The Cowboy Cavalry: The Story of the Rocky Mountain Rangers

by Gordon E. Tolton

When Native and Métis unrest escalated into the Northwest Rebellion of 1885, white settlers in southern Alberta`s cattle country were terrified. Three major First Nations bordered their range, and war seemed certain. In anticipation, 114 men mustered to form the Rocky Mountain Rangers, a volunteer militia charged with ensuring the safety of the open range between the Rocky Mountains and the Cypress Hills. The Rangers were a motley crew, from ex-Mounties and ex-cons to retired, high-ranking military officials and working ranch hands. Membership qualifications were scant: ability to ride a horse, knowledge of the prairies, and preparedness to die. The Rangers were resolutely prepared to fight, as mounted cavalry, should the rebellion spread.


This is their story, inextricably linked to the dissensions of the day, rife with skirmishes, corruption, jealousies, rumour, innuendo and gross media sensationalizing . . . all bound together with what author Gordon Tolton terms "a generous helping of gunpowder."

Genres: History

239 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2011

Reviews

[Gavin Stephenson-Jackman]

A history of the Cavalry unit that was ostensibly formed to protect Southern Alberta during the second Northwest Rebellion led by Louis Reil. The unit never really saw any action as the rebellion was further north and put down before it spread very far. Very much a detailed history of the RMR and not the story I had anticipated.