<P> About 3,200 Mormons arrived from Utah, where their practice of polygamy had been outlawed . They were very community oriented, setting up 17 farm settlements; they pioneered in irrigation techniques . They flourished and in 1923 opened the Cardston Alberta Temple in their centre of Cardston . In the 21st century about 50,000 Mormons live in Alberta . </P> <P> At the dawn of the 20th century, Alberta was simply a district of the North - West Territories . Local leaders lobbied hard for provincial status . The premier of the territories, Sir Frederick Haultain, was one of the most persistent and vocal supporters of provincehood for the West . However, his plan for provincial status in the West was not a plan for the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan that was eventually adopted; rather he favoured the creation of one very large province called Buffalo . Other proposals called for three provinces, or two provinces with a border running east - west instead of north - south . </P> <P> The prime minister of the day, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, did not want to concentrate too much power in one province, which might grow to rival Quebec and Ontario, but neither did he think three provinces were viable, and so opted for the two - province plan . Alberta became a province along with her sister Saskatchewan on September 1, 1905 . </P> <P> Haultain might have been expected to be appointed as the first Premier of Alberta . However, Haultain was Conservative while Laurier was Liberal . Laurier opted to have Lieutenant Governor George H.V. Bulyea appoint the Liberal Alexander Rutherford, whose government would later fall in the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal . </P>

When did alberta become a province of canada