In 1873 the government of Sir John A. Macdonald created the North West Mounted Police to assert Canadian sovereignty and enforce Canadian law in the newly acquired North-West Territories. Within a decade this had been done, and the orderly settlement of the Canadian prairies begun. In the process the Force achieved an international reputation for even-handed justice and devotion to duty. *Note: This designation has been identified for review. A review can be triggered for one of the following reasons - outdated language or terminology, absence of a significant layer of history, factual errors, controversial beliefs and behaviour, or significant new knowledge.