HISTORICAL SOCIETY T:HE LETHBRIDGE CHAPTER Of the Historical Society of

• .^%i* r-ij^* ^*^^ P.O. BOX 974 LETHBRIDGE. ALBERTA. TIJ 4A2

©O0DvnQhl1996 Number 1 NEWSLETTER ISSN 0838-7249 ^ January 1996 Membership in the Historical Society of Alberta, including a subscription to the quarterly ALBERTA HISTORY: $25.00 per year single $30.CX) a couple or family. Those members residirig from Nanton south are also registered with the Lethbridge Historical Society and receive newsletters and notices. (Your mailing label expiratbn date will be highlighted when it is time to renew.) Please send your dues to the treasurer. LETHBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFICERS President Wm. (Bill) (Jaunita) Lingard Past President George F. (Josephine) Kush Vice-President Carlton R. (Barbara) Stewart Secretary/Newsletter Editor Irma (Jake) Dogterom Treasurer David J. (Gerry) Dowey Council Member (1996) Douglas J. (Claudia) Card Council Member (1996) Gordon (Rose) Toiton Council Member (1997) Greg (Maria) Ellis Council Member (1997) Richard Shockley (Leslie) Council Member (1998) Jayne (Keith) Mauthe Council Member (1998) Robert (Emerice) Shore Regular meetings are held in the Theatre Gallery of the Lethbridge Public Library at 7:15 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the month.

Greetings! May 1996 bring you happiness and Officers for die year are listed above. The annual financial report prosperity. finds the Society in good shape. Two notices of motion had been made for the expenditure of funds: one for the republishing Meetings & Notices of Boats and Barges on the Belly, an early publication, the other for a donation of funds to the City of Lethbridge Archives for There was a misprint in the heading of our November issue. The equipment. Both were passed. Dcmations made in 1995 included subscription rates printed in November were incorrect, as they did an amount of $3000.00 for tiie Senator Buchanan room of tiie not reflect the increase passed at the 1995 annual general meeting Lethbridge Public Library. The following report was received of the Historical Society of Alberta. The rates above are correct. from George Hall, Assistant Chief Librarian. *************** "Re: UPDATE ON FURNISHING THE The next regular meeting of the LHS will be held on SENATOR BUCHANAN ROOM January 23 at the Letiibridge Public Library. The speaker will On behalf of tiie Letiibridge Public Library Board, I would like to be Albert Alsop, a local veteran of World War II. tiiank the Lethbridge Historical Society for die generous, and Our newest publication "Boats and Barges on the BeUy", much appreciated, donation of $3,000 to fumish die Senator is now off the press, and will be available for purchase at this Buchanan Room in honor of Alex Johnston. meeting. "For King and Country" a publication of Reidmore Progress has been made on this project over the last six months Books, will be also be for sale at a greatiy reduced price ($10.00 and the library will be in a position over the next several months to members and $ 11 .(X) for non-members). to complete the project. I have been able to hire a new The February 27th meeting will have Greg Ellis showing views Maintenance Supervisor, Rick Poulin, in September. Rick has of early Lethbridge from photographs taken by Arthur Rafton an extensive background in the field of carpentry. Rick will be Canning and the British Colonial Photographic Co. able to take over the detail of the project, i.e. furniture design, floor layout, evaluating vendor proposals, and perhaps constructing the fumiture in-house. Spring Tour: The tour destination for 1996 has not yet been Summary of activity: set. Where would you like to go and what would you like to see? Contact Gordon Toiton at 345-2624 with your suggestions. Purchased two used map file cabinets for storage of large format documents from the Oldman Regional Plaiming Commission - total cost $600. The annual meeting of the Lethbridge Historical Society was Received proposals from one local vendor (Cypress Business held in die Royal Canadian Legion on November 30, 1995. Equipment) in order to get a feel for what's available commercially and at what cost, it was found that tables The Expansion of the Methodist Church in would be very expensive; chairs are more reasonable. by Stephen Wilk Provided information to a local cabinet maker, however, have The following article with footnotes was one of two published received no response. in the Historic Sites and Archives Journal of the United Church of . The text is reprinted here by permission. Set up a woodworking shop in the back of Chinook Arch Library headquarters at 2902 - 7th Avenue North. Many I: The establishment of Methodism in Soutiiem Alberta hours were spent cleaning up in order to provide an was part of die total Christian movement in tiie west as the new appropriate shop space. frontier was opening up to investment, exploration and the enterprise of eastem Canadian and European interests. Generally For the past month, Rick Poulin has been searching for a speaking, the missionaries followed in the wake of the Hudson's used table saw to purchase (used table saws are rather rare). Bay Company which had absorbed its chief rival, tiie Northwest Rick and myself have sat down with Linda McEhravy (Adult Fur Company, in 1821. They were sent out from Britain as Services) to plan out the needs of the Sen. Buchanan Room. chaplains serving primarily the company's outposts and gradually ministering to the natives. For instance, the Anglican, Rev. I hope that this information has been useful. Once the workshop John West, arrived in the Red River settiement and held his first is in working order, we can start on the 40 plus projects in the services in 1820. His ministty not only provided a chaplaincy to backlog. I hope that by Spring the project can be completed." the whites, but he also began to teach the local native children. It was in the interest of the Hudson's Bay company to help finance the Anglican and Roman Catholic missionaries in the Marie & Jacob Van Haarlem (Selected for die Gait Northwest Museum's Family Gallery in 1996), In southem Alberta, Archdeacon Tims was the first to This article was written by Wim Vonkeman, based on the minister to the Blackfoot bands and is considered the father of nomination he submitted to the Sir Alexander Gait Museum. Please Anglicanism in Alberta. The Roman Catiiolics were the second contact him at 732-4067 if you have historic information regarding the vanHaarlems and/or their hospital. church to minister to the area and were best represented by Father Albert Lacombe who founded the St. Albert Mission just north The first Dutch settiements, in what a few years later of Edmonton in 1852. By 1897, tiie church had established ai became the Province of Alberta, took place in the industrial school at the confluence of the Bow and Highwood Monarch/Granum area. Among these settiers were Jacob and Rivers in southem Alberta. Marie VanHaarlem (nee Reyse). and their children Ralph and John. Methodism first appeared in southem Alberta in the perscm of Robert Terrill Rundle who was sent out from England by the They came from Amsterdam and though they were not really Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society early in 1840 and farmers, in June 1906 they homesteaded near Keho Lake. Soon arrived at Fort Edmonton in October. His missionary work took diey found that farming was not their best option. In 1909, him from Fort Edmonton to Rocky Mountain House and as far Marie moved to Lethbridge with her children, to start private soudi as the Banff corridor and the Piocher Creek area in the musing. Their house on ninth street became the first Crow's Nest Pass ministering to both and Stonies. He "VanHaarlem Hospital". Later they moved it to sixtii and finally was part of the missionary contingent which included James to sevendi avenue. By 1929 it had been enlarged to a 29 patient Evans, William Mason, George Bamley and the native peacte hospital, and was 'bought out' by die Sisters of St. Martha. The Peter Jacobs. In 1854, the Canadian Wesleyan Methodist Church sisters renamed it St Michael Hospital, and used it until they assumed jurisdiction over the British Wesleyan operations had built die first wing of tiie present St. Michael's". They sold throughout the Northwest and appointed Henry Bird Steioliauer the seventh avenue building, which today still exists as a as missionary to the northem in 1855. He joined Thomas boarding house. In the twenty years of its existence, the Woolsey, Benjamin Sinclair and Peter Erasmus in laying a solid VanHaarlem hospital had evolved from a maternity to a general foundation for future Methodist work in the region. hospital. However, since during this period 2,000 babies were dehvered, many families still refer to it as a maternity hospital. The most important Methodist missionaries, however, were George McDougall and his son John who came to Alberta in the When Marie left Holland, she was trained in midwifery but early 1860's. Arriving at Norway House in Manitoba in 1862. had not finished her nurse's training. However, here she became they moved to the Victoria Mission about 40 miles northeast of highly regarded, especially by Lethbridge's first doctor Frank Fort Edmonton the following summer. From there, they began Mewbum. He was her "devoted faitiiful friend and she his ever to rebuild the mission at Pigeon Lake where the Rundle Mission ready and trusty nurse", and for her great contribution to nursing now stands as one of the landmarks of Methodism in westem in Southem Alberta, the Nursing Association bestowed on her Canada. It is located approximately 60 miles southwest of the gift of Honorary Registered Nurse, and a nurse she stayed! Edmonton on the north shore of Pigeon Lake and is marked by a At tiie age of about 60 she became Lethbridge's School nurse and log stracture and a historic plaque honouring the site of the 1847 served in this function until her retirement in December 1944 at mission opened by Rundle and his native assistant. Benjamia the age of 74 (!); a few weeks before her husband passed away on Sinclair. There they attempted to teach agricultural practices to January 25. 1945 at the age of 78. A few weeks later, on the Crees and the mountain Stonies. Parts of the ruins of the February 8. Marie followed him. Both are buried in Letiibridge. early buildings can still be seen. Henry Steinhauer and Thomas Woolsey occupied the mission briefly and John McDougall Although it carried his name, not much is known about finished, re-opening it in 1865. Jacob's share in the development of the hospital. However. Joanne Postman (nee Reyse) a niece of Marie VanHaarlem, called George McDougall and his family moved from Victoria him "a faithful helper and administrator; and. being a carpenter, Mission to settie at Edmonton in 1871, but soon moved to essential in the expansions and ongoing maintenance. establish the Morleyville Mission in southem Alberta. Their first cabin was built at tiie junction of the Ghost and Bow Rivers Before this happened, however, the Methodist chiuch, led by and it became the first Methodist parsonage in the district. The the McDougalls, had a strong influence in bringing law andorder first local Methodist church was built three miles north of to southem Alberta and were particularly influential in quelling Morleyville and it housed the first Metiiodist Church service in the whisky trade tiiat had had such a debilitating influence on the soudiem Alberta on May 7, 1976. While the Metiiodist church native bands. The McDougalls witnessed first hand tiie pervasive was developing its missions to the natives in Alberta, the influence of the whisky traders in soutiiem Alberta, and. in 1869. Presbyterian church concentrated its early work in Saskatchewan John sent a petition to the new Govemor of the Northwest and ^d not really enter the district until the period of white Territories asking tiiat liquor be kept out of the area. Altiiough settiement the Hudson's Bay Company had abandoned the practice, flie Free Traders, mostiy from tiie United States, continued to debauch die With roots in John Wesley's desire to educate the general natives to get their furs. McDougall claimed that the whole population, the Methodists in Westem Canada were passionately native half-breed population, as well as most of the whites in the committed to providing schools for the region. Robert Rimdle, northem area, had signed tiie petition. In defiance of the ensuing throughout his missionary travels, attempted to teach the bands legislation by govemor, the whisky traders established a series of tiie Cree SyUabics so tiiat they could understand tiie Metiiodist forts near tiie American border to continue to trade liquor for furs. hymns and prayers. After establishing the Morleyville Mission The result was continued disorder and death. The situation grew school, John McDougall followed the common Methodist so critical that in 1871 a petition, backed by tiie Metiiodist practice and hired a teacher. Dr. Verey, who taught during the winter of 1874-75. He was succeeded the following year by missionaries, was sent to Ottawa asking for regulation df Andrew Sibbald. By 1883, the mission had a school, an hunting and the establishment of a military post on the Bow orphanage and a training farm known as the Morley Industrial River to protect the natives. The Methodists then looked fcxward Institute. However, by 1893 die principal educational work in to tiie arrival of tiie North West Mounted Police to help protect the region had shifted to the Red Deer Industrial Institute their parishioners. Hence, the Methodists played a significant originally opened in 1891. This school remained in operation role in improving the living conditions of the region. The only until 1918 and its property was sold the following year to Methodists later also played an important part in preventing the the federal government. Beginning in 1920, Josepb F. spread of unrest among the local bands during the Northwest Woodsworth, a son of the former Superintendent of Westem Rebellion. Missions for the Methodist Church, organized a new school on II: By the early 1870's, the Methodist missions were the Winterbum Reserve near Edmonton, and it finally opened in becoming increasingly involved with evangelizing the new 1923. This school was too far away from Morley for its children settiers in the Northwest. From 1869, when the Hudson's Bay to attend. Altiiough tiie Metiiodist Church attempted to educate Company ended its administrative control of the whole region, and assimilate the native population into the dominant white the church had to arrange for its own supplies and support, and culture, it met with only limited success. thus missionaries generally travelled through Winnipeg on their way to their frontier missions. With their significant knowledge According to Robert Rundle, Methodism in the region was of southem Alberta, the missionaries were in a good position to faced with a hostile Roman Catholicism during the early days of deal with the settiers who began to arrive to take advantage of the settiement The Catholic missionaries constantiy attempted to land grants under the Dominion Land Act of 1872. Settiement take over the Methodist native converts, claiming that "neither usually began with squatters, then large-scale ranchers and the Gov. nor Queen had any right to send Miss, here, the power eventually by settiers who had received 160 acres of land to farm. belonged to the Pope." In southem Alberta. John McDougall suggested the This was but one example of the antipathy of Father organization of a typical methodist circuit with appointments at Thibault when he maintained that "all the Metis and Indians witii Morley, Calgary and Fort Macleod, but this proposal was not whom I have met have abandoned the Methodist minister to accepted and Morley continued as a mission although the three embrace tmth." sites were administered by a district conference. Methodist However, the McDougalls were effective bringing peace to circuits were first estabhshed at Fort Macleod in 1878, Calgary, the warring Blackfoot, Crees, Sarcees, and Stonies. John 1882, Medicine Hat. 1883, High River, 1885. Red Deer, 1887 McDougall, acting as a commissioner for the Canadian and Carstairs in 1901. These dates coincide generally with the govemment as well as a representative of the Metiiodist Church influx of significant ranching operations moving north from die and Hudson's Bay Company, was also able to maintain peaceful United States border to the Red Deer area. Although the relations between the native and white populations when he met Dominion Land Act of 1872 offered favoiurable terms to settiers, tiie natives at the Hand Hills over tiie desperate winter of 1871. real growth in the area did not occur until the arrival of the Later, he acted as an agent for both the Stoney and Blackfoot during the middle of the 1880's. Soon tribes, and in 1877, was the second to sign Treaty Number Seven after the arrival of tiie C.P.R. in Calgary. Gleichen just east of at Blackfoot Crossing, about 60 miles east of Calgary. This the city was organized as another circuit. The church attempted treaty covered "The as well as die to serve tiie ranchers and railway men at the same time. Services Mountain . or Stonies. and such fragments of tribes were held in the section houses along the railway right of way as occupied the country between the Red Deer River and the U. and in the ranch houses in the district. The completion of the S. border." This treaty marked the peaceful settiement of the railway to Fort Macleod in 1892 proved vital for serving that tribes of the soudiem Alberta plains on reserves and gave control area. By 1888. High River had reported Metiiodist membership, of the region to the Canadian government. Along with the other but Pine Creek being the larger of the two points became the white peace-makers, John McDougall made it possible for the head of circuit for a time. The further influx of settiers in the flow of settiers into tiiis new land witiiout fear of war. Witii die High River-Okotoks area led to the creation of a High River arrival of the white settiers, tiie Methodist church gradually circuit in 1902 and it was soon divided into two circuits. Other shifted its emphasis from native to "European" missions. prairie circuits appeared after the tum of the century, first close to nul way lines, then farther back as farmers located on their quarter brick building on Sixth Avenue at Second Street, which sections. accommodated 450, appeared in 1899 and in February, 1905, a larger sandstone building opened for worship. James Woodsworth described the conditions in Alberta. Letiibridge, on the eastem side of the Fort Macleod circuit, "In the summer of 1889 Rev. John McDougall and the writer made a tour among the missions, Indian and white, north developed slowly as a Methodist centre. During tiie 1880's, Rev. of Calgary. At that time there was no railway north of Calgary J. W. Bridgeman opened services in the town, John Maclean in the territory of Alberta. The round trip involved 800 miles of visited occasionally and Alfred Andrews lived in tiie community travel. We drove over hundreds of miles of prairie without a in 1886. Although opening a small church in 1887 on land sign of habitation, sleeping in the open when night overtook donated by the British Coal company headed by William us. There was one small settlement between Calgary and Lethbridge, basically, the Metiiodists left die area for die Edmonton. This was at the crossing of the Red Deer River, Presbyterians to develop. Rev. Charles McKillop of the where Rev. Leo Gaetz and a few others were making a Presbyterian Church provided strong local leadership for the commencement in what was literally a great lone land, a hundred growing coal-mining community and the town that developed to miles from the railway, and an equal distance from Edmonton." service the industry. There was no noticeable increase in The Methodist church at that time had only two domestic methodist membership imtil die constraction of tiie Crows Nest missions in Alberta north of Calgary - Red Deer and Edmonton Pass Railway. Over die following decade, with the influx of with a combined membership of 45. Nevertheless, the church settiers, Wesley Church became self-supporting, and a attempted to introduce the practice of holding missionary companion mission known as Lethbridge Second Methodist meetings to raise subscriptions to advance the work. Although Church was opened. initially small, the habit of giving would ensure that much larger The Medicine Hat circuit began when, in 1883, J.W. sums would be donated. During the 1880's, tiie major Metiiodist Bridgeman visited the tent city erected tiiere. He shovelled tiie developments occuixedin the prairie districts, while during the debris out of the partially completed railway station on Saturday I890's the parkland was evangelized as settiement expanded tiiere. evening in order to hold services the following day and During the early twentieth century, the church consolidated its immediately organized an official board and Board of Stewards to hold on these sections and opened missions in the mountain look after the organization of class meetings and the purchase of regions as mining and tourism opened them up. property. Following tiie railway, Bridgeman organized a circuit A brief look at the establishment of the individtial Methodist from Stair to Dunmore and reached out to Letiibridge in 1885. missions and circuits in the district will help clarify the church's After 1892, tiie Medicine Hat circuit flourished and became self- history. Rev. Leonard Gaetz, who had served several large supporting in 1890. In the same year, it opened the brick cl%rches in Ontario, moved to the Red Deer area as a farmer and Century Methodist Church to replace the original small white fur trader partially to help restore his healtii. However, he frame church. The name Century was selected because the cdatinued as a local preacher to provide church services in the church was built at the tum of tiie century. atfa from Calgary to Edmonton and was assisted by student ministers including W.A. Vrooman in 1887. Originally, services were held in private homes, at the fort, and later in the Donna Livingstone^ our speaker at the annual meeting, has local school. In 1891, Gaetz oversaw the constmction of the kindly sent me a copy of a new Glenbow PubHcation, called first church in Red Deer and tiien retumed to the ministry in "Remember Me As You Pass By". The author Nancy Manitoba. The church built near tiie river on First Street North Millar visited over 250 graveyards and has researched scrae of the was dedicated by Rev. George Dean and served by student fascinating stories that lie behind the headstones. 172p in ministers for several years. Some years later, it was sold and lengtii, tiie books sells for $14.95 plus GST and $3.00 S&H transformed into a grist mill. and can be ordered from die Glenbow Museum Shop, 130-9th Ave. S.E. Calgary. AB T2G 0P3 In the country soutii of Red Deer, Iimisfail soon developed a Methodist congregation. In 1893, a supply was arranged, and die "Water Works Wonders" The history of tiie Wilson, White, following year Charles L. Sing was stationed there. When he McMahon, and River Junction Schools is now off the press. I departed in 1896, he left a growing congregation and a new brick understand all the books from the first printing have been sold. church. In the same year. Olds was separated off as a distinct The book covers the McNally School area, from the tum of the circuit, and in 1901 Bowden had also developed to the point century until McNally School opened in 1947. It is hoped that where it could stand alone. Between 1903 and 1905, Red Deer die next generation will pick up pencil, pen and computer mouse East, Coal Banks, Medicine River and Eagle Hill all became and follow this publication with the history of McNally School circuits and the Methodist church consolidated its hold in the area from 1947 to die present day. area. In 1903, Red Deer District was organized to provide greater *************** local supervision. Did you know? The development of Methodism in Calgary began as an outpost of the Morley Mission and served by the McDougalls. For those of you who are planning on purchasing new They held services in die I.G. Baker Company store. This firm, linoleum, here is a recipe for making your own, published in tiie which imported goods from , closed every Sunday to Drumheller weekly p^)er recentiy. allow die church services. Soon, logs were floated down the Bow River from Morley to constract the first church building. "First, pad floor with papers; then tack burlap firmly to A new frame building opened in 1883, east of die Elbow River. floor. Make a homemade glue with flour, water, cmdpowdered As the town shifted westward in 1884, the church was also alum. The first coat applied is quite thin. The next two coats moved. Witii the expansion of the Methodist population caused are quite a bit heavier. When the last coat is thoroughly dry, put by the arrival of the railway, a larger frame building was erected on two coats of the desired colour of paint. It can then be on the comer of Seventh Avenue and First Street east. A new finished with a design using a sponge." LETHBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY THE LETHSRIDGE CHAPTER Of the Historical Society of Alberta

