Original Canadian N.W.M.P. Moose Antler Cribbage Board from The Klondike Gold Rush – 1897-98 Original Items

Original Item: One of a Kind. This is quite something, a section of the base of a Moose’s antler measuring 7″ in length cut from the base section of the antler, which shows a diameter of 3 1/2″, a big one! Cut in half vertically displaying a flat surface which has been drilled to provide a score board catering to TWO players. The half moon lower end of the antler has been inscribed:-

KLONDIKE
1897 – 98
N.W.M.P.

This was the time of the 1890’s KLONDIKE GOLD RUSH on the border between CANADA and ALASKA. The long winter nights certainly meant a lot of down time doing nothing so any diversion was usually most welcome especially for the N.W.M.P., North-West Mounted Police, who were not even there to hunt for Gold and strike it rich. Fascinating memento of the Winter Gold fields.

Ready to use and Display.

History of the N.W.M.P:

The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian police force, established in 1873 by the Prime Minister, Sir John Macdonald, to maintain order in the North-West Territories.  The mounted police combined military, police and judicial functions along similar lines to the Royal Irish Constabulary. They were deployed to various posts in order to maintain order in the large North West territories of Canada, which had no government or police forces of their own at the time. They were involved in the North-West Rebellion of 1885, and helped with the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which often involved relocating indigenous populations.

By 1896, the government planned to pass policing responsibilities to the provincial authorities and ultimately close the force. With the discovery of gold in the Klondike, however, the force was redeployed to protect Canada’s sovereignty over the region and to manage the influx of prospectors. The mounted police sent volunteers to fight in the Second Boer War, and in recognition were retitled the Royal North-West Mounted Police in 1904. The plans for closure were abandoned in the face of opposition from regional politicians. Large numbers of the police volunteered for military service during the First World War, and the future of the badly depleted force was once again in doubt. Towards the end of the war, however, fears grew about a potential Bolshevik conspiracy and the authorities tasked the mounted police to investigate the threat. In the aftermath of the violence of the Winnipeg General Strike, the government decided to amalgamate the force with the Dominion Police, to form the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1920.  Much of the image and mystique of the RCMP was based mainly on the exploits of the NWMP in the late 1900s.