Home | The Black Settlements of Western Canada | Black Rural Communities in Saskatchewan and Alberta | Breton/Keystone

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Breton/Keystone

The Black settlement near Breton, also known as Keystone, dates from 1909 or 1910. It was founded by William (Bill) Allen. The Palmers note that Bill Allen came to Alberta after trying several times to establish himself in various American states only to be driven out by racism. His long odyssey really began with a violent confrontation with the Ku Klux Klan in Oklahoma and took him to Kansas and Utah before he reached Alberta.1

After deciding that the Breton area had potential for a Black settlement, Allen recruited about thirty-five families from Oklahoma to join him in settling there in 1911. At the time, the new community was quite isolated. It was about 80 kilometres to the nearest rail line and town at Leduc, and a local history of the community by Gwen Hooks discusses the difficulties of that this isolation created in some detail. The original settlers had to be largely self-sufficient because getting goods out to market and bringing supplies in to the community could take weeks of travel across very difficult terrain. Many of the men had to work outside the community in Edmonton and Leduc or in local sawmills in order to make enough money to purchase basic supplies. In addition, the new settlers discovered that they were ill-prepared for homesteading conditions in Alberta. Gwen Hooks’ book suggests that few had adequate clothing or shoes for winter and the area was covered in heavy bush, making clearing the land for crops a particularly onerous and lengthy process.2

Breton’s initial isolation may have held the community back economically, but it encouraged the development of a strong local community. Very quickly Black residents established a local school, the Funnell School, and the Good Hope Baptist Church. As with other settlements, these institutions provided a focus for community life. At its peak, the Keystone settlement was home to about 150-200 Blacks, but as with other rural Black communities the population began to decline in the 1920s. Some simply found Canada too unwelcoming and farming prospects too poor to continue. Others were attracted to cities such as Edmonton, which seemed to offer better prospects than a bush farm miles from a rail line. Some of those who chose to remain, however, distinguished themselves in a number of endeavours. For example, Charlie King Sr. was a noted activist with the United Farmers of Alberta and led area farm organizations for many years. Violet King was the first Black to graduate from the University of Alberta Law School, and Lionel Locksley Jones became the first Black provincial judge in Alberta. By the 1950s, Blacks were a minority in the area, but a handful of individuals who had previously left Breton actually returned. Nevertheless, few families now remain in the area, and as of 1997 just one man, Vant Hayes, was still actively farming.3

The story of Black settlement in the area is of considerable local interest and pride. The museum run by the Breton and District Historical Society makes a point of portraying Black settlement in the area. The Society has put up a plaque commemorating the story, and a ravine in Breton has been named Sam Hooks Ravine in honour of this Black pioneer. The Province of Alberta has put up a roadside point of interest sign near Breton as well to recognize this aspect of the province’s history. Unfortunately there are few surviving structures in the Breton area that are associated with this Black community, although there is a cemetery which is still maintained by the Breton and District Historical Society and the Funnell School has been converted to a community hall, although the building has been altered.

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