- •^y* ir2l^f» t^^j. P.O. BOX 974 LETHBRIDGE. ALBERTA. TIJ 4A2

€)Coovriaht1996 Nutnber 2 NEWSLETTER ISSN 0838-7249 March 1996 Membership in the Historical Society of Alberta is $25.00 per year single or $30.00 a couple or family. It includes a subscription to the quarterly ALBERTA HISTORY, and members residing from Nanton south are also registered with the Lethbridge Historical Society and receive newsletters and notices. (Your mailing label expiration date will be highlighted when it is time to renew) Please send dues to the treasurer. LETHBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFICERS President Wm. (Bill) (Jaunita) Lingard Past President George F. (Josephine) Kush Vice-President Carlton R. (Barbara) Stewart Secretary/Newsletter Editor Irma (Jake) Dogterom Treasurer David J. (Gerry) Dowey Council Member (1996) Douglas J. (Claudia) Card Council Member (1996) Gordon (Rose) Toiton Council Member (1997) Greg (Maria) Ellis Council Member (1997) Richard Shockley (Leslie) Council Member (1998) Jayne (Keith) Mauthe Council Member (1998) Robert (Emerice) Shore

Regular meetings are held in the Theatre Gallery of the Lethbridge Public Library at 7:15 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the month. ~| Notices the edge of town, where bull-trains from Fort Benton made tiieir turns, in what is now called Gait Park. For many citizens of Note change of location for March meeting; Letiibridge, the chance to watch a game was a social opportunity they wouldn't miss." The next regular meeting of tiie Lethbridge Historical Society Mr. Hoyland has gathered considerable detail on what teams will be held March 26 in the Theatre Gallery of Fort played where in our early days. The book is available from tiie Whoop-Up. The program for the evening will have Marcel publisher. Dirk of Medicine Hat, speaking on the book 'Old Timer Tells', the pioneer memoirs of Wm. Cousins of Medicine Hat. "Water Works Wonders", a history book of four schools in the Lethbridge area, (Wilson, White, McMahon, and The April 23 meeting of the LHS will have Major Chris River Junction), is going to have additional copes printed. The Kilford of tiie IStii Air Defence Regiment RCA talking about second edition will be a soft cover, selling at a reduced price. his book 'Lethbridge at War', with a demonstration by the All orders must be prepaid. Send orders to 'Wilson White, regiment McMahon Hist Bk.' c/o ~ B. Bond, 10 Laval Court, Lethbridge, AB TIK4L1. (381-0864) Spring tour" A hip to tiie Bar U Ranch is scheduled for Saturday, June 15th. See enclosed insert for more information or call Gordon Toiton at 345-2624. Early registration would be appreciated in order to finalize all arrangements. The Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame

4:*:|:»4:«:4!4:4c A "Hall of Fame" is usually thought of as a building. A place where memorabilia of athletes with a common interest is New Books: housed. The Lethbridge 'Sports Hall of Fame' has no memorabilia and no permanent location. A Century of Soccer in Southern Alberta, by Michael Hoyland, cl9%. Pub. by MicA Publishing, 14 Sunburst Cres. Conceived in 1985, the Sports Hall of Fame was established S.E. Calgary, AB. T2X 1T6 as a way to recognize "outstanding achievement in sports", by 1 individual athletes, teams, or sport builders. There are no paid The first known soccer game, or football as it was called, was positions in its administration. As in most areas of sport, it in 1880 at Lethbridge, although the game may have anived witii requires dedicated volunteers to carry out its mandate. The 1996 the North West Mounted Police six years earlier in 1874 when induction ceremony will take place April 26, at the El Rancho they came to put an end to Fort Whoop-Up's whiskey trade. Convention Centre. Tickets can be purchased at flie Sportsplex. There are eariy newspapCT reports of soccer games being played at The Beginning of the Lethbridge Sports Hall to begin with, the Letiibridge Sports Hall of Fame would take of Fame, by Dr. Gary Bowie. {Dr. Bowie of the University of tiie form of a portable exhibit which would display photographs Lethbridge, has always been interested in the history of sports and and biograpMcal information of athletes, teams, and sport recreation in Lethbridge and has recorded some of our past history in builders. The exhibition has been displayed annually at different documents to be found in the City of Lethbridge Archives.) locations. Through this process it was hop^ that the circulation would provide proper recognition for past accomplishments in Sport has always been an important part of the social sports and provide incentives for others to become involved in history of Lethbridge. Even when eariy citizens were engaged in healthy sports competitions. Through this process there has the task of creating a new life, there were some who found time for sports. As the community developed through the years, sport been a positive recognition of inductees. became apart of the cultural life of Lethbridge, therefore it was During the eleven years the Sports Hall of Fame has been in namral tiiat when the City of Lethbridge was planning for its operation there have l^en sixty-seven (67) individual athletes; centennial year a sports hall of fame was suggested. sixty (60) builders; and twenty-seven (27) teams honored. One other categOTy that has developed is; special awards which honor The Letiibridge Centennial Committee was set up with a those who have sponsored athletes, sports teams and builders diverse group of people. As a member of the committee, I, Gary Bowie was given the responsibility to investigate how sport over the years. might be a part of the centennial year celebration. A meeting From the beginning the Board put into place a rotation was held at the Lethbridge Collegiate Institute for the purpose of process which provided for new members moving on to the brainstorming possible sport centennial projects, with Mai Board and older members moving off the Board. It has been a Qewes, Keith Robin and myself La attendance. healtiiy situation getting more and more people involved. There were a number of ideas discussed, however, three came The Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame has become an to the forefront The possible projects were: (1) Sports Hall of important social institution developed as a Lethbridge Centennial Fame; (2) An old fashioned sports day in Gait Gardens, (known Project It has brought the community together to celebrate and as "The Square' in the 19th century); and (3), a picnic based on honor citizens of Lethbridge who have excelled, providing a the days of the 19th century. positive example for us all. As time progressed the sports hall of fame concept became the front runner. Mel Clewes took the lead on this project and when we had a rough outiine developed it was t^en to the In 1985, Lethbridge's Centennial Year, the foUowing sports Letiibridge Centennial Committee. The committee liked the idea figures were recognized as having contributed to Lethbridge's and gave their blessing to move ahead with it. With this Sports History: approval die committee of three added additional members. The basic concepts were presented to the larger group and well Athletes: Glen "Jinx" Anderson; Robert "Scotty" Armitt; received. Harry Blacker; Jim Furlong; Earl Ingarfield; Enid Dowdle Pepper; Marie Popson; Tom Sindlinger; Vic Stasiuk; Logan The purpose of tiie Sports Hall of Fame was to recognize Tait; Katie Wilson; and Kai Yip. outstanding achievement in sports throughout Lethbridge's Sport Builders: Tony Bogusky; Stan Carmichael; A.G. history. It was decided in the beginning to recognize individual "Addie" Donaldson; George Gemer;' Syd Hall; Yvonne "Sonja" athletes, teams, and sport builders in separate categories. Further it was determined that the hall of fame would identify and honor Jacobson; Frank Miles; Steve Pedersen; Yoshio Senda; Carl aU those who have excelled in sports at some time since the Trentini; Edmond Bruchet; Peggy Currie; Jack Emery; Dick foimding of Lethbridge. A constitution was formed and society Gray; Harold "Babe" Harris; George McKillop; Hector Negrello; status was applied for. William Rea; Stan Siwik; and Henry Viney. Teams: Cliff Forry Rink, 1979; Letiibridge Broders The Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1985 Chinook Basketball Team 1958-59; Letiibridge Gait Miners as one of the major centennial events of the city In the Senior Baseball Team 1936 & 1937; Letiibridge Maple Leafs inaugural year, the Hall of Fame was sponsored by the Hockey Team 1950-51; Myma McQuarrie Rink, 1977; and Lethbridge Elks Club. They have continued to financially Supma's Soccer Team, 1932 support the Hall of Fame to the present time. Their support has allowed for the development of a mobile display, awards, airi In the 11 years since its introduction, recognition has been sponsorship of the induction ceremony held on a yearly basis. given to many of our past sports heroes. Each year worfliy sports figures are chosen for this honor. The first Board of Directors was made up of volunteer citizens of Lethbridge representing various sectors of tiie sports 1lt**!tii»i***** community which are as follows: team sports, individual sports, educational institutions, service organizations and a member for SPORT IN THEM THAR DAYS - - OLD the community services department of the city. The members of TIMERS MEMORY WANDERS BACK the first board were: Chairman, Mai Qewes, Gary Bowie, Brian Bourassa. Marg Clark, Carol Gemer, Reno Lizzi, Hector From the July II, 1935 Lethbridge Herald. Negrello, Don Pilling, Peter Smitii, Dianne Violini, and Wihna Foreword (Before reading this 'yam" as it falls from the lips of Winter. the Old Timer, the writer wishes to point out that no attempt to record a history of sport in Lethbridge has been made. Rather there The board developed a process to determine who should be has been an effort to create an atmosphere and understanding of the selected each year to be honored at a gala dinner. Categories with feats of teams and athletes of another day. Inaccuracies, omissions standards were developed along with a nomination procedure and and misstatement in a narrative of this sort are bound to occur, a selection procedure. The process developed in the begiiming especially in the case of conflicting information and lack of (witii a few minor changes) has functioned well. It was felt that authentic records. Names, dates and anecdotes as related are accurate insofar as that is possible. The writer is indebted to the following Donald's star battery was made up of Chesley and Smith. This for valuable information and aid; James Wallwork, John D. Chesley boy was only about five feet six inches high, but he had Higinbotham, General J. S. Stewart, M. P.; C. B. Bowman, John a pair of arms that hung down like a baboon's and he could throw Craig, Wm. Oliver, Alex Scott, Fred Kenny and J. S. Kirkham. a curve around yer neck. Smith was even smaller than Chesley. Without them it would have been impossible to write this story.) They used to say he could walk under a pinto pony witiiout by Dick Matthews stooping, but I ain't saying but tiiat might be a mite exaggerated. Shifting his quid from one side of his mouth to the other tiie "The supporters of the teams lined up with Donald down one old Timer tumed his head and let fly with the unerring aim of the side of die diamond and the 'Hatters on t'otiier and believe me it bom tobacco-chewer. Slouched low in the big leather chair of was as much as a man's Ufe was worth to cross from one side to the hotel lobby he had been eyeing his companions from under the otiier." jutting brows as they discussed and argued the merits of the Lethbridge ball club. Now he entered the conversation. 'Trouble with you young cubs is you was bom 50 years too late," he grunted. "You would have had something to yap about "At the fiftii innings the game stood twelve to five in the if you had been here when this country was being opened up; Donald end arid the boys from that burg, offering odds of five to fellers were red-hot sports in those days. When a man picked a one, were almost crazy because fliey could not get aU their poke team or a player he was ready to back it up witii cold cash." uponthe^ame. Whirlwind Finish "In the ninth innings die score "The boys are stiU ready to bet on their favorite teams. Old was twenty all, and tiie Medicine Hat bunch had found their Timer", it was one of tiie local lads speaking. "Jim Allan bet voices and their money. They were putting out their long green some fellow ten ~" But tiie Old Timer's snort of derision cut in bunches at even money and were snapped up." him short. Setting his teetii m a vUlainous plug the Old timer stoked 'Ten dollars. Who ever heard of a real betting man calling up for the climax: "Going into the tenth the 'Hat went to the ten dollars a bet? Why the tin-horn sports around this town stick first, wifli Stark up. This feller Stark could knock die would have folded up if they'd been asked to cover some of flie cover off a triple-stitched ball and when he started swinging three bets that used to be wagered on games in this territory. Ten dd— bats in front of the players' bench the Hatters started laying their - why say, back in '87 when fliey played in flie Calgary for tiie bets at five to one. baseball championship of tiie North West Territories, seven "When Stark walked slowly up to the plate you could hear thousand dollars changed hands. And that wasn't on the series the grass pushin' up witii a noise like thunder. He spit on his but on die final game between Medicine Hat and Donald." hands with great care, filled the left side of his face with black "Seven fliousand dollars! Sa-ay Old Timer, what are you strap and announced that he was ready. trying to hand us?" "Wa-al sir," tiie Old Timer sang, scanning the eager faces about him and greatiy enjoying his littie drama, "Stark took holt of tiie first baU Chesley tiuew at him - a hook it was that curved "Wa-al, boys," drawled the old man, "it was like this. As I like a swan's neck. Boy, how he lambasted that baU! It went said before, the boys were red-hot sports in the days and when flie out over second base and it's my opinion it's soaring yet, for it idea of a baseball tournament in Calgary was brought up it never was found. received a pretty cordial reception. There were only three teams in tiie competition - Medicine Hat, Calgary and Donald - but "That gave the Hat the championship and what followed what that toumey lacked in numbers it made up in entiiusiasm." would take old Kipling to describe. Seven thousand doUars switched pokes, a good deal of it at the point of six-shooters held A Sporting Town —"Donald at that time was a very by men who weren't fooling a bit. It was in prohibition time, sporting town and any maverick expressing anti-baseball but squirrel whiskey was still to be had and the heart-broken sentiments was escorted to the train and told to depart hence, in Donald sports climbed back to their nest in the mountains. fact when too cold to play ball hot air games were played and usually ended in some very lively finishes. "The trainmen at this time ran from Donald to Medicine Hat and on the day of the game the fans at home camped on the "You know I have forgotten some things, but I'll be dad- Donald end of the wire. Most of 'em were running temperatures burned if I'll ever forget anything connected with that as they waited for the returns. When word was received that tournament," die Old timer chuckled. "In tiie first game Donald Donald was ahead ia die fiftii, flie Battie of BuU Run was a defeated Calgary twelve runs to six and then came the ball game Sunday school party compared to the time they had. that fans in tiiis part of the globe used to talk of for years. That was tiie subject that caused more bumed feet than anything else I "When tiie final score of 21 to 20 in favor of tiie 'Hat know of. Heh, heh! The crazy galoots used to get their feet in reached them, not a word was said nor a funeral note, and after the oven and get to argyin' and if the missus wasn't around to that the town graduaUy died .."(/lcco/-djn^ to the 1898 Henderson bring 'em back to life die soles of their boots would be done directory, Donald was the name of the western terminus of the C.P.R. brown and like as not their feet as well. lying about 180 miles west of Calgary.) I can still see the batt'rys warmin' up. Medicine Hat had a And Cricket, Too ... fellow called Alf Fidler, as big as a horse and with a fast ball tiiat "What a game that must have been. Never knew they were would take flie pants off a man if he stood too close to the plate, so enthusiastic in the old days. But was baseball the only sport W. J. Parkhill was flie catcher and he had a mitt like a quarter of tiiey had, Old Timer?" beef ~ an' needed it, too, to catch that cannon-ball delivery. Again the contemptuous snort, "Hell no. We had pool. Total cost $325,000. Shortiy after, the north side gained tverything from horse-racing to cricket and golf, I tell you, boy; a swimming pool with the construction of the lions P6ol on wc didn't miss a thing in those old days and the conditions we 16tii Street Nortii, between 4di and 5tii avenues. Cost $60,000. played under were often so danged unusual we had to revise tiie rules. The Lethbridge Arena had been built in 1937 and was hailed as a major accomplishment witii its artificial ice. The first "Back in 1884 I saw my first cricket game on an island curling bonspiel on artificial ice was held here, known as The outside the stockade of Fort Macleod. In the summer of that year Shirtsleeve Bonspiel, because of the comfort of the new the Calgary Cricket Club under the captaincy of Dr. L. G. building. It is stiU held today. The Civic Ice Centre, buUt at a deVeber played a match against the Macleod eleven led by cost of $240,000, and including a rink for hockey or public 'iscount Boyle. The fact that it took tiie Calgary team two days skating and additional ice for curling was the first major addition lo travel to the fort and two days to retum didn't faze those to the winter sport facilities. Lethbridge curlers raised an pioneers at aU. They traveUed in R.N.W.M. poUce conveyance additional $50,000 so die curling area could be built at the same md sashayed right along at the rate of about 55 miles in a day, time. The nortii side skaters were hapy to see construction of tiie %hich was considered right smart going. I remember it was a Adams Ice Centre. The city had eight outdoor rinks witii posted perfect day and the players informed me the 'pitch' was very fast schedules for pubUc skating etc., but soufliem Alberta weaflier and the Calgary outfit won a well contested game. Can't made it difficult to keep the rinks frozen, and eventually all tiiese recoUect the scores ~ never could make much sense out of the rinks were discontinued. cricket figgers ~ but there wan't a great deal betwixt 'em. The Letiibridge artificial ice arena was used for any major "Long about the time Louis Riel was putting wrinkles in tiie brows of govemment officials, the Ninth battalion of Quebec activity requiring ice as well as for many off-season activities Rifles was sent west and reUeved tiie 'Mounties' at Fort Macleod. such as Jitney Dances during the war, and festivities such as the Celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday was carried out by Elk's Carnival held in the fall most years. In March of 1971, holding military sports on Sample's Bottom. Officers and men fire razed the arena to the ground. A hockey game was in directed the events." progress at the time, and stories circulate how some spectators just moved over a littie from the flames as they didn't want to "How about sports right here in Lethbridge, Old Timer," miss the action, but of course, it soon became obvious everyone interrupted one of his audience. "You've told us about baseball had to exit It was fortunate there was no loss of life. The loss itf Calgary and cricket in Macleod, but what was Lethbridge of the arena, combined with the city's decision to host tiie Canada Winter Games in 1975, brought us tiie Sportsplex, which opened in February of that year. I (Part two of this article, with stories of cricket, tennis, golf, & '^ouk's Savages' will be printed in a forthcoming newsletter.) In 1980, with constmction of the University of Lethbridge, I tiie city fatiiers made tiie decision to develop west Letiibridge Ensuing years brought the Nicholas Sheran Leisure Centre with Some Lethbridge Sports Background. an ice arena and swimming pool, and eventuaUy the UnivCTsity of Lethbridge added the Max BeU Regional Aquatic Centre. Before Worid War H, Lethbridge did not have many sports Henderson Ice Centre was added in south Lethbridge, the Stan facilities. When TTie Square' became Gait Gardens, activities Siwik indoor swimming pool was constructed in north shifted to other areas of the city. BasebaU and softbaU were Lethbridge, and tiie Y.M.C.A. built new fadUties near tiie Civic played on die diamonds at Adams Park, near tiie nordi end of die Centre. street car line, and at Henderson Park where tiie Henderson Ice Now Lethbridge, with a population of about 70,(X)0, has centre now stands. Henderson baU park had more comfortable five (5) swimming pools, and five ice centres, (two on the north bleachers, and was also used for city school track meets. (The side, two on the south side, and one on the west side), as weU as smdents were always reminded that cheering tiieir school mates fllie Sportsjdex for maJOT events. The Sportsplex recentiy addeda on was alright, but booing the opposition was not.) climbing waU for those interested in that sport. The Y.M.C.A. was the home of the only indoor swimming pool and the Lethbridge arena was the only indoor skating rink BasebaU diamonds have grown from the two at Henderson with artificial ice. (The Crystal Rink near 13tii street and 5th and Adams Parks, to marked fields at most school playgrounds, avenue soutii, was closed in, but had only natural ice and was the Dave Hton Park on ninth avenue north, the Hoiderson subject to the vagaries of tiie soutiiem Alberta chinook.) In Baseball Stadium used by local semi-professional teams, and a winter several outdoor skating rinks were flooded, and had small complex of several diamonds in flie river vaUey. huts for donning skates. These huts were, for the most part, unheated. (A smaU wood stove was set in the center of the one Tennis facilities are available near Henderson Lake, and on leth su-eet north, but it seldom had a fire in it) In the soccer has added many fields, and are presentiy raising money for summer a portion of Henderson Lake was used for swimming, a larger soccer facility. Rugby has a field and clubhouse in the witii a quite adequate changing area built near its west end. The industrial area. east section of Henderson Lake was used for boating, witihi boats rented from "The Pavilion" which stood on a piece of land Bowling, which was at one time housed in a building next between the two sections. In winter the canoes were stored undear to the main branch of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, where tiie building. five lanes downstairs, and five more upstairs handled all the city leagues, has expanded to twofaciUties, one for five pin, and one In 1943 the Fritz Sick contribution of $100,000 led to for ten pin games. The citizens of Lethbridge can participate in a constraction of the Civic Centre Complex on flie site of the great variety of sports with exceUent facilities. As they said in former R.C.M.P barracks, which included a heated swimming the smoker ads ~ We've come a long way baby!. LETHBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY THE LETH3R1DGE CH.APTER Of the Historical Society of .Alberta

