In Canada, is it true that when Mormons first arrived (1887) they weren't allowed to settle within 50km of Lethbridge?

score:11

Accepted answer

If the restriction was applicable only to Lethbridge and not the surrounding communities, then any official action would have been a community by-law or ordinance. But according to Wikipedia, Lethbridge was not incorporated as a town until November 29, 1890, and only became a city on May 9, 1906.

That leaves the possibility of corporate discrimination or informal pressures by other residents. From 1874 to 1886, the North-West Mounted Police were the authority in the region, based in Fort Whoop-Up. They would not have had authority over land purchases. Several companies, however, including the major employer North Western Coal and Navigation Company, its successor Alberta Railway and Coal Company and especially, the Canadian Pacific Railway, were involved with drawing settlers to the area.

Since the Americans (whatever their religion) arriving in the area probably did not go through the CPR application process, they simply were not eligible for 25 million acres (100,000 km2) of land reserved in western Canada by that company in the 1880 contract to build the trans-continental railway. Most of those parcels were along the railway, which went through Lethbridge.

Upvote:0

I think the answer to this question is no--there was no rule against Mormons settling in Lethbridge. I have been researching Mormon settlement in southern Alberta and there were other factors that determined the location of their major settlements. It should be remembered that the Mormons, in the time period of settlement in Alberta (1887-1910) were primarily an agriculturally-focused people who favored living in LDS communities where they could practice their religion together. The pattern established all over the inter-mountain west in the United States was to create Mormon agricultural villages and then farm the surrounding land.

In the case of Cardston, 1887, Mormon colonizer, Charles Ora Card chose land near Lee's Creek where a ranching lease had just expired. In the case of Magrath and Stirling, 1899, it was the First Presidency of the LDS Church that suggested locations 20-35 miles from Lethbridge (see Charles Ora Card's Diary, p. 423) during their negotiations with the Alberta Irrigation Company to build an irrigation canal and settle Mormons in southern Alberta. The decision of where to place these settlements, along with the settlement at Raymond (1901) had everything to do with being on large blocks of irrigable land which were available for sale from the Alberta Irrigation Company.

Taber and Barnwell attracted Mormon settlers because good homestead land was available at a time when many Mormons were looking for spots to settle.

Charles A. Magrath, Lethbridge's first Mayor, in 1891, actively recruited Mormons to southern Alberta, including several whom he convinced to move to Lethbridge to begin industries, such as for Ellingson's Flour Mill, etc. The first Mormons lived in Lethbridge about 1900 when Lethbridge was very young and Mormon settlement in the Magrath/Stirling/Raymond areas was just beginning. By 1921, there were 500 Mormons in Lethbridge, which had a population of 11,000. I believe Mormons continue to make up 5-10% of the population of Lethbridge, today.

More post

Search Posts

Related post