One of the original Barr Colonists.

[account courtesy of the Lloydminster Regional Archives]

At the age of eighteen I had just returned to Ireland from Florida where I had spent four years with an uncle who had retired from the Merchant Marine Service and was fruit farming in the southern states. I contracted malaria while there and was advised to leave for a colder climate.

I returned home to Belfast in January 1903 and was kicking my heels wondering if I would seek my fortune in South Africa or Australia when a letter came to my mother from a relative in England, telling her about an opportunity for British people to emigrate to Canada and enclosing a pamphlet which gave a very glowing account of the Canadian west.

Being fond of adventure and not having made any real plans for the future, I decided to get more information about the scheme, so I went immediately to the Reverend I. M. Barr, a retired Anglican clergyman who had an office in Fleet Street, London, asking for more particulars.

It appeared that this gentleman had been in the Northwest Territories in Canada some years previously and had looked over the Saskatchewan Valley situated on the 4th Meridian between Saskatoon and Edmonton.

Mr. Barr had in mind at that time a scheme to gather about 25 British families who wished to emigrate to Canada and who were familiar with agriculture in England, and to persuade them to emigrate to this part of the west and gradually build up a British colony in the good farm lands of the Saskatchewan valley. He was to be the head of the colony and give advice to would-be settlers.

Returning to England, Mr. Barr advertised in some of the local papers for 25 British families who wished to emigrate to Canada and gave an outline of the scheme as he wished it to be. Imagine his surprise when he received 2500 letters from people in all walks of life wishing to have further particulars.

On thinking the matter over, Mr. Barr interviewed the British government about the scheme and was assured of its co-operation, so he immediately rented a large office in Fleet Street and hired a staff to answer mail and get things underway.

The upshot of the whole thing was that Mr. Barr chartered the steamship "Manitoba" from Elder Dunster Co. and made arrangements to take almost everyone who wanted to join his party.

The Canadian government was at that time offering free homesteads of 160 acres of wild virgin land to emigrants to the North West Territories. The cost was only $10 and to secure the land the emigrant had to live on it for six months out of each year for three years, build a house, and plough 15 acres of land. In other words the government bet you 160 acres of land against $10 that you would not stay the required time!

In due time I received a letter from Mr. Barr (which I now have in my possession and I think it is one of the very few now in existence which bears his signature) telling me he would be very pleased if I would join his expedition and hoped I would prove successful. Thinking the matter over carefully I decided to try my luck in Canada, so I started making plans for another adventure in a strange land.

The boat was due to sail from Liverpool on March 31, 1903, so I crossed the Irish Channel from Belfast the night before, after saying goodbye to my mother, brother, and sister. They all came down to the dock and I remember them all singing the old hymn "Till We Meet Again" as the steamer pulled away from the wharf.

Among the passengers from Ireland were three young Irishmen like myself bound for the same adventure, so we very soon became friendly.

Arriving at Liverpool about 7 o’clock in the morning we had breakfast and started down for the docks to find our Canada-bound steamer. At an early hour emigrants had begun to arrive on trains from all over England, Scotland, Wales, and soon the streets began to look like a summer fair.

We were not allowed on board the ship until about noon, so hung around talking to first one and then another of our companions who were to make the great adventure with us. When time came to board our vessel we embarked and secured a good location on deck where we could watch the different passengers coming aboard, also the loading of trunks and boxes of every size and description.

It seemed that people from all walks of life were assembled on that dock, shoving and fighting for a chance to get on board; mothers, fathers, children, aunts, uncles and even grandmas were among the assorted passengers and hundreds of relatives and friends came to say goodbye to their loved ones and wish them Godspeed.

I was amused at the assortment of dogs, parrots, canaries and pets of all kinds that made up the party, also guns and revolvers of all makes and sizes. One would have thought we were going to invade Canada instead of entering it peaceable.

When all passengers were aboard and we were ready to sail, relatives started singing hymns and waving handkerchiefs as we pulled away from the dock and into the Mersey river and so our great adventure had begun.

***

My friends and I were given quarters in the "forrid" hold which was fixed up with bunks, one above the other, with hay for mattresses. We had to supply our own blankets and those who could not procure any had to sleep in their clothes or beg from others.

The food was terrible and we soon had all kinds of trouble among the passengers. Mr. Barr was nearly crazy with people complaining about conditions on the ship, and he eventually shut himself up in his stateroom which he had secured for himself and staff, and refused to see anyone. This caused more trouble and soon we had near—riots on board. Passengers were complaining about the food to say nothing of the service which was nil. We had paid our passage money in good faith and expected better meals than we were being served,

In the forward part of the ship below decks where we had our bunks there were also long rough tables in the centre of the room where meals were served. Breakfast consisted of oatmeal without milk; bread, buns and tea; dinner mostly "ling" fish, (which smelled to heaven, potatoes, bread and coffee; supper, boiled eggs, bread and margarine, also tea. The eggs were brought in large baskets and the waiter would stand at the end of the long table and roll them down the middle. We were supposed to catch what we wanted as it went by. Some eggs were hard-boiled, some soft and some had chickens all ready to hatch! Such was our fare on board this luxury liner and no wonder we had riots and fights of all kinds.

