"Gentleman" Joe McKay, an Anglo-Métis scout of the North-West Mounted Police was sent to Prince Albert from Fort Carlton to enlist about 20 men as volunteers on 20 March 1885.
They saw their only action fighting alongside the police against Gabriel Dumont's Métis forces at the Battle of Duck Lake on March 26, 1885, where they suffered the heaviest casualties of combatants involved: of the 41 Volunteers sent, nine were killed.
[4] Most of those who died are buried at St. Mary's Anglican Church cemetery just west of Prince Albert.
Nine of them were killed at Duck Lake, their bodies left on the field until emissaries from Louis Riel arranged for their safe retrieval by citizens of Prince Albert.
For the remainder of the rebellion the Volunteers stayed penned up in the stockade at Prince Albert, safeguarding the community until relieved by General Frederick Middleton and his Northwest Field Force after the Battle of Batoche.
All the Volunteers who served during the rebellion received the North West Canada Medal and a grant of 320 acres (130 ha) of land, or scrip of $80 in lieu.
The 1st Battalion PAV was disbanded on November 30, 1945, and the regiment reverted to being a solely militia organization.