"Une Génération Spontanée"
Father Clement Desrochers, o.m.i.: Animateur
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"Une Génération Spontanée"
Father Clement Desrochers, o.m.i.: Animateur
Henriette Kelker
Research Associate
Provincial Museum of Alberta
Settlement of the Peace River Country
The opening up and settling of Western Canada was the aim of the Canadian Government and provided an opportunity for subsistence farmers in the East to reach for a better life. The federal government surveyed the Peace Country during 1905-1910. Bishop Grouard took the new influx of people into his vicariat seriously. He nominated Fr. Giroux as “Agent de rapatriement et missionaire colonisateur de la rivière de la Paix.” In 1912, after promotion of migration among farmers in Quebec and the Francophone communities in the north-eastern United States, Fr. Giroux brought together the first group of men and women to travel to the Peace River country. They travelled by train, boat and wagon via Edmonton and Grouard to what is today Falher — named after Fr. Falher who was on the journey. The establishment of communities by groups of people with a similar cultural background allowed for the development of somewhat homogeneous communities. Being one-hundred percent Catholic, the uncontested central role of the Church and the leadership of the clergy provided a framework for organisation and development of the new townships.
Sections
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Settlement of the Peace River Country
- The Co-operative Solution
- Source and Resources
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