Officers, 1897

This group of officers at Fort Macleod poses one or two problems. They are in parade dress and the ranks range from inspector to superintendent. They have the all scarlet tunic with gold lace on the collar and around the edge. The rank stars are on the collar and the cuff ornament gives an indication of rank. The inspectors have an Austrian knot in round back gold cord traced with gold russia braid, in the style of British dragoons and dragoon guards. Examples of this are on the sleeves of three of the officers, the two seated on the right and the monacled officer standing on the left. The Austrian knot is flanked by two small loops, but in the case of the officer seated on the left, the knot, brighter than the others and not traced with russia braid, has no loops. And the officer standing on the right has loops in a slightly different position. The two officers standing in the middle are superintendents with a double knot on the sleeve. They also have two stars on their collar instead of one like the others.
The officer standing on the right cannot be a member of the NWMP as he has white belts instead of brown leather. The barrel-chested superintendent standing second from the left looks like Sam Steele and the officer standing on the left is Inspector Gilbert Sanders, described as the only member of the force to wear a monocle. The officers here all wear white gloves. Steele and one other have medals for the 1885 Rebellion.

Regimental Details | Uniforms