I recall one day a number of us went up to Mr. Barr’s cabin and demanded he come down tour quarters and see for himself how we were fed. He promised to come that evening and in due time he turned up. There was a large crowd down in the living quarters to welcome him and tell him our grievances. I remember well how he stood up on a wooden box and began to talk to us. He explained that he was doing his best to improve conditions and promised better meals.

As he was talking the passengers were murmuring among themselves and we could see something was brewing. All of a sudden someone threw a ship’s biscuit straight at Mr. Barr’s head. These are commonly known as "hard tack" and are about the size of a saucer and three inches thick. This missile caught Mr. Barr right on his mouth and nose, knocking him off his box and causing a wild disturbance. A fight began and some of the ship’s crew had to be called to rescue the "reverend gentleman" and take him back to his cabin. Incidentally, the food did not improve and so it remained.

* * *

There were about 100 dogs belonging to the numerous passengers. All breeds were represented from Newfoundlands to Lap dogs; some had no family tree at all! These dogs were allowed to roam around at will and soon became a nuisance. They slept anywhere they could and were kicked around when in the way. You can imagine the mess that had to be cleaned up every day by the crew members. Soon a complaint was made to the captain and one dark night the scent of these animals disappeared as if by magic. I’m afraid they went to a watery grave.

As far as the weather went, our voyage was good. We experienced no rough weather at all. People played games on deck most days, and many boxing bouts were staged among the men of the party. Icebergs were sighted off the Canadian coast, but none were near enough to be seen plainly.

On Easter Sunday, April 12, [1903] we arrived at St. John, New Brunswick. I think the captain must have heaved a sigh of relief when he landed his ship safely. We had no heavy cargo, just the ordinary luggage belonging to the emigrants. Our ship rode high out of the water and had there been a rough sea we might easily have had a very bad time. However nothing untoward happened but we were all very glad to go on shore after our cramped quarters on board ship.

I remember hearing the church bells ringing that Easter Sunday morning and it felt good to be alive. I think the people of St. John go quite a kick out of our arrival and watched us come ashore with all kind of queer walking sticks and umbrellas, to say nothing of hunting togs and curious get-ups. However the people we met were very kind, and anxious to answer all our questions about Canada. No doubt they were amused at some of our queries. Some asked where the Indians were and if they were dangerous. Others wanted to see the North West Mounted Police we had heard so much about.

The Canadian government had arranged for three trains and colonist cars to take us and our baggage from St. John to Saskatoon. Mr. Barr had told us on board ship that we had to supply our own provisions on board the train, but he said he had made arrangements for bread to be procured by us at the depot. This was not done and many other promises of his also went by the board.

Before we boarded the trains that were to take us west we had to procure enough food, so everyone was busy stocking up with the necessities of life. We did not go ashore on Sunday at St. John but waited till Monday morning when the stores would be open and we could secure our supplies. On Monday morning, Mr. Barr was nowhere to be found and everyone was asking where he was. Later, as we were going on board the trains, he turned up in rather an inebriated condition and tried to get things under way. I think he had experienced such a bad time on board ship, trying to satisfy everyone’s wants that he was glad to get ashore and drown his sorrows.

However, we had with us our spiritual adviser, the Reverend Lloyd, who had also joined the party in England, and intended coming west with the Colony. Mr. Lloyd took charge of everything in Mr. Barr’s absence and soon got order out of chaos.

I well remember Mr. Barr arriving at the station platform with a trunk full of army blankets which he had bought from the British government. They were remnants of the Boer War. Many of the Colonists had packed all their blankets and had to have more to use on the train trip to the West. Mr. Barr sold these blankets for $4 each and I had great fun watching him disposing of his stock in his inebriated condition. He could neither make change or count the blankets. I wonder how he came out in the transaction~

On Monday, the trains carrying us on our westward journey pulled out, each loaded with emigrants on their way to Saskatoon. On board my train I met three other young men who were with the party and intended going in for farming when we reached our destination. We became very friendly and started comparing notes. None of us had enough capital to start farming individually, so after much talk, we four decided to pool our resources and run a kind of community farm. We managed without much trouble to secure our homesteads close together, and so we were to have 640 acres of land between us. We already felt quite prosperous as in due time we each expected to be the sole owners of 160 acres. Only one of the three of these young men had experience in farming before; of the other two, one had been a plumber and the other a draper. I had had some experience in Florida, but mostly in fruit farming, which would not be much good to me in western Canada.

The train journey was long and tiring. Each colonist car had a small cooking stove at one end on which we prepared our food. This was usually surrounded by a crowd of fighting women, each trying to boil a kettle, or cook something for the children and so life went on day by day.

