THE RCMP WAS FOUNDED IN 1873 AS A POLICE FORCE FOR THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES TO KEEP LAW AND ORDER AND COMBAT LAWLESSNESS BORN OF THE WHISKEY TRADE WITH THE INDIANS. THE POLICE FORCE, KNOWN AS THE NORTHWEST MOUNTED POLICE (NWMP), AND BEGAN ARRESTING WHISKEY TRADERS. THE MAJOR TASK OF THE NWMP WAS TO KEEP PEACE AMONG THE INDIANS AND SETTLERS TO PREVENT BLOODY FRONTIER WARS THEN COMMON IN THE UNITED STATES. ALTHOUGH INDIAN-NWMP RELATIONS WERE INITIALLY GOOD, THE LATTER HELPING ENGINEER SEVERAL INDIAN TREATIES, MISUNDERSTANDINGS SOON GREW AS WHITE SETTLEMENT OF CANADA CHANGED THE INDIAN'S WAY OF LIFE. BLOODY INCIDENTS SOON BEGAN TO ERUPT. DURING THE 1880'S, THE NORTHWEST REBELLION BROKE OUT OVER LONG-STANDING INDIAN AND METIS GRIEVANCES AGAINST THE WHITES. HOWEVER, DEFEAT OF THE REBELLION ENSURED MASSIVE WESTWARD MOVEMENT OF WHITE SETTLERS. IN 1897, DISCOVERY OF LARGE AMOUNTS OF GOLD IN THE YUKON LED TO ANOTHER MOVEMENT OF WHITE SETTLERS INTO THAT REGION AND NEW DIFFICULTIES FOR THE NWMP. AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, CREATION OF NEW CANADIAN PROVINCES BRED UNCERTAINTY FOR THE NWMP, BUT BY THE 1920'S, THE NWMP HAD BECOME A FEDERAL POLICE FORCE, THE ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE. STUDY QUESTIONS, PICTURES, MAPS, AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED.