Tidbits of Alberta

[Bushrat]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

Some of the older folks will remember the air raid sirens that were placed in different towns and cities during the cold war of the 60's. Most were removed in the 1990's. I think some places might still have the sirens for historical display. Not sure if any are still functioning.

I remember the town that was nearby used to sound off the siren every so often. You could hear that siren 4 or 5 miles away. If we were in school and heard the siren we did the drill to get under our desk and put our heads between our knees.

During the cold war some of the towns had underground bunkers made of large 8 or 10 foot diameter culverts by the railway tracks too. They had fold down tables/beds on the sides and nothing else.

Town I grew up in NB used the air raid sirens to muster the volunteer fire department anytime there was a fire right up until the mid 1980's. The sirens would sound and guys would drop what they were doing jump into their cars with 4 way flashers and rush to the fire department to man the fire engines. If the fire engine had already left they would go to the fire in their own vehicles.

[bat119]

In Regina during the late 60's and early 70's the sirens were set off at noon every day when I was a kid it meant time to go home for lunch.

[Bigwoodsman]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

Some of the older folks will remember the air raid sirens that were placed in different towns and cities during the cold war of the 60's. Most were removed in the 1990's. I think some places might still have the sirens for historical display. Not sure if any are still functioning.

I remember the town that was nearby used to sound off the siren every so often. You could hear that siren 4 or 5 miles away. If we were in school and heard the siren we did the drill to get under our desk and put our heads between our knees.

During the cold war some of the towns had underground bunkers made of large 8 or 10 foot diameter culverts by the railway tracks too. They had fold down tables/beds on the sides and nothing else.

I recall the siren in our home town would go off everyday at noon and 10PM.

Noon was to signal lunch time, and 10PM was a curfew for all those aged 16 and under.

BW

[Fish along]

Best thread ever thanks RED

[Red Bullets]

Not to re-hash info I may have posted earlier...just to add and just to get a perspective of size of the flocks of the now extinct passenger pigeon that once blackened the skies over the parklands of Alberta, and most of Canada. I find it amazing.

There were large flocks and I mean large. Farmers are definitely lucky they were killed off. Crops wouldn't have a chance if the passenger pigeons were still around.

This is an observation that was made in the 1860's by a person stateside regarding the flocks in relation to how much the birds consumed. I not sure if the flocks were as big in Alberta because Western Canada was just a summering ground but they most likely were similar to the south.


The observation....

"To form a rough estimate of the daily consumption of one of these immense flocks, let us first attempt to calculate the numbers of that above mentioned, as seen in passing between Frankfort and the Indiana territory. If we suppose this column of pigeons to have been one mile in breadth (and I believe it to have been much more) and that it moved at the rate of one mile in a minute, four hours, the time it continued passing, would make its whole length two hundred and forty miles. Again, supposing that each square yard of this moving body comprehended three pigeons; the square yards in the whole space multiplied by three would give 2,230,272,000 pigeons! An almost inconceivable multitude, and yet probably far below the actual amount."

Stateside, where there were more people, wagon loads of them were sent to market, where they sold as low as twelve cents per dozen to a high of 50 cents a dozen. In 1869, from the town of Hartford, Mich., three train car loads of dead pigeons were shipped to market each day for forty days, making a total of 11,880,000 birds. It is recorded that another Michigan town marketed 15,840,000 in two years.

The last passenger pigeon was recorded in Canada on 18 May 1902 at Penetanguishene, Ont. Specimens were last taken in 1898 at Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba and in 1899 at Scotch Lake, NB.

Also they were wiped out because they only laid one egg and the rate they were killed the pigeons couldn't repopulate quick enough.

[Red Bullets]

Thought I would add this link to my tidbit thread. This is a great website that tells the history of the Paul First Nation west of Edmonton. The Paul FN have roots by Wabamun Lake. A nice reflection on part of our Alberta roots and history. Kudos to those that helped put this website together.

https://www.pfnhistory.com/?fbclid=I..._zcKhmkah12Xdk

[Grizzly Adams]

Sam Mc Gee of Robert Service fame is buried in Beiseker. Service appropriated the name for his poem.

Three Hills claims the "last survivor " of the The Little Big Horn.

http://www.menwithcuster.com/65/

Grizz

[Bigrib]

Interesting story of a battle of sorts between the Kootenay from BC and Pikunni Blackfoot at Elkwater Lake at the Cypress Hills back in 1864

http://hammersonpeters.com/?p=2107

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by Bigrib

Interesting story of a battle of sorts between the Kootenay from BC and Pikunni Blackfoot at Elkwater Lake at the Cypress Hills back in 1864

http://hammersonpeters.com/?p=2107

Excellent story. Thank you for posting. Some of the name's in the story are familiar from other writings too.
I am always so intrigued by Alberta's colorful stories and accountings of times past. Dempsey's books are wonderful gems about Alberta's past.