We stopped in Winnipeg for a whole day; this gave us a chance to procure more food and look around a western city for the first time. Then on we went again ever westward.

At every station along the way of any size we stopped, and as this happened, everyone got off to look around and stretch his legs. The railroad crew tried to prevent this as it wasted too much time getting on board again, but I’m afraid it was not very successful. Some of the party always managed to be left behind and they would come running along behind the train, yelling for us to stop. Some one would pull the communication cord and the train would come to a standstill. Then, when they were all aboard we would proceed merrily on our way.

One poor fellow lost his legs by falling under the wheels while trying to get aboard and had to be left behind at a hospital. I never heard what became of him afterwards.

Fortunately the weather was good on the journey and we had the car windows open during the day; this made the crowded cars more livable. We saw our first gophers along the roadway and there used to be a continual volley of shots fired from all kinds of firearms out of the car windows at these rodents. People along the railroad must have been alarmed at all this shooting and wondered if the Indians were on the warpath again.

Another day I remember the train stopped on the open prairie somewhere near Qu’Appelle and we got out to see what was wrong. Just ahead of the train we saw thousands of antelope crossing the track in close formation. There was nothing for the engineer to do but wait till they had crossed. You can imagine what a sight this was to a lot of English people who had never seen an antelope before.

After another day or so on board our train we finally arrived at Saskatoon, the end of the steel and our dumping-off point on the prairie, and here the fun began. Saskatoon at that time was only a small village with about five stores and a bank. I don’t know whether the inhabitants ever knew that we were coming, but they certainly had made no preparations for our arrival. There was very little food to be bought; in fact the one bakery soon sold out all its bread and closed its doors until fresh loaves could be baked.

Mr. Barr had secured a lot of army Bell tents left over from the Boer War and these he sold to us at reasonable prices. These tents were pitched alongside the river and the banks soon looked like a tented city.

In due time all the settlers arrived from St. John, some very happy to be off the train for good, others grumbling and discontented and talking of returning to England.

The Canadians in Saskatoon were very much amused at the different dialects they heard for the first time. Some of the farming c1ass from the north of England were hardly understandable. The Yorkshire dialect also had its own funny lingo; people from Birmingham and Cockneys from London amused the Canadian natives. They had to ask them to repeat the remarks two or three times and then often went into fits of laughter while trying to make out what was said.

It has often been said that the Barr Colonists made Saskatoon what it is today and I think that is not far wrong. Imagine about 2000 people landing all at once in a small village, and having to stay there for two or three weeks, even longer, buying everything needed for the long trek of 200 miles further west over prairie trails; no roads had been built at that time. We were to follow old Indian trails. Horses, oxen, wagons, machinery of all kinds were wanted, besides flour, potatoes, meat and all the necessities of life. These goods had to be shipped in after we arrived, necessitating a long wait.

Bands of horses and oxen were driven into Saskatoon over the trails from other small towns, Some of these were very wild, never having bee used by man. The oxen often were nothing but big steers which had roamed the range around Saskatoon for three of four years.

I often wish someone had had a movie camera and could have taken shots of some of the very funny antics and doings of these settlers and their half—wild horses.

Mr. Barr had already tipped off his brother Jack Barr to be on hand with all the horses he could lay his hands on, and sure enough Jack was there with some good work horses and also many poor ones. These teams ranged in price all the way from $200 up to $400 per team, depending on size and age. None were supposed to be over nine years old but I know some of these animals were with Noah when his Ark rested on Mount Ararat!

I well remember one very amusing incident in which one of the settlers came off second best with Jack Barr. This particular party wanted a good team of matched work horses and he claimed to know a good horse when he saw one. There were by this time other horse dealers in Saskatoon and the man went the rounds looking at numerous teams for sale at all prices. He eventually landed up at the corral where Jack Barr kept his sale horses.

After telling Barr what he wanted, and also advising him not to try and put anything over on him as he knew a good "hoss" when he saw one, Mr. Barr said, "Well sir, I’ve got just what you want, but I can’t have them here for you till tomorrow as they are on my farm and I had not thought of selling them. They are a pair of black mares, well matched and guaranteed good workers and quiet. If you have in mind to pay the price you can have them".

So after a lot of talking back and forth it was arranged to have the horses in town the next day. The settler was back at the corral next morning to see the prize horses. Sure enough Mr. Barr had the team there harnessed to a nice new wagon waiting for his purchaser. Mr. Barr hurried to explain that these mares had been running out all winter in the pasture and around the straw piles as he had no work for them to do so they did not look very good, but he would guarantee they were a splendid team and would do all sorts of farm work. His price was $450.

I saw the team myself and the horses certainly were well matched and a good size. They had long coats of hair, which made them look rather rough, but they carried quite a good amount of fat and looked as if they could stand lots of work.

