-- Moose Jaw Moment, Page 123, The Ku Klux Klan in Canada
“He assured the massed thousands in Moose Jaw that the Klan was doing the lord’s work. As it became dark, hooded Klansmen appeared carrying torches on the margins of the crowd. Then, a large cross on a hillside at the top of Caribou Street burst into flames. The blaze could be seen for many kilometres. The evening went off like an old-time gospel revival meeting with a dash of Klan drama to motivate membership sales.”-- Moose Jaw Moment, Page 124, The Ku Klux Klan in Canada
The monsters weren’t just among us in the late 1920s. They were us. And they were legion.
That’s one of the messages a new book detailing the history of the KKK and its roots in Canada aims to bring — they were here, and they came very, very close to achieving the kind of power they saw in the southern U.S., both in public support and in the political arena.
And make no mistake, The Ku Klux Klan in Canada by historian Allan Bartley doesn’t sugar coat Moose Jaw’s role in evil’s establishment not only in our city, but throughout Saskatchewan.
The news isn’t all as horrific as it could be, though — on top of the hate-filled rallies there was plenty of grift, theft, and criminal incompetence. That led to the KKK’s rapid demise once society caught on to what they were actually about, and the money they could leach from those folks dried up.
“The Klan’s activities in Saskatchewan have been well documented over the decades, and I don’t think my work adds detail to either Moose Jaw and Saskatchewan, but what I’ve tried to do is put it in a wider context and social and political context,” Bartley said. “And the context of an organization that at the time was unsavoury at best, and criminal at worst.”
The Klan reached the height of its powers in Moose Jaw in 1927. With the CPR railway and the Soo Line from the United States converging on the city, plenty of traffic was flowing through Moose Jaw — and much of it was landing in the multitude of bars, watering holes and certain other businesses that populated River Street at the time.
That’s where the KKK came in. Clean up the streets, and oppress the non-white population and Roman Catholics while you’re at it. Soon enough, things were looking promising for some of the worst society had to offer, under the guise of ‘doing something good.’
Seeing the support the Klan was able to garner came as a surprise to Bartley, even knowing of their base of operations in the city.
“I was surprised at the level of recruitment and the numbers that were claimed by the Klan,” he said. “I think the organizers inflated the numbers for their own reasons, but they obviously made a lot of money selling memberships in Saskatchewan and that’s reflected in the fact they were very active, they had an opportunity to sew up a commercial space selling memberships.”
The Klan was even able to establish prime office space in the Hammond Building, some of the most expensive commercial real estate in the city at the time.
That led to them expanding their foothold, and before long, looking to make serious inroads into politics throughout the province.
“That really did take me by surprise, especially leading up to the 1929 election,” Bartley said. “That’s been covered before, but what struck me was the kind of influence the Klan had in the United States in this same time period, particularly in the southern United States. And the techniques were very similar, how they advanced the organization and as a result of that, the political debates and discussions and campaign leading up to the 1929 election.”
That election saw politicians with the unofficial support of the KKK assume power in Saskatchewan, but the Great Depression hit soon after, and — in one of the only positives from that event — it wasn’t long after the KKK began to collapse in the province.
“What came with the success of the recruiting came the ability to influence politics, and because the Klan saw itself as a morale force, however hypocritical that might sound, being in position to influence debates and the political process was very attractive to them,” Bartley said. “The next phase would have been what you saw in the southern States, where you had open Klan members in elected positions, and with that came true political power. We didn’t reach that stage, but that was the next step.”
The Ku Klux Klan in Canada also touches on how the group was able to find popularity in the first place, with a rather interesting aspect coming into play.
“Many people have tried to explain what some of the causes of it were, and I think some of it was demographics, some of it was immigration, some of it was oddly enough, the advent of radio stations,” Bartley explained.
“With radio stations, you were able to reach more communities, you have an audience that was receptive to new ideas and you have people like (Klan recruiter) J.J. Maloney who attempted to use radio to get his arguments across. So it was a unique time for Saskatchewan and in some ways for the country in general.”
Of course, when push came to shove and the reality of what the KKK was began to hit home, their popularity began to wane. Combine that with the Great Depression and all the membership money, all the cash that had been raised, began to mysteriously disappear.
“That’s pretty true to form for them,” Bartley said. “It was the same in British Columbia, it was the same in Ontario. It just seems to have been one of the outcomes when you attract the kind of people who are attracted to the Klan.
“And not to mention the commercial aspects. Recruiters made a lot of money every time they signed up a new member, then they could sell or rent them robes and regalia and that would add on to the fees. Then the kleagle (Klan leader) walked away with a pretty tidy sum back in the day.”
Bartley put together The Ku Klux Klan in Canada through tons of research dating back decades, including an academic article on the KKK in Ontario back in the mid-1990s. With the advent of online newspapers and archives, he was able to expand his research, eventually resulting in the book available today.
And the timing couldn’t have been better.
“That was one of the reasons I was interested in telling the tale, because of what we’re seeing in the United States and occasionally and all too often see in Canada with regards to race relations,” Bartley said.
The Ku Klux Klan in Canada is available at most booksellers and through Amazon.
