Designation information

Fort Walsh National Historic Site’s significance relates to the North-west Mounted Police post (1875 to 1883) and its role in enforcing law and order, and aiding the implementation of Canada’s Aboriginal policy. In addition, it played a key role in supervising the Lakota who fled to Canada with Tatanka Iyotanka (Sitting Bull) after the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Cypress Hills Massacre National Historic Site was designated in 2006 and commemorates the memory and legacy of the Nakoda people who died there at the hands of wolf hunters on June 1, 1873. The event spurred the Canadian government to hasten the dispatch of the North-west Mounted Police to the west to maintain law and order, and express Canada’s sovereignty in the region.