Edmund Morris: Frontier Artist by Jean S. McGill (review)

462 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW •885: MetisRebellion or Government Conspiracy? OONMCLEAN. Winnipeg: Pemmican Publications 1985.Pp. •88 It is a commonobservation thatJohn A. Macdonaldcapitalized on the North-WestRebellionto savethe CanadianPacificRailway.It isalsowidely (though wrongly, I believe) heldthatMacdonald's government 'caused' the Rebellion throughneglect of M•tis grievances. Inevitably, those wholiketo thinkin termsof conspiracies aretemptedto gofarther,tryingtoshow that Macdonald 'caused' theRebellion in a muchstrongersense bymanipulating theM•tisintotaking uparms.The germof theconspiracy theory was already inA.-H. deTr•maudan, Histoire delanation m•tisse dans l'ouest Canadien (a936). HowardAdams tookuptheideainPrison ofGrass (a975),stressing thecritical roleof Charles Nolinasagent provocateur. McLean's bookbelongs tothesame genre butputs theaccent onLawrence Clarke, chieffactor oftheHudson's Bay Company atFortCarltonandPrince Albert,asagent provocateur. In simplest terms,McLean's thesis isthatClarkewanted a M•tisrisingin ordertobringmoney intothecountry. Clarke, whowas thought tobeafriend andadvocate oftheM•tis,encouraged themtobringinLouis Rieltoleadtheir movement. WhenhewenttoOttawain thewinterof a885topresent theM•tis grievances, heandMacdonald secretly agreed togoadtheM•tisintotaking up arms.ClarkethenalarmedtheM•tiswithareportthat5oopolice werecoming, andhebroughtaboutactualfightingby gettingSuperintendent Crozierto confront the M•tis at Duck Lake. Theproofofthis improbable story consists ofshreds ofevidence, much ofit anecdotal, tornoutofcontext andpieced together. Contrary evidence issimply ignored. Tellingly, McLean does notevencitethecontemporary literature on Riel,Dumont,andtherebellion (among thembooks byMartel,Payment, D. Morton,Flanagan, BealandMacleod, andWoodcock). It isfittingthattheauthordid notbotherto compile an index,andthe publisher forgottoprintatable ofcontents; forthisbook isapolitical tractand hasnothingtodowithscholarship. T•IOMAS Ft•,NAGAN University ofCalgary Edmund Morris:Frontier Artist. JEAN $. McGILL. Toronto and Charlottetown: DundurnPress 1984.Pp.2o8.$a9-95 cloth,$9.95paper JeanMcGill's bookisthefirstfull-length study ofEdmundMorris,187•- •913, a greatCanadian artistfor whomproperrecognition islongoverdue. The authorhashadaccess tovaluable collections of manuscript material,including the artist'sdiariesand correspondence, and hasinvestigated a wealthof exhibition catalogues, articles, andothersecondary sources. Herbibliography isimpressive andherbookiswelldocumented. It contains forty-six illustrations including several photographs, some of whichweretakenbyMorris.Of REVIEWS 463 the reproductions of the artist'sworksthe Indian portraitsare the most appealing, thosein colorparticularly beingillustrative of Morris'ssensitive, accurate portrayalof his subjects and of the historical significance of his portraits. The writerbegins witha genealogical sketch of theMorrisfamilyandthen chronicles in somedetailtheartist's earlylife, theyearsof hisart studies, and thebeginnings of hiscareer.Shemakesfrequentuseof comparatively brief notations from Morris's diaries in this section. The diaries themselves undoubtedly arefascinating andcanprovide asense ofimmediacy, buttheuse ofnumerous shortextracts cancreatea problemfor anauthorin maintaining an evenwritingflowand ensuringreaderinterest.In subsequent chapters McGilldealswithMorris'sworkamongIndians,hisactivities in theorganizationanddevelopment of theCanadianArt Club,art exhibitions, andother interests. The pages dealingwithhisstudies of Indiansin theWest,hisfeeling for and relationships with them asindividuals and hiseffortsto improve conditions for themarethemostappealing in thebookandprobably themost revealing of the artistasa man.Again useis madeof Morris'sdiariesand correspondence. Admirersof theartistandhisworkwillgreetwithpleasure theforthcoming publication by the RoyalOntarioMuseumof TheWestern Diaries ofEdmund Morris,•9o7- •9•o,editedbyMary FitzGibbon. The author concludes with assessments of the importanceof Edmund Morris's workandthe'richlegacy' hehasleft.Sheistobecommended for the partshehasplayedin makingCanadians awareof thisheritage. SHEILAGH S.JAMESON Calgary Cattle Kingdom: EarlyRanching inAlberta. EDWARD BRADO. Vancouver: Douglas & Mcintyre1984.Pp.298.$24.95 In recent years Canadian scholars haveturnedtheirattention totheimportant transitional periodbetween 187 øand19oo onthePrairies aswestern Canadian society gradually shiftedfromaneconomy based onthefur tradetoadiverse networkof communities dependentupon cereal agricultureand other embryonic resource industries. Possibly themostoverlooked development in thiserauntilrecentyears hasbeentheranching frontierintheCanadian West. However, withthepublication in 1983of DavidBreen'sTheCanadian Prairie West andtheRanching Frontier, z874-•924, and the more popularaccount considered here,thisgapin westernCanada's historiography hasbeenfilled successfully. Brado'srecentpublication on the historyof the ranchingindustryand community inAlbertarepresents asolid popularsynthesis oftheranching era. He beginshis storyby tracingthe 'AmericanTradition' of the ranching frontier as it took root in the American Mid-West and then expanded northwardto the foothill regionsof southernAlberta and southwestern ...