Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
1992
Abstract
Almost from its inception in 1873, but certainly since its "Great March" west during the summer of 1874 across "the Great Lone Land" of the Plains that had been the Hudson's Bay Company's domain only a few years before, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has been among the world's most famous corporate entities; it is, perhaps, the most famous police force. 2 Its reputation is rooted in the very real heroism of its early years and the high standards of excellent service it has had since then; but the mythic quality of that reputation-as a cadre of judicious superheroes-has been created primarily by writers, filmmakers, and journalists viewing the force from the outside. The force itself, however, has maintained and nurtured such positive interpretations, particularly through the production of its well-known "Musical Ride." Revelations of wrongdoing within the force that have come to light in recent years have done little to diminish the myth-such problems have occurred since its early years, as numerous scholars have noted, with scant effect on the force's fame. 3
Comments
Published in Great Plains Quarterly 12:1 (Winter 1992). Copyright © 1992 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.