Mr. Settler looked them all over, felt their legs and hocks, pounded their ribs and seemed quite pleased. Mr. Barr got him into the wagon and drove the team around, the trails for perhaps half an hour. They were a good showey team and handled well together. Being well satisfied our buyer bought the team, also harness and wagon and started home. The money was paid over in gold sovereigns.

Very pleased with his deal and anxious to show his new team to his many settler friends, the new owner drove over to the tented colony and unharnessed his new prize. When taking them down to the river by the halters to water, he noticed his mares did not step clear of the many obstacles such as tent guy ropes and wagon poles that were dotted around and more or less in the way. Also one of the mares nearly knocked its new owner down, stepping on his foot with such force that he had to yell out and abuse this new dumb animal.

Thinking something was wrong he sought out another friend and took him around to view the horses. This friend was an old country horse dealer and knew all the tricks of the trade. He soon discovered that both mares were stone blind.

As you can imagine, words not very complimentary to Mr. Barr flew, thick and fast, but night had fallen by that time and nothing could be done till morning. Rising early, and with fire in his eye, Mr. Settler went down to Barr’s corral and after waiting about an hour, Mr. Jack came riding up on horseback and wished him good—day. Without answering his salutation our friend started calling Mr. Barr all the crooked horse thief names he could lay his tongue to and I don’t really think Mr. Barr could have understood half of his remarks because the north of England dialect was mixed up with cuss words and new English phrases which Mr. Barr had probably never heard before.

Mr. Barr eventually told him calm down and tell him the trouble. "You sold me a pair of blind horses," said our friend, "and you’ll have to return my money or I’ll have you arrested". Mr. Barr had been in tight spots before in his horse dealings and knew how to handle his man. Said he "You told me you knew a good horse and nobody could fool you on a deal. I was honest enough with you when we made the bargain. You remember I told you these mares did not look very good. Now go home and be a good boy and remember the first Canadian horse dealer you ever met."

* * *

Many settlers bought yokes of oxen instead of horses as they were told oats would be hard to buy up in the colony and oxen did not require grain and would pull good loads and be useful on the farms. Some of these animals, as I said before, were wild and hard to handle, others had done farm work and were quite tractable.

Many funny scenes took place between the green settlers and the equally green oxen. Wagon poles were broken, loads upset and general confusion reigned before these animals could be made to understand what was required of them.

All three colonist trains had arrived by this time, but a carload of baggage could not be located. This caused a great deal of confusion as some members of the party were anxious to start on their western trek but could not go until their trunks arrived. Eventually, after a lot of wires had been dispatched to eastern points, the car was finally located in the U.S.A. It had evidently been shipped there by some mistake of the CNR, but in a few more days it duly arrived in Saskatoon and the colonists got it all sorted out.

My three new partners and I had already purchased a team of horses, harness and wagon, besides all that we could afford of the various necessities. We had a small camp stove, cooking utensils, flour and a large side of salt pork, commonly known as "sowbelly" some sacks of oats for the horses and numerous small stuff, besides our tent, blanket and boxes of all kinds, which we had brought from England. I think we had been in Saskatoon about two weeks before we finally got away one morning on our final journey.

***

Mr. Barr had previously informed us that there would be large tents every 25 miles along the trail where we could camp at night and there we would find fresh meat and bread which we could buy for our next day’s journey. We were supposed to leave Saskatoon in small groups day by day so that the tents on the way would not be over—crowded, but as usual this plan was not carried out as no one seemed to take command. This resulted in the settlers getting tired of waiting around and each deciding to start out on his own.

Our first day on the road was uneventful and we arrived at the large tent before dark. There we found a few of the colonists had already arrived, but we could find no one in charge and also no bread or meat to purchase.

It appears Mr. Barr had arranged for a butcher to go ahead of the party. Cattle were supposed to be driven ahead of us and one slaughtered each day to provide meat. As usual this was a promise that was never carried out. However, we were not in any way short of food, as prairie chickens, ducks and rabbits could be had for the shooting, so we came off fairly well.

* * *

Quite a number of settlers became dissatisfied with conditions in Saskatoon, and would not continue the journey west. Many returned home to England, others located on homesteads around Saskatoon and some even stopped off in eastern Canada and procured work, as they did not have enough capital to continue the journey west. We, however, decided to finish the trip we had started, so went merrily on our way.

Anyone who has been on the Prairies during the early spring will understand what the trails would be like at that time of the year. Every little creek or runway was full of water resulting from the melting snow. Crossings had no bridges whatever and just had to be forded. Some were deep, others quite shallow, but soft on the bottom. Inexperienced people, as most of us were, got into many difficulties during these trekking days. Wagons were upset crossing the creeks, poles were broken, trunks and boxes got many a wetting. Mothers wailed, children cried and men swore, but still most of us got through somehow and pushed on to our goal.

