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Sir Samuel Benfield Steele, in his uniform as commanding officer, Lord Strathcona's Horse.
Sir Samuel Benfield Steele, in his uniform as commanding officer, Lord Strathcona's Horse. Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians (LdSH) is a regular Armoured Regiment of the Canadian Forces.

Major General Sir Samuel Benfield Steele, CB, KCMG, MVO (5 January 1849 – 30 January 1919) was a distinguished soldier and famous member of the North-West Mounted Police. The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (formerly The Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath) is a British Order of chivalry founded by George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George Prince Regent (later George The Royal Victorian Order (RVO is a Dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry in the Commonwealth realms Created by Queen Victoria Events 1477 - Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is killed and Burgundy becomes part of France. Year 1849 ( MDCCCXLIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1648 - Eighty Years' War: The Treaty of Münster is signed ending the conflict between the Netherlands and Spain Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

Contents

Biography

Early life and military career

Born in Medonte Township, Upper Canada, the son of Elmes and Anne Steele, Sam Steele received his education at the family home, Purbrooke, and later at the Royal Military School, a private school in Orillia. Oro-Medonte is a township in south-central Ontario, Canada on the northwestern shores of Lake Simcoe in Simcoe County. The Province of Upper Canada (French Province du Haut-Canada) was a British colony located in what is now the southern portion of the Province of Ontario Elmes Yelverton Steele ( February 6 1781 &ndash August 6 1865) was a naval officer farmer and political figure in Canada West. Following the death of his father, he lived for a time with his older brother, John.

Samuel Steele's family had a strong military tradition, and in 1866 he joined the militia during the Fenian Raids. The Fenian raids were attacks by members of the Fenian Brotherhood based in the United States, on British army forts customs posts and other targets in Steele also participated in the Red River Expedition in 1870 to fight the Red River Rebellion of Louis Riel. The Red River Rebellion or Red River Resistance are names given to the events surrounding the actions of a Provisional government established by Métis Louis Riel (22 October 1844 &ndash 16 November 1885 in English was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and leader of the Métis Much to his disappointment, he arrived after the Métis had surrendered. The Métis are descendants of marriages of Cree, Ojibway Algonquin, Saulteaux, and Menominee aboriginals to Europeans, The following year he joined the Permanent Force artillery, Canada's first regular army unit. Steele had long been fascinated by the west, devouring the works of James Fenimore Cooper in his youth. James Fenimore Cooper (September 15 1789 &ndash September 14 1851 was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century He was especially interested in the First Nations, and spent his time in the west learning from them and the Métis. First Nations is a term of Ethnicity that refers to the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis people However, he was assigned to Fort Henry in Kingston, Ontario for the next few years, as an instructor at the Artillery School. Kingston Ontario is a Canadian city located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, where the lake runs into the St Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec

In 1874, Steele was initiated as a Freemason in the Lisgar Lodge No. 2, in Selkirk, Manitoba. Selkirk is a city in the western Canadian province of Manitoba, located about 22 km northeast of the provincial capital Winnipeg on the Red River Manitoba (English ˌmænɨˈtoʊbə French /manitoba/ is a province of Canada, spanning 647797 square kilometres (250116  sq mi of North America

Life in the Mounties

In 1873, Steele was the third officer sworn in to the newly formed North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), entering as a Staff Constable. He was one of the officers to lead the new recruits of the NWMP on the 1874 March West, when he returned to Fort Garry, present-day Winnipeg, Manitoba. Winnipeg (ˈwɪnɨpɛg is the capital and largest city in the Canadian province of Manitoba, and 7th largest municipality in Canada with a population To him fell the rank of Staff Sergeant Major and the responsibility —as an accomplished horseman and man-at-arms — of drilling the new recruits. In 1878, Steele was given his own command at Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan. Fort Qu'Appelle is a town located in the Qu'Appelle Valley in southern Saskatchewan, Canada Saskatchewan (səˈskætʃəwən) is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of 588276

