Sir Cecil Edward Denny | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Sir Cecil Edward Denny

Sir Cecil Edward Denny, 6th baronet of Tralee Castle, police officer, Indian agent, author (b in Hampshire, Eng 14 Dec 1850; d at Edmonton 24 Aug 1928). Denny is best known as the author of two colourful accounts of life with the North-West Mounted PoliceThe Riders of the Plains: A Reminiscence of the Early and Exciting Days in the North West (1905) and The Law Marches West (1939).
Sir Cecil Edward Denny

He joined the force in 1874 and served principally in the Whoop-Up country. Although able, he was undisciplined, and he resigned following a scandal involving a woman. He served as Indian agent at Fort Walsh and in Treaty 7. He was sympathetic to the Indigenous peoples but resigned as a result of a number of factors, including disagreement with departmental policy (including reduction of rations to the Indigenous peoples), staff cuts and the belief that his authority was being undercut. He served as a special Indian agent during the North-West Resistance. Subsequently, he ranched and worked as police scout, packer, guide and fire ranger until 1922, when he was appointed assistant archivist of Alberta; he was dismissed August 1927.