Yukon who is who

Stuart Zachary Taylor Wood (1889 – 1966)

Stuart Wood was born in Napanee, Ontario to father Zachary Taylor Wood. Stuart graduated from the Royal Military College and joined the Royal North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP) in 1912. He served for a year in Regina at Depot. He was posted to Edmonton and took over command of the Manitoba Boundary Patrol out of Emerson. In 1918, he volunteered for the RNWMP Cavalry Draft and served in France and Belgium as a Lieutenant. He returned to Canada in 1919 and was sent to Herschel Island commanding the Arctic Sub Division. He returned to Regina in 1924. In 1926, he was posted to Prince Rupert and took command in Edmonton in 1928.¹⁾

The RCMP decided to build their own ship in 1927 to connect the Arctic District's four detachments on a 1,200 mile stretch of coast. Building the vessel was Wood’s idea [when he was stationed at Herschel] and carried forward by Inspector T. B. Caulkin. The concept was accepted in 1927, the plans for the St. Roch were drafted in November, and the ship was launched in May 1928.²⁾

In 1931, Wood took command at Vancouver and was promoted to Superintendent. He was then posted to Regina with the rank of Acting Assistant Commissioner, and six months later as full Assistant Commissioner. In 1934, after attending a course at Scotland Yard, Wood was appointed Director of the RCMP Criminal Investigation Branch in Ottawa. In 1938, he was appointed Acting Deputy Commissions, and when Commissioner Sir James MacBrien unexpectedly died, he became the 8th commissioner.³⁾

In 1945 and 1946, he initiated a number of changes. He established a system of registration for aliens, and dealt with espionage, recruited new policing detachments in the north, organized a permanent police band, and established the Force’s first scientific laboratory and museum in Regina. He established horse-breeding station at Fort Walsh, improved wireless communication and broadcasting, and began a preventative policing program for youth. He negotiated policing contracts for Newfoundland and British Columbia. He was responsible for creating a blacklist (PROFUNC) to identify and detain communist sympathizers during the Cold War.⁴⁾

Wood retired to a full pension in 1951, having served the Police for thirty-eight years.⁵⁾ Retired commissioner Stuart Wood was living near Maple Creek, Saskatchewan raising remounts for the Musical Ride when Richard Neuberger was writing his book about the Force. One of Taylor’s sons died while on duty with the RCMP in “K” Division in Alberta. Another son was killed in the RCAF during the Second World War.⁶⁾