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Chapter 14 Spreading the Word About Boom Years

In 1896, entered the House of newest members of Confederation. In 38 Commons to the sound of many cheers. He years, Confederation had grown from the made his way to the seat that Sir John A. joining of four provinces in eastern Canada to Macdonald had occupied for 19 years. Sir the union of nine provinces coast to coast. John A. had died of a stroke in 1891. The Conservative party had held power for five more years, but now Laurier was the prime minister of Canada. The Liberal party was the party in power. The next 15 years were to become known as the Golden Age of Laurier. Laurier once said that the 19th century belonged to the United States, but the 20th century would belong to Canada. As the 19th century drew to a close, it looked as if Laurier might be right. The economic depression that had plagued the world for the past five years began to clear. Prosperity started to return to Canada. Factories began to hum again. People had jobs. There were markets for Canadian goods. Over the next decade, the country also experienced the greatest wave of immigration in its history. The population grew rapidly. The make-up of the population changed as well. By 1912, almost one-fifth of the people of Canada were not of British or French origin. The West developed rapidly with the inrush of settlers. Roads and railway branch lines were built. Towns and villages sprang up. Regina, Edmonton, , and Saska- toon were once small and isolated outposts. Now they became large and thriving Reflecting trading centres. 1. Examine the poster on this page. How does it present Canada and the West? Two new provinces were 2. If you had the job of attracting vast numbers of settlers created. In 1905, and to the Canadian West in the 1890s, how would you became the do it?

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Clifford Sifton Has a Problem

Clifford Sifton is the Minister of the Interior in Laurier’s new gov- ernment. One day in 1896, he is called into the prime minister’s office. Laurier looks worried. The trouble is the West. There are millions of hectares of good farmland out there.The land is free. Why aren’t people taking advantage of the opportunities? Laurier gives Sifton a task. Find ways to fill the West with settlers. Clifford Sifton now has a problem. He needs to find a solution. Problem-solving might be defined as “What to do when you don’t know what to do?” There are a number of problem-solving models he could follow. Here is one. 1. Understand What is the problem? What is known? What is not known? 2. Plan What strategy will be used to solve the prob- lem? For example, you might brainstorm a list of as many solutions as possible. For each solution, think about the short-term consequences, the long-term consequences, the risks involved, and the possible effects on people. Then choose the solution you think is best. 3. Act Carry out the chosen plan. 4. Think Back Is the solution reasonable? Is this the only solution? Sifton and his officials set about the task immediately. First, they try to under- stand their problem.This is what they know. a) The Canadian prairies were ready to produce large amounts of wheat. All that was needed were people to grow it. b) The buffalo had disappeared from the plains. Farming and ranching could now take place. c) Treaties had been made with Aboriginal peoples. Land was available for settlement. d) The North-West Rebellion was over. The North-West Mounted Police had established law and order in the West. e) A railway had been built to bring in settlers. It could carry their harvests to the markets of the world. f) There was lots of free land.The Dominion Land Act provided free homesteads. This is what Sifton and the officials do not know. a) Where they could find large numbers of settlers who would move to the West. b) How they could spread the word that Canada was ready for settlement. c) How they could persuade people from other parts of the world that coming to Canada was in their best interests. Sifton and his officials develop a plan to sell the “Golden North-West.” It will be directed at people in Britain, the United States, and . They will persuade the Canadian Pacific Railway to join the government in the plan. The Liberals will begin Canada’s biggest advertising campaign. Sifton believes the British are the most desirable settlers. He will start his campaign there. In this chapter, you will find out what he did. 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 202

