Recommended reading; Grant MacEwan's biography, "James Walker, Man
of the Western Frontier".
On April 3, 1936, the city of
Calgary was in mourning for one of it's foremost pioneers, James Walker.
The streets were lined with citizens paying their last respects as the funeral
procession wound it's way from Knox United Church. A firing party from the
15th Canadian Light Horse regiment was assembled at the grave site to give
the final salute, and the North West Police veterans were present to say
goodbye to their old commander and comrade.
James Walker was born near Hamilton, Ontario and became one of the original
commissioned officers in the North West Mounted Police in 1873, taking part
in the trek West in 1874.
Walker, like all the commissioned officers of the force, faced the same
hardships as the enlisted men with the added responsibility of caring for
the new recruits, (most of them city boys - some as young as 15 - with little
or no experience in the frontier) and assuring their safety and the success
of the expedition. Walker and Col. Macleod, at one point, had to leave the
expedition and travel on alone to procure extra supplies and horses to replace
those which had died along the way.
Walker was promoted to superintendent in 1876 and sent back East to arrange
for new recruits. While in Ottawa, he was instructed to take some of the
recruits and a troop of more experienced policemen (they were two year veterans
but you became "experienced" very quickly under their conditions)
to Battleford to establish a Mounted Police fort and provide an escort for
the treaty commissioners who were travelling in the same area.
No sooner had they arrived in Battleford when Walker learned that Chief
Beardy had no intention of signing the upcoming treaty without special consideration
for his own people. Expecting trouble, Walker and his men headed for Fort
Carleton leaving some of the troop at Battleford in charge of construction.
There was a festive mood amongst the native people at Carleton, but the
treaty commissioners had not yet arrived. Walker learned that Beardy intended
to stop the treaty commissioners en route and press his own demands.
Walker and his men then set out to intercept the treaty commission and encountered
Chief Beardy and his force. Instead of confronting Beardy, Walker ordered
his men to ride right past Beardy's group as if they weren't there. When
they reached Dumont's Crossing, instead of finding the expected blockade,
the commissioners were greeted with a note from the Cree at Fort Carleton
welcoming them.
Chief Beardy had many treaty disputes but, being a great negotiator, did
manage to obtain special considerations. The Natives of Treaty #6 called
Walker, "The Eagle that Protects"
Shortly after this, Walker married Euphemia Quarrie and brought his new
bride out West. They arrived in Fort Battleford, they discovered that the
commander's residence still wasn't ready and this young, very proper, lady
from Gault, Ontario had to fit in to the rugged life of a North West Mounted
Policeman as best she could. To add to the culture shock, they arrived in
Battleford to discover that a group of Sioux had come up from Cypress Hills
and were camped around the Barracks.
Commanders Residence Ft. Battleford
Like most of the original commissioned officers, Walker had a great respect
for the Sioux people and for Sitting Bull in particular. Walker kept contact
with the Sioux who had drifted North but impressed upon them that they were
not part of the treaties and thus not entitled to any of the treaty benefits
or support. Most of the Sioux wanted work but there wasn't much work available
in the area. Walker did what he could by hiring them to do labour around
the fort and finding them employment with the local settlers.
In order to have the Mounted Police become more self sufficient, Walker
established a farm and truck garden at the barracks and in the first year,
produced 36000 lbs. of potatoes, 3800 lbs. of turnips and 1000 lbs. of beets.
This practice became common at NWMP forts and outposts.
In 1880, Walker was ordered to assume command at Fort Walsh but, on his
way there, was ordered to Ottawa to appear before the Prime Minister. He
was offered a position at a large cattle ranch being started by Senator
Cochrane and resigned the force to assume his new duties as manager of the
operation. He left the ranching business in 1882 and took over a sawmill
which supplied much of the lumber for Calgary and area. The Walker family
also owned a farm, in an area which was then east of the city and is now
Inglewood.
He was pressed into national service once again during the North West Rebellion
of 1885 when he formed the Home Guard. He was a Lt. Col. in the 15th Light
Horse and served overseas in WW1 as the commanding officer of the Canadian
Forestry Corps.
Walker was a prominent and well loved Calgarian; in 1884, he was declared
chairman of the newly formed Calgary Citizen's Committee, he helped establish
Calgary's first school district, he was a school board chairman, he was
director of the first general hospital and active in both the Southern Alberta
Pioneers and Old Timers Association and the NWMP Veterans Association of
which he was the first president - serving several terms, on and off, from
1886 until 1919. In 1975, the City of Calgary proclaimed Col. James Walker
"Citizen of the Century" an fitting tribute for a man who gave
so much to this city.
The lasting legacy of the Walker
family is the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, a conservation project championed
by Walker's son, Selby, shown in the picture on the left (the old Walker
residence in the background).