Union Cemetery Main Gate

UNION CEMETERY
Fort Macleod, Alberta
(Main Entrance Gate photo)

Field of Honour (newer section)

White Memorial Cross
Union Cemetery
Fort Macleod

North West Mounted Police - Field of Honour

North West Mounted Police Field of Honour

Union Cemetery

Established October 1874

Historically, Union Cemetery is Fort Macleod's second cemetery. The first cemetery was on the island in the Oldman River near the site of the original North West Mounted Police fort, in use from October, 1874 until 1883 when flooding and erosion unearthed some of the caskets buried there.
Constable Godfrey Parks was the first person buried at the island site. He contracted typhoid fever on the trek west from Manitoba, two weeks before the N.W.M.P.'s arrival at Fort Macleod. They arrived October 13, 1874. He died and was buried October 26th.
A number of other N.W.M.P., R.N.W.M.P. and R.C.M.P. members are buried within the N.W.M.P. section of Union Cemetery, the Field of Honour, which is surrounded by a white picket fence. A sign beside the fence discusses the members who have been interred there, including the guide and interpreter, Jerry Potts.
Also interred here are veterans from the two World Wars. Surprisingly, there is even a veteran from the American Civil War. One notable veteran of World War I is Brigadier Frederick Harvey. As a member of Lord Stathcona's Horse Regiment, he received the Victoria Cross, the Military Cross, and the Croix de Guerre. In March, 1917, he fought in the trenches at Guyencourt, France and led his regiment in an attack to gain control of a German machine gun post. This initiative led to the Allied capture of the town.
During World War II, the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan operated a large base just outside of Fort Macleod for the training of pilots from all over the British Commonwealth. Foreign pilots who died during these exercises are also buried here.
Please show respect as you walk around the cemetery to visit grave sites.
Be sure to visit one of our many other attractions.
The Fort Museum,1884 Barracks Site, original fort site, historic cemeteries. Devonian Walkway, Anniversary Murial, Legacy Trail, River Valley Wilderness Park, Empress Theatre and, of course, historic Main Street.

HISTORIC FORT MACLEOD

North West Mounted Police Field of Honour

The stories of these few members
are representative of the bravery,
commitment and determination
displayed by every member of the
force. The daunting task of this small
force was to meld a community in
which whites and natives could live
in peace, the American whiskey
traders of the early days could be driven out,and the western prairies
claimed by the Dominion of Canada.
Members of the R.C.M.P. Honour
Roll gave their lives in the
performance of their duty.

Spl/Cst., Interpreter & Guide
Jerry Potts
Died July 13, 1896

It was Jerry Potts who guided the
Great March of 1874 to present
day Fort Macleod. the mixed-
breed guide served the force for
22 years. Many consider Jerry Potts
the greatest guide on the continent.
His ability to travel through blinding
snowstorms or blackest night saved the
force many a time. A colourful hero, loyal to both the N.W.M.P. and to his
native heritage, he was invaluable, certainly, because of his skills, but primarily because of his understanding of both cultures.

Cst. Godfrey Parks
(Primus Moriri - First to Die)
Died October 26, 1874

Constable Godfrey Parks was the only casualty of the Great March. After months of hardship, drinking contaminated water and being ill- equipped for traveling across the
unforgiving prairie, Parks contracted typhoid fever while traveling through the Sweet Grass Hills. He died two weeks
later, shortly after "F" Division reached Fort Macleod. Constable Parks was the first to be interred at the original Island Cemetery.

Sub-Cst. John Nash
Regimental #135 Honor Roll #1
Died March 11, 1876

Sub-Constable John Nash was the first member of the N.W.M.P. to be placed on the N.W.M.P. Honour Roll, and is the only member of the Great March to be included. Harsh conditions in this rugged new land were responsible
for Nash's death. While out gathering firewood with three others from the Fort, he was pitched from the load he was driving as it overturned and was struck on the head by a falling log. He died instantly.

