When Richard got a reply from his superiors about the new residence, it was a bittersweet moment. They had agreed that there needed to be a new one, but not on the cost. Richard had requested $5,000; they said he only needed $2,000 to build a new house. Richard had already started building the house a month before, using his savings of $1,000 as a down payment. $2,000 would not be enough when it was finally done.
The only person who knew what was going on was Sergeant Gillespe. Gillespe was in Richards good graces, and Richard relied on him more and more as time went by to where Gillespe was pretty much running the show in Richards name. He had the perfect solution for Richard.
“Have you been keeping up to date with the Federal’s Indian Act?” Gillespe said.
“Of course, that’s pretty much the purpose of the RNWMP, to protect Indians from settlers here. What of it?” Richard asked.
“Well there isn’t enough land for settlers anymore, so the government amended the act to fast track the sale of Indian reservation land to settlers. For some reason the tribes haven’t gone along with the theft of their land, and are refusing to leave when told too.”
“And?”
“And this is where you come in. The settlers own the land, they paid the government for it. The Indians say they own the land, but not according to the government. You have many armed men, working for the government. For a fee you could expedite the process from no fore seeable future to now.”
“But that’s not our purpose here.”
“So? Who is going to care? Not the settlers who will be getting their land. Not the government who sold the land to begin with. Just some Indians no on cares about.”
“And if they Indians retaliate against the settlers after they take the land?”
“You are paid up front. It’s the the settlers problem afterwards. Or you could always charge protection fees too.”
“Will the men go for it?”
“Leave that to me. They do not question my...your orders now.”
“When do we start?”
“I’ve already been approached by interested parties. Once the other landowners see them tilling their soil, they will flock to us. You will have more then enough money to finish your house. You’ll let it be known to the men we are taking what’s rightly the white mans, and I will handle the details.”
Not an hour later Richard had the men line up in the yard. This time there were no sullen looks, smirks or the like, Gillespe had them wiped.
“Men! The RNWMP has had a short, but proud history. I might be new to the force, but don’t think that I have not heard of the valiant deeds done for Canada by the NWMP. Royal has even been attached to our name. We’ve dared to bring law to a lawless land.
Now, all I ask you to do is to continue your fine work. Indians, the lawless heathens that they are, had agreed to sell some of their land to hard working Canadians. These brave men and women left everything behind back east, leaving home and family, to travel here. They paid their hard earned money, and now they come to what? A bunch of savages still on the land that they had paid for, refusing to budge.
So I ask you this. Are you going to allow this injustice? Are you going to stand idly by, while the brave families that came out west starve because they did not receive what is rightfully theirs? What they were promised? Or are you going to continue the great work of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, and continue to build the legacy all of Canada can be proud of?”
YOU ARE READING
McConnell House
Historical FictionTy, a young man riding the rails is swept up in the events of the Great Depression. He has seen many hardships, like most of that era, and has survived them. But he is about to encounter something even more disturbing when he arrives in Calgary...
