Here is a photo of the type of band we are recreating today at the Festival in Fort Erie. The Orangeville Volunteers of 1866.
A 19th Century Musical Revolution
NWMP Band
In the 1840’s in France, Adolphus Sax developed a family of Brass instruments with newly developed valves that started a music revolution. Small Bands of these instruments could perform any musical form popular in the day. This development started a growth industry in Europe that quickly spread to North America: The Town Brass Band.**
By the end of the 1850’s, almost every village in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes of Canada had a town brass band or a factory band. Some of these were quite notable and long-lived. The Orono Cornet Band and the other bands shown in the picture gallery on the home page are typical of the early bands of Canada. Most of the brass bands that formed in the 1840s and 50s added woodwind instruments by the 1890s. In the latter half of the 19th century, these bands provided the main entertainment for public events, fairs, parades and dances and provided the music that reached everyone in Canada.
The Fort Macleod Band Project
On June 14th 2012, the RCMP Musical Ride appeared at the Orono Fair Grounds in celebration of 160 years of fairs. That evening the Orono Cornet Band opened the program with the music of the Fort Macleod Band of the NWMP. This historic band, established at Fort Macleod in 1876, was the first to travel to Rupert’s Land and bring brass band music to the North West (present-day Alberta & Saskatchewan). The Fort Macleod Band project began almost a year earlier when researching for the planned concert.
Background Story:
By the 1870’s, the United States had crossed the continent with rails and made the western prairies more accessible. Along with settlers, came a lawless element. American whiskey traders set up business on the Canadian Prairies. The names of their trading posts say a lot about their purpose Slideout, Kipp, Standoff, and the most notorious of them all: Fort Whoop-Up. Canada’s answer to this problem was to create the North West Mounted Police and move a 300-man force west in 1874 to bring law and order to the prairies and establish Canadian Sovereignty. The trek west by the NWMP is a fascinating story of hardship and determination. They had an immediate impact. The whiskey traders cleared out. The effort to bring law and order to the prairies was underway.
In 1876 the first NWMP band was organized to improve morale, and cope with short winter days, long nights, and intense cold. Musicians were volunteers from the ranks. They formed a 12-part brass ensemble, typical of the brass band movement flourishing in the towns and villages of the eastern provinces of Canada. Their first performance was on Queen Victoria’s Birthday in May 1876. That summer, colonel Macleod launched a series of talks with the tribes of the Blackfoot Confederacy . The Blackfoot were 30,000 strong and controlled a large territory that included most of southern Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Northern Montana. There would be no lasting peace on the prairies without their support. The NWMP band accompanied the treaty entourage and performed at each gathering. The band moved locations during the summer of 1876 to posts at Fort Walsh and Fort Macleod. This quote from Captain Parker “We used the band that same summer in our long marches making treaties with the Wood Cree at Fort Carlton and the Plains Cree at Fort Pitt. The Indians had never heard a band before and showed intense surprise…” . (3) It is easy to imagine the tribes practicing their own rituals and music during these meetings and that this cultural exchange played a role in establishing an atmosphere of peace, and cooperation. During one negotiation with Lieutenant Governor Laird, a large procession of tribes led by chief Old Sun was led by the mounted NWMP Band. (3) South of the border at that time, the US 7 th cavalry was at war with the Sioux. This led to the Wounded Knee Massacre and the flight of Sitting Bull to Canada in 1876. Crowfoot emerged as the most influential chief of the Blackfoot. He and Macleod shared a vision of law and order on the prairies through the mutual cooperation of equal nations. They also knew the Bison herds were disappearing and the traditional life of the Blackfoot was coming to an end. A treaty would see the Blackfoot turn to ranching and farming to sustain an independent life on the plains.
In September 1877, 5000 Blackfoot, Bloods, Piegans, Sarcee, and Stoney gathered to sign Treaty 7 was presided over by the NWMP Band. “Crowfoot, Red Crow, and several other chiefs made it clear that Macleod and the NWMP were the principal reason their people were willing to sign Treaty 7.” At this gathering, several thousand mounted warriors in full regalia appeared at full gallop as a demonstration of strength and support. Sadly, by 1879 the bison were so scared on the prairies that the tribes were starving and Macloed appealed to the John A. MacDonald government for emergency food supplies to sustain the tribes on reserve. In 1880 Macleod resigned as Commissioner of the NWMP due to the lack of appropriate response to this crisis by the MacDonald government in Ottawa. Crowfoot and Macleod were betrayed by a government intent on European settlement on the prairies and little interest in support for the indigenous peoples of the west.
