DOCSLIB.ORG

Adapting the Environment Ranching, Irrigation, and Dry Land Farming in Southern Alberta, 1880-1914

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Adapting the Environment Ranching, Irrigation, and Dry Land Farming in Southern Alberta, 1880-1914 University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for 1986 ADAPTING THE ENVIRONMENT RANCHING, IRRIGATION, AND DRY LAND FARMING IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA, 1880-1914 A. A. Den Otter Memorial University of Newfoundland Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons Den Otter, A. A., "ADAPTING THE ENVIRONMENT RANCHING, IRRIGATION, AND DRY LAND FARMING IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA, 1880-1914" (1986). Great Plains Quarterly. 982. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/982 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. ADAPTING THE ENVIRONMENT RANCHING, IRRIGATION, AND DRY LAND FARMING IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA, 1880-1914 A. A. DEN OTTER For centuries the nutntlous grasses of the H. Y. Hind, and the British group, under the southwestern fringe of the Canadian prairies command of Captain John Palliser, identified a supported an abundance of game, providing fertile belt along the Saskatchewan River and a ample food for its nomadic peoples. Not until large arid region to the south (fig. 1).3 The the middle of the nineteenth century did prairies, an environment to be adapted to anyone look to this area as a farming frontier. l perceived needs, had taken on new economic By the 1850s, however, the curiosity of Ca­ value, a utility that could be realized only nadians about it was increased by a need for through exploitation. new territories for investment, scientific esti­ Acquiring the Northwest from the Hud­ mates that the land was more favorable for son's Bay Company took a decade and wrest­ agriculture than had previously been believed, ing the land from the native peoples another.4 and the fiery rhetoric of expansionist journal­ Once Canadian ownership was secured, the ists. 2 The need for more accurate knowledge struggle for control and means of exploitation prompted the Canadian and British govern­ continued. The government land policy as set ments to send scientific expeditions to Rupert's forth in the Dominion Lands Act called for Land, the vast area that drained into Hudson's the settlement of one family on every two Bay. The Canadian party, led by geologist quarter sections of land, but some areas of the prairies were unsuited for intensive cultiva­ tion. The extent of the barren land, soon Associate professor of history at the Memorial known as Palliser's Triangle, varied with the University of Newfoundland, A.A. den Otter has attitude of the speaker toward colonization of published many articles on western Canadian the West. In the southwestern fringe of the energy and transportation issues. His major book, prairies, which was semiarid, ranchers argued Civilizing the West: The Gaits and the Devel­ that the habitat was ideally suited for grazing, opment of Western Canada, was published in that it required no investment to adapt it for 1982. utilization. Farmers, on the other hand, in­ sisted that with modern irrigation techniques [GPQ 6 (Summer 1986): 171-189.] the environment could accommodate inten- 171 172 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SUMMER 1986 57"_------.-----__~ ______ I 1 ! \ \\ 100 200 MI 100 200 300 Kr'l FIG. l. Vegetation Zones: Western Canada. sive cultivation. Complicating the debate, habitable. Desiring to build the shortest line promoters of dry land farming declared that practical, as close to their American rivals as their techniques were capable of farming the possible, the directors of the Canadian Pacific wilderness. So there were three views of the Railway eagerly accepted Macoun's enthusias­ land's arability. Proposed land use defined the tic appraisal. They routed the CPR through character of the habitat. Supporting the feder­ the southern prairies, the heart of Palliser's al government's search for new lands, Canadi­ Triangle.6 Forced to defend the CPR's route an officials of the International Boundary change, Sir Charles Tupper, the minister of Survey and the North West Mounted Police railways and canals, gushed exuberantly, "We agreed that, except for some undefined "lim­ believe we have [on the prairies] the garden of ited area," the western plains were suitable for the world," a view readily parroted by his agriculture.s Conservative colleagues. 