Gould's History of Freemasonry Around the World - Lodge Prudentia

A HISTORY OF FREEMASONRYTHROUGHOUT THE WORLDVOL . IVCHAPTER IFREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINION OF CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLANDALBERTACANON S . H. MIDDLETONDVENTURE, exploration, commercial enterprise, empire-building andmissionary endeavour all played their several parts in bringing Freemasonryto the Province of Alberta . The early traders, NorthwestMounted Police and others, meeting as they ofttimes did around the camp-fire,trading-post, and barrack square, made themselves known to each other by sign,token, or symbol .In the late '7o's and the early '8o's the frontier post of Edmonton wasalready famous as a meeting place for all sorts and conditions of men . That somewere members of the Craft was obvious, for in 1882 a Lodge, under the captionof Saskatchewan, No . 17, was organised and received its Charter from the GrandLodge of Manitoba . This was subsequently surrendered about the year 189o .Meanwhile, the Masonic urge for a Lodge and official recognition wasstrongly felt in Calgary, where in May 1883 a notice was issued calling upon allMasons there to meet in Bro . George Murdock's store, which was then situatedon the east bank of Elbow River . Although the meeting was held, as had beenplanned, only five Masons were present . They were : Bro . George Murdock, Bro .E. Nelson Brown, Bro . A. McNeil, Bro . George Monilaws, and Bro . D . C .Robinson . Although Bro . James Walker and Bro . John Walker had hoped alsoto attend, they were unable to do so . At this meeting the Brethren expressed theunanimous opinion that the time was not opportune for the formation of aLodge ; there being no suitable meeting place available ; that the population wastoo scattered ; and that there was not yet a sufficient number of Masons in Calgaryto warrant such a venture .After a few months, however, with the advent of the railway, people beganto arrive in greater numbers . On August 15, 1883, the Canadian Pacific Railwaytrack was laid through the site of what is now the city of Calgary . A few days