Forest Prairie Edge

by Merle Massie

  125 For the individual family histories, see Cordwood and Courage, “Bentz, John and Dagmar,” “McGowan, Sargent and Muriel,” “Goplen, Axel and Betty,” “Wiberg, Ernest and Jean,” “Wiberg, Clarence and Lorna,” and “Wiberg, Allan and Clara.” The Norman McGowan history is found in As Far As the Eye Can See.

  126 Bowen, “Forward to a Farm,” 226.

  127 Archer, Saskatchewan, 240.

  128 Mrs. Bailey and her family went north in 1937. See “The Year We Moved.” See also Fenske, Riverlore.

  129 Fitzgerald, “Pioneer Settlement,” 350.

  130 Census of the Prairie Provinces 1946 Volume I. Population by census subdivisions, nos. 519, 520, and 521.

  131 Fitzgerald, “Pioneer Settlement,” 352.

  132 The Prince Albert census district population dropped from 89,036 in 1941 to 83,776 in 1946 and 81,160 in 1951. Its population in 1931 was 83,703. See Census of the Prairie Provinces, 1946. North Battleford census district dropped from 53,212 in 1941 to 45,211 in 1951. Nipawin dropped from 65,166 in 1941 to 61,615 in 1951.

  133 Census of Canada, 1951.

  134 McDonald, “Soldier Settlement and Depression Settlement,” 35.

  135 Wood, Places of Last Resort, 182.

  136 Census of Canada, 1951.

  137 An overview of farm changes during the 1940s is found in Andal, Changes in the Farms.

  138 Northern farms continued to operate as livestock and mixed farms; on the prairies, farms closer to urban centres began to specialize. Many that had been mixed farms became exclusive dairy farms. Others remained grain farms. See Andal, Changes in the Farms, 6.

  139 Income on the farms in the northern areas exceeded that on farms in the west central area in 1947. See Andal, Changes in the Farms, 35.

  140 SAB, RC 236, C67, Box 12, Royal Commission on Agriculture and Rural Life. Community brief, Paddockwood, 4. See “Kirychuk, Emil and Polly” in Cordwood and Courage, 309–10. More of the newly patented land was sold to returned soldiers, such as Allan and Clarence Wiberg and John Bentz.

  141 The Red Cross Outpost Hospital closed its doors in 1949. Better roads to Prince Albert and a shortage of nursing staff, however, contributed more to its closure than did local population statistics. See Massie, “Ruth Dulmage Shewchuk.”

  142 Province of Saskatchewan, Royal Commission on Agriculture and Rural Life, “Movement of Farm People.”

  143 Prince Albert Daily Herald, 29 April 1966, “Paddockwood Homesteads First Taken Up in 1911.”

  144 The community pasture project along the northern parkland/forest fringe (other projects included Hafford and Fairholme, for example), was a late offshoot of the community pasture projects initiated by the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration during the 1930s in the drought regions. See Abramson, A Study of the Effects of Displacement on Farmers.

  145 Other reasons included the closing of the local school; Moose Lake’s situation at the edge of the forest (there was no agricultural development further north); the creation of highway Number Two which replaced the Montreal Lake Trail; and the need for additional pasture land to support the stock base of north Paddockwood farmers.

  146 See Abramson, Effects of Displacement on Farmers, 74.

  147 Regina Leader, 17 October 1931. The journalist was probably W.J. Mather, who published a similar article, with similar phrasing, in Maclean’s magazine, 1 April 1932.

  148 See Bennett and Kohl, Settling the Canadian and American West.

  149 “Rambling Thoughts by a Prairie Immigrant,” Cordwood and Courage, 637.

  Conclusion: South of the North, North of the South

  1 Usher, “The North: One Land, Two Ways of Life,” 483.

  2 Coates and Morrison, Forgotten North.

  3 Merasty, “History of Little Red River Reserve,” 10.

  4 “The Claxton Family,” in Tweedsmuir, 52.

  5 See Quiring, CCF Colonialism; Bone, “Saskatchewan’s Forgotten North.”

  Bibliography

  Unpublished Sources

  Dunn, Margaret. Diary. From the collection of Bryce Dunn, Paddockwood. Copy in Merle Massie Private Collection (MMPC).

  McGowan, Sargent Ernest. “The Key Is in the Horse,” unpublished manuscript, c. 2001–02. MMPC.

  ———. “Under the Raven’s Nest,” unpublished manuscript, 2005. MMPC.

  Interviews by the Author

  Andrews, Howard. Candle Lake, 10 November 2008.

