ses; 20 guides ;md halt' breeds (hunters, trachers, etc.) ; 

 two field pieces; two mortars; one hundred forty-two 

 working oxen: ninety-three beef cattle; seventy-three 

 wagons ; one hundred and fourteen oxcarts known as 

 Red River carts which were made locally and built en- 

 tirely of wood, not even an iron nail being used in their 

 construction. 



The objective was the foot of the Rockies somewhere 

 near the International Boundary. The route taken was 

 known as the South Trail touching the present site of 

 the City of Regina, thence through the Cypress Hills 

 to a point near the entrance of the Crow's Nest Pass 

 where the first permanent camp was established, now 

 the site of Fort McLeod. This was reached in August 

 after some trying experiences in crossing the great 

 plains where the feed had been destroyed by the 

 prairie fires which had come from the South across the 

 Border and had been raging for weeks. After a short 

 rest a post was established and detachments distributed, 

 the main body taking up their march for the seat of the 

 Government of the North West Territories at Living- 

 stone. From here detachments were sent out covering 

 the whole country. These necessarily were small bod- 

 ies, often only two men, and at times but one, but such 

 was the respect in which the force was held that even 

 one man could safeguard a very large area and cases of 

 defying their authority was practically unknown. 



All commissioned officers were ex-officio justices of 

 the peace armed w r ith very much larger powers than in 

 ordinary cases and could try all offences other than 

 capital crimes. Where the assistance of a brother of- 

 ficer, or other magistrate was not readily obtainable 



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