Born in Glengarry, Ontario, Gordon became a Presbyterian minister and pastor of St. Stephen's Church, Winnipeg (1894 to 1924). Under the pseudonym "Ralph Connor", by which he is best known, he entertained and instructed milllions with his novels, many of which deal with the settlement of western Canada. As a churchman and ardent Canadian nationalist he worked for such social causes as temperance and aid to immigrants. His optimism and his advocacy of good Christian citizenship reflected the views of many native-born Canadians in the opening decades of the twentieth century. He died in Winnipeg