In 1877, he was assigned to meet with Sitting Bull, who, having defeated General Custer at Little Bighorn, had moved with his people into Canada to escape American vengeance. Sitting Bull ( Lakota: Tȟatȟaŋka Iyotȟaŋka or Ta-Tanka I-Yotank, also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow" Ca The Battle of the Little Bighorn &mdashalso known as Custer's Last Stand, and in the parlance of the relevant Native Americans, the Battle of the Greasy Grass Steele along with U. S. Army General Alfred Howe Terry attempted unsuccessfully to persuade Sitting Bull to return to the U. Alfred Howe Terry (November 10 1827 &ndash December 16 1890 was a Union general in the American Civil War and the military commander of the Dakota Territory S. (The Sioux did return a few years later. )

During the North-West Rebellion Steele was dispatched with a small force. The North-West Rebellion (or North-West Resistance or the Saskatchewan Rebellion) of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful uprising by the Métis Missing the Battle of Batoche the Mounties were sent to move against the last rebel force led by Big Bear. The Battle of Batoche was the decisive Canadian with the help of the Clergy victory over the Métis resistance that led to the surrender of Louis Riel Big Bear or Mistahimaskwa ( c 1825 &ndash 17 January 1888) was born in the Canadian Northwest, and became Chief He was present at the Battle of Frenchman's Butte, where Big Bear's warriors defeated the Canadian forces under General Thomas Strange. The Battle of Frenchman's Butte, fought on May 28, 1885, occurred when a force of Cree, dug in on a hillside near Frenchman's Butte was unsuccessfully Two weeks later, Steele and his two dozen Mounties defeated Big Bear's force at Loon Lake in the last battle ever fought on Canadian territory. The Battle of Loon Lake concluded the North-West Rebellion on June 3, 1885 and was the last battle ever fought on Canadian soil The contributions of the NWMP in putting down the rebellion went largely ignored and unrewarded, to Steele's great annoyance. By 1885, Steele held the rank of superintendent. He established a N. W. M. P station in the town of Galbraiths Ferry, which was later named to Fort Steele after Steele solved a murder in the town. Fort Steele British Columbia is a heritage town in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada. He then moved on to Fort Macleod in 1888. Fort Macleod is a town in the southwest corner of the Province of Alberta, Canada. He married Marie Harwood at Vaudreuil, Quebec in 1890 (they had met at Fort Macleod the previous year). Vaudreuil-Dorion is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec in the County of Vaudreuil-Soulanges. Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk They had three children, including Harwood Steele, who would fictionalize episodes from his father's life in novels such as Spirit-of-Iron (1929). The year 1929 in literature involved some significant events and new books

The discovery of gold in the Klondike, Yukon in the late 1890s presented Steele with a new challenge. Yukon (ˈjuːkɒn is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three territories. Although he campaigned unsuccessfully for the position of assistant commissioner in 1892, in January of 1898, he was sent to succeed Charles Constantine as commissioner and to establish customs posts at the head of the White and Chilkoot Passes, and at Lake Bennett. Charles Constantine ( 13 November 1846 &ndash 5 May 1912) was a Canadian Northwest Mounted Police officer and superintendent from He was noted for his hard line with the hundreds of unruly and independent-minded prospectors, many of them American. To help control the situation, he established the rule that no one would be allowed to enter the Yukon without a ton of goods to support themselves, thus preventing the entry of desperate and potentially unruly speculators and adventurers.

Steele and his force made the Klondike Gold Rush one of the most orderly of its kind in history and made the NWMP famous around the world, which ensured its survival at a critical time when the force's dissolution was being debated in parliament. The Klondike Gold Rush, infrequently referred to as the Yukon Gold Rush or Alaska Gold Rush, was a frenzy of Gold rush Immigration to and for By July of 1898, Steele commanded all the NWMP in the Yukon area, and was a member of the territorial council. As the force reported directly to Ottawa, Steele had almost free rein to run things as he chose, always with an eye towards maintaining law, order and Canadian sovereignty. He moved to Dawson City in September of 1898.

