A cross of the Ku Klux Klan was erected in Yorkton on June 6, 1929 on Broadway Street across from the Bank of Commerce (Bank of Montreal today.) Later, Mayor A.C. Stewart stated: “I hear that a cross was burned during the election celebration in Yorkton and I wish to make it plain it was done without my knowledge.” The KKK was organized in Saskatchewan in 1926 and on May 18th, 1927 they were in Yorkton addressing a group of 50 people. The membership in the Yorkton KKK Lodge grew in spite of the news in October of 1927 that the clan leader Scott disappeared with $100,000 of members’ money. Originally, a southern American and often-violent white supremacy group, it came north to Ontario, and ended up in Saskatchewan. Supporters paid $10 to $13 for membership. In the absence of the black race, the white-clad riders of the night found fertile ground to denounce Catholics, Orthodox and Jews at numerous public meetings. In majority Roman Catholics, French-Canadians across the province were primary targets, not only about religion but also about the French language in schools. In Yorkton area, other nationalities; Ukrainian, Hungarian, Polish, Irish, Russian, etc were also targets for their religion and for speaking maternal languages. The KKK organized dances and suppers to draw members around the province. Some Protestant individuals and churches made blunt public declarations against the KKK, but others who opposed them were silent for the Klan had instilled fear. Klan activity in Yorkton was under-reported at the time, and since then the story has not been included in sanitized versions of our history. On election night June 6, 1929, Liberal Premier James Gardiner had strongly opposed the KKK, charging that the organization had influenced the Conservative government of J.T.M. Anderson. He re-organized the Liberal party, and was elected with a strong majority in 1934. In the mid-years of the Depression — 1935-36, the Ku Klux Klan disappeared from the Saskatchewan scene. — A writer, Anthony Appleblatt stated: “It is history worth telling because it demonstrates that no place is immune from prejudice and intolerance.”
