The post was established to develop relations with local Indians, patrol the Canada–United States border, and to perform general policing duties.

Along the route was a depot in the Wood Mountain Hills that was used by the Boundary Commission when the Canada–United States border was surveyed.

The NWMP used that depot intermittently from 1874 until 1887 to police whisky traders, horse thieves, and cattle rustlers.

In 1876, Chief Sitting Bull and 5,000 members of the Lakota Sioux took refuge at the post after the Battle of the Little Bighorn in the Montana Territory of the United States.

The artefacts and reconstructed buildings tell the story of Major James Walsh of the NWMP and his negotiations with Chief Sitting Bull.