Cst. Claudius S. Hooley
Regimental #181 Honour Roll #4
Died July 24, 1880

In July 1880 NWMP Commissioner James Macleod and guide, Jerry Potts, both on horseback, led a group of four men from Fort Walsh to Fort Macleod. Teamster Cst. Claudius Hooley had seated with him in his four-horse wagon, Macleod's nephew, his orderly, and Inspector C.E. Denny. On the hazardous journey, the second of two treacherous river crossings claimed the life of teamster Hooley. His body was recovered a month later 12 miles downstream.

Cst. James Herron (Heron)
Regimental #913 Honour Roll #18
Died March 2, 1891

Cst. James Herron, after gaining 8
years of rugged experience on the
prairies at Kipp, while in charge of
the post and ignoring his colleague's
admonitions about going alone in winter
and taking no snow goggles, rode out on
patrol for St. Mary's detachment. Two days later trackers found his body with his discharged revolver lying beside
him, a bullet hole in his head. Had he fallen and accidentally discharged his gun, or, freezing and snow-blinded, had he given up hope? He was interred here after an official examination and an Anglican/Episcopalian funeral.

Sgt. Wm. Brock Wilde
Regimental #857 Honour Roll #21
Died November 10, 1896

Sgt. Brock Wilde was killed in the line of duty by a Blood Indian named Charcoal. Charcoal, a fugitive wanted
for murder, had evaded capture for 6
months when Sgt. Wilde, who was closing the distance on him in a chase, was shot with a rifle that Charcoal had partially concealed under his blanket. Wilde had served the force over 14 years and was buried with full military honours. He is memorialized here as well as by a tablet in Christ Church,
Fort Macleod, and a monument just north of Pincher Creek.

Cst. George E. Willmett
Regimental #4584 Honour Roll #32
Died April 12, 1908

While on night duty in Frank, Alberta, Cst. Willmett, in his first year with the N.W.M.P., was killed by a shotgun blast from close range, Commissioner A.B. Perry used extensive means to catch the killer. Rewards were offered, bloodhounds brought in, door to door searches in Frank and neighbouring towns. Even Pinkerton agents were hired. three years after the murder,
Friedrich "Fritz" Eberts was convicted of the crime. Following appeals, his death sentence was eventually commuted to life imprisonment.

Cpl. Ernest Usher
Regimental #6096 Honour Roll #43
Died August 7, 1920

Corporal Ernest Usher was shot during a gunfight at a restaurant in Bellevue,
Alberta while pursuing three men who had held up Canadian Pacific Railway
train #63 en route through the Crowsnest Pass five days earlier. Usher and Constable Bailey of the Alberta Provincial Police were killed together
that day and were honoured in a joint funeral before Corporal Usher was interred here.

2005
Alberta Centennial

North West Mounted Police Field of Honour

Signage on right reads...

HISTORIC FORT MACLEOD

NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE FIELD OF HONOUR

Scarlet And Gold

Scarlet and Gold! Scarlet and Gold!
Men of the saddle, o'er snow-peak and wold:
True to your colors, like heroes of old;
Scarlet and Gold.
Bright and enduring: dashing and bold:
Scarlet - Scarlet and Gold!

Scarlet and Gold! Scarlet and Gold!
Symbols of Justice you ever uphold;
Half of your daring has never been told;
Scarlet and Gold.
Canada's riders in blizzard and cold:
Scarlet, Scarlet and Gold!
Scarlet and Gold Magazine
Volume 1, Number 1, 1919.

When Robert Watson's now immortal words were published in the first issue of Scarlet and Gold Magazine, stories and about the North West Mounted Police had already reached mythical proportions. The courageous, daring young men who traveled west from Dufferin, Manitoba in 1874 to open the small outpost that became Fort Macleod, would truly become legends.

The North West Mounted Police are respected worldwide and many of them are buried here, in this fenced off section; others are buried in family plots and in the Field of Honour in the Holy Cross Cemetery. In order to protect and preserve them, several of the original headstones are on display in the Fort Museum.

