“Thirty Thousand Wheelmen Who Never Smile”

When the Canadian Wheelman’s Association (CWA) was formed in 1883, the Dominion of Canada was just 16 years old. Many have suggested that Canada at this early stage had an uncertain identity, indeed Andrew Cohen has suggested that “the Canadian Identity, as it has come to be known, is as elusive as the Sasquatch and Ogopogo”. ² While accepting that such a broad concept applied to an immense country inhabited by groups as varied as Acadians, many First Nations, the descendents of French and British settlers, and the Métis must necessarily be elusive, we nevertheless see in the record of the Canadian Wheelman’s Association during its formative year some pointers to mainstream anglo-Canadian identity at that time. The purpose of this chapter is, therefore, to explore the ways in which the CWA reflected national identity, and the aspirations, and values of its people’s at that time and how, in turn, the CWA helped to modify that identity.