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Policing the Great Plains: Rangers, Mounties, and the North American Frontier, 1875-1910
Published in Cooperation with the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University.
In the late nineteenth century, the Texas Rangers and Canada’s North-West Mounted Police were formed to bring the resource-rich hinterlands at either end of the Great Plains under governmental control. Native and rural peoples often found themselves squarely in the path of this westward expansion and the law enforcement agents that led the way. Though separated by nearly two thousand miles, the Rangers and Mounties performed nearly identical functions, including subjugating Indigenous groups; dispossessing peoples of mixed ancestry; defending the property of big cattlemen; and policing industrial disputes. Yet the means by which the two forces achieved these ends sharply diverged; while the Rangers often relied on violence, the Mounties usually exercised restraint, a fact that highlights some of the fundamental differences between the U.S. and Canadian Wests. Policing the Great Plains presents the first comparative history of the two most famous constabularies in the world.
In the late nineteenth century, the Texas Rangers and Canada’s North-West Mounted Police were formed to bring the resource-rich hinterlands at either end of the Great Plains under governmental control. Native and rural peoples often found themselves squarely in the path of this westward expansion and the law enforcement agents that led the way. Though separated by nearly two thousand miles, the Rangers and Mounties performed nearly identical functions, including subjugating Indigenous groups; dispossessing peoples of mixed ancestry; defending the property of big cattlemen; and policing industrial disputes. Yet the means by which the two forces achieved these ends sharply diverged; while the Rangers often relied on violence, the Mounties usually exercised restraint, a fact that highlights some of the fundamental differences between the U.S. and Canadian Wests. Policing the Great Plains presents the first comparative history of the two most famous constabularies in the world.
294 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 6, 2021
Read for HON 297
Interesting comparison between the Canadian Mounties and Texas Rangers who, through different tactics, defined the borderland
Dragged on for too long, I ended up skimming
Interesting comparison between the Canadian Mounties and Texas Rangers who, through different tactics, defined the borderland
Dragged on for too long, I ended up skimming
June 14, 2010
Keeping my minor criticisms to myself, this is an interesting read. Props to the author for working through and pointing the similarities between the two policing agencies. While its form makes it a somewhat difficult read (despite its brevity of only two hundred pages) I recommend it for anyone willing to look at the Great Plains as an international region, instead of broken up into two independent parts.
November 28, 2013
I didn't like reading this. I only didn't give it two stars, is that it does have an interesting frame of comparative history and showing how soft and hard power find similar ends. But the tone is off, and the content is pretty measly, at least it is short.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews