Fonds F0845 - William Morris Graham fonds

William Morris Graham, 1867-1940, was born in Ottawa. He grew up and was educated in Winnipeg, and in 1884 he joined the Indian Department as a clerk at the Birtle Indian Agency in Manitoba. In 1885 he was transferred to Moose Mountain, Saskatchewan, and served in the Indian Office at Regina, 1895-1896. Graham was appointed Indian agent at the File Hills Agency in 1897 and promoted in 1904 to Inspector for the South Saskatchewan Inspectorate. His final promotion came in 1918 when he was appointed Indian Commissioner for the three prairie provinces, a position he held until his retirement in 1932.

Graham's wife, A. Helena Violetta Wood, was an active member of the Junior Red Cross Society. William Graham's cousin, Alice Tye, was a writer and had an interest in Long Lance (Sylvester Clark Long). She collected many letters, articles, and correspondence pertaining to Long Lance, William Graham, and the Department of Indian Affairs.

For further information see Treaty Days : Reflections of an Indian Commissioner / by William M. Graham and edited by Hugh A. Dempsey. -- Calgary : Glenbow Museum, 1991; Brian Titley's entry, "William Morris Graham", in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and "William Morris Graham: the Colonizer" in Indian Agents: Rules of the Reserves / John L. Steckley. - Bern: Peter Lang, 2016, p. 89-114.