Winchester Model 1876 carbine "front and center" -


The other long guns I had along -




Todd's handguns brought for display -


The handguns I had there (with the exception of revolver I was "packing" (one of my brace of Model 1875 Remington clones) -






No photos of myself available yet, I'm afraid - I didn't get anyone to take a picture of me on my own camera, and Todd & Sandee are still en route home at present.  You're not missing any flashy uniforms or anything, however - I appeared in my CAS persona: i.e.  Rattlesnake Jack Robson, Scout with the Rocky Mountain Rangers

[Charles Isaac]

That is such a nice display of weapons along with some fine looking troops. The Sergeant is especially sharp looking-what  great time that must have been!

[Niederlander]

Some of those troops look AWFULLY young, Jack!  How young do you let them enlist?!

[RattlesnakeJack]

Some of those troops look AWFULLY young, Jack!  How young do you let them enlist?!

As I mentioned in the previous thread, but forgot to repeat here, this venue is a rather "touristy" place run by the local Historical Society ..... and the riders are students doing it as a summer job.  In fact, although perhaps not readily apparent under those baggy tunics and pith helmets, all but two or three of them are girls!  That is ranching country and there are lots of local up-and-coming barrel racers, show riders and such ....  The smallest of the riders seen in the videos is twelve (  .... admittedly the youngest rider who has ever done it .... ) but she has been riding for nine years already.

[Silent Joe]

Great pictures and video's, R.J. It is great that young people will save the memory of the past.

[PJ Hardtack]

The kids do a credible job of the Ride, the horses being well trained. Some have been doing it for 14 years and can do it without the riders!
The uniforms are getting somewhat sun faded, made by volunteers years ago,. The helmets are moulded from fibreglass at a cost of $25 each. The leather is not correct, cobbled together from all sorts of bits and pieces. The Fort is independent of gov't handouts; self-supporting and much appreciative of donations.

As you can tell by the pic, the Fort is in beautiful downtown Fort Macleod. The official Fort is languishing on the outskirts of town, a sad story compared to what the kids are doing by maintaining the history and tradition of a once proud force.

Rather than fire blanks ourselves, we opted to let costumed staffers fire a P-H Musketoon and Snider cavalry carbine, Grant giving a demo of the firepower of the '76 NWMP 45-75 with a rapid fire string. I'm sure that the 'Metis' and 'Peigan' staffers will remember it for a while.

If you ever got to Fort Macleod, be sure to take in Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, a UN World Heritage site just 20 kms away. You'll likely have a FBI (Full Blooded Indian) as a tour guide. Many of the other small towns nearby (Pincher Creek, Boundary Creek, etc.) were once NWMP outposts, necessary to keep American horse thieves, smugglers and rum runners at bay.

If the NWMP history holds interest for you, find a copy of "With The Mounties in the Boots & Saddle Days" by Henrietta Dennistoun Haultain, wife of a NWMP Surgeon. Her style is refreshing compared to the formal and stilted history accounts written by men. You get a feel of what everyday life was like on the frontier with her descriptive prose. Several good pics as well.

PS:

The reason my uniform looks so 'spiff' is because it was made in Toronto by a firm that made uniforms for the Canadian Guards. I gave them the details for Royal Engineers Sr. NCO and they did it well.
The repro medals are McMurphy's First South African War, British Crimea (Sebastopol clasp) and the Turkish Crimea medal. McMurphy was also awarded the French 'Medaille  Militaire', but I was unable to locate an affordable reproduction.

[Hangtown Frye]

Great Job, Gentlemen! (And Lady, too, of course!)  Sounds like a grand time was had by all, and some serious historical information was disseminated to the folks who were lucky enough to have stopped by for a visit.

Again, great job, and I hope you get to do it again!

Cheers!

Gordon

[RattlesnakeJack]

Some photos taken by the "Fort Photographer" were e-mailed to us, so here are a few more images from our day at Fort Macleod.