«^^^^^ P.O. BOX 974 LETHBRIDGE. ALBERTA. TIJ 4A2

Copyright 1 Number 3 NEWSLETTER ISSN 0838-7249 May1996 .Membership in the Historical Society of Alberta is $25.00 per year single or $30.00 a couple or family. It includes a subscription to the quarterly ALBERTA HISTORY, and members residing from Nanton south are also registered with the Lethbridge Historical Society and receive newsletters and notices. (Your mailing label expiration date will be highlighted when it is time to renew) Please send dues to the treasurer. LETHBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFICERS President Wm. (Bill) (Jaunita) Lingard Past President George F. (Josephine) Kush Vice-President Carlton R. (Barbara) Stewart Secretary/Newsletter Editor Irma (Jake) Dogterom Treasurer David J. (Gerry) Dowey Council Member (1996) Douglas J. (Claudia) Card Council Member (1996) Gordon (Rose) Toiton Council Member (1997) Greg (Maria) Ellis Council Member (1997) Richard Shockley (Leslie) Council Member (1998) Jayne (Keith) Mauthe Council Member (1998) Robert (Emerice) Shore

Regular meetings are held in the Theatre Gallery of tlie Lethbridge Public Library at 7:15 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the month. Notices THE 49th PARALLEL: A MAN-MADE Spring tour" A trip to the Bar U Ranch is scheduled for BOUNDARY Saturday, June 15th. The cost will be $30.00 per person. The bus is getting full - get your order in soon. For more By Gerald L. Beny information call Gordon Toiton at 345-2624. Taken from "The Whoop-Up Trail" a book recently republished by tlie Letiibridge Historical Society, it was Members are reminded to submit recommendations for written as a thesis by Gerald L. Beny in the late 1940s or early the Alex Johnston Award of Merit to Committee Chairman, 1950s. Mr. Berry had been a teacher and principal in Bea Hales at 2002 - 15th Ave. S. Lethbridge, AB TIK 0X3. Coalhurst & Warner, Alberta, among other places. He ended Recommendations should be made in writing by September his career as a Professor at the University of Alberta where he 30. 1996. was chairman of Secondaiy Education until his retirement in 1977. He died suddenly in May of 1993 while on vacation. "Recipients must be a member or past member of the Lethbridge Historical Society .... He or she must have given Copies of this well illustrated publication, "The Whoop-Up long meritorious service to the Society ...." Trail" are available from the Lethbridge Historical Society for $8.95 each, plus P&H. Write to P. O. Box 974 as .shown at the HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF ALBERTA Annual head of this newsletter. Meeting - will be held May 31, to June 2, 1996 in Red Deer, anyone wanting further information should contact Carly Stewart The 49th Parallel was established as a boundary line between 328-4669. Canada and the United States for that part of their territories east I New Books; | of the Rocky Mountains by Convention between the governments of Great Britain and the United States, October 2, The Lethbridge Historical Society has copies of "Old Tinier 1818. The same Convention provided for joint occupancy by the Tells" written by Wm. Cousins, and "Names Will Never two countries of the Oregon territory for a period of ten years, Hurt You", by M. Dirk for sale. The books retail for $20.00 and this arrangement was extended indefinitely in 1827. The and $7.00 respectively for Cash & Carry, or $22.00 & $8.00 if 49th Parallel was also established as the boundary west of the mailed, plus $3.00 for P&H for either or both. Rocky Mountains by the Buchanan-Pakenham Treaty of 1846, The local Archaeological Society has a new printing as well. Its which automatically ended the joint occupation of the Oregon title is Crystal Spring Indian Campsite. Contact Ralph area. L. Erdman or Carly Stewart if you desire copies ($6.95). However, the history of the 49th Parallel as a boundary line Further evidence is to be found in a statement made by Messrs. and as a projected boundary line is much older. In the late Monroe and Pinckney to the Spanish first secretary of state, seventeenth century and throughout the eighteenth century the April 20, 1805: "The boundary between Canada and Louisiana on British interests in the northern portion of the continent were in the one side, and the Hudson's Bay Co. and the Northwestern Co. the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company. After hostilities in on the other, was established by commissaries, by a line to Queen Anne's War were concluded in 1712, the Hudson's Bay commence at a cape or promontary on the ocean in 58° 31' north Company stated terms which seemed to it desirable for the latitude, to run thence southwestwardly to latitude 49° north from establishment of a boundary line by the Treaty of Utrecht, 1713. the equator, and along that line indefinitely". England, having The company wished to have included in the treaty a provision to thus limited her claim in 1719 to lands north of the 49th keep France south of a line extending from Cape Perdrix in Parallel, weakened any claim that she might have had to lands Labrador, Latitude North 58° 30', southwestward to Lake south of the line, and in 1818 she accepted the Convention Mistassini and thence through that lake. establishing the 49th Parallel as the boundary line to the Rocky Mountains. Nothing was done regarding the drawing of a boundary by the Treaty of Utrecht, except that Article 10 of the Treaty There was no immediate necessity for marking the line even provided for the appointment of commissioners to establish the after it was decided upon, since there were no white men in any same. As no immediate action was taken, the Hudson's Bay numbers in the area, and the Indians would have founds no value Company in 1714 again made a memorial to the government, in the establishment of the "Medicine Line". However, as traders this time urging the extension of the boundary from Lake and miners came to the western frontier areas, the survey of the Mistassini southwestward into Latitude North 49°'. This is boundary became more and more urgent, and the International probably the first mention in history of the 49th Parallel as the Boundary Commission was set up in 1873-4. Until the line was prospective boundary. When the British Government finally marked, every man carried his own law in his holster and Jack appointed its commissioners under the Treaty of Utrecht in Colt was the supreme arbiter. The Commission was working on September, 1719, it instructed them to obtain the line requested the area which eventually became the Alberta-Montana boundary by the Hudson's Bay Company, and further instructed them that in the summer of 1874, and had it completely marked before the where the said line cut the 49th Parallel a new line should begin police came west in the fall of that year. The Commission was and extend westward along the parallel. no small surveyor's party, but a well-equipped corps of men. The Canadian contingent was made up of 300 men in the No settlement of the boundary resulted from the surveying party and a corps of mounted scouts, while the deliberations of the commissioners, but the combination of the Americans had 250 men escorted by two troops of the 7th U.S. reference in the Treaty of Utrecht, the deliberations of the Cavalry and five companies of U.S. Infantry. 'The boundary was commissioners, the memorial of the Hudson's Bay Company, marked with stone cairns placed at half-mile intervals, so that no and the claims of the British Government, led both cartographers longer was there any doubt as to what territory belonged to each and historians into the error of confusing the attempt to establish government. the boundary with an actual settiement. Thus in 1738, Salmon in his history states in reference to Article 10 of the Treaty of Following settiement of the boundary, the Hudson's Bay Utrecht: "Commissioners did afterwards settie the limits by an Company in 1865 claimed compensation for the forts south of imaginary line drawn from a Promontory situate on the Atiantick the 49th Parallel, which were given up at that time: Vancouver, Ocean in 58° 30', and running thence South-West indefinitely to Champoeg, Cowlitz, George (Astoria), Cape Disappointment, the Latitude of 49°". Similarly in 1749, the southern limits of Chinook (Pillar Rock), Nez Perce (Walla Walla), Hall, Boise, the Hudson's Bay Company are described by Douglass in his Umpqua, Okanagan, Colville, Kootenai, Flathead. They claimed history: "The true Definition of it is, from the Treaty of Utrecht, no indemnity for the following although they were on American 1713; viz. From a certain Promontory on the Atiantick Ocean, territory: Simcoe, Carkeeman, Saleesh, Nisqually, Bellingham, N. Lat. 58d.30m. runs S.W. to Lake Mistasin (this includes the and Spokane. western half of Terra Labradore) thence S.W. to N. Lat. 49d. and from this Termination due West indefinitely". Editor's Note: The 49th Parallel and its continuation as a border between the United Stated and Canada remains the In 1752, Bolton, on his Map of North America, shows the longest unguarded border in the World, a situation for which we boundary claimed by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1712-14, surely should be pleased and proud. and states in the legend, "The line . . . was established by ^l^ «1# k|* «£« kj^ ^U *^ ^1» *S^ «I^ ^U ^I^ ^I> ^U Commissaries after the Peace of Utrecht". With the end of the * ^^ ^j* *J* ^^ ^^ *^ *f« rj* ^^ #J^ ^* ^I^ ^f» ^» Seven Years War in 1763, Canada passed into British Sport in Them thar Days, Part 2 - - From the July possession, and the settlement of the boundary of the Hudson's 11, 1935 Lethbridge Daily Herald (The first part of this Bay Company's territory ceased to be urgent, with the result that article appeared in the March/96 issue.) nothing was done for forty years. Played Football - - "I'm coming to that, lad, don't When the United States acquired Louisiana by the purchase get in a lather. I remember comin' into Lethbridge in '85 (1885) agreement of 1803, the boundary became of paramount to see a game of association football, or soccer, if you like. importance to them, and, under the impression that it had been Most of the fellers here know John D. Higinbotham an' if you established by the Treaty of Utrecht, they claimed the line as the don't you should. Wa-al J.D. he was out there along with one of boundary. In a letter to James Monroe, Minister to England, the local sky-pilots. Rev. Angus Robertson, and so was John R. February 14, 1804, James Madison writes: "There is reason to Kevin, who was telegraph operator for the N.W.C. and N. believe that the boundary between Louisiana and the British company at that time. Reverend Angus is dead now and Kevin is Territories north of it was actually fixed by commissioners a doctor in Brooklyn, New York. appointed under the Treaty of Utrecht, and that this boundary was "Higinbotham was very active in this game and mid-way to run from the Lake of the Woods vves(t)wardly in latitude 49°". through the battle he met up with Kevin in a doozer of a collision, Kevin coming out with a badly injured ankle. Tlie "They played for the Fred Rooney cup," remarked the Old match was played in the 'Square', which was the sport centre for Timer. "There's Tom Kevin, president of the club. Those two all the young bucks in town. fellers up there, Mike Frooman and 'Doc' Gallivan were the pitchers and John Stewart was catcher. At first base they had "There was always plenty of Scotchmen and Englishmen Louis Gagnon, at second Press Houk and at third Tommy ready an' eager to play soccer, but the first really famous team Simons. George Appleford was short stop. Bob Culbertson left was organized in 1891. Most of the players were miners an' after field, Jim Buxton centre field and Fred Kenny right field. George a nice easy day in the mines they used to practice football. They Houk was the leading light in baseball circles around the time cleaned up everything in sight that year and it was a revelation to his Savages were at the top of their form. He and his boys were see those boys gallopin' up and down a field makin' that ball baseball bugs from the longest hair on their heads to the tips of talk. their toes. "They had a couple of forwards. Tommy Graham and Adam "George used to boast about a 16 year old nevvy o' his, who Leishman, who were pizen to goal keepers. Then there was Joe became famous not for playing baseball but for roller-skating. Shorthouse, Paddy Cain, Jim Wylie, Bill Scott, Jim Warwick This lad was also named George Houk and lived down in the and 'Bowlegged' Sam Pfeffer, the goalie, who used to let the ball eastern States, St. Louis I think it was. He skated for 72 hours through his legs. and covered 804 miles tying for first place in a six-day race. "Miners defeated a challenging Calgary team six to nothing Heh, heh! Bring on yer six-day bike riders, boys ... that year and that was the most serious contender for supremacy More Cricket - - "Baseball wan't the only sport in that they run up agin." the bat-swinging line around here though, for with a division of Pausing long enough to wave a curious bell-hop out of the about a hundred 'Mounties' in the barracks or on detachment, line of fire, the Old Timer scored again and rambled on. Streets there was always plenty of officers and men available for cricket. were alight now with a thousand twinkling eyes, but none of his There were some real willow-swingers in that bunch of Redcoats, original audience had departed, rather it had increased. too, and all through the 80's and 90's there was never any difficulty staging tournaments without going outside the town. "Lethbridge was still turnin' out good soccer teams right up The had Married versus Single matches. Old Country agin to '98, when the game petered out for a while. There was a gang Canada, Police versus Civilians. of Scots down at Belt, Montana, in those years an' they certainly knew how to bang a ball around. Every one of 'em was a heel "Stars o' that game here were superintendent R.B. Deane, and toe artist. Heh, heh! Honors was split up purty equal, but Inspectors W.O. Morris and White-Fraser, Sergeant Sexton, there was never a great deal of betting, for those Scots were too C.C. McCaul K.C., and John Norcross. Those fellers played canny. cricket with all the trimmings, including tea served in a marquis. "Californy couldn't hold a candle to Alberta in them days for Tennis in 1886 - - "Higinbotham was prominent in they played a baseball game on Christmas day with the mercury forming our first tennis club in the fall of 1886. They hired a at 58 above. J.D. Higinbotham performed in that game, too, in feller with a scraper and set him to work levelling courts right fact J.D. was pretty prominent in most of the early sports here. where the C.P.R. ice-house now stands. All the top-soil was "In '86 Lethbridge had a slick bunch of ball-tossers, but real removed and the clay sub-soil was rolled and baked with a littie competition was few and far between. The old "Turkey Trail" of our southern Alberta sunshine, which process perduced some was burning up the countryside by that time, however, so once mighty fast courts. in a while our teams went to the 'Hat or Calgary, at which times the whole town, including the miners' brass band, went along. "P. M. Lucas, who was a graduate of an English university, Rivalry was keen and some of the fans was mighty techy. acted as coach, or maybe I should say 'instructor'. Lucas was Everybody bet freely, but o' course it wasn't every day that E.T. Gait's secretary and besides being' a crackin' good secretary money was as loose as it was in the 'Hat-Donald game. he knew the tennis game from the net out. Young feller called Fred Godwin was a real star and along with Higinbotham cleaned ... "B'gosh, reckon I kin show you fellers some of the up on most of the opposition that came to Lethbridge. teams that played here in the early 90's. Hey boy run up to my room and bring me the pictures from back o' them buffalo horns "Godwin was good enough to win the championship of Manitoba and the North West Territories which is a danged sight on the wall." better than any o' you young squirts around here have done." Waiting for the bell-hop's return, the Old Timer chewed Abashed squirming on the part of a beflanneled young man mechanically, his thoughts wandering through the dim sports lanes of years past. The boy's bright, "there you are, sir", told the Old Timer that his shot had gone home and he resumed brought him back and he reached gnarled fingers for the faded with a chuckle. photos. "Young Godwin and Higinbotham high-tailed down to Great Falls, July fourth, 1891, and took the U.S. players over the Houk's Savages - - "There's one 1 want to show jumps. They fancied themselves pretty highly down there in some of you cubs, because some o' your pappys will remember a Montana and when our tennis, soccer and baseball players few players. A-ah, here it is: Houk's Savages." showed up the best they had they were none too glad about it. The Old Timer held out one of the photos and the group "Heh, heh - there's one thing about that invasion that I still pressed about him closely as they craned to glimpse the features laugh abouL There was no passenger train available and the trip of players. Young fellows with fierce moustaches and wearing was made in a train made up of 14 cabooses. As the train was peculiar flat-topped caps, gazed back at them. "Lethbridge about to pull out of the Falls, Inspector H.S. Casey of the Baseball Club — 1905", read the caption, "champions of Mounted took a position on the platform of the last caboose and Southem Alberta Baseball league." prepared to deliver an oration to the gang gathered about to see the boys off. This Casey was a great sports booster and he had "You kin imagine that this juicy cow-fodder made slippery got hisself worked up to a real speakin' pitch with a little aid goin' for the engine, and about five o'clock on the morning of from John Barleycorn. the 27th the trains stalled on the grade near Winnifred. "The train crew rustied the boys out and told 'em if they ever wanted to "Wa-al, sir, jest as Casey was hittin' top pace some gent in play lacrosse in Calgary they'd have to haul sand. Y'see the the crowd let fly with a fine ripe watermelon that caught the Turkey Trail joined the main line at Dunmore and had to make inspector flush on the gib. The weight of th' melon and the fact connections by eight o'clock that morning for Calgary. As there that Casey was none too sure of the ee-quilibrium proved a little was only three main line trains a week the team would be too tnuch for him an' he flew off the caboose platform in a kind stranded at Dunmore for a couple days if they didn't get there on of sprawlin' dive. He looked so tarnation funny that everybody time, an' bang would go their chance to lift that H.B trophy. forgot to be sore." "You shoulda seen them boys pack sand from the caboose to Golf Just the Same - - Taking advantage of the the engine. They sanded track for a quarter of a mile in front of laughter that greeted the Old Timer's words, somebody dropped a that engine an' it was a pretty weary bunch of lacrosse players query