Helen Escott
Published: 2020-08
Total Pages:
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In 1949, several young Mounties arrived in Canada's newest province to enforce federal law. Like those who followed, they were in search of adventure, and they found plenty. RCMP veterans, as well as the last living Newfoundland Rangers, tell their personal stories in this book. From laughter to moments of sheer terror, to discovering innovative ways to connect with the communities they police, to investigating the murder of one of their own, these RCMP veterans tell the true history of the RCMP's first 70 years policing in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police was founded in 1873, and the first Newfoundlander to join was Constable Earnest W. Peyton, in 1888. He was the son of a prominent family from Twillingate and was believed to be 21 at the time. It was March 22, 1949, some 76 years after its inception, that the RCMP arrived in Newfoundland and Labrador. Eight Mounties and one officer arrived in the province and opened a Divisional Headquarters on Kenna's Hill in St. John's to enforce federal law. The RCMP was officially recognized a year later, on August 1, 1950, with an agreement between RCMP Deputy Commissioner C. K. Gray and the Attorney General for the province, the Honourable L. R. Curtis.