7 Compelled by the Plans for a transcontinental railway dis­ change in railway plans to examine the south­ solved the last doubts about the arability of ern plains, the department asserted that ap­ the plains. Defiant of all geographical barriers pearances were deceiving and argued con­ and immune to most weather conditions, the descendingly that an experienced surveyor railway assumed a mythical status so intense could recognize fertile land where a newcomer that many promoters accepted the most opti­ might see only barren country.8 mistic assessments of the territories through The official assessment of western climate which they projected their routes. The lush­ and soil fertility was made by outsiders who ness of the prairies during a particularly wet imposed upon the region an image colored by cycle at the end of the 1870s prompted John their agricultural interests. Tragically, the Macoun, an irrepressible botanist, to declare white comer's ethos discounted the value of that virtually all the northwestern interior was the landscape's natural life, and soon his SOUTHERN ALBERTA 173 efficient guns destroyed the abundant game warm Chinook winds regularly melted the that had blanketed the grasslands while sur­ snow cover." Utilizing their political influence, veys and railways transformed the commonly a small number of central Canadian and held expanse into privately owned real estate.9 British businessmen extracted large grazing Starvation forced the original prairie people to leases from the Dominion government (fig. 3). abandon their traditional way of life and By 1887, barely a dozen big companies occu­ accept integration into a new economy. 10 pied nearly ten million acres of prime grass­ lands, a development ideally suited to the semiarid ecology but clearly contrary to the CA TILE RANCHING government's homestead policy and an offense For several decades, cattie ranchers filled to land-hungry settlers. II the vacuum left by the disbanded natives and The privileged position of the ranchers decimated game. The same physical features sparked a bitter struggle for control of western that had sustained wildlife proved ideal for lands. When the North West Mounted Police pastoral use (fig. 2). Nutritious shortgrasses evicted several squatters from the grazing furnished abundant food throughout the sum­ leases, public reaction was so hostile that in mer, numerous coulees and river valleys pro­ 1892 the government opened the leases to vided shelter from vicious winter storms, while settlement. It also required the ranchers to FIG. 2. The prairie grasslands were ideally suited for grazing. Public Archives of Canada. 174 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SUMMER 1986 110° --------1"" FIG. 3. Southern Alberta: Leased Grazing Lands 1886. purchase at least one-tenth of their leases at prairies. li Pearce warned the government that $1.20 an acre, a concession that the affluent squatters were fencing off rich riverbottom among them quickly accepted. I] lands and lake shores. Fences rendered useless Undaunted, the ranchers developed a thousands of acres of surrounding semiarid more effective means of maintaining control grasslands by preventing cattle from reaching over the rangelands. A key player in the these rivers, lakes, or sloughs for water or formation and implementation of this strategy shelter. Arguing that the government should was William Pearce, nominally the Dominion protect the ranching industry, Pearce sug­ government's inspector of mines but actually gested reserving from settlement all lands its general agent in the Northwest. A surveyor surrounding crucial bodies of water in the by training, Pearce had an unusual apprecia­ Calgary, Macleod, and Medicine Hat trian­ tion of conservation and planning. Believing gle.'1; that reckless and destructive exploitation of Deferring to the politically powerful ranch­ prairie soil could destroy that invaluable ers, the Conservative government in Decem­ natural resource, he called for its wise and ber 1886 declared that large sections of the systematic utilization. 14 In the mid-1880's, with southwestern prairies were closed to agricultur­ the enthusiastic backing of the ranchers, he al settlement." William Pearce applied this launched a vigorous campaign for the creation policy in uncompromising fashion, evicting of stock water reserves on the semiarid western numerous squatters from the water reserves, SOUTHERN ALBERTA 175 seldom bothering with cumbersome court bonus in alternate townships rather than the proceedings. When written warnings failed to prescribed sections. 21 Despite the unusual dislodge squatters, he encouraged ranchers, concession, the company could not compete under police supervision, to pull down farm with the government's generous leasing policy; buildings. lo Although these tactics aroused by 1889, the company had sold less than an bitter resentment, Pearce never doubted that eighth of its grazing land and was looking for they were necessary to save the range for profitable optionsY One alternative
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Blood Tribe in the Southern Alberta Economy, 1884-1939
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Regular, W. Keith Book — Published Version Neighbours and networks: The blood tribe in the Southern Alberta economy, 1884-1939 Provided in Cooperation with: University of Calgary Press Suggested Citation: Regular, W. Keith (2009) : Neighbours and networks: The blood tribe in the Southern Alberta economy, 1884-1939, ISBN 978-1-55238-655-2, University of Calgary Press, Calgary, http://hdl.handle.net/1880/48927 This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/182296 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ www.econstor.eu University of Calgary Press www.uofcpress.com NEIGHBOURS AND NETWORKS: THE BLOOD TRIBE IN THE SOUTHERN ALBERTA ECONOMY, 1884–1939 by W.
