Biographies
key participants of the RCMP
There are so many notable, trailblazing figures who have been involved with the RCMP over the years. Here are just a few.
Sir George Arthur French
First commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police
George Arthur French was born in Ireland in 1841 and served in the British army’s Royal Artillery. In 1871 he was sent to Canada as an inspector of artillery, during which time he established a gunnery school in Kingston, Ontario.
When the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was established in 1873, French was chosen by Prime Minister John A. Macdonald to be its first commissioner. As head of the NWMP, French was responsible for organizing the force and leading the officers on their famous March West—the NWMP’s initial journey across the prairies in 1874.
He resigned in 1876 and returned to duty with the British Army, where he would go on to serve in various parts of the world. He retired from the army in 1902 and was knighted that same year. He spent the rest of his life in London, England, before his death in 1921.
James Macleod
Second commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police
James Macleod migrated from Scotland to Canada when he was nine years old. He studied and practiced law in Ontario, but was highly interested in the Canadian militia. In 1870 he joined a military force that was sent to confront Louis Riel and the Métis who were part of the Red River Resistance in present-day Manitoba.
Several years later, in 1876, he was appointed as the second commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police. During his time with the NWMP, he played a significant role in the founding of Fort Macleod in Alberta—the first permanent NWMP post in western Canada. Macleod also took measures to put an end to the illegal whisky trade in the prairies. This earned him the trust of the Blackfoot chiefs, a relationship that would help Macleod successfully negotiate the signing of Treaty 7 between the Plains First Nations and the Crown in 1877.
Despite his achievements, Mcleod lost the confidence of the government and resigned in 1880. He returned to the field of law, eventually becoming a judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories in 1887.
Charles Constantine
First Mountie to serve in Yukon
Charles Constantine came to Canada from England. After serving with the Canadian militia during the Red River Resistance (1870) and North-West Resistance (1885), he joined the North-West Mounted Police as an inspector.
In 1894, Constantine was sent to investigate the Yukon gold fields, where the government was concerned about an increasing number of American miners who were moving into the region. When Constantine arrived and saw these miners controlling Canadian territory without any regard for the law, he reported that there was an urgent need for a police force in the area. The next year he returned to Yukon with 20 NWMP officers and established a police post at the town of Forty Mile. This post, known as Fort Constantine, was the most northerly police post of its day.
When the Klondike Gold Rush began in 1896, there was already a police presence in Yukon thanks to Constantine. As the most powerful Canadian official in the region at the time, he played many different roles, including judge, postmaster, customs officer, and more.
Although he left Yukon in 1898 after being replaced by Sam Steele, he would return to the North several years later to establish posts at Fort McPherson in the Northwest Territories and Herschel Island in Yukon.
Photo Credit: Glenbow Museum
Sam Steele
Helped make the North-West Mounted Police famous through his work during the Klondike Gold Rush
Samuel Benfield Steele was born in Canada in 1848. He joined the Canadian militia in 1866 and was a private during the Red River Expedition in 1870, when military troops were sent to enforce federal authority over the newly formed province of Manitoba. When the North-West Mounted Police was established in 1873, Steele was one of the first to join the force.
He was an important participant in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and the signing of Treaty 6 and Treaty 7. A man of enormous physical strength and endurance, Steele was always around the hottest action—from fighting during the North-West Resistance, to serving as the commanding officer of Lord Strathcona’s Horse regiment in the Boer War, to acting as a major general during World War I.
Steele was also hugely influential during the Klondike Gold Rush. He set up check points along the routes to Dawson City and ruled that no prospectors were allowed to enter Yukon without a set amount of food or supplies—a decision that likely saved the lives of many. Thanks to Steele and his force in Yukon, the Klondike Gold Rush was one of the most orderly in history, and made the NWMP famous around the world.
Francis Fitzgerald
Leader of the famous Lost Patrol
Francis Joseph Fitzgerald was born in Halifax in 1869 and enlisted as a constable with the North-West Mounted Police at the age of 19. In 1903, he was sent to Herschel Island in the remote Arctic region of Yukon, along with five other officers—including Charles Constantine—to set up a police post.
Several years later, while working at Fort McPherson in the present-day Northwest Territories, Fitzgerald was tasked with leading the annual patrol, which delivered mail and reports down to Dawson City in Yukon. He wanted to get to Dawson quickly—and maybe even set a new record for the shortest patrol time—so decided to reduce the amount of food and equipment on his sleds in order to travel faster.
On December 21, 1910, Fitzgerald and two other officers set off, accompanied by a guide. Unfortunately, the group never made it to Dawson. Plagued by bad weather, they were unable to find the proper route, and by the time they decided to turn around, were too weak from lack of food to get back to Fort McPherson. This tragedy became known as “The Lost Patrol.”
