On November 20, 1879, Royal North West Mounted Police Lieutenant-Colonel James Macleod wrote a letter to his wife, Mary. The letter included this passage:
"We have had the most frightful occurrence here which has shocked us all very much. One of the men, young Grayburn, whom I dare say you will remember among the recruits, was shot while out on the land. He was all alone and had gone some distance away from the guard upon the herd about eight miles from here. I think there is little doubt but that it was a couple of Indians who did the dastardly act.
"At present the whole thing is a mystery - there is no clue and no cause can be given for the act. It will be a sad blow to Grayburn's friends in Canada. The miscreants, whoever they were, also killed the horse Grayburn was riding and laid him in a thick bush. I am afraid it will be some time before we find out who the rascals are."
Marmaduke Graburn, born in Ontario in 1860, applied for the North West Mounted Police on April 3, 1879 in Ottawa. On June 9, 1879 he was sworn in and left Ottawa, arriving at Fort Walsh on July 4. His regimental number wa 335. He was assigned to horse camp in Cypress Hills west of Fort Walsh. On November 17, 1879 he was shot in the back while riding to retreive his lariat and axe that he had left behind earlier in the day. He was 19.
The primary suspect, an indigenous member of the Blood tribe named Kukatosi-Poka, known as Starchild, was tried for the murder and acquitted. The narrative accounts of the murder contain conflicting information. The murder remains unsolved.
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| PRIMUS MORIRI IN MEMORY OF MARMADUKE GRABURN DIED 17, NOVEMBER 1879 |
His remains were buried in in Saskatchewan at Fort Walsh National Historic Site of Canada. The inscription on his grave stone reads,
IN
MEMORY OF
M. N. GRABURN
N.W.M.P
KILLED BY INDIANS
NEAR FORT WALSH N.W.T.
7, NOV. 1879
AGED 19 YEARS
On July 7, 1882, Order in Council of the Canadian Government approved the payment of a gratuity of $200 to the mothe or Marmaduke Graburn, "killed in service."
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| THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY HIS COMRADES OF B. & F. DIVISIONS OF THE N. W. M. P. AS A TOKEN OF THE ESTEEM IN WHICH THEY HELD HIM. |
Though Marmaduke Graburn is the first recorded line of duty death due to violence there were two earlier line of duty deaths in the force. The first line of duty death in what became the RCMP was that of Sub Constable John Nash who died in line of duty due to an accident near Fort McLeod on March 11, 1876. The second happened when Sub Constable George Mahoney drowned while crossing Red Deer River on patrol from Battleford to Fort Walsh on June 19, 1877.
