Chapter 9 Growth in the West

Natural resources – parts of nature that people can use Ex: fish, land, trees, water, oil, minerals Canada was/is very rich in natural resources They are the reason Europeans came to Canada in the first place

1. Land Provides a place to live Kept F.N.s alive Land=power The gov’t of Canada wanted to control more of it – it was running out back East

Securing Land Canada wanted to secure the West before America could “Rupert’s Land” was changed to the “Northwest Territories” The gov’t gained control of land by signing treaties with F.N.s The gov’t then created the Canada/U.S. border, and used the RCMP to control it

The Border Known as the “49 th Parallel” Surveyors marked the border with mounds of dirt and iron posts

Trouble in Whoop-Up Country “Whoop-Up” country is present day Cypress Hills Traditional F.N. hunting grounds Became part of the whiskey trade Many outlaws hunted/traded here illegally from America People hunted wolves by poisoning dead carcasses of buffalo There was no law enforcement

The Law Arrives Canada was worried about how violent Whoop-Up was becoming He sent the North West Mounted Police to: 1.Show the U.S. who owned the land 2.Shield the F.N. from American outlaws 3.Help new settlers live in the land 4.Keep the peace between settlers and F.N.

Massacre In the U.S., thousands of F.N. were massacred, and their land stolen 1873: Nakoda F.N. camping near Cypress Hills American wolfers accused them of stealing horses They killed 36 men, women, and children John A. got the NWMP there ASAP

The March 300 police marched West The march was hard, and they weren’t prepared Eventually, one half created Fort MacLeod in present-day Lethbridge The other half created Fort Edmonton

Their Role Their role was to make life peaceful. To do this, they: 1.Cleared out the whiskey traders 2.Arrested lawbreakers / put them on trial 3.Delivered mail 4.Fought grass fires / helped new farmers 5.Fought in the 2 nd Metis Uprising

The RCMP Eventually, the NWMP joined forces with the police from eastern Canada, and became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police The RCMP is the federal police force for Canada

Building the Iron Road Standard Time Building the Railroad

PM John A created a new “policy” for the West. It needed to do 3 things: 1.Transportation: create a transportation system from East to West (railway) 2.Immigration: populate it so the land could be used 3.Economic: create a strong economy there

1. Transportation Called the “transcontinental railway” May convince B.C. to join Canada It would be a huge task Built by the “Canadian Pacific Railway Company” (CPR)

The builders decided to build it more south than north: 1.Flatter land / fewer trees 2.Coal deposits down south would fuel the trains 3.To compete with the American railways close to the border 4.The railway company already owned the land 5.They thought the south was better for farming

Rough life… Each kilometer of railway cost $1/2 million! Summer was very hot Mosquitoes were terrible Winter was freezing Poor living conditions Same meals Land was hard to work on (mountains, swamps, etc.)

Impact: Brought many newcomers to Canada Changed to look of the land P.204 Chinese immigrants P.205 Father Albert Lacombe P.206 Opinions about the railway

2. Immigration The gov’t needed people to farm the West Before people got here, the land had to be surveyed: 1.Land divided into large chunks called “townships” 2.Each one divided into 36 sections 3.Each section divided by 4, 64 hectares each

Any “head” of a family, or any male over 21, could apply for a ¼ section They had to promise: 1.Live there for 6 mo. of the year 2.Build a house 3.Start farming If the man did these things, they were allowed to keep the land

Life was very rough: Immigrants did not have money to start their farms, or materials to build Nature was tough: bad weather, bugs, etc. ruined crops

Ontario newcomers Land was scarce in Ontario The gov’t spent a lot of money convincing people from Ont. to move West They went to Manitoba, and nicknamed to place, “New Ontario”

Other groups Mennonites Icelanders P.211 First Nation farms

3. Economy competition with the US: since the US could make materials cheaper, people were buying from there Solution: protective tariff: a tax on products coming across the border P.211 – mixed feelings Progress was slow, but steady