This photograph, taken in August 1881 by G.M. Dawson of the Geological Survey of Canada, shows the North West Mounted Police fort six years after Inspector Brisebois and men of F Troop arrived to establish authority in the former whisky trade territory Not at all an imposing bastion, the fort's purpose was not to defend a strategic point or house a large garrison but rather, to serve as a shelter for men and animals and as an administrative centre from which small, mounted patrols could be regularly dispatched to patrol the countryside. In the foreground is the Elbow River, in the background is the Bow. Note also the Red River cart (right centre), the main vehicle of transportation prior to the coming of the railway. The stark setting suggests the desolate nature of the unsettled prairie.
