The Burgler of Banff

As I remember, a criminal known as "The Burgler of Banff" was mentioned in an episode of F Troop, the one with the singing Mountie entitled "The Singing Mountie" 8 September 1966.

The episode synopsis in IMDB is:

"Shades of Nelson Eddy as a singing Mountie shows up looking for Agarn's French Canadian cousin."

The Mountie is Sergeant Ramsden while Agarn's cousin is a fur trapper named Lucky Pierre Agarniere.

The fictional date of F Troop is usually given as 1865 to 1867, which is conveniently exactly 100 years before the episodes aired. And though the writers used many anachronistic jokes, a lot of plot details seemed to be reasonably consistent with a time frame of 1865 to 1867.

For example, in one episode Captain Parmenter says they will be using a new explosive called dynamite.

Alfred Nobel patented dynamite in England 7 May 1867 and in Sweden 19 October 1867. It was originally called Nobel's Blasting Powder and I don't know when it was named dynamite. But at least it was patented only 0 to 2 years after the date of F troop episodes, and would have become available in the USA sometime in the late 1860s.

So the mention of dynamite in that episode was probably only a couple of years early, which is being a lot better at avoiding anachronisms than many much more serious western movies and TV episodes.

So what about the Mountie in "The Singing Mountie"? The goofs section in IMB says:

"Royal Canadian Mounted Police was officially formed in 1920. The Royal North-West Mounted Police was formed in 1873 with the "Royal" being added in 1904 by King Edward VII. The show is set in a period roughly around 1865 to 1867 which is before even the North-West Mounted Police was formed."

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0574666/?ref_=ttep_ep1


If Sergeant Ramsden is called a"Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman" the title actually wouldn't be used for 53 to 55 years, but if he is called a "Northwest Mounted Policeman" the title is one that wouldn't be used for a much shorter time, 6 to 8 years. Another year should be added to the 6 to 8 years to allow for the fact that the Mounties didn't march west and begin operations in the Northwest Territory of Canada until 1874.

So one could say that the Mountie was not that anachronistic since the name might have been the modern one but the police force did begin operations only 7 to 9 years after the date of F Troop.

What about the "Burglar of Banff"? The Banff area was settled after the new Canadian Pacific transcontinental railroad built a station in the area in the early 1880s.

According to Wikipedia:

The area was named Banff in 1884 by George Stephen, president of the Canadian Pacific Railway,trecalling his birthplace in Banff, Scotland. The Canadian Pacific built a series of grand hotels along the rail line and advertised the Banff Springs Hotel as an international tourist resort.