    [Show full text]
  • The Diaries of Charles Ora Card
    The Diaries of Charles Ora Card The Diaries of Charles Ora Card The Utah Years 1871–1886 Edited by Donald G. Godfrey and Kenneth W. Godfrey Published by the Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah Typesetting by the Publication Assistance Center, College of Public Programs, Arizona State University using Corel Ventura 10. Printed by Covenant Communications, Inc., American Fork, Utah Printed in Canada © 2006 by Brigham Young University. All rights reserved ISBN 0-8425-2609-9 Any uses of this material beyond those allowed by the exemptions in U.S. copyright law, such as section 107, “Fair Use,” and section 108, “Library Copying,” require the written permission of the publisher, Religious Studies Center, 167 HGB, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602. The views expressed herein are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of Brigham Young University or the Religious Studies Center. Dedicated to Christina Maria Godfrey Audrey M. Godfrey Brigham Y. Card Dallin Card Godfrey Charles Ora Card Photo courtesy: Marilyn Rose Pitcher Contents Illustrations viii Acknowledgments ix Preface xi Introduction xv 1. Missionary Service: Card’s Travels to the Eastern States 1 2. Community, Church, and Temple Building 19 3. Educational Foundations 71 4. Meetings, Meetings 99 5. Gospel Themes 149 6. Local Conferences 213 7. Cache Stake and Temple Business 261 8. Serving the Saints of the Valley 321 9. Persecution Escalates and Conferences Continue 375 10. Approaching the Temple Dedication 445 11. “One Day Nearer Eternity” 525 Epilogue: On the Mormon Underground 565 References 573 Index 583 vii Illustrations Charles Ora Card vi Temple sawmill acreage, 2003 177 Construction of the Logan Temple, 1879 xii William King, snowslide victim 179 Logan Temple, taken by C.
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of Mormon History Vol. 20, No. 1, 1994
    Journal of Mormon History Volume 20 Issue 1 Article 1 1994 Journal of Mormon History Vol. 20, No. 1, 1994 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation (1994) "Journal of Mormon History Vol. 20, No. 1, 1994," Journal of Mormon History: Vol. 20 : Iss. 1 , Article 1. Available at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory/vol20/iss1/1 This Full Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Mormon History by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Journal of Mormon History Vol. 20, No. 1, 1994 Table of Contents LETTERS vi ARTICLES PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS • --Positivism or Subjectivism? Some Reflections on a Mormon Historical Dilemma Marvin S. Hill, 1 TANNER LECTURE • --Mormon and Methodist: Popular Religion in the Crucible of the Free Market Nathan O. Hatch, 24 • --The Windows of Heaven Revisited: The 1899 Tithing Reformation E. Jay Bell, 45 • --Plurality, Patriarchy, and the Priestess: Zina D. H. Young's Nauvoo Marriages Martha Sonntag Bradley and Mary Brown Firmage Woodward, 84 • --Lords of Creation: Polygamy, the Abrahamic Household, and Mormon Patriarchy B. Cannon Hardy, 119 REVIEWS 153 --The Story of the Latter-day Saints by James B. Allen and Glen M. Leonard Richard E. Bennett --Hero or Traitor: A Biographical Story of Charles Wesley Wandell by Marjorie Newton Richard L. Saunders --Mormon Redress Petition: Documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri Conflict edited by Clark V. Johnson Stephen C.
    [Show full text]
  • Niels Hansen Family History
    The Niels Hansen Family by Mike and Anna St. Clair On Wednesday, March 16, 1887, Niels Hansen visited his friend and associate, Charles Ora Card at the Card home in Logan, Utah. At about 12:30 p.m., a buggy was heard to pass by the house. Card quietly parted the curtains and determined the buggy belonged to one of the marshals looking for offending polygamists. Niels was immediately sent to warn fellow church members of the marshal’s presence in their midst.1 This time the men were safe from arrest, but this would not always be so. To avoid Niels Hansen 1832-1902 such dangers, Niels relocated to Alberta, Canada, leaving behind all but one of his wives and the nation he had crossed the Atlantic to embrace. Knowing of the law abiding Danish family in which Niels was raised, it would have been impossible to foresee him ever being on the “wrong side of the law.” But it did happen; and in the process, Niels championed the cause of righteousness while making two new nations his own during his lifetime. The history of the Niels Hansen family is inextricably bound to historical issues pertinent to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the second half of the nineteenth century. Niels qualifies as a pioneer in every aspect of his life. Along with his parents and his brothers, he was among the earliest converts to the Mormon Church in Denmark. Eventually Niels, all his brothers and their families, and his parents crossed the Atlantic Ocean.
