Andrew Porter letter


Andrew Porter letter
The switching of the line of the Canadian Pacific 200 miles south of the original survey had a disastrous effect on the progress and development of the entire West. It has been customary to condemn the promoters of the railway for the change of line, a change that put the railway in a territory much inferior to the line by way of Prince Albert, Edmonton and the Yellowhead Pass, a route that would have developed the great fertile belt of well watered and wooded park lane, capable of more intensive settlement and development than the bleak open range country from Qu'Appelle to Calgary, with the steep, expensive grades of the Kicking Horse Pass. The promoters were not wholly to blame. There were in Ottawa in those days carpet-baggers on both sides of the house who invaded the Northwest in wagons, with plows and implements to disguise themselves as settlers and pioneers, seeking to squat on the townsites and points of vantage likely to be created by the building of the railway. There is always that sort of handicap in young countries, seeking to impose the tax of speculative idleness on the labors of real pioneers. The paragraph above is an excerpt from a letter by Dr. Andrew Everett Porter of Prince Albert. Historical Note Dr. Andrew Everett Porter was born at River Hebert, N.S., in 1855. He received an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1876 and became the first registered physician in the Northwest Territories, settling in Prince Albert in 1878. Porter served as a medical officer during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885 and during World War I. He died in Edmonton in 1940. Summary of Andrew Everett Porter Papers 1880-1953 Collection consists of correspondence and memoirs of Porter's experiences as the first civilian doctor in the NWT. Includes his recollections of dealings with the Indians and of the Northwest Rebellion of 1885. Also includes family photographs and photographs of pioneers and scenes in the Northwest. Cite as Andrew Everett Porter Papers, Special Collections, University of Saskatchewan Libraries. Call No. MSS 50 Library Special Collections Manuscripts

The switching of the line of the Canadian Pacific 200 miles south of the original survey had a disastrous effect on the progress and development of the entire West. It has been customary to condemn the promoters of the railway for the change of line, a change that put the railway in a territory much inferior to the line by way of Prince Albert, Edmonton and the Yellowhead Pass, a route that would have developed the great fertile belt of well watered and wooded park lane, capable of more intensive settlement and development than the bleak open range country from Qu'Appelle to Calgary, with the steep, expensive grades of the Kicking Horse Pass. The promoters were not wholly to blame. There were in Ottawa in those days carpet-baggers on both sides of the house who invaded the Northwest in wagons, with plows and implements to disguise themselves as settlers and pioneers, seeking to squat on the townsites and points of vantage likely to be created by the building of the railway. There is always that sort of handicap in young countries, seeking to impose the tax of speculative idleness on the labors of real pioneers.
The paragraph above is an excerpt from a letter by Dr. Andrew Everett Porter of Prince Albert.
Historical Note
Dr. Andrew Everett Porter was born at River Hebert, N.S., in 1855. He received an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1876 and became the first registered physician in the Northwest Territories, settling in Prince Albert in 1878. Porter served as a medical officer during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885 and during World War I. He died in Edmonton in 1940.
Summary of Andrew Everett Porter Papers 1880-1953
Collection consists of correspondence and memoirs of Porter's experiences as the first civilian doctor in the NWT. Includes his recollections of dealings with the Indians and of the Northwest Rebellion of 1885. Also includes family photographs and photographs of pioneers and scenes in the Northwest.
Cite as Andrew Everett Porter Papers, Special Collections, University of Saskatchewan Libraries.
Call No. MSS 50
Library Special Collections Manuscripts