about golf. It was rather a skeptical query, for where could who climbed aboard the main-line train at Dunmore. But littie a course be found on which to play golf in a day when the west things like that never bothered our athletes in those days - the was still "wild and woolly." main thing was a chance to play lacrosse for that Calgary cup. "0' course we didn't have no fancy layout, but it was golf "Rules were a leetle different at that time than they are now. just the same. Here's another case where John Higinbotham F'rinstance the first team to score four consecutive goals won the pioneered. In 1890 some friends of J.D.'s from England visited game, and some of the games were pretty short. But lots of 'ein here and on their departure they presented him with four sets times one team would get three goals an' be congratulatin' of golf clubs. Higinbotham had never seen the game played, nor themselves on winning the game when the other team would put as fer as 1 know had anybody else in Lethbridge. But J.D. had in a goal and they'd have their work to do all over again. If the real pioneer spirit an' was ready to try anything once, so he neither team won by this method, the team that was ahead at the and Fred Godwin — who was manager of the Union bank by the end of two hours actual playing time won. way - got together and studied a book of rules. "This Calgary game was billed as for the North West "Then one fine day armed with spades, shovels an' some Territories championship an' was played on the new Calgary fair empty tomato cans the two golfers went out on the prairie and grounds, knowed now as Victoria Park. Calgary had a good mapped out a course east of Westminster Road, now 13th St. lacrosse field at this time but they wanted to play the game at the The course expended to Montana Junction via "Freeman's Lake,' fairground so as to drag the crowd. a holler that was filled in years ago. After sinking the tins the two pioneers levelled off nine 'greens'. "That there game took exactiy three hours and forty minutes, roughly one hour and forty minutes being occupied with time "The tees were one long drive or two long drives apart and out, as the ball was bein' lost down badger and gopher holes there never was a course with more hazards, for in spite o' the from start to finish. Never did see so many new balls used in fact that a lot of the gopher and badger holes were plugged with one game — just as the boys would begin to get going some sods of turf there was always plenty more waitin' with open arms galoot would drop the ball and it always seemed to head for one for unsuspectin' balls. Dunno what par for that course was, but o' them holes like a homing pigeon. it must have been pretty high. Lethbridge Won - - "Who won? Wa'al now, that Those Lacrosse Teams - - "Most of you young there's kind of a foolish question. Lethbridge won o' course and lads whose pappys came out here in th' 90's must've heard of the here's a picture of the team and trophy to prove it. The final lacrosse teains we had about that time, though there's a lot of score was four to one." hokum dished out by fellers who never even saw a gutted stick. Pointing to the sturdy figures in the photo, the Old Timer "1 don't perfess to know the complete history of lacrosse named them off. "There's A. B. Stafford, Jim Wallwork, A. here, but I recollect fine some of the games and a lot o' the Head, M. Freeman, J. Morris, D. Crichton, an' A. Jardine. And players. there's D. McKay, H. West, Larry McEwen, J. McKay, I. "There were some mighty fine stick-handlers here in those Currie, E.L. Latimer, Harry Bentiey, Bill Galliher an' A. days an' many of the players from the east were ranked as good as Wrigley. There was a great bunch of players, every man of 'em a any in Canada. "Twas in 1893 that the Hudson't Bay company real sportsman who played for nothing but love of th' game. put up a trophy to be competed for at the Calgary Fair on June "I remember the Calgary team was afraid of the goal-scoring 28th. Our boys were in fine shape that year an' when they got ability of Crichton, one of our stars, an' they set a feller called word of this trophy they gave an extra twirl or two to their 'Birdy' Swift to guard him. There was just a littie too much of moustaches and decided that that cup would look pretty handsome Crichton for Swift to handle, fer in spite of the fact Crichton in their own trophy cabinet. didn't look big he was hard as nails an' broad as a span of horses. "So at 10 o'clock on the evening of June 26th the lacrosse After bouncing off the Lethbridge man a couple of times 'Birdy' team climbed aboard the rattier that navigated the old 'Turkey got kinda discouraged and Crichton wasn't bothered for the rest of Trail' I say navigated" an' that's just what I mean, for in 1893 it the game. rained for an hour or two every day for six weeks and the trains "Larry McEwan was so danged good natured that he'd often steered a course through a rollin' sea o' grass. You could take a go to great lengths to keep one of the opposing players from mowing machine that year and cut hay anywhere you wanted to being penalized. One of the Calgary players cracked Larry a put the blade down, for the grass was knee-high. The two tracks blow that nearly knocked him down but when the referee was of the 'trail was just slight depressions in all this grass, for the about to order the Calgarian off, McEwen spoke right up. tracks were laid right on the prairie with mud for ballast. "Never even touched me" says Larry, and the Calgary player was allowed to continue. As I said, they was real sports, those swish, bang! that's all there was to it - the Macleod boys were boys." helpless. "That killed lacrosse in Macleod and as far as I know there was never another game played there. "Yeah," interjected one of the group, "they must've been real sports all right. Guess they didn't know many of the tricks that "Although at times interest waned, Lethbridge fielded many some of these modern outfits think up." good lacrosse teams, coming into the memory of some of you older fellers - around 1900 - were some of the greatest players "Dunno about that", replied the Old timer. "I 'member the we ever had here. Freddie Gow's name, for instance, will live year before this championship game - in '92 to be exact - the around here as long as lacrosse is thought of. He was a Lethbridge lacrosse outfit went up to Calgary to play an marvelous stick-handler, fast as greased lightnin' and he could exhibition game. Alex Colville was a druggist here long about 'take it' just as well as he could 'dish it out' as you cubs might that time, I forget whether he was a player or not but he was say. Freddie's old home town was Fergus, Ontario, where every pretty closely coupled with lacrosse doings. Anyhow, Alex went boy was a Scotchman, a Presbyterian, a curler and a lacrosse along on this Calgary outing and just before game time he player. slipped all of the boys a shot of cocaine. Man and boy I've never yet seen a team travel like that team of ours did for about the A Real Team - •^ "Others of the brigade about that first hour. They ran the feet off those Calgary players, who time were Charlie 'Porky' Van Home, Elmer Myers of the thought they'd been run in against a pack of greyhounds. But as Mounties, Alex Stafford, who was killed during the Great war; the game wore on the 'dope' wore off and the Calgary team closed Alvin Ripley, another war victim; 'Bun' Clarke, Fred Kenny, with a rush that wiped out a Lethbridge lead in next to no time. Jim Wallwork, Sam Hays, George Manahan, Lally Ripley, Alex Calgary won by a single goal as the two-hour time limit rolled Scott, Bish Davis, Frank Wallace, Andrew Scott, Dick Robson, around, but they sure thought they had been playing against a Box Brown, Barney Scott, Dr. J. S. Stewart, now our M.P. at team of demons. Ottawa; Allan Ritchie, Elmo Fraser and Edgar Hill. For many years J. H. Stanley was president of the local association. Doctor Amateur Rules - - "These here amateur rules never McClure was vice-president and Doctor F. Mewbum was bothered our athletes a great deal in the good old days and the honorary president. various towns used to advertise for players and nothing thought of it. I've got a clipping pasted on the back of one of these "The boys took their training very serious in them days, pictures; just a minute Uh....here it is. It's from the Frank too. They used to go on a strict diet, of which carrots was the weekly paper and says that several good situations are open in main item. There was no tea or coffee drinking and the boys Frank, which will be offered to first class lacrosse players. In used to practice every night, which is blamed sight more than addition want ads will be inserted in several newspapers. The you can say for the teams today, at least most of 'em. I can still result of this was to bring players to various towns from lacrosse see 'Doc' Stewart, Alvin Ripley and Alex Stafford running out to centers throughout the Dominion. Lethbridge relied largely on the fair grounds - later Victoria Park — every night. That was a home-brews, but we did have a few young college fellows here real jog, let me tell you, though not quite as far as the present one summer who were given jobs to keep them in town for the fairgrounds. lacrosse season. Most of the 'ringers' came from Ontario, "Feller might talk all night about lacrosse alone, but it Manitoba and British Columbia, with Toronto, Winnipeg and wouldn't be safe to pass on without mentioning the great series New Westminster bein' the chief distributing points for them played against Cranbrook in 1905. It was around this time that provinces. the lacrosse migration from the East as well as from B.C was at Macleod's Taste of Lacrosse - - Twas in '92 its height and the Crow's Nest league was in full swing. Fernie, that lacrosse was born and died in Macleod. A home and home Frank, Cranbrook, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge had teams series was aiTanged between Lethbridge and Macleod, the first entered, the Lethbridge entry going under the monicker of game being played here on the Square. Our boys were cautioned 'Mavericks'. They was just about as tough and smooth a bunch to let the Macleod outfit down easy, as they were all new at the of ball jugglers as you could wish to see and Lethbridge fans was game and they didn't want to break their spirit by giving 'em an mighty proud of their team. awful trimming. Lethbridge was so fer superior to the Macleod "Cranbrook and Lethbridge were the teams to beat in this boys that they actually allowed 'em to shoot at an open goal in league and it looked as though Cranbrook's team of imports order to keep the visitors in the scoring columns. The locals might hold a slight edge. Most of their outfit had been drawed finally won three to two. from Toronto and New Westminster, while Lethbridge's team "Came the return battie at Macleod. The lacrosse game had was made up of home talent. been scheduled to start two hours before a polo game and the Home on a Freight - - "The game in Cranbrook Lethbridge players were very anxious to see this polo contest. was a riot, and that's putting it very mild. Those Cranbrook fans "But when they arrived at Macleod it was discovered that One were just about foaming at the mouth and halfway through the of the 'star' players of the Macleod team — which was mostly game they got out of control, the spectators swarming onto the made up of Mounties— was in the guard house and the sergeant field and roughing up the Lethbridge players with the result that who was captain of the teani, refused to start until this chap was we finished the game with half a team, losing out by 13-1. You released. "Wa-al time drug on and on. By the time two hours can imagine how hot things were when I tell you our boys had elapsed the Lethbridge boys were hopping mad, for they were sneaked out of town on a freight... going to miss that polo game sure as guns. "When the final game in Lethbridge came along, that "Just as they had about given up hope, however, the player Cranbrook gang swarmed down here in a special train of six cars, was released from the guardhouse and the game was on. It lasted packed and overflowing, every Cranbrook man waving a fist-full less than two minutes. Just as long as it took to bring the ball o' money under the nose of any Lethbridge fan who dasted to to centre, face it and ram it into the goal four times. Swish, even to glance his way. But Lethbridge money was pretty tight, lor the local supporters had received quite a scare from that first Mewburn w-as in an adjacent house, however an' soon had the game defeat. wound patched up although John was bothered for some time with it. It he'd raised up another inch or so he would have been "Due to some real precautions the game was played under pushing up daisies that very day. absolutely fair conditions with Lethbridge winning 6-4. That'll gix'c some of you boys an idea of how serious we took our 'Lethbridge had the distinction of fonning the first Gun games." Club for shooting at flying targets in the North West TeiTitories. The club was formed in 1888 and the first members were L.N. The Old Timer turned his attention to winter sports; McEwen, Alex Moffat, George Steele, Steve Alexander, E.T. "Aside from occasional sleighing and tobogganing parties Saunder, William Oliver and Bill Henderson. There were others down the sides of the coulees, winter sports weren't very much in too. Lemme see, think I've got a list here somewheres. Yep, cxidence here until the town was built up a bit. In the severe here it is. In addition to those mavericks, there was Thomas winter of 1886 an' '87 Bill Bentiey sponsored an open air skating McNabb, Howard Case, Harry Withers, Yank Phair, Andy Scott, rink on the comer now covered by the Sherlock Block, but this C.W. Lowther, Donal Duff and Captain Cottingham. \\ as one of the few rinks in the early days. "The shooting grounds was located south of what is now First Bonspiel - - "First curiing rink in Lethbridge was River View residential section and a small clubhouse was put up, built north of the old C.P.R. station which was located across the front of which was raised up on hinges formin' an awning. ihe street from the Hudson's Bay building. I well remember our First targets was made froin tin disc. Each disc had a short chain first bonspiel in 1906, when our local besom and stane artists attached to the outer rim and connected to a smaller disc with won out over the strong Calgary rinks of Miquelon and Savage. three points. Before being sprung from the trap the small disc .A crack rink o' curlers skipped by Barnes won the Grand was fastened into the larger one by pressure and when thrown in Challenge coinpetition. Barnes ring consisted of A.E. the air the pellets of shot striking the larger disc would release Humphries, Harold G. Long and G. W. Robinson. Norrie the smaller one showing a hit. Macleod's rink ran a close second and was made up of Donald "E. T. Gait donated a silver challenge cup to the club in Duff, Press Houk, and E. D. McGregor. 1889 and it was put up every year at their annual shoot, the cup "First and second prizes consisted of specially engraved going to the man with highest aggregate, first man to win the watch fobs and' cups and were purty elegant, but to iny way of trophy twice to keep it. There were some great batties among ihinkin' the third prize winners had the best of the deal, being those hawk-eyed shots as you can well imagine. Steve .^warded with four boxes of ceegars and four bottles of fine Alexander won the cup in 1890, Alex Moffat took it in '91, ';Scotch. the curler's official drink. J. Kenny's rink was the lucky Larry McEwen in '92 and George Steele in '93. Then in '94 and third prize winner. '95 along come a feller who was the dawgonedest shot in these parts. His name was Bill Oliver and he took the cup two years "A.E. Humphries was our police magistrate in them days in succession, winning it permanent. Still on Bill's sideboard and in the winter of 1907 A.E. went to Calgary to try his hand s'fer as I know. agin that of the Cow Town curlers. He was called home by a 'wire that read something like this: "Twelve cells full. More "Clubs was formed in the early nineties at Macleod and coming. Hoine quick. Heh, heh,! Pincher Creek and tournainents were held every year by the three clubs. That an all day drive with a good team and a democrat, "But Lethbridge was well represented, for a local rink but time didn't mean as much then as it does now, when these skipped by John Bruce with three of the Scott boys assisting, here cars make the same trip in two hours. wrote curling history at that Calgary Speil winning 20 out of 23 games. They won the Brewery, Visitors and Grand Aggregate "We discarded our traps and tin targets in 1899, replacing and came second in the Burns competition. Not bad, eh boys?" 'em with clay targets. Scores weren't so high at first because the clay birds travelled like all git-out. In the fall of '99 six As the "boys" chorused their affirmation the Old Timer inembers of the club decided to have a live pigeon shoot, the yawned and glanced at a ponderous watch. entrance fee bein' one dollar and four birds to be shot at, the one Rifles and Gun Clubs - - "Nigh on my bed hour. who killed the most birds to take the money. The day was .Ain't young as I used to be. I'll just tell you-all about the old windy and the birds instead of rising in the air took a corkscrew Rifle and Gun clubs and then you fellers'll have to go before you flight into the coulee, with the marksman near breaking their get booted out... necks trying to draw a bead. When it was over three wounded birds had to be killed by hand and the stakeholder still had the "Th' old Rifle Club was formed in 1886 with Harry Bentiey money. as president and twelve members enrolled. John Craig and 'Doc' Mcwburn were the crack shots in that outfit and could cut the "Until it was replaced by the Old Timer's ball, the annual bull'scye out of target at.any range from 200 to 800 yards. Most Gun Club ball was the great event of the season with a lot of of the shoots were local competitions, but occasionally the 'Hat high jinks being enacted. sent leams. "Believe ine, if you young fellers get as inuch kick out of "John Craig came close to breathin' his last one day at the life as we did in them days, you're lucky." butts, which was located roughly north-east of the present The fanning bee was over. The Old Timer gathered his Thirteenth Street subway. He was calling the shots for a young photos and pulled his lean frame out of the chair, mounting the feller named Arthur Lundy, who was practicin' one morning, stairs still walking in the aura cast by his memories of other when one of the targets stuck. Signalling Lundy to cease firing days. The group broke into sinall groups, talked idly for a few John raised up, but just as he did Lundy fired again not having minutes, scattered. Memories seen the 'cease fire' signal. Craig got a lead slug in the fleshy part of his shoulders that ripped a pretty bad wound. Doc' LETHBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY THE LETHBRIDGE CHAPTER Of the Historical Society of Alberta

