High River and the Times An Alberta Community and Its Weekly Newspaper, 1905-1966

Founded in 1905 by Charles Clark, the High River Times served a community of small-town advertisers and an extensive hinterland of ranchers and farmers in southern Alberta. Under the ownership of the Clark family for over 60 years, the Times established itself as the epitome of the rural weekly press in Canada. Even Joe Clark, the future prime minister, worked for the family business.Historian Paul Voisey explores the Times_ relationship with the community of High River. Through six decades of traumatic change, the Times fashioned three distinct visions of the High River district. Originally, the Times boostered High River as "bustling and modern," presenting the community as a progressive place destined for metropolitan grandeur. As early as 1912, Times columnist Robert Stead envisioned a day when city people would move to High River for its scenic charms and proximity to Calgary. High River was "small and friendly" after the Great War with the Times emphasizing the virtue of rural and small town life. After WWII, High River, with the help of the Times, constructed a mythical image as a ranching district with a wild and colourful past.Through each era of change, the Times reflected and recorded local activities, attitudes and aspirations, articulated them in print and defended, justified, and validated them for the community as whole and for its individual members.In 1966, Charles A. Clark retired and sold the Times to his back shop manager, Don Tanner. Today, the Times and its employees remain proud of their newspaper_s long history and its contribution to local heritage.ABOUT THE AUTHORBorn and raised in rural Alberta, Paul Voisey was educated at the University of Calgary and the University of Toronto. He is the author of the award-winning book Vulcan: The Making of a Prairie Community and other publications related to Alberta and Western Canada. Dr. Voisey teaches History at the University of Alberta.Voisey, Paul is the author of 'High River and the Times An Alberta Community and Its Weekly Newspaper, 1905-1966' with ISBN 9780888644169 and ISBN 0888644167.