  Austin, Lester. Paddockwood, 11 November 2008.

  Dobie, Edna. Prince Albert, 12 November 2008.

  Dunn, Bryce. Paddockwood, 5 July 2006, 11 August 2007.

  Elliott, Charlie. Paddockwood, 10 November 2008.

  Hansen, Palmer and Frances. Spruce Home, 11 August 2007.

  Swenson, Miriam. Prince Albert, 12 November 2008.

  Wiberg, Clara. Prince Albert, 12 November 2008.

  Wiberg, Jean. Prince Albert, 12 November 2008.

  Archival Collections

  Library and Archives Canada

  Canadian Film Board, V1 2008-12-0004. Freighting in Northern Canada.

  Canadian National Railways fonds RG 30. Graphic material.

  Indian Affairs files, RG 10, vol. 2656, file 9092; vol. 3601, file 1754; vol. 7766, file 27107-4 part 2; vol. 3815, file 56622; C12112, vol. 7839, file 30107-4; vol. 7553, file 41, 107-1, C14818.

  Parks Canada fonds, vol. 1726, microfilm reel T-11266. “Vidal’s Point Park, History and Establishment.”

  Saskatchewan Archives Board

  A 241. Manuscript Division. Reminiscences of Skuli Bachman.

  A 281. Christina Bateman fonds. “Northern Saskatchewan Holiday.” Our Legacy website, http://scaa.sk.ca/ourlegacy, database ID 27383.

  AG 2-7. Department of Agriculture files. General file. Application for Free Shipment of Settler’s Effects.

  B11 10. Richmond Mayson fonds.

  B11 13. Department of Agriculture. Prince Albert Board of Trade.

  Cummins Map Company, map Sask. 258, 1922 and 1930.

  F375 S2005-15. Lucy Margaret Baker fonds.

  MA 3.31. Municipal Affairs fonds. Northern Settlers Re-Establishment Branch files.

  MA 3.8. Local Improvement Districts Branch, Northern Settlers Re-Establishment Branch.

  Matte, G.J., Commissioner, Northern Settlers Re-Establishment Branch. Address over Station CJRM, 31 January 1939.

  Microfilm S.183. Records of Premier William Martin. Soldier Settlement files.

  Morton Manuscript Collection. S-A32, vol. IX. Historical Geography.

  Morton Manuscript Collection. Mss C555/2/10a. “Prince Albert: Europe’s Easiest Way”; Prince Albert Board of Trade, 1910; 10b, “Prince Albert, Saskatchewan: The Ideal Spot for the British Settler”; 10c, “Prince Albert, Saskatchewan: The Easiest Way,” c. 1911; 10d, “Prince Albert Investments: Issued Monthly in the Interests of Prince Albert and Vicinity,” November 1911.

  MS W586. Whelan, W.W. “Echoes of Yesterday.” Unpublished manuscript. NR 1/1. Department of Natural Resources, F-400-F/EL Forestry, Emma Lake, 1930. “Emma Lake Outing Club.”

  NR 5, B.12.9. Crown Timber Agency files.

  Ra 220 102; Ra 200 b 20; Ra 400 2a. Department of Railways files.

  R-A1384. Interview. Albert Russell. Prince Albert. 12 July 1978.

  R-A1387. Interview. Stuart I. Dawley. Prince Albert. 7 July 1978.

  R-A1388. Interview. Albert Davey. Prince Albert. 17 July 1978.

  R-A1389. Interview. Axel Olson. Prince Albert. 14 July 1978.

  R-A1390. Interview. Mrs. Thomas Harvey. Prince Albert. 27 October 1978.

  R-A1393. Interview. Dave Giesbrecht. Prince Albert. N.d.

  R-A1396. Interview. Bill Cheyney. N.d.

  R-A1397. Interview. Harold Read. N.d.

  R-A1398. Interview. Mary Read. N.d.

  R-A4535. Photogra
ph by William James.

  R-1385, R-1386. Interview. Odias Cartier. 12 July 1978.

  R-9218. Interview. Irene Johns. 7 February 1984.

  R-A92222. Interview. France Nolan. Prince Albert. 4 July 1983.

  RC 236, file C67, box 12. Royal Commission on Agriculture and Rural Life. Community Brief, Paddockwood.

  R-5. F.H. Auld papers. Miscellaneous Correspondence no. 11, “The Problem of Saskatchewan.” Paper presented by J.G. Taggart, Minister of Agriculture, and E.E. Eisenhauer, Irrigation Specialist, at the General Professional Meeting of the Engineering Institute of Canada, Ottawa, 15 February 1939.

