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By the beginning of the twentieth century,
the Prairie West was successfully
drawn into the web of industrial capitalism.
In just two decades, the way of life
that had existed for centuries was
supplanted completely by an agricultural
economy based on private ownership
and family-run farms. This new economy
had some impressive growth records
to its credit. In 1896, for example,
1.26 million acres were sown in wheat;
on the eve of the First World War,
the acreage had jumped to more than
10 million, and had placed wheat in
the top four of Canada's export commodities.
Such unprecedented growth was assisted
in part by government-sponsored programs,
such as experimental farms and
public works projects, which advanced
the technology and infrastructure
that made both urban and rural development
possible in such an inhospitable environment.
Government assistance, however, did
not stop there, but helped to convert
the landscape in other productive
ways. For example, government scientists
began the long process of identifying
nature preserves - a relatively new
concept - which would not only help
nurture and protect the resource base
of a number of industries, but provide
a welcoming environment for a budding
tourist industry. Government scientists
also identified the coal deposits
and petroleum reserves that would
fuel the industrialization and urbanization
of the region, and later in the century,
would challenge the supremacy of the
agricultural economy.
The result had a profound effect
on western cities. After 1906, most
newcomers to the West were not interested
in the family farm. They were "navvies,"
that is, unskilled workers and the
majority headed straight for such
places as Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary,
Regina, and Saskatoon which now ranked
among the largest urban centres in
Canada and could boast a cultural
life that a few decades earlier
was only a dream. This cultural life
eventually became the lifeblood of
western schools and was now supporting
its own writers and artists who were
not afraid to seek inspiration from
their home landscape. Rather than
create images that suited the tastes
of outsiders, this home-grown community
was much more willing to accept the
West on its own terms.
Political and social activists from
the West also drew strength from their
communities and began to lead provincial
rights movements to achieve an equal
footing in Confederation. Thus began
a long history of western
protest that would see many political
and social developments in the new
West.
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