Royal Canadian Mounted Book review.
“In the opinion of Daddy Weston, this is the finest of all the stories of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police…”
TO EFFECT AN ARREST Adventures of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police by Harwood Steele – Book Review
“He’ll kill you!” the men in the barracks would tell Sergeant Reilly every time he returned from a patrol bruised or even bloodied from another rebellious outburst from his horse Rufus. “Killed two men before we got him.” But Reilly would only reply “You shall see” and rubbed down the big chestnut and fed him apples.
Fans of horse whispering might not like the rough-riding ways of men and mounts in those early days of the North-West Mounted, thinking them cruel. But then, in a way, that’s exactly how the story “Rufus the Outlaw” careens to its end. Those who grew up with horses will understand.
Appearing in The Popular Magazine in 1924, “Rufus the Outlaw” was only Harwood’s second published yarn. Showing that Harwood Steele was a great storyteller from the beginning.
“Sam Steele of the Mounted!” The very name resonates powerfully in the Canadian soul. Samuel Benfield Steele had been one of the first 275 members of the North-West Mounted Police Force who had ridden West in 1874 to bring Law and Order to a wild frontier that had neither. His heroic adventures became national legend.
Harwood Steele 1925
Harwood Steele was Sam’s only son. As Harwood wrote in his Intro to EFFECT: “As an ‘original son’ of the Force — that is, a man whose father was one of its original members — I have had close touch with it all my life. I served in close touch with the Force on one of the Canadian Government’s expeditions, when it was completing its conquest of the remote Arctic; and I have often received its kindly hospitality, at headquarters and in detachments from the extreme south to the Farthest North.”
He dedicated this book “To My Sister Flora MacDonald Steele, an ‘Original Daughter’ of the Force.”
Harwood took real episodes from Mounted Police history, blended them with personal accounts told to him off the record by serving and retired Mounties and rewrote them “in the form of fiction.” Published by Jarrolds Publishers Ltd, London, in 1946 and Ryerson Press, Toronto, in 1947, TO EFFECT AN ARREST was his first major collection of short stories and novelettes, 17 of them.
“Rufus the Outlaw” leads off the collection.
And you might say that “Storm Child” was a typical Western of its day: “The hunt began when Storm Child killed George Leach, the rancher.” Men of the Law chasing down a wild Indian. But Harwood had many friends among the First Nations, listened as attentively to their stories of passing times as he did any other man or woman. So his sympathies were a mite different from most Western writers of his day. Storm Child, “last of the Blackfoot chivalry, last of the fighting Indian outlaws,” is the heroic center of this yarn.
And maybe you enjoy the rough humour of tales told by men in barracks and corps reunions. Then you’ll love the stories of Constable Sinister, known to his comrades as Sin: “The Cat Comes Back,” “Horse De Combat” and “Lambkin and the Mounted.”
And there’s this: “The Mounties have no medals for gallantry or devotion to duty.” And that applied to their heroic horses and dogs also. And yet an aging sled-dog, part husky, part wolf, wore a small tin disk with a painted ace of hearts on his collar. They called him Okemow, Cree for “Chief” and the story “Ace of Huskies” explains why.
And…
“But you can’t be Corporal Ellesmere! He was sent after Breen over two years ago, into the Peace River country, on the other side of Canada. He hasn’t been heard from since!”
“I’m Ellesmere, sir,” said the spectre of a man, pulling off his parka. Lo and behold, underneath sweaters and rags, he was wearing the red uniform! “I’m Ellesmere.”
“Then where have you come from? And how did you get here? Why hasn’t headquarters heard anything about you all this time?”
“I’ve come from — over there — Peace River,” he answered stubbornly. “I came here by canoe, sir — and dog train — pack train and on foot. And as for why I haven’t reported — I’ll tell you that, too.”
TO EFFECT AN ARREST Ryerson Press, 1947
His instructions did not say he was not to come back without the murderer. With the Mounted Police that is always understood. Get your man.
And Corporal Jim Ellesmere was sent out to effect the arrest of a killer named Breen, a tough wilderness-wise trapper who knew the Northcountry.
There were obstacles to overcome. Dense forests. Wildwater. Winter blizzards. And a woman named Simone, eyes like a quiet lake under the moon, hair a black rope to bind you, body and soul…
Well, let Harwood tell you the tale as Daddy Weston, an old Mountie, had told it to him.
Among other superb short stories reprinted here are “The Martinet,” “Dancing Partners,” “An Irresistible Combination,” “An Affair of Courage,” “Old-Timers Played Straight” and “The Last War-Party.”
Here’s a book-full of great adventure storytelling you’ll love. Tales of courage, honour and loyalty — especially loyalty. You’ve just gotta track down a copy of TO EFFECT AN ARREST: Adventures of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police by Harwood Steele.[1] Guarantee you’ve never read anything like it.
And if you’re Canadian — here’s who we once were!
Live Free, Mon Ami – Brian Alan Burhoe
Want to learn more about Harwood Steele and Mountie Fiction?
THEN YOU’VE GOT TO SEE “THE WRITERS OF THE NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE” — MY MOST POPULAR LITERARY HISTORY POST:
“Thanks for a wonderful in-depth article on Mountie fiction. I’m a big fan of the Mounties and I really enjoyed the amount of details you provided and found many, many more books to put on my wish list.” Jack Wagner
“I just discovered your blog recently and need to dig deeper into it. That post on Mountie fiction is great.” Western writer James Reasoner
An extensive look at the writers who created the magnificent Mythology of the North-West Mounted Police. My “Top 10 Mountie Writers” — including Harwood Steele, of course. Amply illustrated with marvelous magazine and book covers. FREE TO READ ==> The GREATEST AUTHORS OF NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE FICTION
For more, see Harwood Elmes Robert Steele
Note: Book cover image above of TO EFFECT AN ARREST compliments of Jill and Garry Murray of BOOK NOW, one of the great book sellers on AbeBooks.com.
[1] As of this writing, I see that AbeBooks has 16 copies available. The Jarrolds edition is titled TO EFFECT AN ARREST And Other Stories of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The Jarrolds release has a partially different Table of Contents from the Canadian Ryerson edition: four short stories were replaced with the novella “The King of the Eskimos.”
TO EFFECT AN ARREST Adventures of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police by Harwood Steele Book Review
Book review, Harwood Steele, Mountie fiction, north-west mounted police, NWMP, RCMP, Sam Steele, To Effect an Arrest, western writer, top 10 Mountie writers.
