The Diaries of Charles Ora Card: The Canadian Years, 1886–1903 ed. by Donald G. Godfrey, and Brigham Y. Card (review)

REVIEWS 265 a longVictorian traditionof whichhisgrandfather,GeorgeMunro Grant, and his father, W.L. Grant, were splendidexemplars.However,Grant's Christiancommitment, and his publicinsistence that philosophical endeavour mustbegroundedin faith,alsoplacedhimatoddswithaCanadian academicculture increasingly oriented, after 1945, to specializationand technicalresearchencouragedby the model of the natural sciences. His uneasyrelationswith university administrators, hisalienationof powerful figures suchasFultonAnderson, whichresulted in hisresignation fromYork University in 1958,and hisinabilityto makethe McMasterDepartmentof Religion the 'fifth column' that would challengethe hegemonyof the sciences canall be tracedto the tensions createdbyhispublicavowals that Christianity matteredin themodernworld. Thoughfewin themodernuniversity wouldagreewithGrant'sChristian Platonism, Christian's George Grant: A Biography succeeds bothin sympatheticallyelucidating Grant's,at times,overwhehning personality, andin making histhoughtunderstandable. It alsoserves asa forcefulreminderof the fact thatevenin thesnpposedly 'secular' cultureof theyears followingthe SecondWorldWar , religious conviction playeda powerfulrole not onlyin the livesof individuals, but in thewiderhistoryof Canadiansociety andculture. MICHAEL GAUVREAU McMaster University TheDiariesof Charles Ora Card:TheCanadianYears, 1886-1903.Edited by DONALD G.GODFREY and BRIGHAM Y.CARD. SaltLake City:Universityof Utah Press 1993.Pp.xl, 668,illus.$45.00 Even though CharlesOra Card is not a familiar name to mostCanadian historians,his publisheddiariesassumean importancebeyondsouthern Alberta, the sceneof mostof his activities. A Morman fugitive,tleeing the antipolygamy lawsof the United States,CharlesCard wasan uuusual character who playedan importantrole in the economic development of southernAlbertain the lastdecades of the nineteenthcentury.He and his followersfoundeda numberof thrivingcommunitiesin the southwestern corneroftheCanadian prairies andwereinstrumental inbringingirrigation to the region.While in manyrespects he and his fellowMormonsestablisheda colonyrelatively similarto manyprairiesettlements, their religious principles - whichdeterminedtheirspiritualaswellastheireconomicand social lives - createda uniqueenvironment. Their commonreligious beliefs andcooperative principles aswellastheiruniqueagricultnral andentrepreneurialexperiences helped.them toinstitute successful establishments in the Northwestat a time when the rate of settlementwasstillrelativelysluggish. At the same time, their closeinvolvementin the earliestirrigation works radically alteredthelandscape of southern Alberta.Asthechosen leaderof thisMormonoutpost, CharlesOra Cardplayeda crucialpart. 266 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Bornin 1839in NewYorkStateto Mormonparents,Cardfollowedhis familyto theSaltLakevalleyin 1856.Here he becamea prominentchurch and community leader.In 1886he wasarrested for violatinghiscountry's antipolygamy lawsby being married concurrentlyto three wives.Card escapedcustodyand, under instructions from the church, led a small expeditionnorth to Canada.After visitingBritishColumbiaandAlberta, Card and hispartychosea spotin southernAlbertanearmodernCardston for a future colony.In typicalfashion,the men 'kneeleddownand dedicated the Land to the Lord for the benefit of Israel both red and white' (18). The followingyear,Ora Cardledasmallbandofsettlers intosouthern Alberta,layingthe foundationfor a prosperous settlement. For the next sixteenyears,until hisretirementin 1903,he guidedthe development of southern Alberta's Mormon colonies. Card'sdiariesareanimportantcontribution tosouthern Albertahistory, notonlybecause theyprovide adetailed account ofpioneering lifeandthe problems facedbya community settlement but alsobecause theysupply a sharppictureof howaninfluentialpeople,withsolidfinancialbacking, were abletowin the confidence andsupportof localand dominion•lites.With astutepoliticalsensitivity, Card meticulously followedthe lawof the land andpaidhissocialrespects. He quicklyearnedthe friendshipof southern Alberta'syoungestablishment, socializing freelywith municipal,territorial, and dominionofficials. They,in turn,wereeagerto acceptthe Mormon peopledespitetheir unorthodoxbackground. Obviously, the newcomers represented theidealsettler.Oncetheyagreednot topractise polygamy in Canada,theMormonsappeared aslaw-abiding, hard-working, andprosperoussettlers . Theyhadsolidfinancialresources andpractical experience. At a time when the flowof settlers into the Northwestwasstilla disappointment ,Canada's officialdom welcomed theMormonmigrationasasuccess fid model. Whatalsosetsthe Carddiaries apartfrom manyotherexamples of this genreistheir profoundreligious andpersonal dimension. AlthoughCard and his Alberta cohortslived with only one of their wivesin Canadian territory,theyheld fastto their religiousbeliefsand remainedmarriedto thewomentheyleft in Utah.HowCardbalancedhislife amonghisvarious familiesisa fascinating threadrunningthroughoutthe diaries.Evenmore revealingare his religiousexperiences. Card was an extremelydevout Mormon,adeeplypiousmanwhose lifewas guidedentirelybyprayer,meditation ,and religiousreadings. His sacredbeliefsdeterminedthesocialand economicaspects of life, of seed-time andharvest, of government andeven business affairs. In fact, much of the successof the Mormon settlements mustbeattributedtotheclose community bondsandprinciples ofcooperation with which the Mormonstackledthe cultivationof the prairie soils. While he notesincidentsof dissension and arguments,the mechanisms of REVIEWS 267 confession and the sharingof sacraments helpedto dissipate long-running disputes. Moreover,asthe seniorreligiousleader,Card had an authority over the communitywhich transcended itsspiritualdimensionand which hadfull repercussions in everyday secular affairs. The diaries,whichweredifficultto decipher,are meticulously restored byDonald G. Godfreyand BrighamY. Card, the latter a directdescendant of Ora. The editorshaveprovidedplausibleexplanations of how they resolved problemsencounteredin the editorialprocess. They havealso written a solidlyresearched, current introductionwhich setsthe stagefor the diariesand they havefurnishedannotatedfootnoteswhich explain religioustermsand practices. They havealsoprovidedbiographies and other useful bits of information, all of which make the diaries useful to nonMormonreaders . Butthereaderneedstobepatientandtopersevere. The published diariesare the unabridgednotations of a manwho thoughtit importanttonotewhenever he tooka bath.Nevertheless, a patientreader, preparedtowadethroughtheunderbrush, will berewardedwithaveryrich accountof a life differentfrommostotherpioneerreminiscences. A...