With my reproduction Model 1876 Winchester NWMP carbine in front of the museum display of an original-




PJ Hardtack and I with a "Metis" interpreter on the Museum staff-




During our presentation on firearms of the era-






After our talk inside, we went out into the Fort quadrangle for a blank-firing demonstration with some of the staff.  PJ and I with the "Metis" and a full-blooded Piikani (a.k.a. Peigan. one tribe of the Blackfoot Confederacy) staff member.  We used PJ's muzzle-loading Enfield Artillery Carbine (in military service until the mid- to late-1860's), my Snider-Enfield Cavalry Carbine (first long-arm issued to the NWMP from its formation in 1873) and Model 1876 Winchester (issued to the NWMP beginning in 1878) -




As we were about to begin shooting blanks, a large flock of gulls started circling above us, which is what we are looking at here -




The Artillery Carbine showed the rather tedious process of loading a muzzle-loader, followed up with a demonstration of the somewhat faster metallic-cartridge breech-loading single-shot Snider-Enfield Carbine .... and then I stoked up the Winchester with a full magazine (of the kind of blanks I wrote about in this thread:  http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,43872.0.html) and cranked them off rapidly.  The difference really seemed to impress the audience!




A group shot of the riding troop in uniforms from different eras, and the rest of us.  for some "comic relief" during the closing ceremonies, the smallest, youngest member of the riding troop was mounted on a Shetland pony, normally used to give rides around the arena to kids in the audience -

[PJ Hardtack]

Grant

Now you're in trouble .... I hauled 'Miz Cara Boo Belle' (aka Mrs. McMurphy) over to see the latest pics from Fort Macleod and she harrumphed - "What about MY interpretive display ..... ?"

Good thing there's a little geographical barrier twixt the two of you. Took me a while to unruffle her feathers and talk her out of a high noon showdown at the Fort.

[RattlesnakeJack]

Todd:

I trust that, as a Gentleman, you will assure Miz Cara Boo Bell of the following .... and particularly of the portion in parentheses .... to wit:  Nobody (including Sgt. McMurphy and/or PJ Hardtack) has supplied me with a single image of her impressive interpretive display!

On the other hand, I believe that you, too, have posted a number of photographs already, but none of her display ..... and I have it on good authority that the geographical distance between the two of you is minimal!   

(Watch your back, my friend .... I sense feathers re-ruffling!   )

[PJ Hardtack]

"Gentleman", you say .... au contraire, mon ami. Officers are "Gentlemen", I on the other hand, work for a living as a Sr. NCO. I let the effete, dilettante upper class do what they do best - look dashing and swish amongst the ladies, whilst I and my fellow NCOs run the Army.

I presumed that you received the pics of my wife's presentation from the Fort. I shall forward them and duck the flying objects in the interval.

[Buffalo Creek Law Dog]

Not to hijack the thread but, speaking of Fort Macleod, If you Google Earth Fort Macleod......on the east end of town you can see a large island on the river.  I'm guessing that this may be the large island that Jerry Potts led A/Comm Macleod to, to build the original 1874 fort.  The proximity of the NWMP cemetery seems to make it fit.  Anyone know of the exact location of the 1874 fort?  Any archeology work done on this?

[PJ Hardtack]

BCL - high jack away! Anything to stimulate interest in our western heritage is welcome.

I believe that you are correct in that the original Fort was on the island. Obviously, they did not have the benefit of a Royal Engineer surveyor or it would never have been situated on an island in a prairie river prone to seasonal flooding ..... ;>)

When I was first there last year, I was asked just how and why a Royal Engineer was in Alberta. I said that I was brought out of retirement to do an inspection of western military establishments to include Fort Steele, Fort Macleod and other installations. RE personnel were also involved in establishing the 49th parallel boundary markings along with the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Since returning to the windward side of the Rocky Mountains, I and another local Cowboy Action Shooter have decided to join the RMR as 'members at large', if they'll have us. As a Calgarian by birth, it's only fitting.