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Profile Wilfrid Laurier

ilfrid Laurier was lawyer. He opened a law prac- WCanada’s first French- tice at Arthabaskaville, Québec. Canadian prime minister. He He impressed the townspeople was born near the village of St. with his honesty and courage. Lin in the province of Québec In 1871, they chose him to rep- in 1841. He was a sixth-genera- resent them in the provincial tion Canadian. He could trace government at Québec City. his ancestors back to a Three years later, he was member of the Carignan- elected to the federal govern- Salières Regiment who had ment in . In 1887, he settled in Québec in the became leader of the Liberal 17th century. party. In Parliament, Laurier When Laurier was 11, impressed everyone as an his father did a surprising excellent orator. Macdonald thing. He sent Wilfrid to admired his political opponent school in the English-speak- and recognized him as a most ing settlement at New promising politician. Glasgow. There Laurier learned Laurier’s greatest gift to English and became fluently Canada was his ability to see bilingual. He lived with a family both the English and French of Scottish Protestants. Laurier points of view. His main aim learned a great deal about the was to keep both language ways and religion of English- groups together. Laurier’s sense speaking Protestants. He also of fair play helped him to work learned to be tolerant of people out compromises that would be different from himself. In later acceptable to both French and years, as prime minister of a English . largely English-speaking Canada, this knowledge was extremely useful. Often Laurier 1. How would you describe told students that they owed it Laurier’s leadership qualities? to themselves to be able to read Why might he be the type of and speak both languages of prime minister Canada Canada. He was grateful to his needed at the turn of the own father for giving him this 20th century? opportunity. 2. Why do you think Laurier After high school, Laurier said that the 20th century went to McGill University. Like would belong to Canada? Macdonald, he became a 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 203

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Advertising in Britain ment brought English reporters on free trips to In Britain, it was impossible to miss the signs see for themselves what Canada was like. They and posters advertising the “Garden West.” were lavishly entertained. They were dazzled They were in British post offices, train stations, by Niagara Falls, the Rocky Mountains, growing hotel lobbies, and on street signboards. You towns and cities, and the natural resources of could not walk down the main streets of the prairies. They returned to England and Glasgow, London, Leeds, Manchester, or any wrote enthusiastic reports about Canada in other city or town in Britain without someone their newspapers. They encouraged British handing you a pamphlet about the “glorious farmers and workers, who were thinking about Canadian West.” The pamphlets were full of moving, to set their sights on Canada. pictures of wheat fields and new homesteads. They told how you could get free land and how you could make a fortune in Canada. Then there were “movies.” Not movies as we know them today, but magic lantern shows. Slide pic- tures of life in Canada were projected on a screen. Pictures of large crops, herds of cattle, and trainloads of settlers were shown in thou- sands of British villages. A talk followed the show. The speaker explained how the Canadian government offered 65 ha of free land for the homesteader. Questions people asked about Canada Another way of promoting Canada was the exhibition van. were answered. This wagon travelled the length and breadth of Britain. It British newspapers also showed samples of wheat, vegetables, soil, Canadian animals helped to spread the word about and birds, and pictures of western life. In one year, the exhibi- Canada. The Canadian govern- tion van was inspected by almost 2 000 000 visitors.

Was It All True? Some people complained that all this advertising was overdone. One pamphlet said that in Saskatchewan, a farmer could grow peaches. A settler who had spent his whole life in Saskatchewan said that he never did see a peach orchard there, and never heard of one either. Gradually though, the advertising became more realistic. It did not paint the West only as glo- rious. People were told about the bad as well as the good side of life there. British settlers in Canada were asked questions about climate, storms, soil, water, and winter in their districts.Their answers were published in British papers along with their names and addresses. This helped to provide an honest picture of what life was really like homesteading in the West. 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 204

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Skill Building: Using Statistics

What are statistics? Statistics are numerical 2. Which year saw the greatest increase in facts about people, the weather, business immigrants coming to Canada? conditions, and many other topics.Tables of numbers may seem puzzling at first, but statistics 3. Which year saw the smallest increase in can provide very useful and interesting informa- immigrants? tion.The Canadian government keeps records of the number of immigrants (people coming into 4. In this time period, did more immigrants the country) every year and where they come come to Canada from Britain, the United States, from.The government kept this information even or from other countries? From where did the in Clifford Sifton’s time. fewest immigrants come?

Practise It! 5. Was Clifford Sifton’s plan a success? Did his Follow the steps for reading a table of statistics advertising campaign work? below and then answer these questions. 6. Challenge: Create a line graph, bar graph, or 1. Did the total number of immigrants increase pictogram using the statistics for the total num- every year from 1897 to 1905? ber of immigrants from 1897 to 1905.