[Bigrib]

Nez Perce in Alberta ?

Yes quite a number ( 171 is mentioned and then 290 , not sure which is correct ) made it across the medicine line into Saskatchewan
as the Nez Perce War of 1877 came to an end . Some settled in Alberta near Brocket .

The whole Nez Perce War , the background of it all just makes one shake their head at how the USA managed to treat badly every single tribe they came across .

http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1362

[pikeman06]

Woulda liked to see the pigeons and the buffalo myself. Hard to believe how something that established and numerous could be wiped out by the hand of man back in the day...there weren't even many people around back then. Must have been some hard core, hunting buggers in the mix that woulda had some hunting stories to tell

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by pikeman06

Woulda liked to see the pigeons and the buffalo myself. Hard to believe how something that established and numerous could be wiped out by the hand of man back in the day...there weren't even many people around back then. Must have been some hard core, hunting buggers in the mix that woulda had some hunting stories to tell

Guys like Buffalo Bill, William Cody, reportedly shot 4,282 buffalo in eighteen months during 1867 and 1868. His shot 68 buffalo in an 8 hour period during a contest. Capt. Jack Brydges, of Kansas, who was one of the first to begin the final slaughter of the southern herd, killed, by contract, 1142 buffaloes in six weeks. FN people were marketing tens of thousands of robes a year and keeping 3 times as many for their own use too.

This is a book written in 1889 by W. Hornaday for the Smithsonian. If you want to read about the extermination of the buffalo this is the book to read. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1774...htm#ii_iii_b_7

It has the numbers killed just from those few years it took to denude North America of the buffalo. Amazing. Page 505 talks about the northern herd around these parts.

What amazes me about the passenger pigeon is it went from 3 to 5 billion birds to zero in maybe 150 years.

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

Sam Mc Gee of Robert Service fame is buried in Beiseker. Service appropriated the name for his poem.

Three Hills claims the "last survivor " of the The Little Big Horn.

http://www.menwithcuster.com/65/

Grizz

Amazing that he lived to 92. Great story. Thanks for sharing.

[KCL]

Originally Posted by KegRiver

And Manning was originally named Battle River because of that war.

The Notikewin River, the Hotchkiss River and the Miekle River are still known as the first, second and third battle respectively for the same reason.

This was all a side effect of the Cree - Beaver wars. As the Beaver were pushed north they pushed the Deni north in battles at the Notikewin Hotchkiss and Miekle valleys.

Stone arrow heads are still found up river of the Meikle River bridge where the last battle took place.

I thought Manning's original name was Aurora, I've never heard the town called Battle River. I do know the area is called Battle River because of the reasons you've mentioned.

[KCL]

This is a great thread, awesome info about the Peace Region Keg.

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by Bigrib

Nez Perce in Alberta ?

Yes quite a number ( 171 is mentioned and then 290 , not sure which is correct ) made it across the medicine line into Saskatchewan
as the Nez Perce War of 1877 came to an end . Some settled in Alberta near Brocket .

The whole Nez Perce War , the background of it all just makes one shake their head at how the USA managed to treat badly every single tribe they came across .

http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1362

Thanks for posting. Interesting story. I am glad these snippets of time are recorded. The US was brutal towards FN. The USA's mandate was to exterminate. Bounties for scalps big or small. Canadians in the east were just as bad at times too.

Gov. Charles Lawrence of Nova Scotia called for scalping in 1756 against the Micmac and other Indians. His proclamation said:

"And, we do hereby promise, by and with the consent of His Majesty’s Council, a reward of 30 pounds for every live male Indian prisoner, above the age of sixteen years, brought in alive; or for a scalp of such male Indian twenty-five pounds, and twenty-five pounds for every Indian woman or child brought in alive: Such rewards to be paid by the Officer commanding at any of His Majesty’s Forts in this Province, immediately upon receiving the Prisoners or Scalps above mentioned, according to the intent and meaning of this Proclamation."

Supposedly this proclamation is still on the books in Canada too. In 2008 a motion to reverse it did not pass. The government said the proclamation is no longer in effect.

I remember reading that in Montreal the french had rewards for english scalps too.