There were a few pioneer native farmers along our way and they often lent a helping hand to the unfortunate, giving advice and help where needed. We were able to buy eggs arid even an odd pig from them, sometimes even able to get some homemade bread. I think the early settlers on the journey fared better than the later ones as most of the farmers soon sold out of everything they had to spare.

As the days went by we passed many of our settler friends camped on the trail for one reason or another. Perhaps a baby was born, maybe a broken wagon had to be repaired, or often sickness caused delay

One soon began seeing parties returning to Saskatoon, fed up with everything and ready to leave the country. Ox teams were numerous on the trail and some wild times were experienced. Some of these teams had been owned by Doukhobors or Indians and did not understand any words of command given in the numerous English dialects.

There were many waterholes in abundance on the trails and one would often see a thirsty and headstrong pair of oxen heading for a slough to drink amid the shouts and yells of the owner and occupants of the wagon. These exhortations had no effect and soon the oxen were knee-deep in the water. This led to many a wagon being stuck in the slough bottom, sometimes upsetting the whole load plus occupants into the dirty water.

At other times men could be seen carrying their women—folk and children to dry land amid shrieks and yells, some even getting a ducking before reaching solid footing. I well remember one English woman in Saskatoon insisting her husband should buy oxen instead of horses for the journey. She said, "You know, Charlie, we can milk the oxen as well as use them for work!"

In due time we arrived at the second tent where we found nothing to eat and a lot of angry settlers swearing vengeance on Mr. Barr. Some with a sense of humor could see the funny side of the adventure and had written large signs on the tent such as "On to the Promised Land", and "Barr’s lambs," and so on.

Before leaving England many of the settlers had bought shares in a co—operative store promised by Mr. Barr, and also hospital shares, but we saw nothing of these promises and people were getting hostile and angry. It has often been said that the Dominion government was largely to blame for allowing such a large party of green English people to arrive in Canada to take up farming in a new, unpopulated country without making adequate preparation to receive them and advise and help them to settle on the new land.

On and on we marched, day by day, until we eventually came to what was then known as the Eagle Hills just east of Battleford where there was a small settlement of Doukhobors. These are Russian people who came to the Prairies some years before we made our appearance and settled in a kind of community farm, all close together like a small village.

Their houses were made of logs and mud, thatched with long grass and the walls were white-washed. They looked very clean and tidy. We passed alongside such a village and these early settlers were quite interested in our caravans travelling along the trail loaded with~ every conceivable kind of luggage and equipment.

They spoke little English and we had a hard time making them understand that we wanted to buy all kinds of things from them such a chickens, eggs, bread, potatoes and oats for the horses. I remember we did manage to get a large cheese, home-made and tasting very good.

So on we went down the Eagle Hills, which turned out to be very steep and dangerous for people like ourselves, unaccustomed to this kind of travelling. We had no brakes on the wagons, and as the loads were heavy, many came to grief, resulting in many upset loads before reaching the bottom. We did hear of one party actually "hobbling" its oxen to keep them from running down the hill, with the disastrous result that the heavy wagon pushed the poor brutes ahead and over the side of a steep embankment, causing all kinds of destruction.

The day before we crossed the Eagle Hills, one of the settlers had lost a horse. It so happened he had bought a broken-winded animal in Saskatoon and the steep hill had been too much for the poor brute. The driver had forced his team too fast in order to get to the top, resulting in one of the horses dropping dead. There the family camped on the roadside with a heavy load and one horse. We heard eventually he purchased an ox which he hitched up beside his remaining horse and proceeded on his way.

In another day or so we arrived in Battleford, but not before passing through snake hills. Here again was a new adventure for us. Hundreds and hundreds of small garter snakes were all over the trail, scuttling here and there amongst the grass and leaves. We crushed hundreds of these little reptiles with the wagon wheels before we finally got away from the infested area.

Battleford was situated between the Battle River and the North Saskatchewan River and was an old North West Mounted Police station. Here we stopped for a day to rest up and buy provisions for the last half of our journey. We were now just 100 miles from Saskatoon and half way to our destination. Many of the settlers had also stopped there as could be seen from the tents scattered all around the small town.

The inhabitants here were very good to the Barr Colonists, helping and advising them in every way. Some of the settlers decided to stay in Battleford and secure homesteads which were plentiful around there, but we had made up our minds to push on to our goal, come what may.

I must now tell of a funny episode we had while camping just outside town. We had been talking of buying a cow to take along to the Colony as we figured it would help with our food problem if we had plenty of fresh milk, so at Battleford we made it our business to inquire if such an animal could be bought.

Someone told us of a rancher called Tom Dewar who lived near at hand. We hunted up the man and explained our wants to him. Yes, he had just what we wanted, and promised to bring a good cow and calf along the next morning before we started on our way again. The cow and calf were available for $35.

Next morning, sure enough, our rancher arrived with the promised cow and calf. He had driven them in from the ranch on a saddle horse and told us the cow would be unsettled for a day or so as she had been out with the herd with her sucking calf. He guaranteed she was a good mother and just what we wanted.

