Swords and Ploughshares: War and Agriculture in Western Canada

W.J.C. Cherwinski is a history professor at Memorial University of
Newfoundland and co-author of Lectures in Canadian Labour and
Working-Class History.

According to veteran western Canadian historian Rod Macleod, the
Northwest Rebellion, the Great War, and agriculture development were key
to the social, political, and economic evolution of the western region.
Hence the title of this eclectic mix.

Eight of the eleven essays are presented under the theme “Western
Canada in the Era of the Rebellion.” Noted scholar Donald Smith
examines the 1885 Ontario–Ottawa boundary dispute, which laid the
foundation for Native-rights discussions, while Patricia Roy reviews the
efforts of the B.C. government to portray that province as a preserve of
law and order (and thus more attractive to settlement and development
than the lawless United States). Brian Titley addresses the relationship
between Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs Hayter Reed and
the aboriginals prior to the Rebellion. Only Rota Lister’s “A
Distinctive Variant: 1885 in Canadian Drama” deals directly with the
Rebellion in its examination of literary perceptions of that
controversial event. By contrast, George F.G. Stanley’s banquet
address, in which he reminisces about the influences that shaped him as
an historian, indicates how far Macleod cast his net.

Agriculture warrants only three contributions. The one by Gerhard Ens,
which examines the Métis settlement of St. Franзois Xavier and its
gradual transformation between 1835 and 1870, is reflective of the new
social history. The remaining two, David Smith’s essay on Jimmy
Gardiner and Ed Rea’s study of Progressive Party leader Thomas Crerar,
cast new light on timeworn material.

Although they may not hang together terribly well, these essays might
not otherwise have seen the light of print. For this reason, Swords and
Ploughshares is important.