[Red Bullets]

This is more of a published Alberta tidbit I thought I would share here. For anyone living in the Leduc, Calmar, Wizard lake, Pigeon lake and south of Devon, this book has the local history and family pioneer stories that were published in the Centennial year 1967. Some familiar last names of families still living in the area. The 4H club interviewed some of the old time pioneers for the stories. A quick read of family snippets. Might be of interest to some local to the area folks.

Part 1: https://www.calmar.ca/sites/default/...part%20one.pdf

Part 2:
https://www.calmar.ca/sites/default/...part%20two.pdf

[Red Bullets]

Found a couple pics that are neat.

1928 moose hunt at Athabasca. I knew one of these men. He passed away at age 88 thirty some years ago. Harold Phillips, Aurther Swanson and Charlie Erickson.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Red Bullets]

For those closer to Edmonton, next time you drive west on Hwy 39 west of Leduc be reminded that this is what the 'road' was 120 years ago. The area was then called the Strong Woods. Today the same area is mostly agricultural fields.
This pic was taken only a couple miles west of Leduc.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Red Bullets]

This is a pic of a Lake Minnewanka lake trout. Not sure of the date the pic was taken but it was an early pic.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Red Bullets]

Alberta did used to manufacture a certain car. It had a 5th wheel between the rear wheels to assist in mud. This was the Glover auto about 1912.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Red Bullets]

1924 hunting laws...
Duck and geese season was opened Sept 15 to Dec. 14. The season for upland birds opened Oct 1st and is only for the month of October. Hungarian partridge could be shot south of the Battle river from Sept. 15 to Nov. 15 but north of the Battle river there was no season for huns. The bag limit was 30 ducks per day, 200 for the season. Geese were 15 per day. Prairie chicken limits were 10 per day and 50 limit per season.

[Bigwoodsman]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

Found a couple pics that are neat.

1928 moose hunt at Athabasca. I knew one of these men. He passed away at age 88 thirty some years ago. Harold Phillips, Aurther Swanson and Charlie Erickson.

[IMG][/IMG]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

For those closer to Edmonton, next time you drive west on Hwy 39 west of Leduc be reminded that this is what the 'road' was 120 years ago. The area was then called the Strong Woods. Today the same area is mostly agricultural fields.
This pic was taken only a couple miles west of Leduc.

[IMG][/IMG]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

This is a pic of a Lake Minnewanka lake trout. Not sure of the date the pic was taken but it was an early pic.

[IMG][/IMG]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

Alberta did used to manufacture a certain car. It had a 5th wheel between the rear wheels to assist in mud. This was the Glover auto about 1912.

[IMG][/IMG]

Astounding research Red!

Still the best thread on AO

BW

[Freddy]

Ford cars where made in Redcliff ab for a few years. Then a tornado destroyed the plant and a couple years later the red cliff glass started up in the same location 1913.

[Red Bullets]

This is an article that is not really specifically about Alberta but the practice of lifting topknots did happen across this land. This story is still thought provoking of the realization of a reality where this happened to people that were thought dead but were still alive.

https://truewestmagazine.com/a-lively-corpse/

*I will add this barbaric practice was not just a First Nation practice.
In Canada... Gov. Charles Lawrence of Nova Scotia, Canada issued a resolution calling for scalping in 1756 against the Micmac and other Indians.

Lawrence's proclamation said:
"And, we do hereby promise, by and with the consent of His Majesty’s Council, a reward of 30 pounds for every live male Indian prisoner, above the age of sixteen years, brought in alive; or for a scalp of such male Indian twenty-five pounds, and twenty-five pounds for every Indian woman or child brought in alive: Such rewards to be paid by the Officer commanding at any of His Majesty’s Forts in this Province, immediately upon receiving the Prisoners or Scalps above mentioned, according to the intent and meaning of this Proclamation."

This proclamation is still on the books. A motion in 2008 to reverse it did not pass. However, the Canadian government says it is not in effect.

[Red Bullets]

I will soon spill a few more tidbits of times past of Alberta. In looking at online access to good history books I discovered the University of Calgary has a collection online that are free to read. In these books are stories that were written about different areas and towns of Alberta. Many have the pioneer and settler's stories. Very much worth a bookmark if you enjoy reading such books or have a family history in an area. There are stories by those families. Some have great stories about the hunting and fishing too. Enjoy the link.

https://cdm22007.contentdm.oclc.org/...r/title/ad/asc

This grizzly was shot by Innisfail back in the early 1900's.

[huntsfurfish]

Best thread ever. Keep up the posts RB, and thank you!

