Oklahoma’s Canadian Legacy: Black Oklahoman’s Journey To A New Beginning

1800 miles from Oklahoma City sits the northern-most historically Black town on the continent, Amber Valley. Most of the people who helped build it are from Oklahoma.

The Canadian Prairies are filled with vast fields and miles of opportunities. “When people came here that was the promise land,” Elmer Edwards said.

Amber Valley was the seed of a fresh start for people like Edwards’ father, Jefferson Edwards. “I think the dream was that it would become a place where you have your own. You didn't have to rely on other people,” Edwards said.

That is why Jefferson moved to Amber Valley, Alberta in the early 1900s. He left behind everything he knew in Oklahoma City, including his brother Walter.

Walter and his wife built a family, a home, and a legacy in Northeast Oklahoma City that still lives on today “They built several hundred homes in this area stretching from northeast 10th street to northeast 23rd street on the north to Edmond page on the west to Bryant on the east,” James Johnson, Walter and Frances’ grandson said.

Related: How The Edwards Family Helped Build Northeast Oklahoma City

But, Elmer's great uncle, Johnson said Oklahoma wasn't the same after shifting from Indian Territory to official statehood. “The very first law passed by the legislature was a Jim Crow law of segregation,” Johnson said.

Oklahoma lawmakers passed Senate Bill 1 in 1907 which called for mandatory segregation between races on trains and in train stations. That's not what Johnson's family expected when they moved from Mississippi. “It was a land of opportunity in terms that I can go there. I can utilize my skills and I can make a way for myself. Free of quote the kind of discrimination that I might have faced,” Johnson said.

Ads in Oklahoma newspapers sparked the interest of Black people like Jefferson Edwards. He decided the Great Plains in Alberta, which was advertised as the Last Best West would be his new home. “Jeff Edwards, he said I'm not going to have any of this I’m out of here,” Johnson said.

Myrna Wisdom said her grandfather Willis Bowen went too.

News 9 asked Wisdom, ‘What did Canada offer them that they couldn't get in Oklahoma? She said freedom.

Black Oklahomans made it to Edmonton by train and founded all-black towns throughout Alberta. “It's unreal what they accomplished, and it was so cold and I’m thinking why didn't you guys stop any closer to the city,” Wisdom said.

Oklahomans got to Amber Valley by horse and wagon and the area was covered with heavy brush. Before settling they had to clear the property by hand. “You had to have so much cleared within a certain length of time. I think it was 10 acres,” Wisdom said. “Ten dollars for a quarter section of land is pretty cheap.”

At one point there were more than 300 people living in Amber Valley, most were former Oklahomans. “They ran into racism here, but it was nothing like what they faced in the States,” Wisdom said.

The government was taking notice of the developing towns. “They had a petition out to try and stop Blacks from coming here. They found out that they were coming in larger numbers,” Wisdom said.

In 1911, an order was approved to prohibit Black people from migrating to the country saying, ‘their race was deemed unsuitable to the climate and requirement of Canada.’

It never became law, but the pushback didn't stop there. “I think the Klan was everywhere, but they didn't necessarily make themselves known like they were Klan. People that you didn't know they belonged to the Klan.

But, these Oklahomans were determined. “It was never easy, but once you came and developed your whatever life was good, they made a living,” Wisdom said.

Most were farmers. One of Myrna's fondest memories as a kid was roaming the town. “We would pick the biggest wild raspberries. The berries we thought were always larger on his and our parents would say don't you kids go in Mr. Lankford's place. Guess what, we always crawled under the fence. It was more fun, it was like a picnic,” Wisdom said.

The community grew to include a post office, a church, and a school.

This baseball field is where a lot of people spend a lot of their time watching the Amber Valley Baseball team. They made a name for themselves throughout Alberta. Elmer's dad was a coach of the award-winning baseball team. “When I grew up, I got to play with the big boys,” Edwards said.

But, over time there were more and more empty seats. There used to be a guy that had honeybees out here,

People moved to bigger cities like Edmonton for more opportunities, but only a few moved back. Now the once thriving town, but I see that they are gone now. Canola fields cover what used to be small settlements. There are only a few things left from the glory days of Amber Valley.

But, the fact that this place existed is their ancestor's wildest dream. That became a reality. “They survived. We're living proof that they survived,”

Now seeds from Oklahoma are forever planted on Canadian Soil.

“I feel proud that I came from a Black community and my dad helped build that community,” Edwards said.