Over the remainder of the 19 th century, the NWMP established up to 8 different brass bands at various times and posts in the west. The bands were started and ended depending on posting changes and circumstances. An NWMP band at the Banff post performed regularly at the newly built Banff Springs Hotel. When Regina became headquarters, it established a band that played for balls and public occasions in the area. The band in Dawson city filled their roster with professional musicians from the music halls to perform at a colleague’s funeral. An NWMP band led by Fred Bagley performed at Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. Two NWMP band leaders; Fred Bagley and Harry Walker composed and arranged a number of pieces for the band. We would dearly love to find these along with the other 20 or so pieces we know of. Our quest continues. The NWMP bands brought eastern Canada’s music to the prairies and represent the true spirit of cooperation envisioned by Macleod and Crowfoot. Sadly the NWMP bands became a tool of the Canadian Government’s colonial policies in western Canada that would lead to the suffering of a generation of Blackfoot.
Acknowledgement:
We are grateful for the contribution of Dr Edwin Wasiak, University of Alberta,
Lethbridge, whose article in Canadian Winds magazine in Fall of 2011 brought the story of
the NWMP Bands to our attention. He provided the list we have of music titles and
composers performed by NWMP bands. We have been able to find some of the music for
these titles and continue our search for many more.
We are also grateful for help provided by Dr Tom Dust, University of Alberta, Edmonton
for his article in Canadian Winds magazine about NWMP band leader, Fred Bagley.
References:
1: Early Bands in Saskatchewan, Canadian Winds Fall 2011 by Edwin Wasiak
2: The Amazing Life of “Mountie” Trumpeter Fred Bagley by Tom Dust Canadian Winds
Fall 2015
3: When the Band Begins to Play, A History of Military Music in Canada by Jack Kopstein
1992
4: The Heritage of Canadian Military Music by Jack Kopstein and Ian Person 2002
5: The North West Mounted Police, a Corp History by Cpt Ernest Chambers
6: Fort Macleod, Edited by HG Long
7: Bands of the Force, RCMP Quartely, 1940
8: Historical Canadian Band Music: A New Source of Curriculum Materials for Canadian
Classrooms by Charles Edward Charles
9: Dictionary of Canadian Biography Volume XII – Macleod James Farquharson
10: Prison of Grass, Howard Adams
Background:
By the 1870’s, the United States had completed a transcontinental railway. Along with settlers, came a lawless element determined to live free and do as they pleased. American whiskey traders set up business on the Canadian Prairies. The names of their trading posts reveal something of their storied character – Slideout, Kipp, Standoff and the most notorious of them all: Fort Whoop-Up.
Canada’s answer to this problem was to create the North West Mounted Police and move a 300 man force west to bring law and order to the Canadian prairies and to establish Canadian Sovereignty. The trek west by the NWMP is a story of great hardship and determination. They had an immediate impact. The whiskey traders cleared out and law and order was a reality on the prairies.
Following the long winter of 1875 at the newly constructed Fort Macleod, it was recognized that morale would be a problem without some diversions to cope with the short winter days and long nights. They decided to form a band made up of the men in the detachment who were brass musicians. Many of the men had grown up playing brass instruments in their town band. The band had the same 12 brass make up of the town band of the day. Their first concert was performed on Queen Victoria’s Birthday in May 1876.
In the summer of 1876 Major Macleod began a tour of the Blackfoot tribes for talks. At the time, the Blackfoot confederacy on the Canadian Prairies was 30,000 strong and controlled a large territory that included much of Alberta Saskatchewan and Northern Montana. There would be no lasting peace on the prairies without the support of the Blackfoot nation. In a gesture of peace, the Fort Macleod band accompanied the tour and performed at each meeting. This quote from Captain Parker “We used the band that same summer in our long marches making treaties with the Wood Cree Indians at Fort Carlton and the Plains Cree at Fort Pitt. The Indians had never heard a band before and showed intense surprise…” When the ceremonial music of the Blackfoot was combined with the concerts of the Fort Macleod Brass Band, this was one of the great cultural exchanges in Canadian History and played a key role in establishing a relationship of peace, and law and order on the Canadian prairies. During the negotiations with Lieutenant Governor Laird, a large procession of tribes led by chief Old Sun was led by the mounted Fort Macleod Band.
South of the border at that time, the US 7th cavalry was at war with the Sioux and other tribes on the American plains. This led to the Little Big Horn Massacre and the flight of Sitting Bull to Canada in 1876.
On September 22, 1877, Treaty Number 7 was signed with the tribes of the Blackfoot Confederacy on the Bow River. It was presided over by the Fort Macleod Band. Peace with the Blackfoot was established on the prairies with the help of the first Brass Band west of Ontario. Our research has uncovered many of the pieces played by the Fort Macleod Brass Band and these were performed at our RCMP Musical Ride concert. This year we plan to record these works to preserve them for posterity.
Canadian history with First Nations has often been a story of neglect and betrayal but the co-operation of the Black Foot Confederacy and the North West Mounted Police in the 1870’s was a very positive beginning and one we should remember and celebrate.