The Council of Assiniboia () was the first appointed administrative body of the District of Assiniboia, operating from 1821 until 1870. It was this council who is credited for the arrival of a functioning legal system, a local police force, and a militia to the vast wilderness that was the fur-trading territory of Rupert's Land. Over its existence, the Council of Assiniboia transformed numerous times in an effort to bring law and order to a young colonial settlement that was rife with tension and hardship. History The District of Assiniboia consisted of land that was in a radius around Upper Fort Garry, including the Red River Colony—which, until his death in 1820, was owned by Lord Selkirk. This council was created by the Hudson's Bay Company to govern the territory following its merger with the North West Company in 1821. The same year, the British Parliament also passed the Second Canada Jurisdiction Act of 1821, which allowed the Governor of Lower Canada and the Crown to appoint justices of the peace in Rupert's Land in order to enact courts of record for the first time. As diverse as the Red River Colony was, so was its governing council. Both the Protestant and Roman Catholic clergy were represented on the council, and members had diverse ancestry including Scottish, Irish, Francophone, Métis, and Anglophone. However, the one commonality between all of the council members was their involvement with the Hudson's Bay Company; they either had been, or were still in service of the company. Being such an early stage of authority, it was not a form of responsible government; there were no elections, and all council members were appointed. 1835 Before 1835, the Council of Assiniboia consisted of a few councillors who assisted the governor, as well as some constables who had been nominally appointed. And so, according to H. Robert Baker, "this little machinery of government had dragged along under what has been very properly called the smoothing system, or rather no system at all." A smoothing system can be defined as a system that is built upon mediation outside of court, equitable settlements, and cooperation among those involved. This was a very flexible system, which was required during the early years of colonizing the west, as many of the colonizers had their own definitions of law that they brought with them, based on their own reason and equity. There was