Reading a Table of Statistics 2 Make sure you understand the categories of 1 Identify the title of the table. It information presented. In this table, statis- should clearly state what the statis- tics are given for the number of immigrants tics show and give specific dates for from Britain, the United States, and other the information. countries, along with totals.

Number of Immigrants to Canada, 1897-1905 From From the From other TOTAL Britain United States countries 1897 11 383 2 412 7 921 21 716 1898 11 173 9 119 11 608 31 900 1899 10 660 11 945 21 938 44 543 1900 10 282 17 086 20 422 47 790 1901 11 810 17 987 19 352 49 149 1902 17 259 26 388 23 732 67 379 1903 41 792 49 473 37 099 128 364 1904 50 374 45 171 34 786 130 331 1905 65 359 43 543 37 364 146 266 Source: Dominion Bureau of Statistics.

3 Examine the source of the data. 4 Scan the table to answer specific questions you may have. If Is it reliable? you want to know where the majority of immigrants in 1905 came from, find the date and then scan the columns to find the highest number.The answer is most immigrants came from Britain that year. 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 205

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Advertising in the US time. They saw the fields of golden wheat The Canadian government decided it was also waving in the breeze. They talked to farmers, a good idea to attract American farmers. merchants, and bankers. Then they went home American farmers had experience. They were to write glowing reports about how prosperous used to farming the dry, wide plains. Sifton the Canadian West appeared. opened immigration agencies in Chicago, Kansas City, St. Paul, and other large western The Campaign in Europe cities. Agents were hired to spread facts about Sifton also recruited settlers in central and the Canadian West. eastern Europe. He wanted people like the Eventually, the advertising paid off. Ukrainians, Poles, and Germans. He believed Americans came north to Canada. One reason many of these people were solid farmers who for this was that land in the United States was could survive the tough prairie environment. more expensive. It was selling for about $250 They had been farmers for generations. Sifton or more per hectare. Established American hoped their children and grandchildren would farmers could sell their farms at a good price. continue to farm in Canada. He arranged for Then they could settle in Canada and receive agents of shipping companies to direct good 65 ha free. Later, they could buy more land settlers to Canada. He paid them $2 for each from the railroad or Hudson’s Bay Company for person and $5 for the head of each family they a few dollars per hectare. This way they could sent. buy new machinery and horses, and still have The Canadian government set aside large lots of money left over! To many American areas or blocks of land where immigrants from farmers, it seemed like a very good deal. one country could settle. This helped to over- American reporters were also invited to come the loneliness and isolation that many take a free trip through the West at harvest settlers in a new country would feel.

Settlers who came to Canada from the American West had a fair amount of cash, machinery, and experience.They often bought large farms and quickly became successful. Most of the good farm- land in the United States had been taken up. Many Americans saw Canada as the new frontier. Thousands began to head northward.American John Ware and his family came to Canada in 1882 and established a successful ranch.Ware was the first Black American settler in the Canadian West. 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 206

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Sifton’s Selective Immigration Policy Orientals, Blacks, Jews, Italians, and city-dwellers were not encouraged to come to Canada dur- ing Sifton’s campaign. Sifton believed they would not make successful prairie farmers.This policy was known as selective immigration. It meant that some groups were encouraged to come to Canada, while others were discouraged, or at least ignored.They would be allowed to come to Canada only if Sifton thought they would make good farmers. What do you think of this policy?

European immigrants were not always warmly welcomed in Canada, however. People A Successful Policy could not pronounce their names or understand Between 1885 and 1914, more than two their languages. In many places, non-English- million people came to settle in the Canadian West. Sifton’s advertising campaign speaking settlers were shunned and ridiculed. was a success. Other factors also helped to They suffered forms of discrimination. In make Canada’s immigration plan work. time, however, the Europeans were more accepted in their districts. 1. The worldwide depression ended. In hard times, few families could afford to move. However, as things got better, families could think about taking up homesteads. 2. There was not much good farmland left in the United States, while a great deal of good free land was available in Canada. 3. Countries in Europe were becoming more industrialized. People were leaving farms to go into the cities to work in factories. Fewer farmers were producing food.These European countries needed to buy food from Canada and the United States. 4. In Europe, the demand for Canadian wheat increased.The price of wheat almost doubled. Growing wheat became more profitable for the Canadian farmer. 5. Canada had a transcontinental railroad to ship grain to markets. Steam-powered ocean vessels transported wheat to Europe cheaply and quickly. 6. New farm machines, such as ploughs and reapers, were invented.These helped to make the farmers’ work easier and more efficient. 7. Millions of Europeans left their homelands between 1900 and 1914.They were look- ing for new homes and better opportuni- ties. Some were fleeing cruel treatment, This Dutch poster invited new immigrants to compulsory service in the army, economic Canada.What do the pictures show of Canada? hardships, and overcrowding. Many chose What do you think the words say? What is Canada. the main message? Can you translate it? 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 207