    [Show full text]
  • The Mormon Experience in Alberta: Oral History of the Polygamy Question Jessie L
    The Mormon Experience in Alberta: Oral History of the Polygamy Question Jessie L. Emb y In his thesis, "Founding of the Mormon Comrnu- Initially only the Church leaders were aware of the nity in Alberta," Archie Wilcox explained, "It can be commandment to marry plural wives. After Joseph said, without any fear of correction, that the Mormons Smith was killed in 1844, many of the Saints followed of Alberta do not and have not practised polygamy in Brigham Young west from Illinois, reaching the Great this province at any time."' Although this is the image Basin in 1847. In 1852, after the Saints were firmly the Mormons in Alberta wanted to give the Canadian established in Utah, the Mormons publicly announced government, Wilcox's defensive statement is only that they practised polygamy. The reaction from those partially true. Though very few polygamists actually outside of the Church was immediate and negative. In lived with more than one wife in Canada, a number of 1854 the Republican Party termed polygamy and slav- the Mormon men who settled there left a wife or ery "twin relics of barbarism." Opponents of plural severalwives in the United States and brought another marriage petitioned Congress to pass laws, and in wife to Alberta. The oral history interviews conducted 1862, the Morrill Act, introcluced by Justin S. Morrill by the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, at fromVermont, prohibited plural marriage in the terri- Brigham Young University, help document the role tories. The Mormons felt that the Mod1Act denied that polygamy played in the Mormon settlements in their right to religious freedom, and Brigham Young's Alberta.
    [Show full text]
  • The Southern Alberta Historic Markers Project 199
    Boatright: The Southern Alberta Historic Markers Project 199 Remembering the Early Saints in Canada: The Southern Alberta Historic Markers Project Gary L. Boatright Jr. In 1989, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada designated the community of Stirling—a quaint town of just over 1,000 people located on the plains of Southern Alberta—a National Historic Site for being “the best- preserved Canadian example of the distinctive settlement pattern known as a Mormon Agricultural Village or the Plat of Zion.”1 Recognizing the potential the designation provided to increase the historic visibility of the area and po- tentially attract tourists, local community leaders organized a steering com- mittee to determine ways to share the rich history of the area with its citizens and those traveling through the settlements.2 At the request of this committee, representatives from the LDS Church History Department (CHD) visited the settlements of Cardston, Magrath, Raymond, and Stirling, Alberta. Here they toured local historic sites, met with community and provincial leaders, and discussed ways the Church could sup- port local historic preservation initiatives. From these meetings the Church History Department committed to oversee two projects: (1) a modest redo of the historical exhibit in the Guest Centre at the Cardston Alberta Temple, and (2) development and installation of several historic markers in Southern Alberta. In April 2011, CHD staff installed a new exhibit in the temple Guest Centre that focused on the early settlement of the area and the history and architecture of the temple. Following the exhibit installation, CHD staff and local community leaders Scott Barton, Wade Alston, Ryan Leuzinger, Larry GA RY L.
