Mormons

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormons, began in New York state during the 1820's. Mormons were followers of a man called Joseph Smith, who claimed to have been given messages from God. Smith also claimed that he found “gold plates” which he was able to translate into the Book of Mormon. This Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price (all collections of Smith’s writing), and the Bible are all the books that make up the Mormon scripture. The church grew and became more organized during the 1830's, but as it grew, it also faced increasing opposition from non-Mormons because of the different beliefs and lifestyle associated with the church. This opposition among non-Mormons forced the church to move several times during the 1830's: from New York to Ohio, then to Missouri, and finally to Illinois. In Illinois the Mormons started a thriving community at Nauvoo, even managing to get some political power. But, jealousy about Mormon wealth, dislike of the way they voted as a group in elections, and rumors of polygamy (when a man has more than one wife) caused hatred and violence toward Mormons. This hatred exploded in 1844 when an angry mob killed Joseph Smith. This convinced the church that they had to go further west if they were to avoid the hatred of non-Mormons.

P19730037000-GP, Ora Card's homestead near Lee's Creek in what is today Cardston.

The Mormons left Illinois in 1847 with their new leader Brigham Young. Young led the Mormons to the area of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Here they were able to live in isolation, and with the use of irrigation in the following decades, the Mormon settlements in Utah became a success. By 1880, there were 150 000 Mormons in Utah. Even with this isolation, the Mormon church did not escape the attention of the rest of the United States. The Mormon practice of polygamy came under criticism from many Americans, and during the 1880's Congress passed a series of anti-bigamy laws. The laws made polygamy illegal, and some Mormons were forced to leave for Mexico and Canada.

The legal problems that some Mormons were facing, combined with an increasing shortage of good land in Utah, led church leaders to begin looking for possible new places to settle. The president of the church, John Taylor, instructed a respected Mormon, Charles Ora Card, to go to Canada to look for new settlement locations. In 1886 Card came north of the border to search out the possibilities. He first looked in British Columbia and then later in Alberta before finding a good area for settlement at Lee’s Creek near what is today Cardston. This location had land that could easily be irrigated and was near the Blood Indian Reserve (The early Mormons felt a special need to do mission work with the North American natives). It is interesting to note that at this early stage Card still thought that settlement in Canada was a temporary thing which would last only as long as the polygamy laws in America.

In March of 1887 Card came back to Canada with three other men. They chose the exact location of their settlement, which was later called Cardston, and planted a garden there before returning to Helena, Montana to help eight other Mormon families in their journey to Canada. The settlers set up their community much the same way as towns in Utah were planned, with people drawing lots to decide where everyone would live. All the Mormon settlers in Cardston lived within the town and worked the farms that surrounded it. The Mormons did not live or work communally, but there was a strong sense of community. This was demonstrated by their application to incorporate Cardston as a co-operative company. The creation of this co-operative company was disliked by many locals who feared a Mormon takeover of the area, but the application was eventually approved. In the next couple of years the company went on to establish a flour mill, cheese factory, sawmill, butcher shop, farm implement manufacturer, and even a coal mine. The community did very well and by 1894 there were nearly 700 Mormons in the Cardston ward of the Mormon church.

Irrigation was one of the main reasons for the Mormons’ successful settlement of Utah, and their were also of great importance in the development of southern Alberta. Richard Pilling was the first southern Albertan to do any serious irrigation when he began using water from the St. Mary’s River to irrigate his crops. Many other Mormon farmers followed his example, and as irrigation increased in the Cardston area, more and more Mormon settlers were attracted to the area. This attracted the interest of the Galt family who owned coal mines, railways, and a great amount of land between Lethbridge and the American border. They realized that irrigating southern Alberta would make it easier for them to sell their land. The Galts then formed the Alberta Irrigation Company to begin building their own major irrigation project on their land in southern Alberta. Since the Mormons in the area had the needed skills and because there were other Mormons interested in settling in southern Alberta, the company hired the Mormon Church as chief contractor for the project. Because of this, almost all the men who worked on the project were Mormon who were interested in settling in the area. They were paid half in cash, half in land; and the majority of them did eventually settle in southern Alberta. This massive irrigation produced a flood of immigration from Utah and Idaho, as the Mormon church strongly promoted settlement in southern Alberta. The campaign was so successful that by the turn of the century there were over 3200 Mormons in the southwestern part of the province.