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Profile Hart Massey

art Massey was a pioneer new factory in . Hart HCanadian entrepreneur. Massey built his farm machin- An entrepreneur is a person ery business into one of who starts and organizes a busi- Canada’s largest industries. ness or industrial enterprise. In Massey products helped to rev- 1861, Hart Massey took over his olutionize farming. Machines father’s small blacksmith certainly helped to open the and farm tool business in West for settlement and agricul- Newcastle, . Then ture. Massey also contributed he began to buy the some of his great wealth to rights to make and sell Canadian society. Among his American-designed farm gifts to the city of Toronto was inventions in Canada. the world-famous concert hall Massey was not known as Massey Hall. Two of afraid of hard work. He Hart Massey’s grandsons also knew how to operate brought fame to Canada. every machine his factory Vincent became the first produced. His business Canadian-born governor gen- manufactured a variety of eral and Raymond became a farm machinery including renowned stage and film star. reapers, mowers, rakes, cultiva- tors, ploughs, and stump pullers. Massey machines were very 1. Create slogans for Massey well made. They worked even farm machinery that could better than their American be used on advertisements. originals. 2. If you were a worker in the The company won prizes in Massey plant or a business Canada, the United States, partner of Hart Massey, how France, and Germany and sold would you describe him? its excellent products around Write quotations about Hart the world. By 1880 the Massey Massey that could have been Company had moved to a huge said by people of the time. 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 208

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Tech Link New Farm Technology

New Types of Wheat He decided to save the seeds f David Fife’s cow had taken from that plant. Ione more bite, Canada might Shortly before the wheat never have become a was ripe, Fife’s cow broke into great wheat-producing the garden. It was just about to country. Fife came from munch the experimental wheat Scotland to Canada and when Jane Fife looked out her settled near Peter- kitchen window. She ran from borough. He began to the house waving her apron and experiment with develop- shooing the cow out of the yard. ing a strong, hardy strain The precious wheat was saved. of wheat that would From the seeds of that one grow well in Canada. His plant, there came a new type of neighbours laughed at wheat known as Red Fife. him, but Fife continued Soon prairie farmers were grow- his experiments. ing and harvesting Red Fife In 1843, Fife planted wheat. a few wheat seeds that At the turn of the 20th cen- he received in the mail tury, Charles Saunders success- from a friend in Glasgow. fully crossed Red Fife wheat Jane and David Fife Many of the stalks grew and a variety from India called up, but they were small and Hard Red Calcutta. This new thin. Only one plant had healthy strain was called Marquis stalks with good, fat heads. wheat. It took just 100 days to ripen. Now even the northern prairies could be opened for TechFacts settlement. Marquis wheat was Red Fife Wheat called “the discovery of the • a very hardy strain century.” Canada was to • did not come down with the diseases that often become one of the great grain- destroyed other kinds of wheat producing nations of the world. • produced a high yield • excellent quality for bread-making • matured ten days earlier than other kinds of wheat (this was a crucial factor on the prairies where the frost-free growing season is short) 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 209

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New Machinery By the 1890s, the steam engine brought great changes to farm machinery. New tractors, thresh- ing machines, and binders were propelled by steam power. One of the most famous was the new Massey Toronto binder. It cut the grain, formed it in a bundle, and tied it with twine. Then the sheaves of wheat were carried by wagon to the threshing machines. These separated the kernels of wheat from the straw. Threshing machines were very expensive. Most farmers usually hired the threshing equipment and a gang of harvesters. The harvesting gang moved from farm to farm threshing grain. Another inven- tion was the chilled steel plough. It could cut through the tough prairie sod that had been baked by the hot sun.