    [Show full text]
  • Transplanted Utah: Mormon Communities in Alberta Jessie L
    Transplanted Utah: Mormon Communities in Alberta Jessie L. Embry In 1962 Canadian Prime Minister John C. Diefenbaker attended the Seventy-fifth Anniversary Jubilee of Cardston and praised the Mormons in Southern Alberta for their "loyalty to the crown and the country, devotion and service in war and peace." Responding to a speech by Latter-Day Saints (LDS) Church leader Hugh E. Brown who had Canadian and U.S. ties, Diefenbaker explained, "You referred to us as your fellow Canadians. I am very happy to say that in your life and its dedication to our country, and to your country, you do represent to the embodiment of the relationship between our countries (Jourrzal History, 28 July 1962 8, 9). Diefenbaker raised but did not answer some interesting questions with this statement. What were the loyalties of the Mormons of Southern Alberta? Were they Mormons, Americans, or Canadians or an interesting combination of all three? While they were patriotic to all three, first of all they were Mormons. Their allegiance to their Church transcended their commitment to any government. This conclusion matched the expectations of many nineteenth and even twentieth century members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. Mormons believed that they were part of the Kingdom of God on earth. While they believed in "being subject to kings, rulers . and obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law (Articles of Faith), they also waited for a millennium and a better life when governments would be replaced. Therefore, Canadian Mormons did not recognize the dilemma that their split loyalties presented.
    [Show full text]
  • Hatch, Grace Myrtle Woolf 1889-1960
    GRACE MYRTLE WOOLF HATCH 1889-1960 Grace Myrtle Woolf was born 2 Aug. 1889, at Cardston, Alberta, Canada, to John Anthony Woolf and Mary Lucretia Hyde, the 11th of their 12 children. Her parents went with Charles Ora Card and the first group of settlers to Cardston in June 1887. Their daughter, Zina, was the first child born in Cardston, arriving in Dec. 1887. Grace came along 2 years later in Aug. 1889. “Aunt” Susan Smith, an experienced midwife, was in attendance at her birth. Grace was always very proud of the accomplishments of her family in this north land. Her father was the first bishop, her mother, the first Relief Society president, her brother, John, the first member of Parliament from the district, her sister, Jane, the first school teacher, and her sister, Zina, the first child born in Cardston. Early in the year 1890, John A. Woolf received a call through Apostle John W. Taylor to build and operated a hotel, where travelers could not only be housed, but where Church doctrine and practices could be explained to all enquiring guests. It happened that most of the guests wanted to know who and what those Mormons were, and Bishop Woolf was a valuable exponent of the gospel, in which he so firmly believed. He impressed many with the validity of Mormon doctrine. As a child, Grace enjoyed being able to help in the hotel her father owned; she remembered washing dishes when she was so small that she had to stand on a stool to reach her work.
    [Show full text]
  • Settling Canada: Early Mormon Canadian Pioneers
    Settling Canada: Early Mormon Canadian Pioneers March 2020 For DUP Lesson Leaders This photo array is reserved solely for use by a DUP Lesson Leader to supplement the appropriate lesson. No other uses are authorized and no images or content may be shared or distributed for any other purpose. Please feel free to use the images in any way you wish to enhance your lesson, including printed copies of the images to show your group as well as use in any digital presentations, as long as you adhere to the above restrictions. Please advise members of your group that they can order digital copies of any of the images provided here by contacting the DUP Photo Department. The funds generated by the DUP Photo Department help sustain our organization. Tel: 801-532-6479, Ext 206 Email: [email protected] Website: www.isdup.org Thank you for all you do. Cardston, Alberta Temple (DUP Photo Collection) Parley P. Pratt (1807-1857) (DUP Photo Collection) Joseph Fielding (1797-1863) (DUP Photo Collection) Mary Fielding (1801-1852) (DUP Photo Collection) John Taylor (1808-1887) (DUP Photo Collection) Ira Nathaniel Hinckley (1808-1887) (DUP Photo Collection) Margaret Gay Judd Clawson (1831-1912) (DUP Photo Collection) Archibald Gardner (1814-1902) (DUP Photo Collection) Nauvoo Road Monument (https: www.josephsmith.ca/Churchville , accessed November 26, 2018) Charles Ora Card (1839-1906) (DUP Photo Collection) Lavinia Clark Rigby Card (1866-1960) (DUP Photo Collection) Zina Presendia (Prescindia) Young Williams Card (1850-1931) (DUP Photo Collection) First Faculty of B. Y. U. at Provo, Utah, 1885. From left to right: Nettie Southworth, John E.
