Skip to content

Centennial book filled with surprising facts

Red Deer’s history continues to yield surprises — even for fifth-generation Red Deer citizen and archivist Michael Dawe.
WEB-Michael-Dawe-book
Michael Dawe hands a personalized copy of his latest book to 100-year-old Red Deer Resident Marjorie Waterman on Monday. About 150 people attended the launch of Dawe’s latest book

Red Deer’s history continues to yield surprises — even for fifth-generation Red Deer citizen and archivist Michael Dawe.

Dawe said it was a revelation to learn, while researching for his new history book Red Deer, The Memorable City, that no fewer than three amateur theatrical societies flourished here when Red Deer was just a hamlet of 100 people in 1892.

The Red Deer Dramatic Society, the Red Deer Amateur Comedy Company, and the Burnt Cork Dramatic Society would each charge a 10 cent admission fee for productions staged at Wilkins Hall.

When the city’s population doubled to 200 people in 1907, Red Deer already had a big opera house — and a symphony orchestra.

“It was full of young, ambitious, energetic people and there was no radio, television or iPods, so they had to create their own entertainment,” said Dawe.

His 340-page centennial book contains many little-seen, lushly reproduced archival images — including amusing photos of a jazzy 1920s band, a 1913 chorus line of “gypsy dancers,” and lavishly costumed actors at the local Purdy Opera House in 1904.

“Some people might see us as a small Prairie town, but we have very vibrant cultural roots,” added Dawe.

Some of these early influences can still be seen in organizations such as the 43-year-old Central Alberta Theatre, the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra, or the plethora of local nightclubs that feature live music by local musicians.

His Red Deer, The Memorable City book is not the first historic account of this community that Dawe has written. His 1989 publication Red Deer, An Illustrated History looked at the past chronologically.

But his new book, which was unveiled Monday as a city centennial legacy project at the Red Deer Public Library, looks at things thematically.

“The first one looked at what happened and when, while this one tries to give more of a sense of why,” said the author.

Colourful incidents are recounted — such as the true tale of Red Deer Boy Scouts, including Canada’s future Governor General Roland Michener making a citizens’ arrest of a real-life fugitive who had shot and injured the local police chief.

But answers are also provided to some basic historic questions, such as: Why was Red Deer settled later than Innisfail and Lacombe, with fewer homesteaders?

Dawe writes that much of the land the city is now located on was owned by a private land-holding company that priced it higher than surrounding government-owned land, which was sold cheap to homesteaders. As a result, more affluent settlers arrived here later — when all the homesteading land was sold off.

The city’s delayed settlement was likely one of the reasons Red Deer continues to have a nature preserve, as well as so much park land, said Dawe, who believes society had shifted past the idea of “taming nature,” to embracing the concept of preserving it by the early 1900s. “People began to see value in keeping land in its natural state.”

His book also answers questions about why the city became a major transportation hub, and why Red Deer’s Indian Industrial School had the highest student mortality rate in Canada. (The latter had a lot to do with under funding, poor staffing levels and inadequate sewer lines that constantly backed up, spreading bacteria among the population.)

Unlike history books that only deal with native people up until white settlers arrive, Dawe said he wanted to follow their past right into the 21st century.

But, ironically, some of the hardest to access records and photos were from the 1970s and 1980s because many people don’t appreciate that those fairly recent eras are also historic, said Dawe. “People would say, ‘Well, that’s not history,’ when actually it is. ... It’s 40 years ago.”

Dawe’s goal was to make the centennial book accessible and interesting for readers. And he credits many people for contributing towards the project — especially former Central Alberta Life editor Carl Hahn, who “took some of the rough edges off and made it more readable.”

As several dignitaries, including Mayor Tara Veer, observed at Monday’s book launch, it’s hard to know where we are headed if we don’t look back and understand our past.

Dawe said he hopes his new book is enjoyed by various readers — those old enough to remember some of the historic events it chronicles, and those young enough to chart the city’s future course.

Red Deer, The Memorable City is available at most City of Red Deer facilities, including the Recreation Centre, Collicutt Centre and local libraries for $35.

lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com