Henry Larsen
First person to sail the Northwest Passage in a single season
Henry Asbjørn Larsen grew up on a small island in Norway, reading about his country’s heroes—the pioneers of Arctic exploration. He started his own career as a seaman at the age of 15.
Over a decade later, Larsen learnt that the RCMP was building a patrol vessel called the St. Roch to sail in the Arctic. He was determined to be on that ship, and so immediately applied for his Canadian citizenship. The next year Larsen enlisted with the RCMP and served as first mate on the St. Roch’s maiden voyage. He became the ship’s captain shortly after.
In 1940, Larsen and the St. Roch left on their historic voyage to sail the Northwest Passage, a route through the Arctic that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Until this point, only one other person had sailed the entire passage: Roald Amundsen, one of Larsen’s childhood heroes.
Amundsen had traversed the passage from east to west, whereas Larsen became the first person to travel through it in the opposite direction, setting off from Vancouver and arriving in Halifax two years later. He would sail the same passage again in 1944, completing it in just 86 days, making him the first person to cross it in a single season. His work contributed greatly to our understanding of Canada’s North.
Edward “Hawk” Kelly
First Indigenous RCMP officer
A member of the Ch’íyáqtel (Tzeachten) Nation near Chilliwack, British Columbia, Ed Kelly was given the nickname “Hawk” by his grandfather, because he had sharp eyes like one. Ed had always dreamed of becoming a Mountie, and joined the RCMP in 1958, completing his training one year later when he was 20 years old. He would become the first Indigenous officer on the force. His first posting was as a cell block guard in Alberta.
Kelly served with the RCMP for five years. Later, he would be elected as Chief of Tzeachten First Nation, before returning to other enforcement roles, including a 20-year career as a park ranger. He passed away in 2022 at the age of 82.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Feinberg/The Progress
Nancy Puttkemery
First female pilot in the RCMP
Nancy Puttkemery was a trailblazer in her own right, as one of the early female police officers who served with RCMP, not to mention the force’s first female pilot! Born in the American state of Wisconsin, she moved to Canada with her parents in 1961 when she was just six years old.
Puttkemery began her career with the RCMP as a Civilian Member (non-police officer) in the Security Services branch while waiting for her application as a Regular Member (police officer) to be approved. After converting to Regular Member status in December 1975, Puttkemery served in several detachments throughout Manitoba, performing general duties; however, flying was her passion, and so she decided to pursue it, eventually obtaining her pilot’s license.
Sadly, Nancy Puttkemery’s life was cut short doing what she loved most. On December 9, 1989, she and Special Constable Vincent Timms were flying to Edmonton, Alberta, when heavy snow and low visibility forced them to turn back. As it was turning, the left wing of the plane hit a radio tower wire, causing the plane to crash to the ground.
Puttkemery’s dedication and commitment to her profession and her passion for flying remain an inspiration to other RCMP pilots to this day.
Photo Credit: Canadian Virtual War Museum
Baltej Singh Dhillon
First member of the RCMP to wear a turban
Baltej Singh Dhillon was born and raised in Malaysia before immigrating to British Columbia at the age of 16. Initially aiming to become a lawyer, he pursued a degree in criminology. However, he was inspired to seek admission to the RCMP after volunteering as a translator for Asian immigrants at a Mountie detachment in Surrey, BC.
In 1988, Dhillon joined the RCMP but faced a dilemma. The RCMP dress code prohibited turbans and required clean-shaven faces, but as a Sikh, Dhillon’s religious obligations required him to have a beard and wear a turban. He refused to compromise on his religious beliefs and challenged the RCMP to change its uniform rules.
His request sparked a nationwide debate on religious accommodation in Canada, but in 1990, the government announced several changes to the force’s dress code, including the removal of the ban on beards and turbans. Dhillon began his police training shortly after, and became the first-ever member of the RCMP to wear a turban.
Dhillon enjoyed a long and successful career as a Mountie. He retired from the RCMP in 2019 after 27 years, but continued to work in law enforcement.
Photo Credit: Baltej Singh Dhillon / South Asian Canadian Digital Archive
Dudley Do-Right
A fictional movie about an RCMP officer
The 1999 film Dudley Do-Right humorously portrays the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in popular culture. Based on the “Dudley Do-Right” segment from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, this movie follows the adventures of Dudley, a well-intentioned but somewhat bumbling Mountie, his nemesis Snidely Whiplash, and the object of their affections, Nell Fenwick.
As the story unfolds, Snidely hatches a cunning plan to create a gold rush by seeding the hills around the town with gold. Dudley, despite his lack of brilliance or coordination, must thwart this scheme. The film’s underlying message reinforces the classic distinction between good and evil, where Dudley’s unwavering commitment to justice ultimately prevails.
The movie concludes with the announcer’s assertion that: “Good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people.” A fitting tribute to Dudley’s unwavering integrity and the enduring appeal of the RCMP legend.
Photo Credit: Jay Ward Productions
