‘Twas Once a Teeming Highway Historical sketches from along The Boundary Commission Trail A Story for Every Mile Volume 4 Researched and edited by Felix G. Kuehn Founding President of the Boundary Commission NWMP Trail Association 1 THE OLD TRAIL A mark there is – ‘twas once a teeming highway. By settlers travel‐trod in days of yore; 'Tis sunk with time ‐ a now‐forgotten byway, A faded track, deep hid in leafy mold; Where one may search in vain and scarcely feel Old scars of hoofs, and ox‐carts creaking wheels. But o'er the golden fields and prairie grasses A little ridge yet marks its onward way, And through old minds the vision often passes Of long, hard trips they made in other days. We have our graded roads ‐ our iron rail, And memory claims "The Old Commission Trail." This life is but a trail o'er which we wander On through the years, as swiftly time flies back, On to Life's goal, towards the bright "Up Yonder," Leaving behind ‐ perhaps a fading track, Perhaps a broad, bright road o'er hill and hollow, Making a pleasant trip for those who follow. To you, Old Timer, these rough rhymes are offered, To you, who knew that trail in days of yore, To you, whose ready help was ever proffered, Cheering the stranger, travel‐stained and sore; Trusting that some crude line may hit the spot, And wake again some memory, half forgot. ‐A.O. Berry The author of this poem was the editor of the Darlingford weekly newspaper, The Comet, from 1908‐1913. Originally he had come to the community as a CPR employee but in January 1907 was forced to give up his position as the local station agent because of his poor health. He then started a community newspaper, a rather daring enterprize considering that the village had hardly more than two hundred residents. Nevertheless he was able to make it a paying proposition until 1913, when in better health, he accepted a position as a telegraph operator and CPR station agent in Saskatoon. 2 PART I FROM THE ANCIENT PAST TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS 1. Chalk and Ashes: The Cretaceous Fossils of the Pembina Escarpment 2. A Thatch of Russian Thistle: The Coal Mines of the Turtle Mountain Country 3. Agates and Petrified Wood: The Pre‐glacial Rivers of Southern Manitoba 4. Enter the Glaciers and the Mammoths: The Glacial Period with Special Reference to the Mammoth Fossils discovered near La Riviere and Boissevain 5. Before there were Bows and Arrows: Paleo‐Indian Culture in Southern Manitoba 6. Burial Mounds and Underground Sepulchres: The Mound Builders of the Southern Manitoba 7. The Staff of Life: Buffalo 8. Forgery for the Sake of Love: The Saga of the La Verendrye Cairn 9. Cash or the Canadian West: The International Boundary Commission 10. From Moscow to Melbourne: The North West Mounted Police 11. Over the Stove to the Baby: The West Mennonite Reserve 3 PART II FROM EAST TO WEST 1. Emerson ‐ House Brand Cigars and a University 2. West Lynne ‐ Meeting on a Historic Site or A Forged Proclamation in a Blizzard 3. Brown's Grand Central Hotel – Pretty Steep at $2.00 a Day or Champagne at $5.00 a Bottle 4. Stodderville ‐ At the Foot of Allard’s Point or The Archbishop's Uncles 5. Mountain City ‐ The Last Spike or The County Town of Hamilton County 6. Alexandria ‐ On the Banks of the Great River Euphrates or In his Loneliness in the City of Alexandria 7. Calf Mountain Hotel ‐ Of Modern Architecture with Something of a Rustic Appearance 8. Calf Mountain ‐ What's in a Name? or All Roads lead to...a very Curious Hill 9. Darlingford – Confusing Complexities of Nomenclature or A Mine of Happiness in a Dug‐Out 10. Pembina Crossing ‐ So Near, and Yet, So Far or Lots of Singing every Night 11. Ruttanville ‐ W. D. Ruttan or Service without Delusions 12. Treble's Halfway House ‐ A Doorstop with a History 13. Crystal City ‐ A City Large in the Determination of its Inhabitants 14. Clearwater ‐ The Long River Depot or Outrivalling even the ambitious Brandon 15. Cartwright ‐ Perpetuating the Fame of the Great Mixer and Muddler 16. Pancake Lake ‐ Supper Along the Trail or Six Men in a Bed (With a Chair on the Cookstove) 17. Wakopa ‐ The Turtle Mountain Depot or The White Father First Along the Trail 18. Desford ‐ A Dominion Land Office in a Tent 19. Wassewa ‐ So Let Your Light Shine before Men 20. Whitewater ‐ The Boiler Trail or The Detour around Skull Swamp 21. The Turtle Mountain Land Office ‐ Turtle Mountain Fever or A Two‐Day Wait 4 22. Deloraine ‐ A Barrel of Pork, A Barrel of Flour and a Hair's Breadth from a Scalping Party 23. Montefiore ‐ Northern Italy in Southern Manitoba or The Lord Mayor of London? 