McCauley.info

Paula Simons - Edmonton Journal.

http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/story ...

Jan 8, 2004 - "Matt McCauley (became) the first mayor of Edmonton, acclaimed to office in 1892, at the age of 42, before Edmonton was even a city. A farmer who went into the cartage business, McCauley was 31 when he first entered public life. He began a campaign to raise money to build Edmonton's first schoolhouse. From there, he went on to be the first chairman of the Edmonton public school board.

"As mayor, McCauley fought ferociously to protect Edmonton's interests. In 1892, for example, the federal government ordered the Dominion land agent to move the land titles office from Edmonton to the rival town of South Edmonton across the river.

"McCauley fired off furious telegrams to Ottawa, to no avail. So when a detachment of North West Mounted Police arrived to escort the land office books and records across the river, McCauley issued an order calling out the home guard.

"He and 40 armed men showed up to guard the land title office. Ottawa backed down and agreed to leave the main office in Edmonton and open a smaller branch office across the river."

Material reprinted with the express permission of: ?Edmonton Journal Group Inc.?, a CanWest Partnership.

Paula Simons - Edmonton Journal.

http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/story ...

Jan 8, 2004 - "Joe Clarke may not have been one of Edmonton's greatest city managers, but he was one of our most popular and colourful mayors. An outstanding athlete with a passion for football, he started his career with a brief stint in the North West Mounted Police -- which he promptly deserted. He went on to Osgoode Hall law school in Toronto and north to the Klondike gold rush. Fighting Joe Clarke: he was a champion of the underdog, of trade unions, of new immigrants, of workers.

"Clarke was also reputed to have a bit of a soft spot for prostitutes, gamblers and bartenders.

"His political enemies alleged that he ran a protection racket among Edmonton's finer brothels. In 1914, while on city council, he was actually arrested and tried for conspiring to bring down his bitter rival, the police chief, by allegedly encouraging out-of-town criminals to come to Edmonton to start a crime wave. At trial, he was found not guilty. Five years later, he was elected mayor.

"He served two stints, the first from 1919 to 1920, the second from 1934 to 1937. In those years of economic and political turmoil, working Edmontonians trusted him to fight for their interests.

"But his greatest legacy to the city was quite different. He convinced his personal friend, Mackenzie King, to grant to Edmonton the land where Clarke Stadium and Commonwealth Stadium would come to be -- and as mayor, he led the campaign to get the original Clarke Stadium built."

Material reprinted with the express permission of: ?Edmonton Journal Group Inc.?, a CanWest Partnership.