Early immigrants to Canada

3/24/2017 Mercury Reader
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/indescribablysadanddepressingagalleryoflettersfromcanadianpioneersandimmigrantswhoabsolutelyhate… 1/7
news.nationalpost.com
‘Indescribably sad and depressing’: A
gallery of letters from Canadian
pioneers and immigrants who
absolutely hated it here
Send to Kindle
If you were born in Canada, chances are good that your family tree contains at
least one person who spent much of their life absolutely hating this place.
Despite our treasured national mythos as a promised land of wealth and
opportunity, our history is littered with tales of people crying or screaming with
anguish after taking their first steps in the True North.
A gallery of examples are included below. While many would learn to thrive in
the new country, history books usually leave out the part where the mere sight of
Canada sparked utter horror in new immigrants.
“As we sped across Ontario with its rocks, hills and tunnels, we were afraid we were
coming to the end of the world. The heart of many a man sank to his heels and the
women and children raised such lamentations as defies description.”
Ukrainian immigrant Maria Adamowska, describing her train journey west in
1899.
“I became anxious when I wondered what kind of a person would be here to greet me.
He had a good physique like I had seen in his photo, but he was simple-minded. I was so
sad — I despaired.” Japanese immigrant Ishikawa Yasu, who came to Victoria in
the early 20th century as a “picture bride”; a woman paired with a husband in
Canada purely through photographs.

— Excerpted from Good Wives and Wise Mothers: Japanese Picture Brides in Early
Twentieth Century British Columbia.
Library and Archives CanadaDetail from a poster looking to recruit immigrants
to Canada. Many immigrants would claim they had been duped by the over-
optimistic claims of Canadian immigration agents.
“She and the children left her husband. She said: ‘You can keep your
Saskatchewan, I’ve had enough!’ She was a beautiful woman. She came from
around Montreal. She often came over. She ranted and raved about her husband.
‘Isn’t it appalling of him to bring us to country like this! Freeze … did we freeze!’”
Saskatchewan pioneer Rachel Périgny-Desmarais, describing the departure of a
neighbour.

— Excerpted from “Other” Voices: Historical Essays on Saskatchewan Women
“The Canadian prairie with its long winters and impermanent rectangular houses
conveys something indescribably sad and depressing.” Montreal-based German
consul Karl Lang in a 1913 report warning fellow Germans against further
immigration to Canada.
— Excerpted from A History of Migration from Germany to Canada, 1850-1939.
Library and Archives CanadaA poster by the
White Star Line, owner of the doomed liner
RMS Titanic, inviting immigrants to Canada.
“I came because my daughter is here and I
wanted to be close to here … but I am not
happy here … I keep hoping that once I learn
the language it will be better for me here. But
the language is very hard. Sometimes I just cry
because it seems I will never get it into my
head.” A mid-1970s interview with a Polish
immigrant identified as Ludwiga.
— Excerpted from The Immigrants, by Gloria
Montero.
“I don’t look lonely, do I? And I’ve been on the land all my life.”
Canadian Minister of Immigration Robert Forke attempting to reassure British
journalists in 1927. At the time, many British households were receiving troubling
letters from recently immigrated family decrying the loneliness of life in Canada.
“There are all kinds in this army of the disappointed; the thin, peaked-faced,
unhealthy-looking east-end Londoner; the brawny man from Battersea; the

sallow mechanic; the city tradesman; the clerk.”
From a 1908 report by The Globe describing unemployed British immigrants who
had come to Canada with visions of “easy wealth.”
“When it was difficult to find work he would be cross with the children, even
with me. I tried to understand the changes in him. I knew he was worried. But
one night I couldn’t stand it anymore and I started to scream at him, to scream
and to hit him. And you know what he did? He cried. My husband cried like a
child.” A mid-1970s interview with an Ecuadorian immigrant identified as
Angelina.
— Excerpted from The Immigrants, by Gloria Montero.
“He will find at first that the travel and change of life will raise his spirits; then
will come a period of depression, under the rough task of beginning in a new
country, to be followed by the feeling of security of home and subsistence, which
is the most solid blessing to a man.”
From an 1873 immigrant guide to British Columbia. That same guide warned
women and “men not accustomed to rough work with their hands” to stay away.

Library and Archives Canada A Ukrainian immigrant family photographed in
Oakburn, Manitoba.
“If the people knew what poor emigrants have to go through, there would not be
many come to Canada. Though, thank God, I have known none, yet I have seen
plenty of their miseries.”
An 1837 letter by an unknown author published in Great Britain to warn away
future emigrants to Canada.
“After they landed, Mrs. Patterson used to tell that she leaned her head against a
tree, which stood for many a year after, and thought if there was a broken-
hearted creature on the face of the earth, she was the one.”

From an 1877 history of Pictou, Nova Scotia describing one of the area’s earliest
settlers.
“Three months ago a Hollander committed suicide due to despondency and
poverty and there’ll be more … There are a lot here who would very much like to
return to Holland.”
A 1928 letter written to a Arnhem, Netherlands newspaper in which Dutch
immigrants to Canada attempt to warn others from going to Canada.
Library and Archives CanadaA 1912 photo of a Saskatchewan homestead.
“The central government, the provinces, and the railroads are all trying as hard as
possible to win immigrants. They distribute brochures that praise Canada to the
heavens. Care, particularly with regard to these publications, is strongly urged.”
Another early 20th century German government pamphlet warning its citizens to
stay away. This one warned that “the greatest part of Canada is uninhabitable for
Europeans.”

— Excerpted from A History of Migration from Germany to Canada, 1850-1939.
“Our host … had written to us to boast of the prosperity he had attained in such a
short time. He said that he had a home like a mansion, a large cultivated field,
and that his wife was dressed like a lady … How great was our disenchantment
when we approached that mansion of his … it was actually just a small log cabin.”
Another entry by 1899 Ukrainian immigrant Maria Adamowska.
National Post
• Email: thopper@nationalpost.com | Twitter:
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/indescribably-sad-and-depressing-a-gallery-of-letters-from-canadian-pioneers-and-immigrants-wh
o-absolutely-hated-it-here

Early immigrants to Canada

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (18)

Similar to Early immigrants to Canada

Similar to Early immigrants to Canada (20)

More from Amarjot Singh - Canadian Immigration Counsel

More from Amarjot Singh - Canadian Immigration Counsel (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Early immigrants to Canada