P.O. BOX 974 LETHBRIDGE. ALBERTA. TIJ 4A2

©CoovnQhl1996 Number 4 NEWSLETTER ISSN 0838-7249 Julv1996 Membership in the Historical Society of Alberta is $25.00 per year single or $30.00 a couple or family. It includes a subscription to the quarterly ALBERTA HISTORY, and members residing from Nanton south are also registered with the Lethbridge Historical Society and receive newsletters and notices. (Your mailing label expiration date will be highlighted when it is time to renew) Please send dues to the treasurer. LETHBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFICERS President Wm. (Bill) (Jaunita) Lingard Past President George F. (Josephine) Kush Vice-President Carlton R. (Barbara) Stewart Secretary/Newsletter Editor Irma (Jake) Dogterom Treasurer David J. (Gerry) Dowey Council Member (1996) Douglas J. (Claudia) Card Council Member (1996) Gordon (Rose) Toiton Council Member (1997) Greg (Maria) Ellis Council Member (1997) Richard Shockley (Leslie) Council Member (1998) Jayne (Keith) Mauthe Council Member (1998) Robert (Emerice) Shore

Regular meetings are held in the Theatre Gallery of the Lethbridge Public Library at 7:15 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the month.""] Notices Lethbridge and the Seventh International Dry Farming Congress Spring Tour: On June 15 two buses travelled to the Bar U by Tracy Anderson Ranch near Longview. The weatiier cooperated beautifully, and a good time was had by all. (Tracy has been a supporter of the Lethbridge Historical Society for many years. He is currently involved in the 76th The first fall meeting of the Lethbridge Historical Society Annual Conference of the Agricultural Institute of Canada will be held October 22 in the Lethbridge Public library Theatre scheduled for the city July 7 -11,1996.) Gallery. The speaker for the evening will be Dr. Brigham On October 21 to 26, 1912 tiie City of Letiibridge played Young Card and his topic will be The Diaries of Brigham host to a major international event. This event left an indelible Yotmg Card'. mark upon a yotmg and ambitious city. Four years in the planning, major developments were undertaken to host an Keep in mind tiiat nominations for tbe Alex Johnson Award expected 5,0(X) registrants. of Merit should be submitted in writing by September 30. Send your nomination to Bea Hales, at 2002 - 5 Ave. South, In 1911 the city fathers inaugurated the development of the Letiibridge, AB. TIK 0X3. Lethbridge Municipal Railway. The young city invested over $250,000 in die system. The first 11 miles (17 km) of track was opened on August 16, 1912 by Mayor George Hatch. The New Boolcs opening was timed to provide service to the annual fair. One set of rails followed 7th Avenue South, east to the exhibition gate "There's a Church In the Valley", the history of Mountain along what is now North Parkside Drive. The existence of the Mill Church is now available. Copies can be obtained from the rail line along the north side of Henderson Lake probably author, Mr. James L. George, 79 "Tudor Crescent S. Lethbridge, accoimts for the divided highway nature of the drive. The line AB T1K5C8 Telephone 1-403-320-0714 was needed for the fair, but of more immediate urgency for the Dry Fanning Congress which was to be held at the exhibition 'The Diaries of Charles Ora Card; The Canadian Years, 1886- grotmds. The municipal railway served the city very well from 1903", edited by Donald G. Godfrey and Dr. Brigham Young 1912 imtil September 8. 1947, when it was displaced by a Card is now available at a reduced price of $21.95. Copies can system of buses. In that time, as the only civic transportation be purchased from Olivers Books, College "Value Mall, 113 system it carried an estimated 47.24 million passengers. Today 2025 Mayor Magratii Drive, Letiibridge, AB, TIK 2S2 the car located at the Sir Alexander Gait Museum remains as an historic artifact of the system (3). Ftmding for the Congress was supplied by the federal, the Men and women paid nominal dues of $1.00 per year, left provincial, and the municipal governments. However, the their businesses and travelled long distances for the development provision of facilities was primarily the responsibility of the city of an idea, that a system of farming would result for the benefit fatiiers. In 1911 the city used its new exhibition facilities for the of fuhire generations. The Congress (in 1912) had working first time. Construction of the central exhibition building was branches in 16 coimtries of the world, with individual members completed in 1912. The building saw service for the August scattered tiiroughout 50 nations. 1912 fair, the October 1912 Congress and especially the livestock units were pressed into service to serve Lethbridge's Six aimual sessions, beginning in 1905, were held in first detention camp in 1914. Denver, Salt Lake City (1907), Cheyenne (1908), Billings (1909), Spokane (1910) and Colorado Springs (1911). Members The Letiibridge Herald, September 11,1914 carried tiie front attended from Australia, Algiers, Hungary, India, Russia, page headline: "Only Military Prison in Alberta to be Turkey, France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Pern, Mexico and in Established at Lethbridge Fairgrounds." Kilford (4) reported that 1912 from China and Sudan. "prisoners were held there from 30 September, 1914 until A pioneer organization was formulated as a scientific November 1916." He also indicated tiiat the strategic location of organization in Denver in 1905. This became the Trans-Missouri the main building at the west end of the groimds, did not go Dry Farming Congress which held its first convention at Denver unnoticed by the prisoners, who staged several escapes. in late February, 1906. The planned 3-day convention A dramatic episode occurred April 26, 1916 when German lengthened to four days, because of sold out crowds in a prisoners dug a tunnel sloping to a depth of 45 feet (13.7 m) convention hall with 1,^0 seating capacity. In tiie Cheyenne under tiie road, with a length of about 111 feet and 30 inches (76 meeting in the winter of 1908-9 attended by representatives of m) square. It ended in trees and hedges near the east end of foreign governments and recognized agricultural colleges, the Henderson Lake. Six prisoners escaped and were never caught. A name was changed to the International Dry Farming Congress. seventii was too big and got stuck in the tunnel thus blocking a Attendance burgeoned at Billings 8 months later, again at further exodus (4). The escape was described as "the smoothest Spokane in 1910 where attendance exceeded 2,000 delegates, and escape pulled off in Canada since the outbreak of the war" again in Colorado Springs in 1911 with more tiian 2,500 (L.D.H. ApriOl 29, 1916). By 1915,300 prisoners and 60 guards delegates, a large exposition of dry-farmed products, and a were housed in Letiibridge. program of scientific agriculture that caught the attention of the thinking world (Bums, 5b). The 1911 Congress in Colorado The Lethbridge exhibition buildings were used as barracks Springs was notable for two important developments. Firstiy, for tiie new recruits of tiie 20tii, tiie 39tii Batteries and tiie 113 the farm women organized the International Congress of Farm Letiibridge Highlanders (4). The exhibition grounds served as a Women and secondly, the delegates voted to hold the 7th busy, but valuable development for Letiibridge. In 1925 the Congress in Lethbridge~a first ever outside of tiie U.S.A. main exhibition pavilion that housed the Congress bumed to the ground and was replaced by a new pavilion in 1926. This The International Congress of Farm Women was formed as pavilion is used as tiie Heritage pavilion today. an auxiliary "to educate the housewife to conserve labour and strengdi, minimize the farm work, while obtaining better results, Along with the development of the fairgroimds, Henderson improving the conditions of the home, and education of the Park received special attention with respect to landscaping, tree children~in fact, carrying out in detail that work which conduces planting, a boat house and pavilion, and the provision of to make farm life more pleasant and the farm home most walkways, especially on the north side following the street car cheerful, bringing health and happiness to all in rural lines. This was the beginning of Lethbridge's extensive park system. communities " (Bums 5b). Miss Irma Matthews (5a), First Vice-President from Other developments were initiated in expectation of hosting Oklahoma, described the drudgery and hopelessness of the farm the Congress. These included pouring cement sidewalks, the women of the early settiement period. She stated the Farm start of hard surfacing and lighting city shreets, and the provision of a sewage system. In many ways for a city barely 6 years old Women's Congress was "reaching out into every rural section of this was a leap of faith. The city fathers were faced with a budget the counh7, pleading for a hearing from women on farms." of over $380,000 in 1911 and of $869,000 in 1912. The city's Neighborhood clubs were formed to discuss the problems of population had grown from about 2,000 in 1905 to more tiian home progress and other subjects of vital interest. In Alberta, 10,000 in 1911 (2). There was an abimdance of optimism in the the farm women's movement was known as the Women's city and in southem Alberta areas where rapid farm settiement Instimte. A branch was formed in Raymond and possibly otiier was occurring. southem Alberta centtes in midsummer 1912. The story of how Lethbridge got the 1912 meeting is one of What was the origin of a movement that sparked such dedication and boosterism sponsored by the Letiibridge Board rf interest? It started out witii a mere handful of men in Denver, Colorado in 1905. It grew to upwards of 15,000 members by Trade. The activity rivals any that have occurred since that time. 1912. Bums (5b) described the Congress as "an altruistic Southem Alberta farmers, caught up in the concepts of a organization, and it has been one of the wonders of modem combination of an agricultural fair and a series of informative organizations. It is devoid of politics or religion: it caters to all meetings began entering exhibits. The first occurred when W. for tiie good of all, and its mission has been carried out in a wide H. Fairfield, Superintendent of Lethbridge Experimental Farm, open policy for advancing agricidture to the high plain it was sent to the Cheyenne Congress (1908). He took with him a worthily deserves, elevating the farm home and increasing the bushel of Alberta Red Wheat for display. It won first prize, and crop yield tiirough systematic scientific tillage and conservation this was the start of a campaign to bring the Congress to of moisture." Letiibridge (L.D.H. October 21, 1912, p. 27). Activity intensified at the Billings (1909) Congress, where Lethbridge, Taber, Macleod and Cardston moimted a side-by-side Alberta exhibit and won second place in the best state or province The Congress was an outstanding success. It was the largest exhibiL An editorial was written entitied "Secure the Congress: gathering of agricultural experts and fanners held to date, some Delegates to Billings Should Think in Terms of Future Meetings 5,000 delegates and an estimated 40,000 saw the exhibits. It was Here" (L.D.H. October 8, 1909). To foster awareness for officially opened by the Lieutenant Govemor of Alberta, the Lethbridge's bid, a large delegation attended the Spokane Hon. G.V. Bulyea, and Saskatchewan's Lieutenant Govemor, Congress, where Alberta won the grand prize for state exhibits. The Hraiourable Martin Burrel who said dry fanning bridges tiie Delegates heard addresses by the Ministers of Agriculture for chasm between science and practice. Ministers of Agriculture, Alberta (Duncan Marshall) and Saskatchewan (W. R. their deputies and some provincial premiers were in attendance. Moflierwell). Individual prizes were won by prairie farmers from Nine distinct sections of the Congress, each with its own both provinces. president and secretary, held concurrent sessions. This included the meetings of the International Conference of Agricultaral Colleges, the originators of the Dry Farming Congress movement. The main convention hall in the new exposition building seated 2^00 delegates. The Congress was an excellent example of cooperation federally, provincially, and INTERNATI interprovincially with all four westem provinces supporting DRV Bf^l Letiibridge's bid and sending exhibits and delegates. CON Prizes (premiums) were also announced at the final session by the Hon. Duncan Marshall, assisted by Miss Edith Hatch, 0- ^ 1912 Congress Queen. The premiums (prizes) varied from a $2,500 Rumley oil pull tractor type F, to grain binders (a John Deere iK-; #5, and eitiier a McCormick or a Deering), various tillage tools, and splendid cups. The tractor went to Henry Homes in Raymond and one binder went to Fort Macleod. These donations illusfrate The Lethbridge post office was permitted to use a special the interest by the manufacturing industry in the work of tiie Dry cancellation stamp to promote the Dry Fanning Congress. It was the Farming Congress. first such stamp permitted by the Post Office in all of Canada. Postmaster EH. Higinbotham and members of the Board of Trade were instrumental in getting the stamp. In 1911 activities intensified at the Colorado Springs Congress. A delegation of about 100 left Letiibridge on a special 8-coach train, which was routed through Denver, and after the Congress retumed via Salt Lake City. The delegation included the city's Scottish Pipe Band (Mayor George Hatch was a piper). The band did a great deal to arouse awareness of Lethbridge's bid for the 1912 Congress. Again Alberta won the grand prize. The delegates heard a cleverly worded invitation by the Honourable Duncan Marshal. He assured the province's support and especially invited the newly formed Farm Women's Congress. The build-up of enthusiasm resulted in the 1911 delegates voting to accept the invitation to hold tiie 1912 Congress in Lethbridge.

