Prologue: Louis Knafla and Canadian Legal History

Rumour has it that if armed with the basics of map reading, a keen mind, stout heart, and a pragmatic willingness to follow what appears to be an uninviting trail in the wilds near Creston, British Columbia, one might find Louis A. Knafla hard at work.And while there are undoubtedly manuscripts and volumes to be found somewhere nearby, the labour that engages him now is that of an orchardist, tending to the needs of almost three hundred cherry trees.Admittedly, this might appear to be an odd pastime for an historian whose scholarship has influenced a significant cross-section of Canadian legal history in the course of the past thirty years, to say nothing of his work in the field of English legal history.Yet in its way, the chores that fill Knafla's spring and summer days are very much like those that flavoured those three decades -tilling fields, looking for growth, pruning when necessary, letting other shoots run their course, experimenting with method and approach in one area while drawing upon what has been tried and true in another.Quite literally, Knafla remains, notwithstanding the weather-beaten hat and the dusty visage, a scholar in his field.Anyone who has come to know Lou Knafla would not be surprised to learn that a new project has quickly filled the gap left in the wake of his final lectures in the History Department at the University of Calgary.Indeed, throughout his career Knafla consistently sought out new interests, new topics, and novel approaches, and always encouraged others to do the same.It has been a path charted by a restless mind driven forward by a genuine curiosity about the world in which he lives.And while this inclination, this sense of wonder about a seemingly ever-widening circle of interests has, admittedly, left a few endeavours too long on the vine, he, like many intriguing scholars, resolutely believes that having too much on the go is infinitely preferable to the contrary proposition of finding oneself at the end of things with nothing left to stir one's interests.Indeed, before we lament his retirement from the day-to-day activities of university teaching Prologue: Louis Knafla and Canadian Legal History Jonathan Swaingerviii Jonathan Swainger (along with his much loved committee work), it might be recalled that during the autumn and winter, when the cherry trees are dormant under the snows of British Columbia's southern Interior, Knafla will be back in harness in the Legal Studies Unit at the University of Calgary.Without fail it will be from this new vantage point that he will continue to press onward and, of course, continue to teach, learn, and, with a bit of good fortune, deal with a few of those vines that have trailed on a bit too long.And true to form, he will undoubtedly continue to stake out new lands and return to regions that were first explored in the not so recent past.In fact, one of his most recent essays renewed an interest that has enlivened much of his scholarly labours during these past thirty years: the legal history of Canada.If the truth be told, and despite his departure from the lecture theatre, few of us expect that Knafla's days as a teacher have drawn to a close.For while the body of his scholarship is considerable and has served as an influence upon an entire generation of legal history scholars in Canada and beyond, the case can be made that it will be his work as a teacher and mentor that will be his greatest legacy.His supervisory record with graduate students in early modern English history, along with English and Canadian legal history, has been impressive, and despite having retired, he continues his supervisory obligations for those students who embarked on their studies as Knafla was winding down his active teaching at the University of Calgary.In its own way, this collection reflects Knafla's contributions to mentoring successive generations of graduate students, for it contains essays from four of his graduate students and it is certain that other contributors have also benefited, in some form or other, from Knafla's ability to teach, explain, and elaborate.His contribution to teaching and the exchange of insights has not, of course, been limited to the lecture hall or seminar room.Over the past decades, Knafla was responsible for an institution of sorts, the like of which we may never see again.This, of course, was the much fabled "Knafla Conference."These occasional gatherings eventually assumed proportions approaching that of the touring assize arriving in an English town.The combination of academic endeavour, social function, enormous feasts, and the inevitable hike up some nearby mountain, invitation to try one's hand at roping an uncooperative steer, or a death-defying plunge down a mountain river in an inflatable raft was usually in the offing.Very much like Camp Flaherty at the University of Western Ontario, 1 these gatherings were not just about research and ideas; they were also about forming a community of scholars who would spur each other onwards, share perspectives, and press the inquiry in new and creative directions.Akin to Knafla's approach to teaching and learning, these conferences were always rooted in the notion that everyone in attendance had something to offer and, indeed, something to learn.Established scholars were brought together with those who were starting on academic careers or, just xv

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