Calgary & Southern Alberta

The Mormon Temple in Cardston, Alberta
Courtesy of Alberta Tourism

In 1887, ten Latter Day Saint (LDS), or Mormon, families fled from their homes in Utah to escape religious persecution stemming largely from American government objections to the Mormon practice of polygamy, a practice soon ruled illegal by the Canadian authorities as well. The families settled in what is now southern Alberta, naming their new community Cardston after their leader, Charles Orda Card. By the following year, they had organised Church-sponsored co-operatives, including a sawmill, cheese factory, and flourmill.

A second wave of immigrants from Utah joined the small Mormon community between 1898 and 1908. By 1905, southwestern Alberta was home to 10,000 Mormons. In 1910, by which time the large-scale migration had ceased, the region of southern Alberta south and southwest of Lethbridge was predominantly Mormon, as is still the case today.

The influx of members of the LDS Church initially generated much local consternation and the press and Protestant churches voiced strenuous objections to Mormon religious beliefs and practices. When the LDS Church itself banned polygamy in 1890, the vigorous anti-Mormon campaign lost much of its original impetus. The new residents, moreover, quickly accommodated themselves to the mainstream culture by, for example, supporting the public school system. Their agricultural expertise also served to mute anti-Mormon sentiments. By the early 1900s, the Cardston settlers had developed the region's first irrigation system and they had established sugar beet farms. As newspapers in the region praised their enterprise and applauded their contribution to the region's economy, the Mormon newcomers were quietly accepted into mainstream society.