1= ••• Among the many activities leading up to the Congress die A ^ following are of interest. To advertise the Congress, postmaster J. D. Higginbottom convinced the Domiiuon postal authorities % ••^M>.^"' to issue a special cancellation stamp advertising the event. Every "^r. letter cleared through the Lethbridge office carried the name and location of tiie conference (a first in Canada). The Letiibridge In 1986 the city redeveloped Henderson Lake as part of its parks Board of Trade, working through the Alberta and Saskatchewan program. A stone cairn was installed commemorating the governments, obtained the services of the Govemor General (The development and the Seventh International Dry Farming Congress. Duke of Connaught), who issued invitations to all foreign countries on the Congress list. Railway companies (both U. S. The author acknowledges the assistance of (he staff of the and Canada) were encouraged to offer special rates. City of Letiibridge Archives and of the Sir Alexander Gait Accommodation for the large crowd posed a problem. Citizens Museum. opened their homes, pubUc buildings were fitted up for sleeping (some 900 cots were rented) and a tent city erected. The Herald References reported (October 14, 1912) ''all will be looked cfter- 1. Johnston, Alex and Andy den Otter. Lethbridge: A accommodation secured for hundreds expected at Dry Farming Centennial History, p. 95. Congress.^'' 2. The Letiibridge Herald's publicity Number 1912. 'Our As early as November 1911 Congress staff, headed by John Civic Progress" p. 1, and 69. T. Bums, Executive Secretary and Treasurer, arrived in 3. The Lethbridge Street Car Story: Pamphlet with map: Letiibridge. They estabhshed an office and 'Tor the next 11 Sir Alexander Gait Museum. montiis chumed out more tiian 800 items and feature articles on 4. Major Christopher R. Kilford, C. D. Letiibridge at War. dry farming to newspapers and magazines all over the world." The Military History of Letiibridge from 1900 to 19%, p. 32. (D- 5. The Morning News, Souvenir Number Oct 1912: refuied to acquire a license for his dog as ordered by the town a. Irma E. Mathews, First Vice President. The police.'^ Intemational Congress of Farm Women. Dogs running around loose could and did lead to problems. b. John T. Bums, Executive Secretary Treasurer. Dry- One, described as "an enormous half bred mastiff, a brutal and Farming and the Congress. savage cur," had attacked several people, had killed at least one of Appendix: Some Conference Highlights the many other dogs it had bitten, and had even attacked a pony being ridden by a young lady. The dog belonged to the wife of a Lord Kitchener made inquiries and a Sudanese delegation was Mounted Police officer and was therefore allowed to continue invited to visit the Congress. Their visit was part of a study unchecked. Finally, in 1888, a Lethbridge constable, who had tour of the U.S.A. on cotton production and of Canada on Dry been attacked and constantly threatened by the beast, took matters Farming (L.H. Feb. 8, 1912). into his own hands and poisoned the animal. The constable was Meetings here were well attended. Past President, Dr. J. H. charged, found guilty and punished for this act, but many, Worst indicated after the opening meetings tiiat tiie attendance including the Commissioner of the Mounties, felt considerable exceeded tiiat of any previous years. Attendance totalled well over sympathy for the constable arui were no doubt pleased when Sir 3,000 (L.H. Oct. 22,1912). John A. Macdonald recommended that the sentence be remitted and that the constable be releasedfrom custody.^ Quotes on Thanksgiving Day (L.H. Oct. 26,1912). Thanks that it is over: The lack of regulation of dogs apparently encouraged individuals to take action as they saw jit. Mere nuisance dogs, as Fritz Sick: "That we have water at all, even if it doesn 't well as vicious ones, suffered as a consequence. Charges of have to be filtered, it's poor drinking, but it makes delightful cruelty to animals were seldom laid. Indeed, the manner in which beer." dogs were treated is one of the indications that maltreatment of Sultan of Turkey: "Not a bit thankful, thank you." animals was a prominent, if frequently overlooked, feature of pioneer society. Bill Taft- "All same my old college chum, the Sultan—only worst." As David Jones informed us in A Funny Bone That Was - his book on the humour of the Medicine Hat News between the Letiibridge: "Because we 're the finest little bang-up city that wars - society's character tttay be viewed through its sense of ever came over the pike and then some." humour. Jokes frequently reveal the commonplace perceptions f Quotes from the address of Dr. John A. Widstoe, (Logan, and attitudes of a time and place. Of course, what is deemed Utah), President, Intemational Dry Fanning Congress (L.H. Oct funny in one era may be considered repugnant in another. n., 1912). Certainly, the viewpoint underpirming the following piece of "humour" which appeared in The Ft. Macleod Gazette, on f. "Drouth is the foe of the farmer. It has been looked upon as November 7,1884, would today be considered objectionable not O'providence of God. Drouth numbers its victims by the tens of merely in its hard-hearted attitiide to dogs but also in the manner thousands, where war and pestilence carry off their thousands of in which it incidentally dismissed the native people as being of victims. In India, for example, during the last 132 years, famines negligible significance. caused by drouths have been the cause of nineteen million deaths. The story repeats itself, though in less appalling numbers, in the The "yaller" dog of the article is one that "yalls," an history of China, Egypt, France and even in Great Britain." alternate form of "yawl," itself an obscure form of "yowl," mecming "howl." Dr. Widstoe commented on the relation existing between the cost of Uving and increasing population. "The arid regions of the world are the sctfety valve of the engine of civilization. They The "Yaller*' Dog. are, as it were, the balance of power." It is often noticeable that, when a "yaller" Indian dog sits On irrigation: "If the moisture which the irrigation systems down, throws bade his head, shuts his eyes, and sings "What are are able to supply is conserved, as it might be conserved, double the wild waves saying," with that expression and modulation of the amount of land already under irrigation could be made tone pecuUar to the "yaller" dog, he seldom gets beyond tiie tiiird productive with the same amount of water in the reservoirs. verse, and die sudden ending gives one an idea that some one has told him to "hire a hall," or to "cheese it" Generally, however, Dr. Widstoe was prophetic in terms of today's discussions. the choking off is no such gentie process. About the middle d" ***********:(! the first verse, everyone in the neighborhood goes for a shot gun; by the second, when he soars up into the high notes, and treats GETTING RID OF A NUISANCE, 1884 the crowd to a few Uttie trills, several have a dead bead on him; by William M. Baker,Department of History, Univ. of Lethbridge and when he stops short in tiie middle of the third, tiiere is a sound like an organist playing "Yankee doodle" with his feet on Introduction the base peddles of a forty horsepower organ, and that dog's mad Photographs of pioneer days frequently include animals. career, and majestic music are ended. Another cur has gone to Horses arui cattle one expects to see, but what is a little walk the golden streets of the dog heaven, and wonder what said surprising are the number of dogs in these pictures, even in him there. urban environments. Of course, there were no rules regulating dogs in the early days, and when by-laws were instituted their enforcement was hcphazard; many citizens resented them and law ^ Lethbridge Public Ubrary, Police Daily Joumals, vol. 5, 33, report enforcement officials were loath to implement them. One of H.M. Parry. Chief Constable, 21 March 1906. illustration of this occurred in 1906 when the commanding ^ National Archives of Canada, RG18, Royal Canadian Mounted officer of the Lethbridge Division of the Mounted Police himself ^ Police Papers, vol. 23, file 573-88. N EWSLETTER Lethbridge Historical Society The Southern Alberta Chapter of the Historical Society of Alberta

P.O.BOX 974 Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada TIJ 4A2

©Ccovi1ami996 Number 5 NEWSLETTER ISSN 0838-7249 September 1996 Membership in the Historical Society of Alberta is $25.00 per year single or $30.00 a couple or family. It includes a subscription to the quarteriy ALBERTA HISTORY, and members residing from Nanton south are also registered with the Lethbridge Historical Society and receive newsletters and notices. (Your mailing label expiration date will be highlighted when it is time to renew) Please send dues to the treasurer. LETHBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFICERS President Wm. (Bill) (Jaunita) Lingard Past President George F. (Josephine) Kush Vice-President Carlton R. (Barbara) Stewart Secretary/Newsletter Editor Irma (Jake) Dogterom Treasurer David J. (Gerry) Dowey Council Member (1996) Douglas J. (Claudia) Card Council Member (1996) Gordon (Rose) Toiton Council Member (1997) Greg (Maria) Ellis Council Member (1997) Richard Shockley (Leslie) Council Member (1998) Jayne (Keith) Mauthe Council Member (1998) Robert (Emerice) Shore

Regular meetingsare held in the Theatre Gallery of the Lethbridge Public Library at 7:15 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the month Meetings and Notices 1920's and '30's, WiU James wrote and iUustrated more tiian 20 books about authentic cowboy Ufe. Some of the stories took 1996 Alex Johnson Lecture ~ Sept. 24 Letiibridge place right here in southem Alberta. PublicLibrary Theatre GaUery 7:30 p.m. Speaker Dr. Ed. Rea, Professor of History University of Manitoba. Topic - Nominations for the Alex Johnson Award of Merit 'The Wheat Pool Is Always Right - Isn't It?'. Prairie should be submitted in writing by September 30. Send the folk, like most agricultural peoples, sunound themselves with name of your candidate to Bea Hales, at 2002 - 5 Ave. South, myths. Their fate is often determined by forces beyond their Letiibridge, AB. TIK 0X3. control-the weather, railways, banks, governments, or ********** international commodity prices. Their capacity to defend their New Books: interests is limited and depends to a great degree on co-{^rative action. So any successful initiative takes on expanded 'There's A Church hi the Valley", a history of Mountain significance. Thus the Wheat Pools, the creation of frustraed Mill Church is now available. 135 pages in length, it Canadian grain producers in the 1920's, have become almost chronicles tiie history of the church from 1906 to the present. sacred instimtions. To criticise them is to forfeit one's prairie The church celebrates its 90di anniversary tiiis year, and has been credentials. But does their record justify their popularity? Does in continuous service since its construction. Copies are ideology obscure performance? Where tiiey, in fact, always available tiirough tiie autiior, James L. George, 79 Tudor Cres. right? Letiibridge, AB, TIK 5C8, or call 1-403-320-0714. v|* v|v ^* •)* «p ^^ «}? *|? *P 3|* The first meeting of the Lethbridge Historical Society 1996/97 season will be held in the Lethbridge Public Historical Markers and Monuments Library Theatre Gallery on October 22 at 7:15 p.m. The Early in tiie life of the Lethbridge Historical Society we speaker to be Dr. Brigham Young Card. His topic "The took an active role in placing markers at historical sites or Diaries of Charles Ora Card". events, e.g. - The Fort Whoop-Up Overlook just soutii of tiie Two notices of motion about reprinting two of the Lethbridge airport, (this site had to be abandoned due to societies publications are included with this newsletter. These vandalism.), tiie site of the First Coal Mine in tiie river valley motions will be brought forward at the October near tiie foot of tiie High level Bridge; and a marker in Gait meeting. Gardens commemorating the First Air Flight across the Rocky The Annual General Meeting is set for Nov. 28 in Mountains by Capt. Hoye in 1919. The executive has rekindled the General Stewart Legion Memorial Hall. The program will this project to cover sites in Lethbridge and Southem Alberta be a sUde/lecture presentation - "Will James, the Canadian Pres. Bill Lingard and Vice Pres. Carly Stewart are moving Connection" by Allan Jensen of Medicine Hat. During the forward on markers recognizing the large contribution tiiat Letiibridge played in WW II by having tiie largest POW camp in by witiiout any response, and I began to assume my request had Canada. This camp closed down on December 22nd, 1946, just been forgotten. Then, one rainy day this spring, my husband and 50 years ago this year. We were fortunate to have the assistance I were retuming from Calgary, and when we passed the bam, we of Major Chris Kilford of the local military before he took his wondered why we hadn't heard Sometimes people are psychic, transfer to an eastem base. Bill and Carly have been doing because when we arrived home, lo and behold there was a preliminary work to obtain a site, prepare rough drafts of the message on the answering machine from Betty. She didn't fed layouts, and sketches of the design, getting prices, and contacting able to give me much information about the bam, but gave me otiier agencies for their support. At the same time, a plaque will the name of Norman Edey, a Nanton resident who was quite be prepared to mark the WW I POW camp which was located at willing to tell me what he knew. the Exhibition Grounds. Anyone with strong feelings or Norman Edey is a spry 81 with many stories to teU. He has concems against such a marker should contact Cariy or Bill, a keen interest in history and has been working witii flie Irricana otherwise we wiU be asking for your approval at the next regular Pioneer Acres Historical group since tibe second year of its meeting of the Society in late October. operation, which would be around 1973. Norm knew a lot about The Society Executive is asking members or friends to tiie bam having Uved on the farm when his fatiier worked for two submit suggestions for a "long Ust" of possible markers. From of the former owners. I called Norm, and on tiie fkst dry this, a "short Ust" wiU compile projects tiiat will be considered Monday in April, my husband and I went to see him. in coming years. Please send your suggestions in writing to We went out to the farm with Norm, and also went to see either Bob Shore or Jayne Mauthe. (All addresses above.) two other bams nearby which I shall deal with first. The second bam belongs to the Eaglesham family, and was built by Taylor The "Smiling" Barn & Shibbs in 1916. It was of interest because it had a 'drive-in loft' on one side. With modem farming methods and machines About eight kilometres, or five miles north of Nanton, there for handling hay and straw this aspect made the bam more useful. is a bam with a distinct 'smile' on its 'face'. My interest in tiie building just right of the highway, started many years ago. I can't say just when we started calUng it The Smiling Bam", but I know it was when my children (bom in the '50's) were quite young. They would watch for it when we drove the HI lUghwaj north.

