In 1865, near the end of the American Civil War, recruits to the “Western Frontier Constabulary” worked as undercover agents on trains travelling through the border region and in Upper Canadian communities at or close to the border. These men were enjoined to discover in advance “the existence of any plot, conspiracy or organization whereby peace would be endangered, the Queen’s Majesty insulted, or her proclamation of Neutrality infringed,” and to report unlawful assemblies or military drilling as well as clandestine efforts by agents of the Union army to recruit British subjects in Upper Canada.
The Province of Canada’s major policing effort in early 1866 was directed to improving its network of informants in key American cities. As a result Gilbert McMicken, the magistrate in charge of the force, was warned of an attempted Fenian invasion of Campobello Island, N.B., in April and a larger effort at Fort Erie, Upper Canada, on 1 June. The excitement generated by these events provided support for the authorization of a regular secret-service fund and the expansion of the Province’s detective force to cover Lockport, Rochester, New York, and Brooklyn, as well as Chicago, Buffalo, and key Canadian border points.