The irrigation plan called for a canal that would move water out of the St. Mary’s River. It also provided for the establishment of two new towns of 250 people by 1898. The town sites of Pothole (later called Magrath) and Stirling were chosen and settled by Mormons. The communities were founded near irrigated land which brought rapid settlement. By 1911, there were over 500 Mormons in Stirling and nearly 1000 in Magrath. During these first years of the twentieth century other Mormon settlements were also established. Jesse Knight, a wealthy Utah mine owner, was convinced by church president Charles Taylor to establish a new sugar factory and town in southern Alberta. He founded the Knight Sugar Factory in 1903, and the surrounding town of Raymond grew rapidly because of the cheap land in the area and the availability of jobs in the sugar factory. Only one year after the establishment of the sugar factory, there were 1600 Mormons in the Raymond ward. A Mormon high school, called Knight Academy, was opened in Raymond and it attracted students from throughout southern Alberta. At the same time as Raymond was growing, new communities like Taber, Barnwell, Leavitt, Del Bonita and Twin Rivers were being settled largely by Mormons. This immigration to southern Alberta remained heavy until 1908 when economic conditions for Mormons in Utah and Idaho improved to the point where it was profitable for them to stay in the United States.

It is obvious that the Mormon settlers in southern Alberta settled mostly in small towns outside of Lethbridge. In the early years, their interest in irrigation and farming led them away from the city; and it would many years before Mormons would even visit Lethbridge. C.A. Magrath, the first mayor of Lethbridge, had dealings with the Mormons when he was with the Alberta Irrigation Company, and he encouraged them to move into Lethbridge. In 1907, he finally convinced Ephraim Ellison to move his Raymond Milling Company to Lethbridge. The company was then renamed Ellison Mills and has remained in the city ever since. A few Mormons were attracted to the city by work in the mill, but their numbers were quite small. The first Mormon church in Lethbridge was not built until 1918, and by 1921 there were only 407 Mormons in the city of Lethbridge. This may have been partly due to the prejudice faced by some Mormons, but it was also due to the lack of formal education among most Mormons during this period. Without this education, Mormons found it difficult to find good-paying jobs, thus, most Mormons found farming more attractive. But soon, education levels among Mormons increased, and many of them began to enter professional careers such as law, dentistry, medicine, and teaching. As more Mormons became trained as professionals, the church became increasingly urban. Mormons have become a large presence in Lethbridge, and even larger cities like Calgary and Edmonton.

P19861119006-GP Souvenir postcard featuring scenes from the construction of the Mormon Temple at Cardston.

Ties with the Mormon heartland of Utah have always been strong in southern Alberta. There have always been cultural and family ties linking southern Alberta Mormons with friends and family in Utah. Also, the social structure of the church ensures that the religious attention of Mormons in southern Alberta is often focused on Utah. Southern Alberta is also very important to the Mormon church because of the Mormon Temple in Cardston. Constructed in 1923, the temple is the most important church structure for Mormons within southern Alberta. Still, ties with Utah remain strong, as is demonstrated by the many Mormon students who go to university in Utah or Rexburg, Idaho.

Mormons have become quite accepted into the broader culture of southern Alberta. Old beliefs about polygamy, theocracy, and communal living have been put aside, and Mormon lifestyles do not appear to be that different from lifestyles in the wider community. But still the Mormon community in southern Alberta has remained a very close-knit group. Mormon churches provide a wide range of social activities for their members, and this helps to maintain a high rate of inter-marriages among Mormons. In addition, young Mormon adults are encouraged to perform about 2 years of mission work before beginning their careers. This also helps to encourage a spirit of closeness among Mormons. So, while Mormons have become a part of the wider culture of southern Alberta, they have kept the most important aspects of their distinctive religion and culture alive.