Robert Belcher (1849 – 1919)
Robert Belcher was born in London, England. In 1868 he joined the 9th Lancers cavalry division (Queen’s Royal) in the British Army. He moved to Canada and in 1873 at lower Fort Garry, Manitoba he was among the first 150 members sworn into the newly formed North-West Mounted Police. He was promoted to Sergeant, and then Staff Sergeant, in 1874 and was part of the March West from Dufferin, Manitoba commanded by Inspector William Jarvis and Chief Constable Sam Steele. Belcher trained the men in mounted precision drill and was an excellent swordsman. This type of riding became a key component in the Musical Ride. He did not re-engage with the force in 1882 and applied for, and received, a land grant in the Fort Saskatchewan area, but then re-engaged in 1884. He was given back his old Regimental Number 3. He was a Sergeant Major during the 1885 North West Rebellion, and afterward was posted to Depot Division at Regina. In 1893 he was commissioned as an officer and became Inspector Belcher.1)
Inspector Belcher was transferred to the Yukon and placed in command of the detachment at the Chilkoot Pass where the conditions were very primitive. In 1900, during the Boer War, he volunteered to serve as a Major and second in command to Lieutenant Sam Steele with Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) Regiment. In September he led two squadrons in a charge against artillery dug into a hill and for this he was awarded the Order of St. Michael and St. George. He returned to Canada in 1901, resumed his service with the Police, and was transferred back to the Yukon. He developed a drinking problem and was transferred to Edmonton, Alberta, and then, in 1904, to Regina and then Winnipeg where he received treatment for alcoholism.2)
Inspector Belcher was in Edmonton in 1908 when he retired with an annual pension. Shortly after, he was appointed Commanding Officer of the new 19th Alberta Mounted Rifles Regiment of the Canadian militia, renamed in 1911 the 19th Alberta Dragoons. During the First World War, in 1915, he helped raise and commanded the 138th (Edmonton) Infantry Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. The battalion was broken up in 1916 and Lieutenant Colonel Belcher returned to Canada, stationed with the Military Hospital Commission Command. In 1918, he was posted to the Information Bureau of Military District No. 13. Robert Belcher died in Calgary of heart failure. The Colonel Belcher Hospital for returning veterans opened in Calgary in June 1919. In 2013, 101 Avenue in Fort Saskatchewan regained its original name of Belcher Avenue.3)