The Mounties: Tales of Adventure and Danger from the Early Days

by Elle Andra-Warner

Elle Andra-Warner is a journalist, author, and photographer who lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Estonian by heritage, she was born in a post-war Estonian displaced persons camp in Germany and came to Canada as a young child with her parents. A graduate of Lakehead University, Elle specializes in writing creative non-fiction, about everything from people to travel, history, culture, kayaking and aviation. Her weekly newspaper column about people is in its tenth year of publication. And as a travel journalist and photographer, her feature articles appear in publications world-wide. Elle is also a communications consultant, speechwriter, and workshop facilitator. When she's not researching, writing, or travelling, she enjoys relaxing at the family's lakeside log cabin near Nakina or exploring northwestern Ontario.

Genres: Canada

144 pages, Paperback

First published June 21, 2004

Reviews

[Taveri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read about thirty of the Amazing Stories" seires (they were easy one-day reads) there was a lot of redundancy in this last one about the Mounties, where most of the stories had aready been covered in other books. An exception was chapter six with half a dozen short tales of unusual interest. For instance where Mounties went into Alaska as private citizens to rescue a lad being tortured to death.

An even more entrhalling story that could have been a book in itself was six RNWMP accompanying 154 hurses to Russia to be delivered 6000+ km by train to the White Russians in the Civil War against the Bolsheviks. The telling was only done in four pages.

As with a lot of the Amazing Stories there wasn't much in the way of maps to help visualize where events were taking a place. Another deficiency was in parsimonious use of dates so it wasn't clear what years events were happening.

[C. (Don't blank click my reviews, comment please! · Rating 3 out of 5]

* I take my writing seriously and consider comments the reward. Please do not leave “like button” clicks, until you are accompanying them with remarks for me. *

I have only seen “Amazing Stories” preceding 2010 but Altitude Publishing generated a plethora of these. I love absorbing important details and personages in easy doses. From Elle Andra-Warner in 2004, “The Mounties: Tales Of Adventure And Danger From The Early Days” summarizes the formative hundred years of our mounted police. I enjoyed the first quarter immeasurably! I was proud to learn how importantly my home, Manitoba, featured in Canada's formation, let alone the North West Mounted Police! Our pivotal background unrolled quite a story.

Law was needed at Fort Whoop-Up, which I knew from the story of “The Lost Lemon Mine”, between Saskatchewan and Alberta. Scamming Aboriginals with lethal “fire water” was serious. At this chapter, cohesive history unglued into repetitive snippets; seemingly picked for shock factor. I would choose happy outcomes. Admiration of an officer's wife, for example, ended in her death. Police horses were brought to a war overseas.... and left to serve there. Why incorporate such numerous regretful outcomes? We became inundated with the words “bitterly cold” and “exhausted”, how far Mounties travelled, and worse; eating horses or dogs. Summarizing such things once would suffice.

I enjoyed Elle's story mode and needed a tied-in ending. I lack enlightenment about any basic details, such as when their name changed from North West Mounted Police to Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Our generation knows them as “the RCMP”. I think their base is in Alberta now. When and why did it change from Lower Fort Garry, Manitoba? Researchers have to target material for focused treatises like this and create a flow; even if it means snipping a who's who of a subject. Variety and inspiration should trump a list of events: ensuring that they aren't rattled-off handfuls of facts. Room needs to be made for lightness, certainly in conclusion.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Canadian, I found this book very interesting revealing a history of both a country and a police force we should be proud of.

[Jaime Mercader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un resumen de los inicios de la policía montada del Canadá y de las condiciones tan duras en las que tuvieron que desempeñar su trabajo. Mostrando la realidad de esa parte del mundo por aquel entonces y grandes ejemplos de dedicación y profesionalidad.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick & Interesting Read