1. What qualities do you think early inventors had to have? 2. Create a stamp, coin, or history One of the most important new machines was the Massey card to summarize the impor- Toronto binder.This one machine cut grain, formed it in a tance of one of these inven- bundle, tied it with twine, and dropped the bundle onto tions to the development of the field. It reduced harvesting time and increased produc- Canada. tivity.The machine won awards around the world. 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 210

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Culture Link Memories of Homesteading

any homesteaders wrote let- Still other pioneers later recorded Mters to friends and relatives on tape their memories of those describing their new lives. A few early days. Here are some of the kept diaries of day-to-day events. things they remembered.

Mosquitoes You could just not believe what the mosquitoes were like. My mother would send me to the slough for a pail of water. The way A Hailstorm Beyond Belief was through very thick and long grass. This is During dinner, the sky darkened and the storm where the hundreds of thousands of clouds rolled up and there were flashes of lightning mosquitoes lived. You’d be wearing a long everywhere. Tremendous rolls of thunder warned skirt and long stockings, so it was your face and your neck and your hands you had to us we were in for a storm. We took shelter when hide. Imagine going out in June in the warm the storm rolled over us, and when we came out morning wearing mittens to get a pail of ten minutes later, our beautiful waving fields of water. wheat were a blackened, battered mess of mud and That first summer when my father was straw. Hail and terrible rain, but mostly hail. Huge plowing, I had to walk on one side of the hailstones could be seen everywhere. horses and my smaller sister on the other Our farmyard was strewn with the dead waving cloths. Bits of cloth were tied to sticks bodies of mother’s chickens, and the swollen river to keep the horses calm enough to work. The had swept away the geese and ducks that had been mosquitoes were simply driving them out of feeding in it. In our pasture were the bodies of our their minds! It was a common sight to see a young cattle and calves that had been pounded to team with three people around it, one man death by hailstones the size of walnuts. plowing and the others brushing them off. by Barry Broadfoot. All in ten minutes, without knowing what was From The Pioneer Years going on as we huddled in the shelter, all the work of a year had gone for nothing. Wallpaper Wallpaper was out of the question, so old From The Pioneer Years newspapers were saved and pasted on the by Barry Broadfoot. walls to cover the cracks and keep out the cold. Pictures, from magazines that had literally been read to pieces, were used too....

By Kate Johnson, from the Provincial Archives of . 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 211

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Games Chess and checkers had been brought from the Old Country, and many a long winter evening they kept the family occupied…On the back of the checkerboard was another game, called fox- and-hounds, in which a red button was relentlessly pursued by three of another colour, usually brown or grey. The object of the chase being, of course, to corner the “fox.” When these games failed to fascinate, the youngsters turned to playing farmyard and spent the time trading horses, cows, and pigs. Shoeboxes made stables and barns, and around them were grouped pens containing the livestock. The animals in these enclosures were paper cut-outs, sent from Denmark by grandma, and had been patiently pasted on cardboard by mother. Buttons from mother’s button-bag served the purpose too, and were Food sorted according to size and colour, large white I remember what my mother used to serve us ones being used for sheep, while little ones of in the winter, about the time of my 12th various colours became calves, colts or poultry. birthday (1885):

Breakfast Porridge or mush, milk and By Kate Johnson, from the Provincial Archives of Manitoba brown sugar, sometimes hash or cold meat, warmed potatoes, bread, butter if we had Chores any, stewed or canned fruit. Kids were limited to certain things, sawing the wood, Dinner Stewed rabbit with dumplings, feeding the pigs, and taking the swill from the house potatoes and another to the pigs, cleaning up the yard…and of course as vegetable, sometimes plain you grew older, you took on heavier responsibilities, pudding or pie. such as getting in the cows and milking and helping Supper Variable—a hot soup, pancakes, around the general way. When you weren’t in school Johnny cake with syrup, you could tramp a load of hay in the hay rack and sometimes a steamed pudding, there were lots of odd jobs to be done. fruit, hot biscuits, perhaps potatoes cooked some tasty way, often raw onions. By Edric Lloyd, from the Archives of the Glenbow-Alberta Institute

2. Research photos to create a scrapbook of 1. How do these memories of homesteading “Everyday life on a Homestead.” Then compare with some of the images presented choose one or two photos. Imagine you are in the posters and other advertisements in the photos and write your own “memo- attracting homesteaders to Canada’s West? ries” of homesteading life. 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 212

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Culture Picture Gallery Link Development of the West

In 1881, Calgary was just a stockaded By 1912, Calgary was a thriving city. police fort.