[Red Bullets]

We always talk about a code of ethics regarding hunting. Since it is hunting season ethics are something to consider even today.

This particular code of ethics was adopted 111 years ago in the USA and interestingly was also adopted by the North American Fish and Game Protective Association which is an international organization which includes Canada. And being that this platform of codes was endorsed and published by The Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the British Empire (London, England) it had importance to Canada too. So these codes of ethics have indirectly and directly influenced Canadian game laws and how we should conduct ourselves.

( I left the codes verbatum. Number 5's term 'indian' was a proper term back then.)

CODE OF ETHICS OF THE CAMP-FIRE CLUB OF AMERICA
Proposed by Wm. T. Hornaday and adopted December 10, 1908

1. The wild animal life of to-day is not ours, to do with as we please. The original stock is given to us in trust, for the benefit both of the present and the future. We must render an accounting of this trust to those who come after us.

2. Judging from the rate at which the wild creatures of North America are now being destroyed, fifty years hence there will be no large game left in the United States nor in Canada, outside of rigidly protected game preserves. It is therefore the duty of every good citizen to promote the protection of forests and wild life and the creation of game preserves, while a supply of game remains. Every man who finds pleasure in hunting or fishing should be willing to spend both time and money in active work for the protection of forests, fish and game.

3. The sale of game is incompatible with the perpetual preservation of a proper stock of game; therefore it should be prohibited by laws and by public sentiment.

4. In the settled and civilized regions of North America there is no real necessity for the consumption of wild game as human food: nor is there any good excuse for the sale of game for food purposes. The maintenance of hired laborers on wild game should be prohibited everywhere, under severe penalties.

5. An Indian has no more right to kill wild game, or to subsist upon it all the year round, than any white man in the same locality. The Indian has no inherent or God-given ownership of the game of North America, anymore than of its mineral resources; and he should be governed by the same game laws as white men.

6. No man can be a good citizen and also be a slaughterer of game or fishes beyond the narrow limits compatible with high-class sportsmanship.

7. A game-butcher or a market-hunter is an undesirable citizen, and should be treated as such.

8. The highest purpose which the killing of wild game and game fishes can hereafter be made to serve is in furnishing objects to overworked men for tramping and camping trips in the wilds; and the value of wild game as human food should no longer be regarded as an important factor in its pursuit.

9. If rightly conserved, wild game constitutes a valuable asset to any country which possesses it; and it is good statesmanship to protect it.

10. An ideal hunting trip consists of a good comrade, fine country, and a very few trophies per hunter.

11. In an ideal hunting trip, the death of the game is only an incident; and by no means is it really necessary to a successful outing.

12. The best hunter is the man who finds the most game, kills the least, and leaves behind him no wounded animals.

13. The killing of an animal means the end of its most interesting period. When the country is fine, pursuit is more interesting than possession.

14. The killing of a female hoofed animal, save for special preservation, is to be regarded as incompatible with the highest sportsmanship; and it should everywhere be prohibited by stringent laws.

15. A particularly fine photograph of a large wild animal in its haunts is entitled to more credit than the dead trophy of a similar animal. An animal that has been photographed never should be killed, unless previously wounded in the chase.

This platform was adopted as a code of ethics by the following organizations, besides the Camp-Fire Club of America:

*The Lewis and Clark Club, of Pittsburgh, John M. Phillips, President.
*The North American Fish and Game Protective Association (International)
*Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Association, Boston.
*Camp-Fire Club of Michigan, Detroit.
*Rod and Gun Club, Sheridan County, Wyoming.

~~~~~~~~
And I'm not sure I posted this earlier so I will add , maybe once more...

-In 1906, the Boone and Crockett Club condemned the use of automatic shotguns in hunting as unsportsmanlike.

-And the Boone and Crockett Club's code of Ethics :

-Obey all applicable laws and regulations.
-Respect the customs of the locale where the hunting occurs.
-Exercise a personal code of behavior that reflects favorably on your abilities and sensibilities as a hunter.
-Attain and maintain the skills necessary to make the kill as certain and quick as possible.
-Behave in a way that will bring no dishonor to either the hunter, the hunted, or the environment.
-Recognize that these tenets are intended to enhance the hunter’s experience of the relationship between predator and prey, which is one of the most fundamental relationships of humans and their environment.

[cacty]

Fascinating thread, incredible. Keep it up!

[Red Bullets]

This pre-1900 picture shows the hunters of a successful elk hunt in the Ross Creek area. For those that didn't have cattle such hunts were the matter of life and death during the winter.