In 1873 the federal government created the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) to bring Canadian law to the west. By the 1880s, the duties of the NWMP, which were hitherto focused on the Indigenous population and the prevention of liquor importation, began to change rapidly with the coming of the transcontinental railway. The NWMP were required to police the disputes generated by settlement and construction. Conflict with Indigenous and Métis groups marked the early years of the NWMP. The NWMP was a predecessor of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.