He proceeded to rope the cow and tie her behind our wagon with a new rope he had told us to procure. This being done, we paid our rancher for the animals and away he went wishing us the best of luck.

Not long after he had gone, the fun started. Not having had breakfast we decided it would be fine to have some fresh milk for our meal so we got our new milk pail and one of our party, who said he had milked lots cows at home, began operations.

Mrs. Cow had different views. No sooner had our milkman squatted down to procure our favorite beverage than up went the pail in the air from a well planted kick, sending our friend sprawling many feet away. This caused, quite a laugh from the other three partners, but we could not persuade Jack to continue proceedings.

Without our milk, we had breakfast, hitched up the horses and started on our way westward. Our new animal was tied firmly behind the heavy wagon, much to her disgust. She seemed very restless and kept calling for her calf which was feeding nearby. As we started off our new friend had different intentions and decided she would not move one step forward. The team pulled well and hard, but Mrs. Cow simply planted both front feet stiffly down and refused to budge, so we were forced to pull her along until she had made up her mind it was no use to object.

Soon the team started to sweat under the extra heavy load and if we had proceeded in this way would soon have played out our team. So we halted for a rest and held a council of war. We could not proceed this way, so it was soon decided that we must capture the calf. It was quite wild, never having been handled at all by human beings, so we all took off our coats and the fun began.

Round and round the wagon went the calf bawling for its mother, who by this time had fire in her eyes; round and round we chased and after nearly all of us were gasping for breath we managed to corner our prize and tied its legs together, making escape impossible. We then decided to hoist the calf on top of our load and tie it down there for good.

After doing this we planned to let the cow loose from the wagon and allow her to follow after us, or rather her calf, which we were sure she would do. Going anywhere near this angry cow was sheer madness as she was ready to kill any of us so one of us finally crawled under the wagon and cut the rope with our axe. As soon as bossie found she was loose she proceeded to chase us around the wagon and it we had been caught by those hefty horns we might not have been here today, so we decided the only safe place was on the top of the load with the calf.

Being now safe from harm, at least for the present, we started on our way again. This state of affairs could not last long as none of us could leave our lofty perch without being chased again. The cow followed behind the wagon, bawling for her calf which answered to her cries.

After going about 10 miles, we called a halt and decided to let the calf down for some nourishment; we still held on to the rope around its neck but let its legs free. After allowing the calf a good drink we tried to get it on board the wagon again. That proved impossible as every time we attempted to leave our perch we were fiercely attacked by our four-footed friend. This situation could not go on indefinitely as we were wasting precious time and should be on our way.

After a good deal of arguing among ourselves, we decided the case was hopeless and let the calf loose. The cow and calf trotted off back home to the rancher and we were poorer by $35 but gained valuable experience. I need hardly add we had bought an old range cow, which had never been handled by human beings and definitely objected to our attempts to tame her.

* * *

After this rather costly episode we continued on our trip. We were getting into very wild country now, no farms were to be seen at all and a few Indians made their appearance from time to time. They were very interested in these new white people and anxious to sell us saddle ponies at high prices. They begged tobacco and offered nothing in return so we did not have much business dealings with them. They roamed all over the prairies, camping anywhere there was water and timber and living off the wild chickens and ducks which were getting more plentiful as we left the inhabited areas behind.

About 50 miles from Battleford we came to an isolated farm which we found belonged to an Old North West Mounted Policeman by the name of Pete Painter. Mr. Painter had fought in the Riel Rebellion and was peaceably retired and busy on his farm.

We stopped with him one day and purchased potatoes, eggs and milk and a few hens to take along to our own land. I think nearly every settler stayed at this farm some time or other, and I would like to say that Mr. Painter treated us all very well and gave us much advice to help us over the rough spots.

I met Mr. Painter up in the settlement 30 years afterwards. He was then an old man, but he remembered many of the funny incidents that happened in those early days.

After leaving Painter’s farm, we began to meet some of the settlers who had already been up to the land Mr. Barr had chosen for our colony. They were coming back and the tales of woe they told about that country were terrible. They said the whole place had been burned off, not a blade of grass was left, and if we went on we would all starve. They were on their way back to Saskatoon and England. This was cheerful news indeed. It made us stop and consider what was best to do. However, we were only about 50 miles from our destination and things did not look too bad to us, so we decided we would continue on our way, a little further at any rate, and see for ourselves what the place, we were destined to make our home, looked like.

I might mention here that wives and children of settlers had a pretty rough time since leaving Saskatoon and it was probably no wonder some of them lost heart. There were no comforts at all and all these people had only recently left good homes in England, so this was something totally different from what they had expected to find, and so some began to lose heart and became panicky. Mothers could get no milk for their babies and often were without many of the necessities. Travelling in prairie schooners is not the most comfortable mode of travel, so it was no wonder some got downhearted.

