The Prairie West as Promised Land.

John Abbott is a professor of history at Laurentian University’s Algoma University College. He is the co-author of The Border at Sault Ste Marie and The History of Fort St. Joseph.

While often worn as sackcloth by historians of Western Canada, the “promised land” theme of this essay collection contained—until recently—the golden threads of prophecy. With the recession damping the oil-fired economies of Alberta and Saskatchewan, the “promised land” metaphor is again wistfully ironic.

In Section I (“Visions of the Promised Land”), Doug Owram and David Hall reflect on the promise of the West as it was promoted by Ontario’s expansionists and Clifford Sifton, respectively. Laurence Kitzan’s essay looks at the influence of British writers on perceptions of the North West. Matthew Wangler outlines the (still) conflicting motives that established and shaped Canada’s Rocky Mountain parks.

Sections II, III, and IV consider the relationship between dreams and reality. Sarah Carter examines the tragedy of the Plains Cree experience in agriculture, Anthony Rasporich and Bradford Rennie explore the gossamer attraction of utopianism, and Bill Waiser studies the compelling attraction of land ownership. What characteristics should the Western city exhibit (Rasporich)? Was Nellie McClung’s view of the prairie experience naïve or nuanced (Randi Warne)? Why, in the words of Douglas Francis, did J.S. Woodsworth believe that the Prairie West was “the seedbed for establishing the Kingdom of God on earth”? Catherine Cavanaugh, Chris Kitzan, and Steve Hewitt consider the place of women and “foreigners” amongst the “chosen people.”

Section V includes essays that examine the status of the “promised land” proposition in the last half of the 20th century: the plight of the prairie farmer (Owram), the somewhat dour interpretations of modernist and postmodernist artists (George Melnyk), the dream reiterated during Saskatchewan’s Golden Jubilee (Michael Fedyk), and the role of co-operatives over the last 100 years (Brett Fairbairn).

These are essays of perceptive scholarship, largely (and thankfully) free of academic jargon. Readers both inside and outside academic cloisters will find The Prairie West as Promised Land both entertaining and useful.