the 1890s further developed Cardston. Upon its creation in 1895, Card became the first president of the Alberta Stake of the LDS Church. It was the first established outside of the United States. Irrigation projects were successful, and businesses and thousands of LDS settlers came to Cardston. Card continued to travel frequently between Alberta and Salt Lake City to give reports and receive direction from church leaders. The church directly participated in the Alberta Railway and Irrigation Company's efforts to irrigate the region. This "first large-scale corporate irrigation project" benefited from the involvement of the Mormon settlers under Card's direction. Card selected two sites for new settlements along the irrigation system: Magrath and Stirling. In 1902, he declared the Canadian colonies self-sufficient. Personal life Card's first wife was Sarah Jane "Sallie" Birdneau, whom he married on October 4, 1867 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Card's memoirs reveal that theirs was a "strained relationship." Birdneau divorced him by March 24, 1884, testifying against Card "on charges of unlawful cohabitation" in court. Card had married a second wife, Sarah Jane Painter, on October 17, 1876. Then, while visiting his children who were attending Brigham Young Academy, he met the school's matron, Brigham Young's widowed daughter Zina Presendia Williams (née Young). The two were married on June 17, 1884 in Logan, Utah. Card then married Lavinia Clark Rigby on December 2, 1885. Because of his polygamy, the U.S. government sought to arrest him; he often lived in hiding under conditions of poverty and hunger. He wrote letters to his wives using false names. He changed locations every few days, visiting Sarah and Zina in Utah and Lavinia in Idaho as much as he could; he wished to stay with his wives and children for long periods of time, but his situation did not allow this. On July 26, 1886, the federal marshals found and arrested him, but he fled by jumping from the train. He lived again in hiding, often changing locations, until fleeing to Canada. Fearing further persecution, Card took only one of his wives with him to settle Canada. Painter and Rigby selected Zina Williams Card to accompany him. However, he still remained married to all three of them. Whenever he returned to Utah to report on Cardston's progress to church leaders, he visited Painter and Rigby in Logan and Rexburg, Idaho, respectively. Dividing his time between his three families and