History of the Standoff Detachment

On April 8, 1882, the detachment was moved
down the river to some property owned by Supt.
Crozier of Fort Macleod. In 1881 Supt. Crozier
had bought land and buildings about three miles
north of Dutch Fred's Ranch and the detachment
moved into these buildings, which the govern-
ment rented for the use of the Mounted Police. In
1887 the land upon which the detachment
quarters were standing was surveyed by Mr. C.
F. Miles, D. L. S. and reserved by the Depart-
ment of the Interior as a Mounted Police
Reserve. The reserve consisted of 120 acres
described as S.E. t/4 section 34 township 6 range
25 west of the 4th Meridian, lying west of the Bel-
ly River.

Stand Off, long famous as an outpost in
whiskey trading days, was principally responsi-
ble for policing the Blood Reserve. The famous
Charcoal Episode of 1896, in which Sgt. Brock
Wilde, then in charge of the Pincher Creek
detachment, was shot and killed, was also an in-
cident in Stand Off's past, as much of Charcoal's
activities centered around that location. E.
McNeil was also the recipient of one of his
bullets. From Stand Off, members of the Force
patrolled the Blood Reserve to prevent cattle
killing; attended the weekly Indian dances in
winter and summer; and the Sun Dance, held an-
nually in nearby "Macowan" (Blackfoot word
for Belly Buttes). The Indian Department
supervised an annual Fall Round-up of Indian
and stray cattle. About the same time of year,
the Police became truant officers and staged one
of their own round-ups for the two residential
schools.

Detachments were becoming modernized.
City and town posts, of course, had electric lights
and running water. Stand Off's lights were
kerosene lamps, the water supply, a spring some
distance from the buildings and the fountain, a
pail of water in the kitchen. The fire ex-
tinguishers were red pails marked "Fire". They
were always filled with water and kept on
shelves in various parts of the detachment
building. The cell at Stand Off was made of
wooden two-by-fours reinforced with steel rods
and located in the constable's room on the second
floor. Naturally, upstairs was not the most con-
venient place to take a drunk Indian but once
lodged in the cell he was secure, provided the
constable did not carelessly leave wood-working
tools near the prisoner.

Transportation was mainly by saddle horse or
buckboard. Hauling supplies from Fort Macleod
was done in the old general service wagon and in
winter by bobsled. The old cook, Ed. Larkin, was
one of the originals in the N.W.M.P. joining on
June 5, 1877. His regimental number was 185. He
had two or three pet cats and his favorite song
was "The Red River Valley" with which he
entertained the men morning, noon and night.
The original Fort Standoff, also spelled Stand
Off, was built at the junction of the Belly and
Waterton Rivers in 1871. The builders of the fort
were American traders who brought their
supplies from Fort Benton, Montana, and there
is an interesting story of how the fort got its
name. The traders were trailed into Canada by a
United States Marshal. When he overtook them,
they successfully argued that they were in
Canada and he was out of his jurisdiction and,
therefore, without authority. So they named the
fort they established "Stand Off" because, in
that area they ( mostly whiskey smugglers )
stood off the law.

In the spring of 1925, the Standoff detachment
was officially closed, the personnel moving to
Cardston, Alberta. The shift was taken as a
result of the building of a new Indian agency and
two new residential schools on the Blood
Reserve. In the last days of Standoff, the detach-
ment was comprised of Cpl. Pat Gallagher in
charge, Cst. G. V. Williams and Scout Percy
Plain Woman. Cpl. Gallagher who used to ride a
beautiful big black horse, would come into the
store and ask for "a chocolate bar for my horse".
He took a bite or two but the horse always got the
balance.

We missed the force as we were always glad
to have them come in for a chat.

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