Crozier was commissioned as Sub-Inspector in the NWMP in 1872, and was promoted to Inspector the following year. In the service, Crozier saw first hand the hardships faced by the Native people as the
buffalo disappeared. By 1884, he was the Superintendent stationed in
Fort Carlton. He warned Lieutenant-Governor
Edgar Dewdney that government policies were creating unrest among the
First Nations and Métis. Since he feared a repetition of the
Red River Rebellion, he asked for reinforcements to be sent to the North-West. Wanting to avoid conflict, he attempted to negotiate with Louis Riel but was unsuccessful leaving the situation in a stalemate. On 26 March 1885, Crozier led a group of approximately 100 mounted police and
Prince Albert Volunteers from Fort Carlton and a seven-pounder gun to bring back provisions which were running low at Fort Carlton. These men were confronted by
Gabriel Dumont and a superior force of Métis near
Duck Lake, Saskatchewan; no shots were fired and the police returned to Fort Carlton. In the ensuing
Battle of Duck Lake, the NWMP were routed by the Métis. The resistance that he had wanted to avoid earlier broke out. On 21 March 1885, Major Crozier received a letter from Louis Riel demanding that he surrender or Riel will "commence without delay, a war of extermination upon those who have shown themselves hostile to our rights." The retreat of the government under heavy fire tarnished the reputation of the NWMP. Crozier's role in the remainder of the rebellion was minimal, and his force largely remained at its post in
Battleford, Saskatchewan. His march on Duck Lake and into an ambush stalled his career with the NWMP. Nevertheless, he was on 1 April promoted to assistant commissioner of the NWMP, a post which he held until his retirement in 1886. In 1886, after the Prime Minister, Sir
John A. Macdonald, appointed a civilian commissioner instead of himself, he resigned. He spent his later years in as a merchant and banker in
Oklahoma Territory, dying of a heart attack in
Cushing, Oklahoma Territory on 25 February 1901. His body was brought back to
Belleville, Ontario, to be buried. == See also ==