Henry Wise Wood

Henry Wise Wood, CMG (May 31, 1860 – June 10, 1941) was an American-born Canadian agrarian thinker and activist. He became director in 1914 and was elected president of the United Farmers of Alberta in 1916. Under his leadership the UFA became the most powerful political lobby group in the province. In 1919, Wood oversaw the transition of the UFA into a political party and in 1921 they formed the government of Alberta, winning 38 of 61 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Wood refused to enter electoral politics himself but led the UFA's extra-parliamentary organization throughout, and influenced the elected government from the sidelines.

Background and early career Wood was born on a farm near Monroe City, Missouri to a prosperous farming family with land holding in Missouri and Texas. He became an accomplished stockman while still a teenager. At the age of 44 he visited Alberta and the following year (1905) purchased a wheat farm and moved his family to Carstairs, Alberta.

Later life

Appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1935, Wood continued to play an important role in the UFA until 1937 when he retired to his farm in Carstairs, Alberta.

He died in 1941. A school in Calgary, Henry Wise Wood High School, was named after him.