'\

liagk'shani barn with drive in left The tiiird bam was on tiic Thisticdowu Farm' of Herb and "The Smiling Bam" built in 1919 by Stubbs and Taylor. Aime Shier. It had been built by Percy Taylor in 1919 at a cost A visitor from Holland once insisted on stopping to take its of about $5,000. While botii were a good size, neither of tiiese picture when she was here in the early 80's. This, of course, was two bams were as large as 'the smiling bam'. after its wooden smile had been added. I sometimes thought I should stop at the farm and give them a donation towards keeping it painted. (I later leamed otiiers felt the same way.) In the past it has given me and my family much enjoyment, so in my capacity as editor of the Letiibridge Historical Society Newsletter, I decided to see if I could find out more about it. I called in at the Nanton News last October and asked if they could tell me who owned the property. They gave me a name, but when I called Bev & Mel DePaoU, tiiey tumed out to be ••4p=-W neighbours. She in tum gave me anotiier name. Rick and Becky •-1*-^'" Ament. They proved to be only renting the house. Rick did, however, supply tiie name of the owners ~ Bmce and Betty EUis. I was making progress. I got in touch witii Betty EUis by phone, and if I remember correctiy, it was not the best time. Betty was babysitting a small grandchild who had her on the nm that moming, so I asked for her address and wrote her a letter. I sent along a copy of our Bam on Thistledown Farm, built in 1916. newsletter so she could see what kind of publication I was We stopped at the 'Smiling Bam' first. I had never been talking about and waited quite eagerly for her reply. Time went inside a large bam before I found it very impressive. We hadn't brought along anything to measure it's dimensions, so my top, and the three windows on its south exposure put a face on husband stepped it off and came up with the approximate figure it, long before the wooden 'smile' was added. of 120 feet long, by 40 feet wide (excluding the jut on the south A building such as this requires a lot of upkeep. The side) and about 30 feet high. The interior of tiie bam shows 2 X preparation job of fixing and scraping the peeling areas before 12 plank constmction on 24 inch centres, and when you are applying a fresh coat of paint is an intimidating prospect in inside, the eight foot ceiling seems quite low. It was built as a itself. I stopped in at Freddie's Paints and asked him for a rough horse or dairy bam, so an dght or nine foot ceiling is adequate. I estimate as to cost of such a job, and the figure he came up with climbed tiie stairway to tiie loft, and here is where the bam's size was about $5,000 for preparation and paint. We talked a bit becomes apparent. It is at least twenty feet from the loft floor to about the bam, and he thought it would make a marvelous "Bed the top peak, a great immense space with only supports on the and Breakfast" place. sides. I could just imagine tiie bam dance tiiat could be held there. Nothing was stored in the loft, as the only way to put it Consfructed entirely of wood, it is a wonderful example of tiiere is either up the stairs, or by sling through the old loft door architecture of the past The ventilators on the roof have lost on the south end. Of course the original use of the area was for their tops, and the roof has been partiy covered with steel or storing hay for feed and straw for bedding for the animals kept aluminum, (which would help to cut the cost of painting). The below. This lovely old bam is difficult to adapt to modem lower portion of the nortii side of the roof is still wood. Such a farming requirements. The bottom floor is unsuitable for building today would use stmctural steel for stability and housing machinery because of tiie low ceiling, and the top floor strength, and the end result would be a squarish building with a is not readily accessible. very neat appearance, but litde to boast of in beauty. The first owner of the property was Herb George who sold the land to J.W. Atcheson in 1918. The Atcheson's had only one child, a son CampbeU, who later became a teacher. The Atchesons planted shmbs and trees, and had show cattie and horses. Called Mountain View Stock Farms, the farm was written up in farm papers of the day, as it was considered a show place. The name was painted on the side of the bam facing tiie highway (tiien tiie Macleod Trail), along widi tiie brand 7 S. When J. W. Atcheson purchased the farm in 1918, tiiere were some buildings on it, but a fire razed most of tiiem, and in

1919 the present bam was constructed. Norm said tiie »1 construction firm was called Smbbs and Taylor with offices in High River. He estimated the cost of the bam at that time to be about $7,000.00, a princely sum in 1919. The farm is still i:f known as 'the Atcheson place' even though the Atcheson family left in 1937. In 1937 tiie farm reverted back to Herb George for one reason or another, perhaps because of the depression and Norm Edey and Jake Dogterom in front of the south face of the financial difficulties for Mr. Atcheson. 'Smiling Bam'. In the mid forty's, the farm was sold to Roy Charles The farm was purchased by Bmce and Betty Ellis in the mid Henderson. Norm had a littie story about the sale. It seems '80's. Brace EUis passed away last year, and I don't know if Qayton George, Herb's son, came to Norm's door one evening Betty has any plans for the bam, I sincerely hope it will not be about ten o'clock, quite perturbed. "Let me in Norm! Let me aUowed to deteriorate to the point of faUing down. The more I in!" he said, when Norm answered the door. tiiink about it, I find I agree with 'Freddie' Situated just an hour out of Calgary, tiie home of "The Greatest Show on Earth, - the "Come in, come in, what's the matter, what's got you so Calgary Stampede, it would make a great inn. That huge loft upset" Qayton was carrying a shoe box in his hands, and was obviously very concemed about something. Well it seems, tiie would lend itself to all kinds of things to go with such an shoe box was fuU of money, as Mr. Henderson had paid for tiie endeavour, and the smile on the end of the bam give it instant farm with cash, and as it was late evening, Clayton had to take recognition. care of it until the banks opened the next day and he could make "The Smiling Bam Inn" — I do think it has a nice ring to it a deposit Postscript: When we passed the "Smiling Barn" in early Roy Henderson owned the farm for tiie next fifty years. June, it had a new coat of paint on the south and west sides. The Sometime during this time, a red square was added where the smile is bright again. moutii would be. Then in the early '80's Nap Milroy and his Church in the Valley turns 90 wife Lou stayed on the farm for five summers to look after things for Mr. Henderson. Nap's grandchildren noticed the That is the heading of the Pincher Creek Echo of June 25, semblance of a face and at their insistence. Nap added the boards 1996. "Nestled in the hillside 10 miles west of Pincher Creek to make it smile. "The Happy Face' was now complete. Nap Mountain Mill Church celebrated its 90th anniversary on Sunday told me many people drove into the farmyard to ask about the (June 23) with a congregation of over 50 members bam and its smile. Jim George, author of 'There's a Church in the Valley' Though the boards were added later, the image was there which chronicles the rich history of the chapel, was on hand to much earUer. My children watched for 'the bam witii a face' in present and sign copies of the book. the late fifties, early sixties when they were quite small. The The director of the historical society of the United Church of wooden smile completed the picture, but the architecture of the Canada in Lethbridge said the church was such a fascinating bam is what makes tiie happy face. The rounded eaves at the subject for him because unlike many other small rural churches. it is still in use and has been maintained as it was when it was built. Retiring Rev. Joyce Sasse led the special afternoon service, saying that the chronicling of the church's history will be cherished by generation to come because "the church represents significant occasions in a family's life"

Rev. Sasse has been conducting services at Mountain Mill '•?: on every third Sunday of the month. On Sunday, the congregation voted to call a new minister. Rev. Colleen Bryant."

The article also told some of the history of the church, but as it has been included in a former newsletter, I have just added

this small footnote to the history of this unique church. -lufSK't^-, *************** Ben Martin of Martin Bros, in front of first St. Mary's Church. A Chronicle of St. MARY'S ANGLICAN Located at the north end of 13 th St. on the east side of the street CHURCH, Lethbridge, Alberta. Compiled by according to the 1909 Henderson Directory.. Cheryl Aflcinson, June 14,1996 An element of sorrow accompanies the beginnings of St. St. Mary's Anglican Church had it's beginnings in Mary's as an independent parish. The first Baptism to be Letiibridge during the active coal mining days at the tum of this recorded in the Parish Register is of one Margaret Rome, bom on century. The original congregation was made up of mining February 4, 1910, and baptized on February 5, 1910. Hers is famiUes who came to Southem Alberta from Lancashire, also the first Burial to be recorded - Febraary 6, 1910 - all this England to work in tiie Number 3 Mine. The area where tiiese within a week of the official foundiag of the Parish. The first famiUes setfled, along 13th Street and 13th Avenue North Marriage recorded in flie Register was solemnized between David became known as Littie Wigan, after Wigan, England a miiung Robinson of Michel, B.C. and Martha Crippin of North community in the Midlands. An interesting link between St Letiibridge (bom in Lancashire) on April 15th, 1911. The first Mary's Church and tiie city's first industry is the church bell, Confirmation to be held in St. Mary's Church was celebrated on donated from the first locomotive used in the Lethbridge March 31, 1912 witii Bishop Rnkham presiding. Colliery. It stUl siunmons parishioners to worship on numerous 1912 was an important year in tiiie development of St. occasions every week. Mary's Church. The congregation was quickly outgrowing it's Original records of the first few years at St. Mary's caimot small building, so in the late fall and early winter of that year,, a be located. It is known that in January of 1906 prominent St. new church was constracted adjacent to the old one. The design Augustin's parishioners, CF. Conybeare, C.A. Magrath, R.S. was by C.R. Mathews and the contractor was J. Pearson. The Reeve, F.H. Mewbum, R.E. Sherlock, J.L. StoveU, C.B. new building would seat approximately 200 and was used to Bowman, L.G. Deveber, F.W. Downer. E.A. Cunningham, H.T. celebrate the Christmas services in December of 1912. With the Cherr>' and W.T. Henson collectively guaranteed to cover any addition of a kitchen and a stage, the former church became tiie deficit up to $300.00 for a year in tiie operation of St. Mary's parish hall. The present Church has been used continuously mission. The guarantee expired 1 year later upon payment of tiie since 1912. It is the oldest Church building in Lethbridge still deficit which totalled $ 130.13. being used by it's original congregation. The first service is said to have been held in the home of Mr. and Mrs. George Moore, Nortii Letiibridge. Services were conducted for a number of years tmder the guidance of various lay leaders including Benjamin Martin, (one of the founding members of Martin Bros. Funeral Directors) with the assistance of St. Augustin's clergy. A formal organizational meeting for St. Mary's NUssion was held on April 20, 1908 witii Canon D. Webb, general missionary of the Diocese of Calgary presiding. It is not known when the first church building was constracted, but it was a small strucUure, seating approximately 75 located between 9tii and lOtii avenues on the east side of 13 Street Nortii. At a general meeting held on Jan. 11, 1910, a proposal was made to move tiie church to it's current location on tiie soutii-east comer of 12tii Street "C" and 6tii Avenue Nortii. On February 1, 1910, Bishop Cyprian Pinkham of the Diocese of Calgary issued a deed creating tiie separate parish of i^^^^^^i'^-^-^^r^jr^^:^ St. Mary's, Letiibridge. The first vestry was elected on February Second St. Mar)''s Church. It is the oldest wooden church in 28, 1910. Reverend C.H. Popham was the first Rector, Lethbridge still being used by the same denomination. although church records note the first services were conducted by As is still the practise today, tiie building was consecrated as Reverend W. V. McMillen. soon as the mortgage was paid. The church was dedicated on October 28, 1923 by Bishop Pinkham. An excerpt from tiie Parish. The Cowan family served St. Mary's for 37 years, a Letiibridge Herald reports "He (Bishop Pinkham) had followed term unparalleled in the Diocese. Upon Canon Cowan's the progress of St. Mary's parish from the beginning and had retirement in 1981, the Reverend Michael P. Ebsworth was always taken a great interest in it, knowing what a straggle there appointed Rector of the parish, a position in which he served had been at times to carry on. He congratulated the congregation with distinction until 1994. On July 1, 1995 St. Mary's on the result of their efforts, but especially praised the work cS welcomed the Reverend Sheila M. Whitfle as Rector. She is the the women of the parish, who through the women's Auxiliary first woman to serve in this capacity in an Anglican Church in had undertaken to pay off the entire debt on the church.. This Letiibridge. had taken ten years to accomplish, but showed what could be One last interesting tidbit in St. Mary's history is tile way done by patient, persistent effort. He was very pleased to say the Church's name has changed over the years. The simple St. that since his arrival he had been informed that the parish had Mary's has grown to become Church of St. Mary the Virgin, the planned to pay the entire stipend themselves and forgo the grant name by which it is known today. It is difficult to pinpoint which they had hitherto received from the S.P.G. through the exactiy when this occurred, but is seems to have been sometime diocese of Calgary. They would thus become a self supporting after W.W 11. Interestingly, St Augustin's seems to have added Parish.." an extta "e" to become St Augustine's at around the same time. The original church building was demolished in 1976 to Sources: make way for a new parish haU. This hall, built almost entirely by parish volunteers, is a memorial to Grace and Albert Dainty. Parish Records It was funded by Miss Dainty's bequest to the parish within The Sower (newspaper of the Anglican Diocese of Calgary) January whose bounds on Fifteenth Street Nortii, she had estabUshed her 1976. Women's Hospital. Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Service Bulletin Church of St. Mary the Charies Home Popham was the first Rector (actually styled Virgin. "Curate") of St. Mary's Parish. He was described by a feUow February 1-3, 1985 "In His Service - St Augustine's Lethbridge priest in 1923 as " ...a very eamest man who felt himself called 1886-1976, City of Lethbridge Archives. by God and who had put his heart and soul into the work". In 1916, A. Emest Snow became Rector of tiie parish, serving until Lethbridge Herald, October 27-30, 1923. Special Edition, May 7, 1919, when Stanley C. Ripper became the Rector. Reverend 1966. Snow was praised for his "...unstinting work and splendid self sacrifice during the flu epidemic". The 'Dirty Thirties'! Fr. Ripper remained until 1923, when tiie Reverend W.T.H. As a child in the "Great Depression" it wasn't until later in (WaUy) Cripps became Rector and remained until 1929. In life I realized we would have been classed as 'poor' through the 1929, Fr. Cripps was replaced by tiie Reverend Amold Clay, 'Dirty Thirties'. We were warm, dry, and well fed, witii warm who ministered at St. Mary's untU 1932, when the incumbency clothing for outdoor play. ChUdren don't need more. We didn't was taken up by the Reverend H. Phipps WUliams. At about have an 'allowance', but none of our friends did either. The only tiiis time, St. Mary's Church was used to hold the first Lutheran money we ever had to spend was the odd penny we found in the services held in the City of Lethbridge. stteet, or a visitor might give us a nickel to share with our In 1935, the Reverend Victor Smith became the Rector. He brothers and sisters. You could buy quite a lot with a whole remained until 1941 when the ministry of the Parish was taken nickel. Jawbreakers were five for a penny, suckers were either up by tiie Reverend P.W. Olaf HUl (also Rector of Taber), who two for a penny or one cent each depending on the size. Five served an altemate Sunday ministry with Lay Reader George cents would buy ten jawbreakers and six suckers - a sackful of Frayne. Fr. Hill remained only until 1942, after which time flie candy. On the rare occasion when I had a nickel to spend just on Parish was served by Lay Readers-in-Charge and received myself, I was sometimes tempted by a "Lucky Torpedo". This altemate Sunday supply ministty from Canon Cripps. was a chocolate covered hard candy on a stick sold wrapped in colored foil. There was a band similar to a cigar band aroimd it, and when the band was removed some "Lucky Torpedoes" had a special marking that meant you got a second one free. The agony of deciding whether to risk my whole nickel on one thing in the hopes of getting a second free was almost unbearable, but sometimes I did. An early gambler. Mother made most of our clotiies. She was an excellent seamsttess, and could draft a pattem and copy the designs from the catalog. Girls always wore dresses when I was a child and Mother tumed them out in a short time, with panties and sUps of flour sacking, sometimes as many as twenty items in a week.. The dye of flie brand name was a long time disappearing, panties with '20 lbs when packed' were a running joke at school. Flour sacks also made us warm nightgowns. y' /*^ iiw>iiniiiMiiniiw»ii»MH.itfg'ing to save the first foolish and notions department, women's and children's clothing, and a soul that went tiirough tiie ice. The police had driven around tiie men's wear side. In the center of the store, separating the lake looking for us, but due to the sheltering bank had not seen •groceries and dry goods, was a large candy case, a mouth us. I'm sure the time spent worrying about us contributed to tiie watering display. Mom would write out a list of what she spanking when we got home. We of course, couldn't beUeve she -planted and we would drop it off on our way to school. When we could tiiink we were so dumb as to go on tiie spring ice. She ^ame in the store Mr. Supina would bark at us "What do you must have used a neighbours phone to contact the poUce as we ^aat?" When we told him, he would bark again "Someone look didn't have one. >fter tiiis kid!" (His bark was much worse than his bite.) Witii In tiie winter we skated on the sixteentii stteet outdoor rink. %he grocery list delivered, we would continue on our way to It often meant dodging the pucks as the boys tried to play hockey school. Clerks would box tiie order, and later it would be aroimd us. Our skates were usually second hand either from an deUveredby horse and wagon, with tiie biU tucked into tiie box. older sibling, or ttaded off with a neighbour. Motiier would add it to the others on a biU holder in the kitchen, to be paid at the end of the month. Some months, such as FUes were just anotiier fact of life when we were growing September, when we all needed new shoes for school, she'd be up. Having a cow stable at the end of tiie back yard must have short of funds to pay the biU, but Mr. Supina just told her to contributed to the problem, and seven cMldren running in and out pay what she could and make up the rest when she had the didn't help. I don't tiiink we had screens on the windows either. money. He carried a lot of people when times were reaUy bad, When Dad was due home from work, we'd all be handed a paper and I understand some of tiiem never did pay off tiieir account. fly swatter and told to 'Swat flies'. Fly papers in saucers were always around in fly season. Now, when I have one in the house Sometimes, if Mom needed something in a hurry, she would it is pursued until it's dead. An Australian friend once remarked give us tiie money "to run to tiie store" a distance of about six that ' sure did get upset about a few flies'. blocks. We'd ttot over and pick up what she required and bring tiie item and the change back home. I lost the nickel change on Growing up during the depression we leamed tiiat money my way home once and I was sent back to find it. Fortonately I was hard to come by. Our pleasures were simple. Satisfaction did An occasional Sunday tteat was a "laick" of ice cream. The was gained from doing a good job, whether it was cleaning house older children were usually sent for that, because on a hot on Saturday, helping Mom wash windows, or cleaning the yard summer aftemoon, it could melt quite fast. As soon as the ice every spring. 'Waste not want not' was the motto of the day. cream arrived it was divided up and eaten. "Palm" was the best When we did eam money from baby sitting or odd jobs, some of brand of ice cream. Twenty five cents a brick. DeUcious. it was contributed to the household kitty. We leamed responsibility and independence and it has certainly carried over We had a cow, so we had all the milk we wanted to drink into our families adult Uves. AU tilings in balance, I think we and even supplied some of the neighbours at ten cents a syrap gained a lot from living tiirough 'The Great Depression". pail. The family garden gave us fresh vegetables in summer and a stock of canned vegetables in winter.. Between the canning Mom had done, the milk, and fresh turnips, carrots, and cabbage in the winter we were a healthy lot. We didn't have a lot of meat but baked beans witii pork helped fiU that gap. NEWSLETTER Lethbridge Historical Society The Southern Alberta Chapter of the Historical Society of Alberta