Trains brought thousands of settlers to the West.This group of settlers from Grain elevators were built in every the United States was on its way to town on the prairies. Here wheat was Alberta. By 1911, half of Alberta’s pop- stored until it could be shipped out by ulation was of British heritage, 22% rail.The railway boxcar was developed American, 12% of European heritage, so that grain could be moved in bulk 8% Scandinavian, and the rest from to Great Lakes or ocean ports. From various backgrounds. there, the wheat was sent to markets all over the world by steamers. 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 213

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Women worked in the fields ploughing, cultivating, planting, and harvesting. Women also took responsibility for dairy cows and poultry on the farms. Some women got jobs on threshing gangs as cooks.

Fast Forward The Calgary Stampede The first Calgary Stampede was held in 1912, but it had its ori- gins in the annual fairs held in communities across the West. Calgary’s Dominion Exhibition in 1908 was one of the grandest. It featured a general exhibits building, grandstand, livestock building, and parade with floats, bands, and Aboriginal people in traditional dress. Cowboys and ranchers at this Exhibition got Farms produced excellent wheat crops, espe- together four years later to organize what cially with the new strains developed for the became the Calgary Stampede. It would be a Canadian prairies. Canada became the bread celebration of the “old days,” the daring basket of the world. exploits of cowboys, and fine livestock. About 100 000 tickets were sold and people came from as far away as Mexico. The winner of the 1. Work in groups. Have each group mem- first bronc riding competition was a Blood, ber choose one photo and talk about Tom Three Persons. Flores La Due (shown in how the photo shows a key aspect of photo) was World Champion Fancy Trick the development of Canada’s West. Use Roper. Women also competed in fancy riding, your own words. relay races, bucking events, and trick riding. 2. Outline the key themes in the West’s The Stampede held its first chuckwagon races development shown by the photos (e.g., in 1923. Today the Calgary Stampede is still a Immigration). world famous celebration of western culture. Find out more on the Internet at www.calgary-stampede.com/. 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 214

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Case Study The Ukrainians

etween 1897 and 1912, and a better life for their children. B594 000 people crossed to For many Ukrainians, Canada Canada from Europe. Of these, promised a new life. 170 000—one of the largest groups of “new” Canadians—were 1. In one column, list the rea- from the Ukraine. The men were sons why Ukrainians wished to nicknamed “the men in sheepskin leave their own country. In a sec- coats” because of the kind of gar- ond column beside each reason, ments many of them wore. note why the Canadian West might attract them. Why Go to Canada? Why leave the Ukraine? Many They asked one of their most Ukrainian farmers could not pro- educated citizens, Dr. Joseph duce enough on their small plots Oleskow, to investigate opportuni- of land to make a decent living. ties available in Canada. Dr. There were few opportunities for Oleskow visited Canada and education and self-advancement. described what it was like. His The people were given no voice in pamphlet was called “About Free the running of the country. The Land.” This is part of what he Ukrainians longed for freedom wrote:

In order to make a living, one should have About Free Land enough money to be able to live after arrival The climate varies in different parts of until the next crop is gathered, to be able to Canada. In the provinces where the free land buy a pair of oxen for ploughing as well as is available, the country is very much like that tools for farming. . . . The best time to emi- of our country, only that the winters are more grate to Canada is in the early spring, because severe. . . . Railways are everywhere where this will enable the settler to put in some settlements are situated. . . . potatoes and sow some grain on his ploughed The crossing of the ocean lasts one week, acres. . . . Nobody should venture to Canada and travel by rail in Europe and Canada takes in the autumn because he will have difficulty about five days. . . . It is best to travel in in finding work and will have to spend his groups under the guidance of an experienced money, perhaps his last cent, to live through person who knows the language. . . . the winter. . . . 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 215