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of Mormon History Vol. 23, No. 2, 1997
    Journal of Mormon History Volume 23 Issue 2 Article 1 1997 Journal of Mormon History Vol. 23, No. 2, 1997 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation (1997) "Journal of Mormon History Vol. 23, No. 2, 1997," Journal of Mormon History: Vol. 23 : Iss. 2 , Article 1. Available at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory/vol23/iss2/1 This Full Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Mormon History by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Journal of Mormon History Vol. 23, No. 2, 1997 Table of Contents CONTENTS LETTERS viii ARTICLES • --Mormon Sugar in Alberta: E. P. Ellison and the Knight Sugar Factory, 1901-17 William G. Hartley, 1 • --Ellison Milling and Elevator Company: Alberta Wheat with Utah Roots Gregory P. Christofferson, 30 • --Friends Again: Canadian Grain and the German Saints Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, 46 • --"The Grand, Fundamental Principle:" Joseph Smith and the Virtue of Friendship Steven Epperson, 77 • --Zina Presendia Young Williams Card: Brigham's Daughter, Cardston's First Lady Donald G. Godfrey, 107 • --Ernest L. Wilkinson's Appointment as Seventh President of Brigham Young University Gary James Bergera, 128 • --The Mechanics' Dramatic Association: London and Salt Lake City Lynne Watkins Jorgensen, 155 • --"Every Thing Is Favourable! And God Is On Our Side": Samuel Brannan and the Conquest of California Will Bagley, 185 ENCOUNTER ESSAY • --Keeping Company with Wilford Woodruff Thomas G Alexander, 210 REVIEWS --Martha Sonntag Bradley, Kidnapped from That Land: The Government Raids on the Short Creek Polygamists Becky Johns, 221 --Frederick S.
    [Show full text]
  • 3The Alberta Settlement
    The Alberta Settlement 3 REBECCA J. DOIG AND W. JACK STONE When Charles Ora Card and his little band of refugees sugar factory, which would provide employment and open established a settlement at Lee Creek, Alberta, in the spring lands for settlement in Raymond and area. This time no of 1887, a new era of permanent LDS settlement in Canada mission calls were needed to help Mormon settlers see humbly began. To these first settlers, Canada was a haven the opportunities before them. As Mormons spread across from prosecution for the practice of plural marriage. Many southern Alberta in additional settlements, Saints migrated who followed in the next few years found similar refuge in in groups or as individual families to pursue opportunities Canada, settling several communities in the Cardston area.2 to homestead, ranch, build industry, or pursue education However, it soon became apparent that Canada would and employment in cities. also be a land of opportunity for LDS settlers. When eco- Canada was a place of challenge for Mormon settlers, nomic difficulties hit Utah in the 1890s, many young LDS and these challenges tended to strengthen faith for those families looked beyond Utah for a place to settle. Mean- who remained. The southern Alberta climate can be harsh. while, Charles Ora Card and southern Alberta entrepre- Fierce winds, dry seasons alternating with flood years, neurs and land owners Elliott Galt and Charles A. Magrath hailstorms, untimely frosts, and powerful snowstorms are had been collaborating on an ambitious irrigation building among the elements southern Albertans have had to con- and settlement plan.
    [Show full text]
  • The Mormons, the Hudson S Bay Company, and Vancouver Islandyi846-I8^8
    THE LION AND THE EMPEROR: The Mormons, The Hudson s Bay Company, and Vancouver Islandyi846-i8^8 RICHARD BENNETT AND ARRAN JEWSBURY ELL DOCUMENTED in the history and lore of both the American and the Canadian West are the adventures of that great fur-trading enterprise, the Hudson's Bay Company W(HBC), and the religious migration of Brigham Young and his persecuted Mormon followers (the Latter-day Saints) from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.1 Relatively unknown, however, is the relationship between these two giants of the West, their interchanges of commerce and correspondence, and their mutual interest in that "Eden" of the Pacific - Vancouver Island.2 The purpose of this article is to document their relationship from the Mormon arrival in the Great Basin in 1847 until the so-called Utah War of 1857-58 and to show, from original sources, that, for a period of time, the HBC and the British government took the possibility of a Mormon exodus to the Island very seriously and laid contingency plans for it. Such a threat gave the British Colonial Office and the HBC another valid reason to move ahead with the later colonization of Vancouver Island.3 1 The authors gratefully acknowledge research funding from the Religious Studies Center and the Department of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University that made this study possible. We wish also to thank the Hudson's Bay Company Archives at the Provincial Archives of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, for permission to quote from its collection. 2 The first scholarly study on Vancouver Island and the Mormons was J.B.
    [Show full text]