# Does Canada have an "Old West" mythology of its own? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2007, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856 "2007-09-12T02:06:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/1 "2007-09-12T02:06:44Z")
I don’t know why this just occurred to me but I was wondering whether Canada has a part of its history that in any way parallels the “Old West” period of US or the mythology surrounding it. Thanks, An Gadaí ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/2 "2007-09-12T02:11:27Z")
Thank’s to what latter became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police most of the lawlessnes associated with the American West did not occur in Canada. The Canadians had this great idea of sending police and magistrates _ahead_ of settlers. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/3 "2007-09-12T02:17:10Z")
Here is [Heritage Park](http://www.heritagepark.ca/home.htm) in Calgary. Of course a great deal of the mythos of the Canadian west revolve around the [North-West Mounted Police](http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/history/highlights_e.htm#Inception). They, of course, were the forerunner of the RCMP. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/4 "2007-09-12T02:21:43Z")
**alphaboi867** is right. The move west in Canada was more _Little House on the Prairie_ than _Gun Smoke_. ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/5 "2007-09-12T02:42:56Z")
Hmm - towns without Miss Kitty & filled with Mrs. Olsens… ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/6 "2007-09-12T02:52:58Z")
[QUOTE=adam yax] **alphaboi867** is right. The move west in Canada was more _Little House on the Prairie_ than _Gun Smoke_. [/QUOTE] Yes, well, there was that little matter of the Riel rebellion ;). ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/7 "2007-09-12T04:08:47Z")
We also have the whole mythology of the voyageur, though of course it’s not the same as the whole cowboy business, tending as it does to be set in the forests, not the plains. They almost put a voyageur on the $1 coin, but they lost the dies in transit and substituted a loon. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/8 "2007-09-12T04:24:20Z")
But the _voyageur_ WAS on the silver dollar from 1935-1966. > [@](#): > > In 1935, a commemorative silver dollar was struck for the King George V’s Silver Jubilee. It showed the King on the obverse and a canoe containing a voyageur, or unlicenced fur trader (and an Inuit), on the reverse. The canoe also contains two bundles of furs–on one, the initials HB, for Hudson’s Bay Company may be seen. The reverse was designed by Emanuel Hahn. > The issue was generally considered a success, and beginning in 1936, the silver dollar (in .800 fine silver) was struck on a more or less annual basis as a regular issue, with the same reverse design as in 1935. Although commemorative dollars were struck for circulation for the visit of King George VI in 1939, no regular issue dollars were struck that year, or, as it turned out, until the end of World War II in 1945. Thereafter, Voyageur Dollars were struck each year through 1966, except in years when a commemorative dollar was struck for circulation. From [Voyageur dollar - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyageur_dollar) ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/9 "2007-09-12T04:36:35Z")
Yes, that’s why they were going to put it on the new $1 coin. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/10 "2007-09-12T05:29:05Z")
[QUOTE=Tamerlane] Yes, well, there was that little matter of the Riel rebellion ;). [/QUOTE] Indeed. I grew up just a few miles from the site of the Battle of Fish Creek (seems a tad grandiose name for an affair with ten fatalities), and not particularly far from Batoche. While our West might not have been Wild per se, it was certainly not entirely free from conflict. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/11 "2007-09-12T07:45:32Z")
[QUOTE=Gorsnak] Indeed. I grew up just a few miles from the site of the Battle of Fish Creek (seems a tad grandiose name for an affair with ten fatalities), and not particularly far from Batoche. While our West might not have been Wild per se, it was certainly not entirely free from conflict. [/QUOTE] You want to talk about grandiose names for minor affairs, have you ever heard of [The Pig War](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_War)? ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/12 "2007-09-12T09:09:06Z")
This raises the question: Was there ever a gold rush in Canada? Was gold ever found in them hills that extend into our neighbor to the north? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/13 "2007-09-12T09:26:40Z")
Of course we did. The Klondike is in the Yukon. And, again, the Mounties are present, keeping order. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/14 "2007-09-12T12:56:47Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Thank’s to what latter became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police most of the lawlessnes associated with the American West did not occur in Canada. The Canadians had this great idea of sending police and magistrates _ahead_ of settlers. [/QUOTE] The lawlessness of the American West is mostly a Hollywood myth. The geography of the situation just isn’t quite the same, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/15 "2007-09-12T13:24:56Z")
[QUOTE=Jinx] Was gold ever found in them hills that extend into our neighbor to the north? [/QUOTE] _hijack:_ “There’s gold in them thar hills” is a quote often misapplied to the California gold rush, when in fact “them thar hills” were in north Georgia. The quote was uttered on the town square of Dahlonega, Georgia as a plea by a local bigwig for prospectors not to pull up stakes and leave for the California gold fields, but to remain in Georgia: > [@](#): > > From [the courthouse steps] in 1849, Dahlonega Mint assayor Dr. M. F. Stephenson tried to persuade miners to stay instead of joining the California Gold Rush. His oration gave rise to the phrases “thar’s gold in them thar hills” and “there’s millions in it.” [Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahlonega,_Georgia) _/hijack_ ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/16 "2007-09-12T14:10:34Z")
I could be wrong, but I think that the American “Wild West” was in part a fallout from the Civil War. Part of what made things so wild was that there were so many veterans with PTSD and/or a variety of unsettled moral questions wandering around trying to make sense of their lives. The rootlessness of America in the early 1970s could be considered a similar type of social hangover. There was a similar sort of wandering after World War II, though it was eclipsed by the desire for normality in the 1950s. Canada didn’t have any major conflicts in the late 19th century to cause this restlessness ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/17 "2007-09-12T14:30:37Z")
[QUOTE=Raguleader] You want to talk about grandiose names for minor affairs, have you ever heard of [The Pig War](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_War)? [/QUOTE] The Fenian Invasion Of Canada was somewhat overstated too 🙂 . ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/18 "2007-09-12T14:54:13Z")
so it was more of a Mild, Mild West? ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/19 "2007-09-12T15:12:46Z")
[QUOTE=Jinx] This raises the question: Was there ever a gold rush in Canada? Was gold ever found in them hills that extend into our neighbor to the north? [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Tengu] Of course we did. The Klondike is in the Yukon. And, again, the Mounties are present, keeping order. [/QUOTE] Edmonton grew as a result of the gold rush. It was the last stop of any significant size on the trail through Canada and the population of the city tripled during the rush as a result. I don’t have my cites handy, but I can see if I can find them again later. It’s really quite fascinating and it saddened me when they changed the local fair’s name (Klondike Days to Capital Expo) and the flavour of it as a result. Some of the people I saw discussing it online thought it had absolutely no relevance to the city at all and wondered why it had been called that in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856/20 "2007-09-12T15:13:28Z")
[QUOTE=cornflakes] I could be wrong, but I think that the American “Wild West” was in part a fallout from the Civil War. Part of what made things so wild was that there were so many veterans with PTSD and/or a variety of unsettled moral questions wandering around trying to make sense of their lives. [/QUOTE] You’re onto something there. A lot of Confederate veterans, finding there was nothing left for them back home, made their way west. So add to PTSD the bitterness of losing a war, and the fact that these men were inured to violence and accustomed to settling disputes with guns. Union veterans might not have the same bitterness, but they were similarly accustomed to gunplay. Having said all that, I think the violence of the American West is much-exaggerated in the public consciousness, thanks to Hollywood, and before that, [dime novels](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dime_novel). Gunfights were rare in reality. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-an-old-west-mythology-of-its-own/418856.md?page=2)