1897 in Canada

Klondike Gold Rush rages in the Yukon.
Lord Grey proposes that Canada create a navy to protect its west coast; Prime Minister Laurier does not act on the recommendation.
1897–1912 – 961,000 people enter Canada from the British Isles, 594,000 from Europe and 784,000 from the United States..
The first Canadian movie, Ten Years in Manitoba.

BirthsEdit

File:Lester B. Pearson with a pencil.jpg

Lester Bowles Pearson in 1944

January 23 – William Stephenson, soldier, airman, businessperson, inventor and spymaster (d.1989)
January 27 – Charles Stephen Booth, politician and barrister (d.1988)
March 9 – Sidney Earle Smith, academic and seventh President of the University of Toronto (d.1959)
April 23 – Lester B. Pearson, politician, 14th Prime Minister of Canada, diplomat and 1957 Nobel Peace Prize recipient (d.1972)
June 29 – Fulgence Charpentier, French Canadian journalist, editor and publisher (d. 2001)
September 23 – Walter Pidgeon, actor (d.1984)
September 29 – Graham Towers, first Governor of the Bank of Canada (d.1975)
November 30 – William Murdoch Buchanan, politician (d.1966)
December 7 – Gordon Graydon, politician (d.1953)

DeathsEdit

January 2 – Thomas McGreevy, politician and contractor (b.1825)
February 27 – James Austin, businessman (b.1813)
July 4 – Amor De Cosmos, journalist, politician and 2nd Premier of British Columbia (b.1825)
September 19 – Frederick Cope, 3rd Mayor of Vancouver (b.1860)
October 21 – Philip Francis Little, 1st Premier of Newfoundland of the colonial (b.1824)
December 14 – Robert Simpson, businessman and founder of Simpsons (b.1834)
December 15 – James Mitchell, politician and 7th Premier of New Brunswick (b.1843)
December 31 – David Oppenheimer, entrepreneur and 2nd Mayor of Vancouver (b.1832)

Historical documentsEdit

Cree leader Almighty Voice pursued and killed by North-West Mounted Police in Saskatchewan<ref>Mae Harris Anson, "Last Stand of Almighty Voice" Sunday Record-Herald typescript. Accessed 20 December 2019</ref>

Annual report of Indian agent for Kootenay Agency in British Columbia<ref>Department of Indian Affairs, Dominion of Canada Annual Report(...)for the Year Ended 30th June 1897, pgs. 82-4 Accessed 20 December 2019</ref>

Anglican missionary conducts church services on his dogsled trip around northwest Alberta<ref>Richard Young, "Circular letter describing a mission journey through the Athabasca Peace River country" Accessed 20 December 2019</ref>

Kipling's poem "Our Lady of the Snows" acknowledges Canada's solidarity but independence in its relations with Britain (Note: "white man" used)<ref>Rudyard Kipling, "Our Lady of the Snows" (1897), The Kipling Society. Accessed 22 July 2021</ref>

Editorial praises founding of Victorian Order of Nurses<ref>"A Nursing Order--Lady Aberdeen's Latest" The (Chatham, N.B.) World (February 20, 1897). Accessed 20 December 2019</ref>

Illustration of fully outfitted Klondike Gold Rush adventurer, with price of each garment and do/don't lists<ref>"Do Don't" New York Journal and Advertiser (August 22, 1897), pg. 42. Accessed 5 December 2021</ref>

"It is impossible to give one an idea of the slowness with which things are moving" - Gold rush travel plagued by horses needing shoes<ref>Tappan Adney, The Klondike stampede. Special correspondent of 'Harper's Weekly' in the Klondike (1900), pg. 98 University of British Columbia Library. Accessed 27 April 2025</ref>

Photo: Klondikers at Chilkoot Pass, Alaska<ref>"Preparing to climb 'the golden stair' and Peterson's Trail, Chilkoot Pass, Alaska" (1897?), University of British Columbia Library. See also photo tour (1897) of "Chilkoot Pass and Skaguay Trails." Accessed 27 April 2025</ref>

Lack of food and other boomtown problems discourage some Dawson City residents<ref>Letters home from James Hamil and Rebecca Schuldenfrei Accessed 20 December 2019</ref>

British railway labourers in western Canada treated as slaves before escaping<ref>Letter and newspaper enclosure (typescripts). Accessed 20 December 2019 http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayEcopies&rec_nbr=1432309 (Note: pages are not in proper reading order)</ref>

"A love affair this summer" - Diary writer records declaration of love from another woman visiting Camp Viamede, Stony Lake, Ontario<ref>"July 27 (1897). Tuesday." "XV; May Bragdon; March 1st, 1897," pg. 120, May Bragdon Diaries, University of Rochester River Campus Libraries. Accessed 6 March 2022</ref>

Newspaper map of bicycling routes in and around Victoria, B.C. includes hotels and hills<ref>The Province Pub'g Co., "'The Province' Pocket Road Map of Victoria and Surroundings" (1897 ("Date derived from historical information on map")), University of British Columbia Library. Accessed 23 October 2022</ref>

Cycling map of Montreal distinguishes roads and "good roads"<ref>"Bicycle Map of the Island of Montreal and Surrounding District" (1897), Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. Accessed 2 February 2023</ref>

Photo: Metropolitan Bicycle Club<ref>"Metropolitan Bicycle Club" (June 12, 1897), Toronto Public Library. Accessed 15 June 2023</ref>

ReferencesEdit

 Template:Reflist

Template:Canadian history Template:Canada year nav Template:North America topic