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

Founded in 1905, 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 Charles Clark family for over 60 years, the Times established itself as the epitome of the rural weekly press in Alberta. Even Joe Clark, the future prime minister, worked for the family business. While historians rely heavily on local newspapers to write about rural and small town life, Paul Voisey has studied the influence of the Times on shaping the community of High River. Originally, the Times boostered High River as "bustling and modern," and then later as "small and friendly." After WWII, with the help of the Times, High River constructed a mythical image as a ranching district with a wild and colourful past.