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On July 8, 1874, the small force of North West Mounted Police moved out of Dufferin, Manitoba, and headed west toward the junction of the Bow and Belly Rivers over 800 miles away, in what is today southern Alberta Their objective was to locate Fort Whoop-up, notorious stronghold of the whisky traders, and destroy the whisky trade. For two months the cavalcade of ox-carts, wagons, cattle, field pieces and agricultural equipment crawled steadily westward.
At La Roche Percée, the contingent split. The greater part of "A" Troop proceeded northwestward via Fort Ellice, to establish itself at the Hudson's Bay Company post, Fort Edmonton. The remainder of the force, ragged and weary, its horses starved and parched, toiled on in pitiable condition to the Sweet Grass Hills, near the International Boundary.
Leaving the hills, the Commissioner and the Assistant Commissioner led a small party south to Fort Benton, Montana, to replenish exhausted stocks of food and purchase fresh horses.
On his return from Fort Benton, the Commissioner set out with two troops for Swan River, the newly appointed headquarters of the Force. Assistant Commissioner James F. Macleod, commanding "B", "C" and "F" Troops and the remainder of "A", continued westward to the foothills. Macleod, with the assistance of Metis scout Jerry Potts, located Fort Whoop-up, but the whisky traders had fled. The column finally halted on the banks of the Old Man River, where in October, 1874, they began building the first police outpost in the far west. It was named Fort Macleod.
In the months that followed, the whisky trade was smashed and lawlessness sharply declined. By 1875, the police had erected additional posts at Fort Saskatchewan, Fort Calgary and Fort Walsh. Law and order was firmly established on Canada's western frontier.
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