Murder of Constable Graburn
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 49° 57.869 W 110° 21.743
12U E 545729 N 5534876
Historical marker commemorating Constable Marmaduke Graburn, the first Mountie murdered in the line-of-duty.
Waymark Code: WM23ND
Location: Alberta, Canada
Date Posted: 08/29/2007
Views: 60
The Murder of Constable Graburn
On 17 November 1879, Constable Marmaduke Graburn of the North-West Mounted
Police (NWMP) was shot and killed approximately 55 kilometres southeast of here.
A member of the Kainai Nation, Star Child, was arrested and tried for the murder
in 1881. The young man was acquitted for lack of evidence. The
murder was never solved.
Constable Graburn was just 19, and had been with the NWMP for less than
six months. Perhaps lured by the promise of adventure, Graburn had
enlisted in Ottawa, trekked west, and been sworn in as a constable at Fort Walsh
in June, 1879. His main duties involved caring for horses. He died
near a horse camp maintained by the police.
Constable Graburn was the first Mountie murdered in the line of duty.
At the time of his death, the North-West Mounted Police had been in the west
only 5 years. The police named a small outpost in Cypress Hills Graburn
Detachment in memory of the constable.
Graburn Detachment operated from 1888 until 1895. With never more
than 5 men and 5 horses, the police at the station perfromed patrols and carried
out other duties. Today, Constable Graburn is remembered by Graburn Coulee, the
name that over time became attached to the valley where Graburn Detachment had
once been. ~ text of marker