It seemed an endless journey to us, day after day, over miles and miles of rolling prairie, not knowing what was really going to happen to us when we eventually arrived at our destination. We knew we would have to build some kind of house, and stab1es for our horses, but we hadn’t really given it much thought as yet. The country was all new to us and we were interested in owning our own land and making homes for ourselves and families some day. I think had many of us known what was in store for us the next few years, more would have turned back before it was too late.

However, the four of us, all young men, were determined to see what lay ahead and so we plodded on. Soon we began to see signs of blackened prairie ahead of us, some of the earlier travellers to the Colony had evidently started a prairie fire while cooking their meals by the roadside. It was very easy to do this as we afterwards found. Prairie grass is very dry and thick before "greening up" in the spring, and many fires were started by dropping lighted matches and cigarettes before we learned to be more careful. Many settlers were burnt out of their homes before fireguards were made by ploughing the prairie sod around the buildings.

All around us and ahead we found nothing but blackened ground when the fire had swept over some days before and not a green blade of grass could be seen for miles. This was a serious problem for our horses and oxen as we depended on the prairie grass for feed. However we soon found that by taking our stock close to a slough they could find enough new grass growing up out of the water. Our horses lived on this grass for about a month until the "prairie wool" started to grow up again.

In about another day’s travel we arrived at our destination, the headquarters of the colony. This site was located just about one mi1e north of the present town of Lloydminster, situated on the 4th Meridian which now separates the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta, but known then as the North West Territories.

Here we found a number of old friends we had met on board ship and also at Saskatoon. There seemed about four or five hundred settlers all camped around in tents, waiting for provisions which were supposed to be on the way from Saskatoon for our Co—op store. Mr. Barr was here too and nearly worried to death, answering the many questions put to him by enraged settlers, trying his best to know where all the fresh meat was that Mr. Barr promised us. He answered this by taking an axe and deliberately knocking down one of his own oxen, crying out "There’s fresh meat for you all now, help yourselves." Soon butchers got to work and before long the animal was carved up and roasted over open fires and we all had a good meal.

Many of the settlers were anxious to get on their allotted land and we had been promised a land guide by the government to help us get located. After some days, this man arrived and was soon busy taking people out to see their new homes. Many, on seeing these so—called farms in their wild state, decided they had experienced enough hardships and turned back, eventually returning to Saskatoon. Some settled down there close to the railroad and others returned home to England.

Our party decided we would remain here and see what happened. We were not overburdened with capital so we could not see much use trying another locality. None of us had wives or families dependent upon us, so we figured we could take care of ourselves, come what may.

Some mail from England began to arrive for the settlers by stage coach, or perhaps I should say "wagons". Mail bags arrived filled with letters, parcels and papers from home, and as we had no post office building at that time, the bags were simply dumped out in a tent and we sorted over the pile hoping to find letters for us. Everyone was expecting mail from home, so there was generally a crowd around the tent trying to get the numerous bags sorted out.

Some stores arrived from Saskatoon during the first week we were in camp so we were able to replenish our nearly exhausted stock and make preparations for going to our new homesteads. We had purchased five bags of flour at Saskatoon before we left so were well supplied with that necessity.

In a day or two we got hold of the government land guide and started out with our loaded wagon to see our land, which was about 12 miles south-east of our colony headquarters. The land guide had his own team and buckboard so we did not have to carry any extra load.

In the afternoon we arrived at our destination and our new friend located the survey corner posts which were marked by four holes about two feet square with an iron rod in the middle. These rods are placed at the four corners of a 640 acre section of land. The section is divided into four, giving us 160 acres each.

Our guide was a busy man those days so had to push off again to assist others locating their farms. He said goodbye and good luck, and there we four were, 12 miles from headquarters and not a tent or person within many miles. It surely was a lonely outlook. However, we soon had our tent up and wagon unloaded. We made a fire and got a much-needed meal as we were all hungry by this time.

Our horses had stood the journey from Saskatoon pretty well. They had lost some flesh, not having enough oats for feed and simply fed on the grass that was then shooting up. We had brought along a walking plough from Saskatoon and someone had told us how to build a sod house, so we decided on the ‘morrow to begin building operations. We had to get some sort of habitation built at once to protect ourselves and our belongings from the elements.

Building a sod house may sound easy but we experienced all kinds of difficulties. In the end we mastered most of them and eventually had a cover over our heads, but it would take a lot of imagination to call it a house. We ploughed long strips of sod four inches thick and cut them into two foot lengths, transporting them on a stone boat made out of fire-kill or small trees which grew in the numerous nearby bluffs.

Our house was 16 feet x 12 feet. We simply placed one row of sods around the space marked out and built up the walls until they were eight feet high. We had no windows to start with as glass was not obtainable, but a door we had to have, which we built out of split dry poles and covered it with a spare blanket. The roof was made of small poplar poles laid close together. The roof was shaped to shed the rain and we put layers of sods on top of the poles to keep out the elements. We soon found that we had many leaks in the roof which were plugged up with more sods.

