"This replica of the 1888 map is published to commemorate the one Hundredth Anniversary of the founding of the North-West Mounted Police on August 30, 1873 and to salute the long and distinguished record of service to Canada by this Force and its present descendant, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It shows the patrol system at its fullest development. It also displays the period of transition, showing many of the features of the old western frontier before the growing tide of settlement had radically changed the appearance of the land. One of the most important features on the map is the location of the 49th Parallel of Latitude, or the Medicine Line, as the Indians called it. This was surveyed in 1872-74 by the Americasn Boundary Commission, which marked the line by a row of earth mounds, about six feet high, every two or three miles. At the height of the patrol system, the entire border area from the Ontario boundary 800 miles westward to the Rocky Mountains was covered by the North-West Mounted Police. One result was a significant reduction in smuggling and horse stealing, two of the most common crimes of the period. This map was an essential aid to all detachments and men on patrol."