Canadian history has its own "Wild West" episodes, although they did play out on a different canvas than the American frontier. One of the most notable differences was the existence of a "national" police force, the North West Mounted Police, forerunner of the RCMP, which could implement and enforce a coherent law and order program across vast stretches of territory. They became so famous in this work that the redcoat Mounties are to this day a national symbol.

Some noteworthy violent incidents that you can get started on:

• the Cypress Hills Massacre
• the Red River Rebellion
• the North-West Rebellion
• the Fraser, Cariboo, and Klondike Gold Rushes - for a genuine Wild West shootout, read up on the death of Soapy Smith in Skagway. Although this was technically Alaska, it was a staging point for the Klondike gold rush, and the NWMP (Sam Steele, specifically) operated in the region to counter his criminal ventures.
• the Mad Trapper of Rat River. This went down in the 1930s, perhaps one of the last "Wild West" shootouts on record.