Fort Walsh

Fort Walsh is a National Historic Site of Canada that was a North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) fort and the site of the Cypress Hills Massacre. Administered by Parks Canada, it forms a constituent part of Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park.

Fort Walsh
TypeFort
LocationTown of Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, Canada
Nearest cityMaple Creek No. 111
Established1873 trading post; 1878 Headquarters NWMP
FounderNorth-West Mounted Police
Built1875 (original); c. 1940 (reconstructed)
Governing bodyParks Canada
Important eventsCypress Hills Massacre
WebsiteCanadian Encyclopedia Fort Walsh
Fort Walsh
Cypress Hills (Canada)
TypeFort
Site information
Controlled byNorth-West Mounted Police
Site history
Built1875 (1875)
In useuntil 1883 (1883)
FateDemolished, later reconstructed as national historic site
Battles/warsCypress Hills Massacre
Garrison information
Past
commanders		James Morrow Walsh

The fort was built in June 1875 and was named for its builder, inspector James Morrow Walsh.[1] The fort was intended to curb the illegal whiskey trade, protect Canada's nearby border with the United States, and aid with native policy.[1] These factors had been brought to public attention following the Cypress Hills Massacre of 1873 and resulted in Sir John A. Macdonald's establishment of the NWMP.

Assiniboine chiefs Man Who Takes the Coat, Long Lodge, and Lean Man signed adhesion to Treaty 4 at the fort with the British Crown on September 25, 1877, in the presence of James Morrow Walsh, Neale, and someone else.

Fort Walsh served as the NWMP headquarters from 1878 to 1882. In 1883 the fort was closed and dismantled.[1]

The site of the fort was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1924.[2] The fort was later reconstructed in the 1940s to breed horses for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Musical Ride.

Tourists can tour the fort's buildings, the former townsite, cemeteries, and the whiskey trading post.[3][4] On September 28, 2004, Fort Walsh became part of the Cypress Hills dark-sky preserve.

On June 28, 1985, Canada Post issued "Fort Walsh, Sask., circa 1880", one of the 20 stamps in the "Forts Across Canada" series (1983–1985). The stamps are perforated ​12 1⁄2 × 13 and were printed by Ashton-Potter Limited based on the designs by Rolf P. Harder.[5]

See also

References
  1. "Fort Walsh National Historic Site". Parks Canada. 2009-06-22. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  2. Fort Walsh. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  3. Russell, E. T. Pete (Edmund Thomas Pete) (c. 1997), What's in a Name, Calgary : Fifth House Publishers, ISBN 1895618983
  4. "Fort Walsh National Historic Site of Canada". Parks Canada. Archived from the original on 2007-06-04. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  5. Canada Post issued 'Fort Walsh, Sask., circa 1880'

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