24. Sourisford ‐ The Best Laid Plans o' Mice and Men or The Director of the Bank of Glasgow 25. Butterfield ‐ Thirty‐eight Days and Seven Gothic Arches 5 FOREWORD This volume, the seventh published by the Boundary Commission NWMP Trail Association, includes much of the material assembled during the research for the Association’s first publication, A Guide to the Historic Sites Along the Trail. As noted in the introduction to that volume, Felix Kuehn, founding president of the association, undertook several months of intensive research in order to write the text for a brochure highlighting the history of the Boundary Commission NWMP Trail. In August 1991, upon the completion of this research, the Trail Association published an eight‐panel brochure. The text of this brochure utilized approximately 5% of the history collected during Mr. Kuehn’s research. This volume is the remaining 95%. In presenting this material, it is the author’s hope that readers of this collection will realize that the history of southern Manitoba does not have to play second fiddle to the annals of any other corner of the world. For old‐fashioned romance, heroic undertakings, youthful enthusiasm, heartbreaking tragedy and gentle humour stories from southern Manitoba are a match for those from the Orient, the Deep South, the Australian Outback or the Rhine. There is, of course, a fundamental difference, one that no one will dispute. In comparison to so many other parts of the world, southern Manitoba has just begun to document the saga of our province’s founding and the role played in those early years by our valiantly optimistic pioneers. The histories of many other parts of the world already fill libraries; those of southern Manitoba still fit on one bookshelf. This volume is made up of two main section. “From the Ancient Past to the Good Old Days” chronologically outlines the history of southern Manitoba beginning with the ancient eras. This is a period whose history is written in the rocks and streams, in the soils and landscapes of the first row of Manitoba municipalities bordering the Forty‐Ninth Parallel. These are the narratives of millions of years ago interpreted for us by the geologist and the scientist who can introduce us to the age of the ancient sea reptiles and continent‐crushing glaciers. This portion of this study provides the reader, not with a comprehensive history, but rather with a series of insights as far as “the Good Old Days” of the Mound Builders and the Indians and the arrival of La Verendrye, the International Boundary Commission and the Mennonites. The second portion examines the history of southern Manitoba from a different perspective, Here the narratives begin at the Red River and follow the Trail until it leaves Manitoba. Thus its title is “The Lay of the Land from East to West.” After beginning with the story of Emerson, the narrative moves across the level plains of the Red River Valley and ascends the uplands of the Pembina Mountain Country. The next stories are those of the communities of the Rock Lake Country and the prairies to the west. This section concludes with a series of narratives from the Turtle Mountain Country and the Souris River district. 6 PART I From The Ancient Past To The Good Old Days 1. Chalk and Ashes: The Cretaceous Fossils of the Pembina Escarpment 2. A Thatch of Russian Thistle: The Coal Mines of the Turtle Mountain Country 3. Agates and Petrified Wood: The Pre‐glacial Rivers of Southern Manitoba 4. Enter the Glaciers and the Mammoths: The Glacial Period with Special Reference to the Mammoth Fossils discovered near La Riviere and Boissevain 5. Before there were Bows and Arrows: Paleo‐Indian Culture in Southern Manitoba 6. Burial Mounds and Underground Sepulchres: The Mound Builders of the Southern Manitoba 7. The Staff of Life: Buffalo 8. Forgery for the Sake of Love: The Saga of the La Verendrye Cairn 9. Cash or the Canadian West: The International Boundary Commission 10. From Moscow to Melbourne: The North West Mounted Police 11. Over the Stove to the Baby: The West Mennonite Reserve ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. CHALK AND ASHES The Cretaceous Fossils of the Pembina Escarpment It is appropriate to begin our narrative with a few words touching upon the oldest geological periods evident in southern Manitoba, the Cretaceous dating back, according to the geologists, from 100 to 65 million years. Evidence of this era is especially visible along Hwy. #3 as it descends into the Pembina Valley east of La Riviere. Here the roadway has been cuts through massive deposits of brittle grey shales towering upward, in some places, forty or fifty feet. Often streaked with brilliant orange and red highlights, these shales were formed as deposits on the floor of immense salt seas.