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2. Suppose you were a Ukrainian cleared. Finally, farmer considering moving to a they arrived. new country. How would Dr. The long jour- Oleskow’s pamphlet encourage or ney was over, discourage you from choosing but the hard Canada? work was about to begin! Crossing to Canada The settlers faced a long and diffi- 3. Make a list cult journey to Canada by ship of the stages in across the ocean. When they the crossing of arrived, several days of railroad Ukrainians to travel still lay ahead. The trains Canada and the ran special colonist cars. No soft difficulties seats here—just bare boards. No encountered. eating facilities were available. The passengers had to bring their 4. Imagine you are 13 or 14 years A Ukrainian family on own food or buy it at the larger old. You have just arrived in board a ship to stations along the way. When Canada with your parents from Canada.The ocean these new settlers finally arrived, the Ukraine. Write a letter to one voyage was often filled they were tired and half-starved. of your best friends back home with bitter experi- But they had hope in their hearts. describing the ocean crossing and ences.The same ships In , immigrants the trip to the homestead. that carried Canadian stayed over for two weeks in the grain and cattle to immigration building. Here the 5. On an outline map of the Europe were used to immigration papers were signed world, trace a possible route that bring a return load of and the homesteads decided on. Ukrainians might follow from the people. For up to three weeks, people The Ukrainians claimed the right Ukraine to the Canadian prairies. were packed together to choose who their neighbours in horrible conditions would be—usually friends or rela- 6. Most Ukrainians liked to live until they reached tives from their native villages. near people who shared their cul- Québec City. When that was completed, they ture when they moved to Canada. started out for the newly chosen What are the advantages and dis- homestead. advantages of doing this? Would Often, they had to travel 30 or you choose to live in a Canadian 40 km from the railway stop to “section” if you moved to a for- their homestead in an ox-drawn eign country? Why or why not? wagon. There were few roads, and trails had to be cut and 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 216

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Starting to Farm treasures to remind them of their Wasyl Melnyk was only 12 years former home in the Ukraine. old when he arrived with his fam- Wasyl’s father and uncles then ily from the Ukraine in 1894. They left the family and went to earn took up a homestead near Edna, money to buy doors and windows Alberta. It was a dry, pleasant for the house, or perhaps a cow summer. Raspberries ripened at or a team of oxen. They found the edge of the bush. Wild cran- jobs working on the railway, but it berries were turning red and was lonely for the family with the delicious saskatoons hung in men away. handfuls. Partridges stalked near The women and children the trail and ducks covered the picked berries. Wasyl walked to sloughs. But Wasyl had little time the nearest town to sell them. The to investigate. There was work to biggest profit was to be made be done. from digging and selling seneca The first duty of every home- roots, or snake roots. These were steader was to slap-bang together used for medicines. All the chil- some kind of shelter. For the dren pitched in to dig the roots, A Ukrainian family Melnyk family, it was a dugout, dry them in the sun, and carry harvesting together. framed over with rafters, and cov- them to market. Many Ukrainian Though the first years ered with sod. Inside the hut, families were able to buy sugar were difficult, many ledges in the sod were cut to and flour and pieces of cloth families became suc- serve as seats, beds, and tables. through the sale of this humble cessful and prosper- Wasyl’s mother put up the holy root. ous farmers.They pictures and brought out little The first winter on the farm adapted well to the was the hardest. Canadian win- Canadian prairies. ters were more fierce than those in the Ukraine. What was worse was the terrible loneliness and isolation. Finally, the Melnyk fam- ily could stand the homesickness no longer. They walked 24 km to visit their friends, the Yurkiws. They had known the Yurkiw fam- ily back home in their village in the Ukraine. When they knocked on the door, both families were overjoyed to see each other. The loneliness and the need to talk to someone from home kept them chatting past midnight. 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 217

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When spring came, Wasyl’s fam- Everywhere their welcome to ily managed to plough a hectare of the stranger was cordial.“We are land. They seeded it with wheat, pleased to have you,” greeted oats, barley, and potatoes. The me at every threshold....The Melnyk family had made a proud language of a smile is under- beginning homesteading in Canada. stood and returned by a smile . . . They have crossed the 7. List the problems to be over- unknown seas to try their luck come by the early pioneers. How on Canadian soil. God grant did they meet these challenges? them peace and prosperity in How do you think the pioneers their new home! would feel in the new land? Written in 1902 8. Sketch the early Ukrainian home described above.