P.O.BOX 974 Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada TIJ 4A2

Number 6 NEWSLETTER ISSN 0838-7249 November 1996 Membership in the Historical Society of Alberta is $25.00 per year single or $30.00 a couple or family. It includes a subscription to the quarterly ALBERTA HISTORY, and members residing from Nanton south are also registered with the Lethbridge Historical Society and receive newsletters and notices. (Your mailing label expiration date will be highlighted when it is time to renew) Please send dues to the treasurer. LETHBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFICERS President Wm. (Bill) (Juanita) Lingard Past President George F. (Josephine) Kush Vice-President Carlton R. (Barbara) Stewart Secretary/Newsletter Editor Irma (Jake) Dogterom Treasurer David J. (Gerry) Dowey Council Member (1996) Douglas J. (Claudia) Card Coundi Member (1996) Gordon (Rose) Totton Council Member (1997) Greg (Maria) Ellis Council Member (1997) Richard Shockley (Leslie) Council Member (1998) Jayne (Keith) Mauthe Council Member (1998) Robert (Emerice) Shore

Regular meetings are held in the Theatre Gallery of the Lethbridge Public Library at 7:15 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the month. Notices The Annual General Meeting of the Historical Society of Alberta has been scheduled for Lethbridge during tiie weekend of May 30, The first meeting of the Letiibridge Historical Society 1996/97 31, and June 1, 1997. If you have any suggestions for season wiU be held in die Lethbridge Public Library Theatte programs, or would like to assist with planning this event, Gallery on October 22 at 7:15 p.m. The speaker to be Dr. Brigham Young Card. His topic "The Diaries of Charles please contact Carly Stewart. Ora Card". Two Notices of Motion from September will be Gordon Toiton has notified the executive he will be unable to brought forward at this meeting. The Society Executive continue as Program Director after completion of his teim. I have approved the reprinting of two of our most popular would like to take this opportunity to offer him many tiianks for publications: Plants and the Blackfoot and The C.P.Rail High his efforts in this capacity. He has endeavoured to bring a Level Bridge at Lethbridge. Approval of the general membership variety of speakers and programs to the LHS meetings and he is now required for the following expenditures: Motion One: will be missed. If any member would like to serve on the That flie Lethlaidge Historical Society approve tl^ expenditure rf Program Committee, please get in touch with the executive. not more tiian $4,500.00 to reprint a book written by Dr. Alex Any suggestions for future programs would be welcome. Johnston entitied Plants and the Blackfoot. Motion Two: That the Lethbridge Historical Sodety approve the expenditure df i»t************** not more that $3,500.00 to reprint a book written by Dr. Alex The Annual General Meeting scheduled for November 28, wiU Johnston entitied The C.P.Rail High Level Bridge at also be the occasion for the election of officers for the coming Lethbridge. Be sure you attend to vote on these motions. year. Nominations for positions can be submitted to the

tf************** executive. Serving your fellow members cmi be very rewarding, and we urge you to consider submitting your name. The Annual General Meeting of the Lethbridge Historical *************** Society is scheduled fw November 28 in the Royal Canadian Legion. The program will have Allan Jensen of Medicine Hat Norman Edey of Nanton has given me another subject to research, with a sUde/lecture presentation "Will James, the Canadian namely the Dyment Farms. Simon Dyment arrived in southern Connection". During tiie 1920's and 1930's WiU James wrote Alberta in 1909 and purchased 9,000 acres in die Nanton/Vulcan mid iUustrated more than twenty books about authentic cowboy area. He continued to farm until 1918 when he sold his holdings for life. Some of the stories took place in southem Alberta. as much as 12 times what he had paid (Purchase price $7.00 per acre, selling price (for one parcel) $90.00 per acre) If you have any Tickets can be obtained from Dave Dowey, address above. information about Mr. Dyment, please contact me. your editor, and thanks to all those people who commented on "The Smiling Bam". LETHBRIDGE Where Are We? And .How Do We Know We're There? by Cariy Stewart At one time the Earth was a pretty large place. Time seems thought comes to my mind: "Would Columbus haveccaisidered to be making it much smaller. From the earliest days in man's his epic joumey to "India" had he known it was almost 7,000 recorded history it was necessary to mark boundaries to divide miles further than what the most up-to-date information of the land and to keep a record of it In ancient Egypt field boundaries day led him to believe?' had to be retraced after each spring's flooding of the Nile and they had to have some means of keeping the records sttaight by the Ptolemy estabUshed his prime meridian passing through the use of "maps7'. The Chinese were using the compass by 2500 Canary Islands. He picmeered the use of latitude and longitude to B.C. record positions on the earth, he may have even invented the terms. His grid system is the basis used in cartography today. "Geometry" means "earth's measurement" in Greek, and He also adopted die sexagesimal system of numbers (based on Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher and mathematician, the number 60 and multiples of 6) that had been developed by the suggested, as early as 600 B.C., that the earth was spherical in Babylonians. From this we have 60 minute hours, 60 second shape. He put geometry on a scientific footing for die first time. His Pythagorean Theorem has practical appUcations even today. minutes, 24 hour days and 360 degrees in a circle. What a wonderful number 360 is, it can be divided equally by nine out of In the 4th Century B.C. another Greek Matiiematician, ten primary numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 & 0). This makes Euclid of Alexandria wrote tiie most advanced tteaty on geometry calculations relatively easy. By the way, tiie degree sign "°" was ever produced. Plato, 427 - 347 B.C., calculated the earth to a hieroglyphic for the sun. We also have each degree divided into have a circumference of 40,000 miles, and Archimedes, 287-212 60 parts or "minutes", and each minute further divided into 60 B.C., approximated it at 30,000 miles. units or "seconds". Ptolemy also made significant improve­ ments to Hipparchus' asttolabe. Yet another Greek, Eratostiienes, 276 B.C. - 196 B.C., devised a method to determine the earth's circumference. He used In flie 1500s, Gerhardus Mercator, a Flemish mafliematician, two cities in Egypt which were thought to be on the same map maker, and geographer, developed a map projection that longimde. The southerly city was thought to be on the Tropic assisted seagoing navigators of the 16th and 17th centuries to of Cancer. The second city, was said to be 500 miles to the determine fliecorrec t course to foUow and aUowed them to locate north. At the Summer Solstice using the mid-day sun, themselves had they gone astray. Mercator is renown for tiie Eratosthenes observed tiiat die sun shone to the bottom of a well map projection that bears his name. His Universal Transverse in the soutiierly city, while at the city 500 miles to the north on Mercator ftojection is a version of what the Alberta Survey the same day, a vertical pole cast a shadow that was equal to Conttol System uses today. l/50th of the circumference of a circle or 7 degrees 12 minutes (He must have had a student or coUeague making observations at Galileo Galilei's invention of the telescope in 1610 one of the locations while he was at the other). Through revolutionized surveying and astronomy by enlarging distant calculation, 1/50 of the circle = 500 miles, then 1 should objects and bringing tiiem nearer to the eye. The work of Kepler flierefore equal (50 x 500) 25,000 miles. Just (0.4%) 101 miles in the early 1600s and Newton in the late 1600s and early 1700s off of the accepted value we use today of 24,899. This when he invented calculus, laid the foundations for geodesy and calculation was remarkable considering all the circumstances, asttonomy and of the accuracy for surveying and mapping of e.g. a series of offsetting errors of the actual positions of the two today. Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777 - 1855) from very humble cities in Egypt They weren't 500 miles apart, but 453, and not beginnings in Germany became "the greatest mathematician of on the same longitude. The southerly city is 3 degrees 30 liis time in the world". He developed many analyses that led to minutes east of the longitude of the northerly one, and the the advancement and expansion of scientific surveys. soutibierly city is some 37 miles nortii of tiie Tropic of Cancer. The Earth's Surface In Longitude and Latitude In about 150 B.C. Hipparchus invented the asttolabe to The Earth's axis is not a stable point, it reportedly wobbles, measure the vertical angles to the sun and stars above the earth's moving in a predetermined path as govemed by "unearthly" horizon. In the first century A.D.,aaudius Ptolemy produced a forces that few understand and certainly is far beyond my vast document that was used for a period of 1400 years until capabilities to convey to you. Scientists in a consensus averaged Copernicus in the 1500s disproved that the heavens moved these out and determined the pinpoints on the earth's surface for around the eartiii. Ptolemy also produced an 8-volume works the North and South Poles, the axis. From the axis fliey entitied "The Geography" or "Insttuctions in Map Drawing". He calculated a line on the outer surface of the earth equidistant from dien plotted die locations of 8000 known places (cities, islands, the poles. They titied this line as the "equator" or zero degrees. mountains etc,) most of which were theoretical, as exact Lines that ran east and west are called among other names locations had not been accurately surveyed. ParaUels of Latimde and run parallel to the equator. Many years ago clever mafliematicians as mentioned before, divided die circle In his map making, Ptolemy's greatest error was in the into 360 segments or 360 degrees. I suppose the group of calculation of the position of the equator. He was out by 400 people who met many years later in Paris to agree upon the miles to the north. This resulted in his calculation of the Metric System were no dummies either. They may have distance between each degree of longitude on die equator to be 50 discussed breaking a circle into 100 or 1000 divisions but wisely miles instead of 70. These errors lead to the assumption that reconsidered. the earth had a curcumference at flieequato r of oitiy 18,000 miles (360 X 50) and a somewhat distorted picture of the 8,000 When latimdes and longitudes were determined, they used the positions on his map, however, it was a great step forward. The theoretic centte of the earth as a starting point measuring directiy out from tiie axis to tiie equator as Zero "0" degrees, tiien botii TABLE: (lengths between lines of longitude as calculated at certain off to the north and south in one "Degree" segments, 90 Degrees degrees of latitude and measured along that latitude.) ending at die axis (North and South Poles). They subdivided Earth's Circumference Length Length Length these one "Degree" segments into units of 60 calUng tiian Latitude (miles) (miles) (feet) (feet) "Minutes", and further subdivided the 1-Minute units into 60, Around EARTH of 1 of 1 orl calling them "Seconds". This resulted in dividing the distance on the latitude Degree Minute Second between die poles into 180 Degrees x 60 Minutes x 60 Seconds Long. Lone. Long. = 648,000 equal units. O»(equator) 24,899 69.164 6.087 101.45 Next they divided the earth East/West in a similsff manner 49»NorS 16.310 45.31 3,987 66.45 50'NorS 15,980 44.39 3.906 65.11 calling fliese mcrements "Lines of Longitude" which converge at 89°N or S 434.8 1.21 106.48 1.77 both Poles. A starting point was needed, and was called die "Rime Meridian". Prior to 1884 various "Prime Meridians" Early Surveying in Canada existed in different counties. This made map making and calculations very difficult to read or foUow, as one would have to Early imvigators and surveyors tiiat affected North America convert to suit the condition die map was made imder. In 1884, were of course all tiie explorers who visited our shores and by intemational agreement it was decided tiiat the Zero or Prime further inland: Columbus, Cabot, Frobisher, Hudson, Cartier, Meridian of longitude would pass through the Royal Champlain, GroseilUers and Radisson to mention a few. Eariy Astronomical Observatory in Greenwich, England. This then settiements were estabUshed in , and riverswer e their meant the 180" line of longimde (where East and West met on highways. When the land was divided into plots, the system of the other side of the Earth) passed largely through open ocean. division was known as the seigniorial system. Although die Therefore the complications made by the necessity of the system worked weU for Church, social and defensive reasons, Intemational Date Line affected die least number of tiie worid's there was Uttie or no uniformity. It resulted in the compUcated population, and came at a position which, during that time, very division of lands that exists in Quebec and to a somewhat lesser few people ever crossed as compared witii East/West travel across degree in Ontario, and was further complicated when these plots the "Prime Meridian". Again, each one degree of longitude was were subdivided down to the next family generation. Originally, subdivided into 60 minute segments and further subdivided the 1- most plots had a narrow frontage along the banks of the rivers minute units into 60 seconds. This tiien divided tiie east and and extended quite far back from the riveri n paraUel Unes. These west circumference of die eartii into: 2 x 180 degrees x 60 "river lots" or "settiement surveys" can still to be found today in minutes x 60 seconds = 1,2%,000 units. the Edmonton, Fort Saskatchewan and Lac La Biche areas of Alberta. When using fliis Longitodinal and Latitudinal system of determining points on tiie earth's surface, one would multiply On May 2, 1670 King Charles granted the "Govemor ai^ flie number of units North/Soutii (648,000) by tiie number of Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson Bay", units East/West (1,296,000) you can see tiiat tiiere is a large (later shortened to the Hudson's Bay Company or HBC), a number of points on tiie earth's surface that can be identified by charter. The Charter (die largest ever in British history) gran^d this means. sole right of trade into the basin of the Hudson's Bay and beyond to include all country and riversint o which the HBC could fiiftd I calculate these "points", (acttially not points but rather passage from their own area. Did King Charles really know how small plots, blocks or tiles of tiie eartii's surface), could vary in much land this encompassed? area tte further north or south you ttavel away from the equator ("zero" degree latittide). Near tiie equator each plot or block The HBC was quick to grasp the richness of their domain would be die largest, (0°, 00", 01' N or S) one block would and to expand into the unknown. Firstiy in 1690 they sent cover an area about 101.25 feet x 101.25 feet or 10,251.56 Henry Kelsey to search the interior and to persuade the natives square feet about the size of 2 city lots - not very large. Nearer there to trade with the HBC. His joumeys took him to the south die poles diese areas would remain about 101.2 feet deep (Nortii eastem edges of what is now Alberta. In 1754 Anthony Henday and South) but would become exttemely narrow, e. g. at 89°, ttaveUed across tiieplain s for tiieHB C and is said to be the first 00",00' N or S I calculate each Second to be appxiximately white person to have seen the Rocky Mountains from the east (1.77 feet) 21.24 inches East and West Navigators, surveyors side. Samuel Heame travelled into tiie "Barren Lands" to die and others may not use these longitudinal "Second" units of North. Peter Pond of the competing Northwest Company measurement in die very high latitudes. When tiie Imperial journeyed extensively. He drew a number of maps of Westem system of measurement was in vogue, they further proceeded Canada with geographical references, and reported die existence of accuracy in feet and tentiis of a foot Today's Canadian surveys, the Methy Portage, an overland route by which one could reach and maybe other countries, use metric measurements which are die Qearwater and Peace River systems which lead to the Arctic read: 'x' mettes Nortii or Soutii of the Equator and 'x' mettes Oceaa East or West of a certain zone. They measure to three dedmal Philip Tumer was tiie first official HBC surveyor. He did points of a mette which is accuracy to the closest miUimette or considerable surveying in tiieirterritor y and did the first scientific about the thickness of a dime - far beyond the accuracy I indicated work in tiie Canadian West. Tumer ttained Peter Fidler who for tiiel