[RattlesnakeJack]

BCLD

Yes, the original site of the Fort (1874-1883) is known .... and has been designated/protected as a National Historic Site.  As noted in the text of this web page - http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=1140 - it was situated at the western end of Macleod Island .... I believe roughly in the area indicated by the 'X' below -



Next is a period photograph of the original fort attributed, as you will note, to 1877 -



This diorama of the original fort is located within the museum in the large, lighted display case behind me in the photos above taken during our presentation -



Of course a small town had grown up adjacent to the original fort, before the relocation, which of course soon followed the fort, to the present townsite location.  The original settlement, and also the present town were for many years just called "Macleod" ..... to distinguish the civilian town from the NWMP establishment. This is a photograph, circa 1878, of the "main (only?) street" of the original settlement of Macleod .... viewed from the original fort -



Next is an old photo (apparently taken from the top of the Town water tower, and likely after 1905) of the NWMP/RNWMP barracks where the post was relocated in 1884 -



That site is shown here, on the western outskirts of the current townsite, as is the location of the "Fort Museum" where Todd, Sandee and I were -

[RattlesnakeJack]

"Gentleman", you say .... au contraire, mon ami. Officers are "Gentlemen", I on the other hand, work for a living as a Sr. NCO. I let the effete, dilettante upper class do what they do best - look dashing and swish amongst the ladies, whilst I and my fellow NCOs run the Army.

I presumed that you received the pics of my wife's presentation from the Fort. I shall forward them and duck the flying objects in the interval.

You will note that I studiously avoided referring to you as an "officer" as well as a "gentleman".  I had formed the view that you were that relative rarity among NCOs - to wit, also a gentleman - but will accede to your superior knowledge and admit that I was apparently mistaken!  

The good Sergeant having forwarded a couple of photos showing Sandee (Mrs McMurphy) setting up her display, I hasten to post them as an aid to restoration of connubial bliss in the McMurphy Married Quarters!

[PJ Hardtack]

Whew! Things are at calmer level now in the McMurphy residence.

The main reason I wanted her interpretative display pictured was for the ladies associated with the GAF and to show off the splendid interior of the Fort Museum. Quite remarkable for a private, NGO facility.

As for my lack of gentlemanly qualities, I'm afraid that my ex-Regular Army attitude towards commissioned Officers surfaces on occasion. However, the historic McMurphy was referred to as "...  a brave and loyal soldier, and a loving husband ..." in a note from Queen Victoria following his rescue of an infantry private he had taken forward during the siege of Sebastopol.

As he climbed back over the parapet, he remarked that if he didn't come back, his wife was to be told that his last thoughts were of her, his dear, sweet Mary. He recovered the man under fire and was written up in dispatches that reached the very attention of Vicky herself.

[Buffalo Creek Law Dog]

BCLD

Thanks for the info. I visited the 1883 fort about 4 years ago and had the guided tour by a volunteer in NWMP dress.  I have been through Fort Macleod many times since and have never seen this fort open, even during peak tourist season.  I suspect that it is due to the lack of volunteers.

Yes, the original site of the Fort (1874-1883) is known .... and has been designated/protected as a National Historic Site.  As noted in the text of this web page - http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=1140 - it was situated at the western end of Macleod Island .... I believe roughly in the area indicated by the 'X' below -



Next is a period photograph of the original fort attributed, as you will note, to 1877 -



This diorama of the original fort is located within the museum in the large, lighted display case behind me in the photos above taken during our presentation -



Of course a small town had grown up adjacent to the original fort, before the relocation, which of course soon followed the fort, to the present townsite location.  The original settlement, and also the present town were for many years just called "Macleod" ..... to distinguish the civilian town from the NWMP establishment. This is a photograph, circa 1878, of the "main (only?) street" of the original settlement of Macleod .... viewed from the original fort -



Next is an old photo (apparently taken from the top of the Town water tower, and likely after 1905) of the NWMP/RNWMP barracks where the post was relocated in 1884 -



That site is shown here, on the western outskirts of the current townsite, as is the location of the "Fort Museum" where Todd, Sandee and I were -

[RattlesnakeJack]

There was a separate organization which had the government approval (and some funding) to restore and operate the 1883 Barracks site, but that project has apparently been entirely mothballed, as a result of some politicking and such.

(The present curator of Fort Whoop Up in Lethbridge was very much involved with the 1883 site project, and has a lot of nasty things to say about both the Provincial government and the Fort Macleod authorities, but I won't get into that .... )

[PJ Hardtack]

In the meantime, the existing 'Fort Macleod' carries on the NWMP tradition, providing a wonderful summer experience for history and horse minded young people.

It is a pity when politics and personalities interfere with history, but it happens all to frequently. I'm very grateful and appreciative of the fact that Grant rose above all of that to participate in the 40th anniversary of the 'Musical Ride' as done by the kids.