In 1873, James Walsh, the son of Irish immigrants, joined the first group of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (the Mounties). The Northwest Mounted Police, as they were then known, patrolled the Canadian Prairies and enforced the laws of the new country. Walsh was assigned the task of setting up a fort close to the American border, where serious conflict had erupted between the U.S. military and native warriors.

After the bloody Battle at Little
Big Horn in 1876, members of the Sioux tribe began flooding into Canada, seeking a peaceful existence. Major Walsh was ordered to supervise Chief Sitting Bull and persuade him to return with his people to the U.S. The first meeting between the scarlet-clad Mountie and the great Sioux leader set the tone of mutual respect that soon developed into friendship. Sitting Bull assured Walsh that the tribe would obey Canadian law. Walsh, in return, would try to protect the tribe from U.S. persecution.

Over time, the campaign to slaughter the buffalo on both sides of the border took its toll. The Canadian government refused to supply food or land to the Sioux. Walsh tried to ease the situation between his government and the Sioux but was transferred. Before Walsh departed, Sitting Bull gave him a gift, the war bonnet Sitting Bull's father had given him. Facing starvation and without their Canadian friend, Sitting Bull and his people surrendered to the United States government, which placed them on reservations.

Soon afterwards, in 1883, Walsh was forced to resign from the NWMP. Some say he became a scapegoat for the Canadian government and was punished rather than celebrated for doing things his own way. He went into the coal business in Manitoba, but turned up later as the Commissioner for the Yukon, in charge of the NWMP during the gold rush. He held that position until his retirement.