Our house was now complete. As far as a covering went it kept out most of the weather and was warmer at nights than the outdoors. We had a small camp stove and oven which were soon installed, putting the pipe through the sod roof. We moved all our belongings into our new domicile and for beds built rough bunks out of poplar poles with small branches for a mattress. We had slept on the ground in our tent so long that to have bed of any kind was a luxury.

I must mention the mosquitoes which had come to add to our discomfort. The warm spring sun had hatched them in the sloughs and they seemed to like our fresh Irish blood. None of us had suffered from these pests before and did not take kindly to a new enemy.

The horses too came in for their share and we soon had to build smudges and keep them alight all night with dry branches mixed with sods and horse manure gathered round about. The smoke kept the flies away fairly well, but one had to sit almost over the smudges to get any benefit.

I remember one afternoon we were busy working on our house when we heard some one shouting, about a quarter of a mile away. We stopped our labors and went to see who the person was and what he wanted.

On top of a small hill was a man waving his hands in the air. We headed toward him to see what was wrong and found one of the settlers nearly going mad from mosquito bites. He had become lost while looking for his partner and had slept out in the open the night before without any camp fire or covering.

The mosquitoes had given him an awful licking; his eyes were swollen and practically closed until he could not see where he was going. Being nearly blind and thinking he would die on the prairie before being found, he became thoroughly frightened. We took him to our camp, bathed his eye and, after a good meal, he felt better and became rational again.

He had had a pretty close call and was thankful that he was not to die after all. Next day we took him over in our wagon to his home about three and a half miles away. His partner had been out hunting all day but had searched in the wrong direction.

When our house was finished we started a stable for the horses and built it in much the same way as our house, although much larger and stronger. This building took a long time to complete as it was slow work but eventually we got the stable completed and ready to house our horses.

One day a band of Indians came by our place, travelling west along an old Indian road. There were about five wagons drawn by Indian ponies. The men had their wives and children with them, as well as some ponies they were driving along the caravan, and a number of dogs.

They stopped close to where we were located and came over to beg tobacco. I asked one old man to sell me his dog which was part collie and part something else, I don’t know what. He asked me $2 for the animal, so I decided to make a deal. When I paid over the money, he pulled a whisker out of the dog’s nose and placed it in my boot, telling me to keep him tied up for an hour till they had gone out of sight and then I could turn him loose and he would stay with me.

I tied the animal up as directed. After the Indians had disappeared from sight I let the dog loose to see what he would do. He sniffed around for a minute and then made off helter skelter in a bee line after his master. That was the last I saw of my dog and the $2.

It was soon time to think of ploughing some of the virgin soil, both for a garden and crop next year. We had only two horses for this work and soon found it was more than they could handle except for short stretches. We did get a garden plot ploughed up on the site where we had taken off the sods for our house and barn, working the undersoil with our disc harrow to form a seedbed. We had brought along vegetable seeds so proceeded to plant them in long rows. Getting an abundance of rain, the seeds soon appeared and looked promising, but alas we were "green Englishmen" and did not realize we had removed the best part of the garden in the sods. The plants died off or turned yellow, so we lost all our seeds that first year.

We made frequent trips to the headquarters of the colony to get provisions which, by this time, were coming in from Saskatoon by freighters. Sometimes we got what we required, but many times had to return with anything in the way of eatables that we could find.

During the late summer we lost one of our horses. We had four sacks of flour stored in the stable. The horses were not using it at the time as we had no box yet and had to keep them tethered out on the prairie.

One morning we saw to our amazement one of the team lying on his back near the slough. It had broken into the stable to get away from the flies, and had eaten one of our sacks of flour going down to the slough later for a drink. He was lying bloated and stone dead with all four feet pointing to the skies as stiff as a ramrod.

This was a sad and expensive loss to us as horses were hard to get now and we were faced with the expense of buying another animal. We managed to buy an old mare, which turned out to be broken-winded, and not any good for the work we had to do.

My capital was running pretty low by this time and as I could not pay my share for the coming winter’s grub-stake I thought I had better look for a job to keep from starving. We did not all need to stay on our homesteads, as there was not much we could do during the winter months. We had been told previously that we were to have a farm instructor who was a practical eastern farmer, located with the colony. He would show us how things should be done and help us any way he could. I think each settler was supposed to pay him $10 a year for his services.

This plan did not work out, for one reason or another, although the man had sold out his farm in the East and had brought his wife and family up to the colony, together with a good bunch of cattle and household goods. He had located a homestead for himself about five miles from our place and was busy erecting a house for the winter. He required a man to put hay for his cattle, so I applied for the job. I received $30 per month and board. Eventually I was asked to stay on the farm for the winter and take charge of the horses and cattle.

continued in Part II