  R-73. Richmond A. Mayson fonds.

  R-183 I.352; R-183 I.290. Department of the Interior, Dominion Lands Branch fonds.

  R-249. Royal Commission on Immigration and Settlement. Vol. 35, 87-103; vol. 36.

  R-261, file 26.5. Saskatchewan Department of Agriculture, Soldier Settlement branch.

  R-266.1; R-266 no. 1644; R-266.IV.40. Department of Agriculture fonds. “Homestead Entries 1905 to 1943 by Land Agencies and Census Divisions.”

  Saskatchewan School District Jubilee Histories. “Alingly School District Jubilee History,” 1955.

  S43 R2004-220. Post-1930 settlement files, homestead records.

  S-Q80, S2000-51. Webb, John. “Forward: Legal Surveys of Prince Albert National Park, Waskesiu, Saskatchewan.” Unpublished document.

  University of Saskatchewan Archives

  Davis Family fonds, f373.

  Homemakers Clubs of Saskatchewan fonds, 2109, boxes 14 and 15. “Paddockwood Red Cross Outpost Hospital Record of Patients 1920–1947”; “A History of the Paddockwood Homemakers Club,” c. 1980; “History [of] Prince Albert District Homemakers”; “Paddockwood”; “Monthly Highlights of Paddockwood Homemakers Club,” c. 1982.

  RG 13 S.2. Year Books, Murray Point, 1936.

  Prince Albert Historical Society (Bill Smiley Archives)

  File 76-58. Lockhart-Smith, C.J. “Indians of Montreal Lake.”

  File 694b. Soldier Settlement documents.

  File 705b. Dice, Richard. “Alingly and Surrounding Districts.”

  H series H-515. Teepee Tea Room.

  Local history fonds, Buckland. “From Ox-Team to Combine: Local History of Buckland District.”

  Surveyor’s maps. Township maps. Department of the Interior.

  Timber maps. Shelf 18.

  Walter Whelan scrapbook. Oversize shelf 29.

  Paddockwood Museum

  Elk Range Community Club records.

  Paddockwood Pow-Wow, diamond jubilee edition, 1965. “Down Memory Lane.”

  “Paddockwood: The Mixed Farming Paradise of Saskatchewan.”

  Reminiscences of Orlin Elliott.

  Prince Albert National Park Archives, Waskesiu

  Department of the Interior. Modern Voyageurs, 1931. Silent movie.

  “HBC Post at Red Deer Lake, Saskatchewan,” 24 March 1969 (historical material on Red Deer Post compiled by HBC Archives, Winnipeg).

  Lumby Production Company. Giants of Their Time: The Lumberjack,” c. 1970s.

  Glenbow Archives

  Canadian Red Cross Society, Alberta-North West Territories Division fonds. M8228 Series 6a-24; 6b-226.

  Photograph collection.

  Friends of Prince Albert National Park, Waskesiu

  Department of the Interior, Sturgeon Lake Forest Reserve map c. 1925.

  Local History Books

  Archer, J.H., and the Lake Katepwa Historical Society. Lake Katepwa: Memories of Yesterday with Notes for Today. Fort Qu’Appelle, SK: Lake Katepwa Historical Society, 1984.

  As Far as the Eye Can See: Weyburn RM 67. Weyburn RM 67 History Book Committee. Regina: Focus Publishing, 1986.

  Atkinson, Rita, ed. The History of Lakeland, Paddockwood, and Tweedsmuir: Progress in Harmony with Nature. RM of Lakeland, 2005.

  Buckland’s Heritage. Buckland History Book Committee. North Battleford:Turner-Warwick Printers, 1980.

  Cordwood and Courage. Paddockwood and District History Book Committee. Altona, MB: Friesen Printers, 1982.

  Department of Natural Resources. Resource Tales and Trails. Regina: Print West Communications, 1994.

  DiLella, Anna-Marie, in collaboration with the settlers of Dore Lake. A Look at the Past: A History of Dore Lake, Saskatchewan. Dore Lake Historical Society. Altona, MB: Friesen Printers, 1983.

  Dunn, Bryce. “Yesteryears Reflections: A Pictorial and Written History of Times Past Seen through the Eyes of a Boy Who Lived Those Times to the Fullest.” Self-published, n.d.

  Footprints of Our Pioneers: Briarlea, Crutwell, Holbein, Nibet, Rozilee, Wild Rose. Wild Rose and Area History Book Committee. Altona, MB: Friesen Printers, 1990.