Boer War and second military career

Always a soldier, in 1900 Steele leapt at the offer of Canadian Pacific Railway tycoon Lord Strathcona to be the first commanding officer of Strathcona's privately-raised cavalry unit, Lord Strathcona's Horse. Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, of Mount Royal in the Province of Quebec and Dominion of Canada and of Glencoe in the County of Argyll is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians (LdSH) is a regular Armoured Regiment of the Canadian Forces. This Canadian light cavalry unit, in British Imperial service, was sent to South Africa during the Second Boer War, where Steele commanded them with distinction in the role of reconnaissance scouts. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa See also First Boer War,, South African Wars (1879-1915 The Second Boer War ( Dutch: Tweede Boerenoorlog, Afrikaans: Steele, however, disliked greatly what he was ordered to do by the British, which included burning towns and moving the populace to concentration camps. Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people commonly in large groups without trial After taking the unit back to Canada early in 1901, Steele returned to South Africa that same year to command 'B' division of the South African Constabulary, a position he held until 1906. For the apartheid-era police force see South African Police. The South African Police Service is the national Police force of the On his return to Canada in 1907, Steele assumed command of Military Division No. 10 (Winnipeg), where he spent his time regrouping Lord Strathcona's Horse, and in preparing his memoirs.

Steele requested active military duty upon the outbreak of the First World War. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All He was initially rejected for command on the grounds of age. However, a compromise was reached which allowed him to act as commander of the 2nd Canadian Division until the unit was sent to France, whereupon he would be replaced. After accompanying the division to England, Steele was offered an administrative post as commanding officer of the South-East District.

Matters were complicated, however, when Canadian Minister of Defence Samuel Hughes insisted that Steele also be made commander of all Canadian troops in Europe -- a slight problem, as there were two brigadier-generals who each believed the Canadian command was theirs. This article is about the Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence The issue was not resolved until 1916, when the new Minister of Overseas Military Forces of Canada, Sir G. H. Perley, removed Steele from his Canadian command after Steele refused to return to Canada as a recruiter. Sir George Halsey Perley, KCMG, PC ( September 12 1857 &ndash January 4 1938) was a Canadian politician He kept his British command until his retirement on July 15, 1918. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common While in Britain, Steele was knighted, on January 1, 1918, and was made a Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, and Member of the Royal Victorian Order. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (formerly The Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath) is a British Order of chivalry founded by George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George Prince Regent (later George The Royal Victorian Order (RVO is a Dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry in the Commonwealth realms Created by Queen Victoria Steele died of influenza just after his seventieth birthday and was later buried in Winnipeg.

Canada's fifth tallest mountain, Mount Steele, is named after him. For the mountain in Antarctica see Mount Steele (Antarctica. Mount Steele is the fifth highest Mountain in Canada and

CFB Edmonton, the home of Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) is now called Steele Barracks after Major General Steele. CFB Edmonton is a Canadian Forces Base located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians (LdSH) is a regular Armoured Regiment of the Canadian Forces. [1]

Fictional references

Hector Adair, a character in the novel Spirit-of-Iron (1923), written by Steele's son, Harwood Steele, is thought to have been modelled on the famous Mountie. The novel includes a foreword in which the author writes: "Hector Adair is intended to represent the ideal Mounted Police officer in particular and the British officer generally. He is not to be identified with any historical figure connected with the Force. "

Players meet Sam Steele in the 1994 computer simulation game The Yukon Trail. The Yukon Trail is a 1994 computer game from MECC, the creators of The Oregon Trail.

In James Michener's Alaska, "Major Sam Steele" is the face of the NWMP. James Albert Michener ( February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American author of more than 40 titles the majority of which Alaska is a Historical novel by James A Michener. Like other Michener titles Alaska spans a considerable amount of time Michener acknowledges him as a historical figure in the notes at the start of the book, but the veracity of his claimed actions is unknown.

Steele is also portrayed in Don Rosa's Walt Disney comic book Hearts of the Yukon, episode 8. Keno Don Hugo Rosa (often just called Don Rosa) (born June 29, 1951) is a comic book writer and illustrator best known for his stories about Scrooge Walter Elias Disney (December 5 1901 – December 15 1966 was a multiple Academy Award -winning American Film producer, director, Screenwriter 5 from The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck is a revisionist Comic book story by Don Rosa about Scrooge

In the television series Due South, "North'" (Season 2, Episode 123 - 1995), Fraser references Sam Steele as having been very proud at never firing his weapon while patrolling the Northwest Territories. This article concerns the television program For the television listings magazine see Due South Magazine Due South is an award-winning

External links

References

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