NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE SONG POSTED TO RHCA WEBSITE
Posted on July 26th, 2009
Tommy-John Ehman of Craik is one of the Saskatchewan singer/songwriters participating in the Celebrate the NWMP Trail festivals that are taking place between July 1 and August 2, 2009. Tommy was inspired by the history of the NWMP Trail to write a song especially for performance at the festivals. Appropriately entitled, “The North-West Mounted Police,” the song captures the epic spirit of the Trail and is a tribute to the the NWMP officers who rode the Trail between 1875 and 1912. Tommy premiered the song at the RCMP Heritage Centre in Regina during the Celebrate the NWMP Trail media event on June 25 and performed the song at the Wood Mountain and Val Marie festivals on July 1 and July 24. The video to the right features Tommy’s performance of the song in Val Marie.
The sixth and final Celebrate the NWMP Trail festival takes place at Fort Walsh National Historic Site on August 2, 2009. The schedule includes: “The Spirits of the Trail,” a “horse opera” portraying the relationship between NWMP Officer James Walsh and Sioux Chieftain Sitting Bull written by Ken Mitchell; the History of the Trail by noted historian and award-winning author Garrett Wilson; Everett Baker Trail by the Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society; First Nations performances; concerts from Ragtime Don and the Word Junkie and Karen Blackwell Jones and a finale storytelling circle and potluck supper. All this and Fort Walsh National Historic Site will be offering its regular tours!
Over 1000 people attended the first five Celebrate the NWMP Trail festivals and pictures, videos and descriptions of the first five events have also been posted to the RHCA website. More pictures and videos will be added after Fort Walsh but if you want to get a taste of what happened at Wood Mountain, McCord, Eastend, Shaunavon and Val Marie be sure to check out the site.