The Okotoks Museum and Archives is recognizing the 150th anniversary of the North-West Mounted Police, which would eventually become the RCMP, in an exhibit that launched last weekend.
Displayed in an upstairs room of the museum, the exhibit, which will be on display until the end of August, not only commemorates a major event in Canadian history, but also takes a look at the community’s policing history.
“It’s a significant milestone that we thought should be commemorated,” said museum and archives specialist Kathy Coutts.
The duration of the exhibit encompasses two key days from 1873: May 3 was when the prime minister introduced an act to establish the North-West Mounted Police and Aug. 30 was when an order-in-council was signed by the governor general to formally and legally bring the force into existence.
“It’s hard to pack 150 years of the RCMP into one room, so this (exhibit) is just scratching the surface of all that history,” Coutts said.
It details the march west of 275 mounted officers in 1874 to establish Fort Macleod and the first police force in the area as well as the advent of a provincial police force and Okotoks’ own force created a century ago.
Coutts said the NWMP often rented homes in Okotoks to both serve as headquarters and house a constable. She said those locations changed along with the officers, and included several along Elma Street as well as the historic home that now houses the museum.
In the works for the past six months, the exhibit features a number of items that have been loaned to the museum from private collections, including many that feature the instantly recognizable Mountie on horseback. Coutts said the image of the RCMP officer in red serge was so iconic that a wide range of companies wanted it attached to their offerings.
“We've got variety of artifacts that have that Mountie on their products,” she said. “There’s everything from ginger ale (bottles) to ashtrays, teacups, playing cards, salt and pepper shakers, pens, switchblades, even tea.”
The exhibit also features the RCMP serge from Rick Oncescu, who served as sergeant in Okotoks, and jackets from Rob Leatherdale, another retired RCMP officer.
There are also centennial items from the RCMP’s 100th anniversary in 1973.
Coutts said this milestone isn’t being celebrated to the same extent as the one 50 years ago.
“The 100th (anniversary) in 1973 was really celebrated. There were coins minted by the Canada mint, there were posters and books and banners,” she said. “It’s more low-key this year.”
The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday.
