Mail order brides for mounties

I think there may be some confusion here!

The term "mail-order brides" typically refers to a practice where women from developing countries or countries with limited economic opportunities are contacted by men from more developed countries through online platforms or agencies, with the intention of marrying and relocating to the man's country.

However, I'm assuming you're referring to the historical practice of the Canadian Mounted Police (now known as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or RCMP) recruiting wives for their officers through a process called "mail-order brides."

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the RCMP was a relatively new organization, and many of its officers were stationed in remote areas of Western Canada. To alleviate the loneliness and isolation of these officers, the RCMP began a program to recruit wives from Eastern Canada and Europe. The wives would travel to the West to join their husbands, often by train or ship, and establish new lives in the frontier towns.

The process of recruiting wives was often facilitated by the RCMP's headquarters in Ottawa, which would advertise for women in newspapers and magazines. Women who responded to these ads would be matched with eligible bachelors in the RCMP, and the couple would correspond through letters before deciding whether to marry.

This practice was not unique to the RCMP, as many other organizations and government agencies also used similar methods to recruit wives for their employees. However, the RCMP's program is perhaps the most well-known example of this practice in Canadian history.

It's worth noting that the term "mail-order brides" is somewhat outdated and can be seen as problematic, as it implies that women were being "ordered" or "bought" as commodities rather than being treated as individuals with agency and autonomy. Today, the practice of international matchmaking and marriage migration is more commonly referred to as "international marriage brokering" or "mail-order brides" (although the latter term is still somewhat controversial).