Mary Isabella Macleod | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Mary Isabella Macleod

Mary Isabella Macleod, née Drever (b at Red R 11 Oct 1852; d at Calgary 15 Apr 1933).

At age 17, during the Red River Resistance (1869-70), Drever showed the steady nerve for which she became famous in western Canada when she evaded detection by Métis guards and safely delivered an important dispatch addressed to Colonel Wolseley.

Accompanying Wolseley's troops was James Macleod, soon commissioner of the newly formed North-West Mounted Police; they were married in 1876 and settled in Fort Macleod. She was one of several women to sign Treaty 7 at Blackfoot Crossing September 1877. She frequently accompanied her husband on his inspections and tours of duty, and she was universally admired by NWMP officers and their wives.

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