Host Gordon Tootoosis recounts the story of the Cypress Hills Massacre. The intensely competitive trade for buffalo robes, furs, and the attendant trade in whiskey ultimately produced the volatile conditions responsible for the Cypress Hills Massacre of June 1, 1873. This event, one of the most violent episodes in the Canadian west, is generally credited with prompting the federal government’s decision to accelerate recruitment for the newly created North-West Mounted Police.