Mission Statement
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Veterans’ Association, proud of our traditions, commits to promote the physical, social and economic welfare of former members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and their immediate families and to be of service to our communities and Canada when required or requested through rendering assistance to the Police, especially the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, in matters of common concern.
History
The origins of the Veterans' Association can be found in the history of the North West Mounted Police (NWMP). On the 20th., of May 1873 Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald's bill "respecting the administration of justice and the establishment of a police force for the North-West Territories" passed. It provided for a civil force in uniform drilled in simple movements taken from the British Cavalry Regulations, and to be conducted much upon the system of a cavalry regiment.
Recruiting for this force began in September of 1873 and by October three troops of fifty men each had been organized. The first man to enlist was A.H. Griesbach who had served previously in the 15th., Hussars and Cape Mounted Rifles (of South Africa).
Training of these men, prior to departure for the west was undertaken at Fort York in Toronto with the members barracked in the Stanley Barracks (still standing to this day).
Travelling to their duty area involved the now famous March West. In the 1874 conclusion to his first report to the Canadian government on the activities of the NWMP the Officer in Charge wrote,