  From Bush to Grain: A History of Albertville, Meath Park, and District. Meath Park History Committee. Altona, MB: Friesen Printers, 1984.

  Fur, Fish, and Forest: A Candle Lake Legacy. Lake History Book Committee. Altona, MB: Friesen Printers, 1991.

  Lavigne, Solange. Kaleidoscope: Many Cultures—One Faith. Muenster, SK: St. Peter’s Press, 1990.

  Our Harvest of Memories. Shell River North History Committee. Altona, MB: Friesen Printers, 1983.

  Prince Albert Outing Club, Round Lake, Saskatchewan, 1905 to 1990. Prince Albert: Prince Albert Outing Club, 1990.

  Tweedsmuir: Community and Courage. Tweedsmuir History Committee. Prince Albert: Campbell Printing, 2006.

  Film Documentaries

  Corrigal, Jeanne. Jim Settee: The Way Home. Saskatoon: Inner Nature Productions, 2009.

  The Story of the Crescent Lake Métis: Our Life on the Road Allowance. Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2002.

  Newspaper Sources

  Globe and Mail

  London Times

  Prince Albert Advocate

  Prince Albert Daily Herald

  Prince Albert Times

  Regina Leader

  Regina Leader-Post

  Regina Post

  Regina Times

  Saskatchewan Farmer

  Saskatchewan Times

  Saskatoon Star-Phoenix

  Western Producer

  Government Sources

  Canada

  The Canada Gazette 60, 49 (4 June 1927).

  Census of the Prairie Provinces 1946, Volume I: Population. Ottawa: Minister of Trade and Commerce, Census Division, 1946.

  Department of the Interior. Annual Reports, 1920–39.

  ———. Lands Branch. Annual Reports, 1920–30.

  ———. Natural Resources of the Prairie Provinces: A Brief Compilation Respecting the Development of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, 1925.

  Environment Canada, Lands Directorate. “The Agriculture-Forest Interface: An Overview of Land Use Change,” by Michael Fox and Sandra Macenko, Working Paper 38, 1985.

  House of Commons. Sessional Papers, 1894, vol. 27, no. 11, app. 10, “Annual Report of the Department of Marine and Fisheries.”

  ———. Sessional Papers, 1897, vol. XLII, no. 12.

  ———. Sessional Papers, 1909, vol. 25, 8–9, Edward VII A.

  Senate. Debates, 1907.

  Soldier Settlement Board. “Ninth Report of the Soldier Settlement of Canada,” 1931.

  “Soldier Settlement on the Land.” Report of the Soldier Settlement Board, 31 March 1921.

  Statutes of Canada, 13–14 Geo. V, c. 44.

  Saskatchewan

  Andal, M.E. Changes in the Farms of West Central and Northern Saskatchewan, 1942–43 to 1947. Ottawa: Department of Agriculture, Marketing Service Extension Division, 1951.

  Department of Agriculture. Annual Report, 1909.

  ———. Saskatchewan (booklet), 1909.

  Department of the Environment. A Study of Land and Water Use at Emma and Christopher Lakes, final report, Marc
h 1976.

  Information Services Corporation (ISC). Dominion Land Grants, RM of Paddockwood No. 520.

  Province of Saskatchewan. Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Farming Conditions, 1921.

  ———. Royal Commission on Agriculture and Rural Life. Movement of Farm People. Regina: Queen’s Printer, 1957.

  ———. Sessional Papers, 1925.

  ———. “A Submission by the Government of Saskatchewan to the Royal Commission on Dominion-Provincial Relations,” 1937.

  Saskatchewan Archives Office. “Index to Material Relating to Saskatchewan Indian Reserves in Annual Reports of Department of Indian Affairs 1900–1973.”

  Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management. “A Century of Fur Harvesting in Saskatchewan,” Wildlife Technical Report 5, 1995.

  Internet Sources

  Atlas of Canada. http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca.

  Canada Land Inventory. http://www.geostrategis.com/c_cli-prince-albert.htm.

  Canadian Geographic. http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/mapping/historical_maps.

  Forest Fringe. http://www.snoriderswest.com.

  “Freight Swing Era.” http://www.jkcc.com/brfreight.html.

  Historic Treaties. http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca.

  Indian Claims Commission. http://www.indianclaims.ca.

  Land Use and Land Cover Change program of the United States Global Change Research Program. http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/ProgramElements/land.htm.

  Network in Canadian History & Environment (NiCHE). http://niche-canada.org/.

  Saskatchewan borders. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/evolution.boundaries.

  Saskatchewan municipalities. http://www.municipal.gov.sk.ca.