Policing the Great Plains: Rangers, Mounties, and the Transnational North American Frontier

The Texas Rangers and the Canadian Mounties are perhaps the most famous constabularies in the world, celebrated in print and film and serving as instantly familiar symbols of the North American West. It seems fitting that they are often mentioned in the same breath, as the two forces have much in common. For instance, the Mounted Police were formed in 1873, just one year before the Rangers were renewed by the Texas legislature. Each constabulary was organized along military lines, with recruits divided among six companies. More importantly, the Rangers and the Mounties were charged with highly similar missions: to control and absorb the hinterlands of Texas and the Canadian Northwest.This they accomplished by subjugating Indians and peoples of mixed ancestry, protecting ranching interests, and breaking strikes. The means by which they achieved these ends, however, often diverged dramatically, highlighting some of the fundamental differences between the U.S. and Canadian Wests. Andrew Graybill, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Nebraska, will discuss what can be learned through a sustained comparison of the two forces.