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About. 20 Lethbridge students will relive one of Canada’s most colorful historic events — this May when they set out to fol low the route established in 1674 by the North West Mounted Police between Fort Dufferin and Fort Macleod. Under the direction of teach er Bruce Haig, the Grade 9 stu dents here to cover the trek between Manitoba and Alberta in 10 days, between May 12 and 21. Since Jan. 1, Afr. Haig and his students have gathered about 50 slides ilustrating the NWMP trek. The students themselves have put in more than 330 hours of the own time in documenting the event. Students hope to earn funds for their spring travel by sell ing biographies of the 239 men who took part in the original excursion. Mr. Haig said a master list of the original NWMP roster has been compiled. Residents of Southern Alberta who may have a family link with these men will receive a letter from Ham ilton Junior High offering to provide a biography of the pioneer. Included in a biography will be information on the individ ual’s background, family ties, when he joined the NWMP, how he weathered the 1874 trek, what he did when the journey was completed. The cost of research? A real bargain by today's standards: ore biography will cost the equi valent of one day’s pay for the 1874 trooper, Alberta residents wishing to locate information on relatives who may have taken part in the trek will pay from 75 cents to $7.12 — complete. Only one man pulled down the top day’s wage of $7.12 a hundred years ago, that was the NWMP commissioner, Lt. Col. G. A. French. Sub-con stables earned 75 cents per day during the trek. A free public display of NWMP history will be offered by Mr. Haig and his students March 27 at 2 p.m. in the Yates Memorial Centre. Mr. Haig said the 45-minute presentation, including slides and commentary, will dail work done up to the time by local students on the 1874 trek. Students taking part in this year’s study were recruited by Mr. Haig — almost as intensely as men were originally recruit ed by the NWMP a hundred years ago. “The kids had to apply just like they did in the mounted police. They had to read books and make sketches of the trek from Fort Dufferin to Fort Whoop-Up, some students also compiled diaries of the jour ney. “We set a limit of 20 students and we have about 16 or 18 now. We could have had kids hanging out the doors (for this project) if we hadn’t had the prerequisite,” Mr. Haig said. The use of audio-visual aids has spurred Hamilton High stu dents to greater heighths of learning than normally expect ed, Mr. Haig said, “One of the arguments against audio-visual teaching is that students are not going to read anymore. I think that’s a bunch of poppycock. “These students are reading more than they ever did, re searching this project and get ting information on the events of the trek,” Mr. Haig said. Tentative plans for the May excursion call for Mr. Haig and his class to travel by bus to Cypress Hills, on the Alberta- Saskatchewan boundary, scene of an Assiniboine massacre in May 1873. It was that incident, which left between 30 and #0 Indian men, women and children dead, which spurred the crea tion in Ottawa of the North West Mounted Police. The Parliament of the day received exaggerated reports that more than 200 Indians had been brutally slaughtered by a former Confederate Army sol dier, Thomas Hardwick, known as the Green River Renegade. From Cypress Hills, local students will travel to Maple Creek, Regina and Dufferin be fore starting back toward Fort Whoop-Up. En route, Lethbridge students will visit the RCMP headquar ters and museum at Regina, historic graveyards and rem nants of NWMP stations. The entire journey will be documentated by the students on slides and film for presen tation at the conclusion of the trek.
Newspaper Details
Lethbridge Herald
Lethbridge, Alberta, CA
Fri, Feb 02, 1973
Page 7
Full Page
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Anonymous
CA 30 Jul 2026
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