Roche Percee to the Sweetgrass Hills — North-West Mounted Police

Looking west across the hills of the Coteau country.

We had only covered about a quarter of the distance to Fort Whoop-Up, and this on an established trail. The force now had orders to strike north of the boundary and travel across unknown country. Unfortunately, our Metis guides were not familiar with the country. Using an inaccurate map and taking compass readings by day and surveying by the stars at night, Commissioner French and Sub-Inspector Walker gradually marched the force closer to its goal.

While never lost, they could not plan the best route. The force struggled up and down hills and through broken terrain. They never knew when they might find water. Many of the lakes and sloughs they did find were either fouled by buffalo or full of alkali. Often the men and animals were so thirsty that they drank the water anyway, only to suffer later.

Some days were better than others. A clean lake meant a day of rest, a chance to do laundry and to take a bath. Some of the better marksmen shot ducks and geese, a most welcome change to our diet of dry biscuits, bacon and tea! The men were very pleased the day Assistant Commissioner Macleod appeared with 4,700 pounds of pemmican he had purchased at Wood Mountain Depot.

On the March, the men ate frugally, often not eating at all when the supply wagons fell behind.

A typical day started with tea or water and bread or hardtack, a lunch of tea or water with bread or hardtack, and a dinner of, you guessed it, tea or water with bread or hardtack. This was nicknamed 'wet and dry' or 23. When meat was available,either as bacon, fresh meat or dried buffalo meat, it was added to the meals. Fred Bagley was delighted when Inspector Macleod arrived with a wagon load of dried meat: "…the sheets of brittle dried meat…was…as manna from Heaven was to the Israelites during their desert wanderings for we could fill our pockets in the mornings from the unguarded bales, and nibble all day long." Whenever they had a chance, the men hunted ducks, geese, pronghorn and finally buffalo to add variety and protein to their diet.

At the posts and whenever possible on the trail, the men received their daily ration:

1½ lbs of beef or 1 lb of bacon
1½ lbs of bread or 1¼ lbs of flour or 1¼ lb of biscuit
½ oz tea
½ oz coffee
½ oz salt
3oz sugar
1 oz rice
1/36 oz of pepper
1 lb potatoes or 2 oz dried apples or 2 oz beans

When on patrol, the rations were increased by one half

"While rations were filling and fueled the body, they were nothing special. The men found other ways to improve upon their rations. We 'ran' a mess in barracks. Each man contributed ten cents per diem towards messing, and we appointed a caterer, who laid out the aggregate sum to the best advantage. Thus, in addition to our rations, we had milk and butter, and pies, and plum pudding, and other luxuries." —John George Donkin, 1884

Most days, the men rose early, loaded their tents and blankets into the wagons, brushed and saddled their horses, and rode for ten or twelve miles before stopping for breakfast. More often than not, breakfast was “23,” a nickname for tea only, or “wet and dry”—tea or water and a biscuit or hardtack. Tea, of course, could only be made when the men found firewood. On the prairie, they collected dry buffalo chips to burn. On wet days there were no hot meals.

On August 18, Commissioner French established his camp for those members of the force who were unable to continue and desperately needed to rest and recover. Seven sick men, 26 horses and some oxen were left with Sergeant Sutherland in charge. The camp and its occupants were to remain at that location until the force returned on its march back to Manitoba later in the fall.

A week later, the force reached the edge of the Cypress Hills. Here they waited until Assistant Commissioner Macleod arrived from the White Mud River Depot with oats for the horses. That day the men ate the last of the bacon. Wet and dry would be the order for the next days.

By 1874, the buffalo or bison were already beginning to disappear, a result of the greedy Europeans and their fur and illegal whiskey trade. On the March, the men first saw buffalo well into their journey. They saw signs of the buffalo herds long before: dung that the men collected and used for their campfires when they ran out of firewood; fouled sloughs which the buffalo had passed through; and endless prairie with the grass eaten down to the dirt, leaving nothing for their hungry horses. The first buffalo hunt was a new experience for them all. The abundance of fresh meat boosted spirits and helped them to regain their strength.

The horses weren't as lucky. The buffalo had eaten all of the grass. The oats were finished. With the coming of September, the weather turned cold and rainy. Already barely able to walk, more horses died. Some could only walk a few hours before needing a lengthy rest. The Commissioner ordered everyone to use one of their two blankets to cover their horse.

The force was in trouble. Food was in short supply, men and horses were exhausted and cold. About forty horses had already died. The men walked in what remained of their boots; some wound rags around their feet, one man even wore his slippers!

French sent out scouts to look for Fort Whoop-Up. All they found were three deserted log cabins. Even his information about the location of the Fort was wrong. French decided to push for the Sweetgrass Hills. Through driving snow, the force straggled into camp by the West Butte.

Commissioner French was once again faced with a decision. He decided to take D and E Divisions back to winter quarters at Fort Ellice. The rest of the men, B, C, F and a few men left from A Division would continue on to Fort Whoop-Up with Assistant Commissioner Macleod. The horses were inspected and the best assigned to D and E Divisions. Under Inspector Carvell, these two troops would begin to slowly make their way eastward to Wild Horse Lake, where they would wait for the Commissioner. French planned a trek to Fort Benton in Montana to re-provision the force, before heading east himself.