Prosperity in the New Land A reporter from the Toronto Globe visited Ukrainian settlements in the West. This is what he wrote:

Farther along I saw the house of a settler who has been here for five years. He is now a prosper- ous market gardener, raising potatoes and hens, onions and garlic, cabbages and beets for the market. He drives to market each week with his team of oxen 9. What evidence proves the A community . . .The cattle in the grove nearby Ukrainians were increasing in gathers at a are his too and the butter and prosperity? Ukrainian church the milk they produce add to his in Vegreville, savings . . . 10. Research another group of Alberta. By 1912, Hardworking are these peas- immigrants who settled in the there were over ants, rising before sunrise and Canadian West during this period. 75 000 Ukrainians labouring until dark.The women Present a short report on their expe- in Canada’s West. labour as hard as the men in riences using the same headings as the fields. Only the babies are those in this case study on the immune from work . . . Ukrainians. 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 218

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Activities Understanding Concepts

1. Add these new terms to your Factfile. problem-solving selective immigration Marquis wheat pamphlet discrimination steam engine magic lantern show entrepreneur chilled steel plough exhibition van Red Fife wheat grain elevator statistics

2. a) What qualities did people need to be successful homesteaders on the prairies? b) From where did the majority of settlers in the West come? 3. Explain why Sifton’s immigration advertising campaign was largely successful. 4. What new inventions helped to make farming in the West more efficient? Describe them. Digging Deeper

5. VIEWPOINTS Settlers came to Canada from Britain, the United States, and Europe. How do you think their views and experiences of Canada might be similar or different? Imagine you are a homesteader from one of these areas.Write down what you think some of your first observations and feelings about your new country might be. Remember your culture, background, experiences in getting to Canada, reasons for coming, and original home environment will all have an effect on your views.Then get together with classmates who have written from the other points of view. Share your viewpoints. Report on the similarities and differences you discover.

6. MODEL Create a model of an exhibition van advertising Canada’s West in the 1890s.

7. CREATE Imagine you are government agents attempting to encourage settle- ment in the Canadian West. Divide into three groups—the first to work in Britain, the second in Europe, and the third in the United States. Develop an advertising campaign including posters, newspaper advertisements, magic lantern (slide) shows, charts (statistics), etc., to attract settlers from your area of the world. If you have knowledge of other languages, use them on your posters. 200-219 120820 11/1/04 2:59 PM Page 219

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8. WRITE/CREATE Imagine you are a British or American reporter who has been invited to tour Canada.You want to give an honest report to people at home thinking of coming to Canada.What questions do you think new immi- grants most need answered? List them.Then create a pamphlet answering these questions.

9. SPEAK You are a member of a threshing gang.You have come to Saskatchewan from Ontario to work on the harvest. Record a short memoir on tape of your experiences and observations during the harvest season.

10. RESEARCH What other important inventions were made in Canada in the late 19th century in addition to new farm machinery? Research other famous Canadian inventors and their inventions. Collect your class’s research and put together a book entitled Famous Canadian Inventors of the 19th Century.As an alternative, you could make a collection of history cards on Canadian inventors.

Famous Canadian Inventors of the 19th Century

Making New Connections

11. INVESTIGATE Examine a road map of Saskatchewan,Alberta, or Manitoba. Look carefully at the names of the towns and villages. Do they give you any clues about the nationality of the people who first settled there? Example: around Stockholm, Saskatchewan the people were Swedish.

12. CREATE Suppose it is your job to attract new immigrants to your community today. Create a poster, model exhibition van, slide show, or video presentation with voice-over highlighting the major attractions and services your commu- nity has to offer.

13. INVESTIGATE Find out how many immigrants came to Canada over the past five years.Where did most come from and why did they come? How do these statistics compare with those from the early 1900s? Suggest reasons for the differences.