 The Americans
Immigrants from the United States played a very prominent role in the early
settlement of Alberta. American ranch hands came to the Territories in the
1880s and 1890s looking for work on the southern
ranches. Others spread northward
along the railways as far as Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan. By
1891 more than 1200 Americans had settled in Alberta.
When the American frontier closed and free land was no longer available in
the western states, American pioneers attracted by government publications began
to make their way to the Canadian prairies. By 1901 there were nearly 6,000 American citizens in Alberta but, interestingly enough, nearly 11,000 of
all immigrants had been born in the United States. Over the next two
decades, from 1900-1915 approximately
82,000 Americans arrived in the province,
and by 1916 those of American birth constituted nearly 19% of the total
population. They settled all over the province but tended to favour south
and central Alberta, around communities such as Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Vulcan,
High River, Nobleford and Macleod.
The term "American" is somewhat vague and cuts across many
different ethno-cultural lines. According to the 1916 census 60% of the
"Americans" who were residing in Alberta were actually of British
origin while 13% were Germans, 7% Norwegian and 3% were
Swedish. American
Mennonites were also a large group of Dutch origin who concentrated themselves
in the Didsbury-Rosebud area.
See also:
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