TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND IN MEMORY OF
REV. GEORGE MILLWARD McDOUGALL
AND
REV. JOHN CHANTLER McDOUGALL D.D.
FATHER AND SON AND THEIR DEVOTED
WIVES. COMBINED MINISTRY 77 YEARS
PIONEER MISSIONARIES OF THE METHOD-
IST CHURCH TO THE INDIANS IN CANADA
Text From the Plaque
Rev. George McDougall dedicated his life to frontier mission work. As a young man, George became interested in religion and while attending one of his first revival meetings he met a young Quaker girl, Elizabeth Chantler. They were married in 1841 and their first child, John Chantler, was born the next year. In 1860, George and his family moved to continue their work at missions in the Western Territories. They went to Norway House on Lake Winnipeg. Then, in 1862, they established a new mission at Victoria on the North Saskatchewan River, and in 1872, they moved to Fort Edmonton where they built the first church outside the fort. In 1873 George instructed his son John, a newly ordained minister, to establish a mission for the Stoney People near the Bow River-they called it Morleyville.
We are now on our way to Fort Edmonton. The scenery is extremely beautiful. Judging from the appearance of these grassy plains, the soil must be very fertile. Animals are abundant. A herd of buffaloes allowed us to pass within fifty rods without showing fear.
(Rev. George McDougall, in a letter dated September 2, 1862)
Learn more about the McDougall Memorial United Church
Other plaques mounted on the cairn honors the Stoney Indians, the Pioneers of Southern Alberta and the people who helped with the restoration of the church.
Morleyville Historic Mission
The historic church at the end of this pathway was constructed in 1875. At that time native people were still hunting bison on the prairies. The young nation of Canada was only eight years old; the Canadian Pacific Railway still nine years in the future. And this church would become the heart of a thriving community, Morleyville, and for a time the largest settlement in what would be southern Alberta.
The story of this church is really the story of Rev. George McDougall who moved to western Canada with his family in 1862 to minister to the fur traders and native people. In 1873, the McDougalls established the first mission in the region and built this church. In doing so, they wrote an important chapter of Alberta's settlement history.
We invite you to spend 20 minutes to discover the story of this church, the people who built it and what their lives were like. A series of signs around the site will share this story with you.
Learn more about the McDougall Memorial United Church