1. Ex-Constable William Norman Holmes - Regimental #8389 R.N.W.M.P., 1901-1995
2. Corinne Adele Hilliard - May 25, 1879 - Died December 4, 1968, Age 89
3. Constable Torquil McLeod - Regimental #886 N.W.M.P. Died December 2, 1915, Age 61
4. Corporal Frederick P. Holgate - Regimental #5074 1888-1980
5. constable Paul Henry William Dersch - Regimental #10044, Served 25 years, Died January 24, 1988, Age 93
6. Constable Isaac J. Collins - Regimental #1809 N.W.M.P. Died October 2, 1886, Age 23
7. Constable Thomas Hall - Regimental #180 N.W.M.P. Died 1879
8. Sub/Constable John Nash - Regimental #135 N.W.M.P. died March 11, 1876 (#1 on the R.C.M.P. Honour Roll)
9. Sub/Constable Frank Baxter - Regimental #247 N.W.M.P. Died January 1, 1875
10. Constable Thomas Wilson - Regimental #228 N.W.M.P. Died January 1, 1875
11. Sub/Constable Godfrey Parks - Regimental #364 N.W.M.P. Died October 26, 1874
12. Constable C.S. (Charles) HOOLEY - Regimental #181 N.W.M.P. Died July 24, 1880 (#4 on the R.C.M.P. Honour Roll)
13. Constable James M. Vaughan - Regimental #2022 N.W.M.P. Died September 7, 1890, age 25
14. Constable Alfred H. Clarke - Regimental #4319 N.W.M.P. died November 22, 1907, Age 24
15. Unknown Grave
16. Ex-Staff Sergeant Christopher Hilliard - Regimental #683 N.W.M.P. died November 8, 1939, Age 78
17. Ex-Constable James Heron - Regimental #913 N.W.M.P. Died March 2, 1891, Age 27 (#18 on the R.C.M.P. Honour Roll)
18. William Potts - Died December 26, 1886
19. Special Constable/Interpretive Guide Jerry Potts - died July 13, 1896
20. corporal Ernest Usher - Regimental #6096 Died August 7, 1920, Age 26 (#43 on the R.C.M.P. Honour Roll)
21. Constable Richard Vickers - Regimental #1993 N.W.M.P. Died June 5, 1888, Age 32
22. H. Stockwell - Died August 11, 1909
23. Constable Wm. G. Harrison - Regimental #3010 N.W.M.P. Died November 11, 1899, Age 29
24. constable G.C. Scudmore - Regimental #3201 N.W.M.P. Died July 13, 1898, Age 29
25. Corporal James Hatfield - Regimental #2229 N.W.M.P. Died December 24, 1896, Age 35
26. constable Edward Burrell - Regimental #3296 N.W.M.P. Died October 24, 1898, Age 23
27. Sergeant William B. Wilde - Regimental #857 N.W.M.P. Died November 10, 1896 Age 42 (#21 on the R.C.M.P. Honour Roll)
28. Constable Edward F. Shepherd - Regimental #1047 N.W.M.P. Died September 7, 1900 Age 48
29. In Loving Memory of my Husband J.M. Shaver, Died at Banff September 22, 1920
30. Constable Wm. A. Buchanan - Regimental #3215 N.W.M.P. Died November 13, 1898, Age 19
31. Corporal S.J. Kembray - Regimental #2372 R.N.W.M.P. Died April 5, 1906, Age 37
32. Constable George E. Willmett - Regimental #4584 R.N.W.M.P. Died April 12, 1908, Age 24 (#32 on the R.C.M.P. Honour Roll)
33. Alfred McDuff Fyfe - died October 4, 1913, Age 56
34. Ex-Constable William Henry Reid - Regimental #237 N.W.M.P. Died June 7, 1942, Age 87
35. Ex-Constable Wm. H. Dowson - Regimental #1338 N.W.M.P. Died August 12, 142, Age 81
36. Constable Hugh Llewellyn Graham - Regimental #9947 R.C.M.P. Died February 7, 1955, Age 57
37. Neil Primrose - Son of Superintendent Primrose Died December 2, 1904, Age 4 Months
38. Major Joseph Howe - N.W.M.P. Superintendent Died August 17, 1902, Age 47
39. Townsend - Mother Stanley
40. Margaret Douglass Dougherty - Wife of James A. Grant Died November 28, 1904, Age 26
41. Ex-Constable James A . Grant - regimental #132 N.W.M.P. Died November 28, 1925 age 80

Map of Field of Honour Grave Sites