James Farquharson Macleod emigrated from Scotland with his family in the summer of 1845. His father purchased a farm at Richmond Hill, north of Toronto, near the lands of John Beverley Robinson* and the late William Warren Baldwin*, and in 1845 he enrolled James, who had been educated at home to this point, at Upper Canada College. Financial difficulties forced his withdrawal in 1848, but he returned three years later to pass with honours his final examinations and the entrance examination for Queen’s College, Kingston. During these years life on the farm influenced Macleod at least as powerfully as his schooling. Hunting trips with his father and brothers left him with an abiding love of the outdoor life, and the Macleods’ friendship with a family of local Ojibwa Indians imparted to James a lifelong respect and admiration for the native people of Canada.

In 1870, through the political influence of his former employer Alexander Campbell, now a cabinet minister in the dominion government, and of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, Macleod obtained a commission as brigade major with the expedition under Colonel Garnet Joseph Wolseley* sent to quell the uprising in the Red River settlement (Man.) [see Louis Riel*]. The arduous journey westward through the wilderness was made to order for Macleod’s talents; his leadership during the expedition earned him praise from his commanding officer as well as a cmg. He remained with the Canadian militia force at Lower Fort Garry until the spring of 1871 and while there he met Mary Isabella Drever, the daughter of a local trader. Their marriage plans were disrupted when Macleod failed to obtain appointment as commanding officer of the garrison and returned to Ontario.

In the spring of 1873 Prime Minister Macdonald offered him a commission as superintendent and inspector in the newly established North-West Mounted Police.  Macleod accepted and in October he left from Collingwood, Ont., for Upper Fort Garry (Winnipeg) with several other officers and 150 men.

In September 1877 some 5,000 Blackfeet, Bloods, Peigans, Sarcees, and Stoneys assembled at Blackfoot Crossing (Alta) to sign Treaty No.7. Crowfoot, Red Crow, and several other chiefs made it clear that Macleod and the NWMP were the principal reasons their people were willing to sign the treaty. The commissioner next rode on to Fort Walsh for talks between American authorities and Sitting Bull aimed at inducing the Sioux to return to the United States. Macleod persuaded Sitting Bull to participate but the negotiations accomplished nothing. Macleod then interviewed Sitting Bull and set out the Canadian government’s position: the Sioux could remain in Canadian territory as long as they obeyed the law, but there would be no treaties, no reserves, and no government rations for them.

The crisis Macleod had feared arrived early in 1879 when all the plains tribes faced starvation. In the spring Macleod made a lengthy visit to Ottawa to discuss the situation with the recently re-elected Macdonald government. He returned to the west in July, bringing 80 new recruits as well as food supplies for distribution to the Indians. Edgar Dewdney*, the newly appointed Indian commissioner, travelled west with the NWMP. He and Macleod spent much of the last half of 1879 visiting the Indian agencies throughout the NWT.

James Farquharson Macleod exercised a decisive influence on the early development of western Canada. More than any other single individual, he was responsible for establishing the policies followed by the NWMP in their dealings with the Indians and for setting the tone of Canadian Indian policy in the NWT. His vision of the region was of a place where newcomers and the native population might live together in peace and where disputes could be settled by reason.