Tidbits of Alberta

[Red Bullets]

During the dirty 30's (the depression) to the early 1940's in the winter a single man in the country could work in a lumber mill, go fishing or go hunting to make a wage.

Lumber mills paid 17 to 25 cents an hour at the time. A 10 hour day earned a man a couple bucks a day. Two men were expected to cut a minimum of 100 logs a day. After a man's wages paid for room and board at the lumber camp he would take home maybe 50 cents a day or so. Food was good and lodging was basic but took 3/4's of a man's wage.

In winter some men would go netting for whitefish to make money. 10 cents a fish in the 1930's. They often went on a prayer hoping to catch fish and have good weather. A group of 4 men might catch 200 fish a day which worked out to a 5 dollar wage for a two day effort. Sometomes more fish were caught, sometimes less. Fingers and toes were frozen sometimes too.

Or as an option some men prefered to go shooting rabbits rather than working at lumber mills or net fishing. It so happened that mink and fox fur farmers paid 2 1/2 to 3 cents per snowshoe hare. These local men would go onto the land and camp for several weeks during winter just to snare and shoot snowshoe hares.

When the snowshoe hare population cycles peaked during the 1930's a man could catch and shoot up to a 100 hares or more a day, equal to the top wage at a 10 hour work day at a saw mill. During the peak population cycle it was said that a man could sit in one spot in the bush and could shoot 30 to 50 rabbits without moving. He could load them into his wagon or sleigh, move a half mile and do it again. During the winter snoeshoe hares were shipped by boxcar to fur farmers. Trains that ran to many points west of today's Highway QE 2 in alberta most likely all moved a boxcar load or more of snowshoe hares to the fur farmers during the 30's. The young rabbit hunters would make a good wage for a couple winter months.

At the time 22 short and long bullets were cheap, 25 to 35 cents a box of 50. Snaring cost less.

[Red Bullets]

I mentioned the great rabbit hunters of the 30's but now will mention the dirty 30's squirrel hunters. In the 1930's a young man from the Breton/Buck lake area wrote about his working life. Long story short....

When times were tough in the 30's there had to be other ways to make money at different times of the year.

Some men, including the young gent, decided to make sure money hunting in the bush instead of working at lumber camps or netting fish.

Red squirrels were selling for 13 cents a skin in 1933 and as much as 18 cents in the later 30's. In the 1930's the forests in western Alberta were full of red squirrels. The men would go into Alberta's evergreen forests for a few weeks when squirrels were primed up in December and January. They would camp and hunt everyday. A man with a 22 short could shoot 25 to 50 squirrels a day. I'm sure some were setting squirrel snare poles and saving the bullets too. They could earn double or more the wages of working at a lumber mill and no room and board to pay. He would have to move every four or five days to more squirrels. A man would typically just have a tarp shelter and would cut a couple pine trees for nightly firewood. "Spruce was no good because it threw too many sparks for drying skins by the fire." Only once in a while would two men camp together but each man had to respect the others immediate hunting area. Several men were in the bush squirrel hunting and it wasn't for pleasure or socializing. It was work. Days were short in winter. With squirrels waking a man up and the best time for shooting squirrels was early morning and late afternoon, it left the mid day for wood chopping and extra sleep. Skinning was done as the squirrels were shot and then boarded to dry by the fire at night.

Funny that the young squirrel hunter mentioned it was not an easy life. "You never had time to be lonely. Every morning the squirrels would wake you up so you couldn't sleep in. It was only mid day when the squirrels became quiet and you could complete your sleep."

[Red Bullets]

Been a while. Had to read some more tidbits and take care of other pressing things.

In the spirit of this forum here's nice old pictures from around Barrhead's countryside.

1) the rabbit hunters, about 1910.
2) A day's fishing at Lac La Nonne. 1940. note one big fish.
3) A day's fishing on the Paddle river in 1909.
4) A real nice mule deer shot by Barrhead in 1930. The deer's head is supposedly at the Barrhead Museum.

[Red Bullets]

Old fishing news...

In late Feb of 1888 at the Bow river.
In 30 minutes Joseph Bannerman caught ten 'speckled' trout that weighed 9 lbs. And a Mr. Newson caught 13 trout that weighed 11 lbs. (I'm guessing that was the total weight and not how big the trout were.)

~~~~

May 18, 1889. North Saskatchewan river. Fishing is good in the river now. Great many sturgeon and salmon trout (Bull trout) as well as goldeye pike and suckers being caught in the nets. note- not sure who's nets were being set. May still have been the HB company.

~~~~~

Oct 18. 1883
Mr. Fred Tache caught 30 lbs of large trout in the Bow river. Also noted was several strings of large mountain trout were brought into Calgary the same day by one fly fisherman that caught 50 trout that weighed between 1 to 2.5 lbs. each. Both of these men had only fished for half a day.

[Red Bullets]

West of Edson on Hwy 16 at the 36 mile (57.9 km) mark is the apex, the highest point, of the whole length of the Yellowhead highway. As you go west the highway is downhill to Jasper and as you drive east it is downhill all the way to the Saskatchewan border and beyond.

[huntsfurfish]

Thanks Red Bullets! Always look forward to your updates on this thread!

Been my favorite thread.

[nimrod]

from post 633, that make deer looks like a huge mule deer

[stob]

Look at the website ...forgotton alberta

[Mavrick]

How fortunate our fathers and grandfathers where to live in that time. I think most here would agree, we where born a hundred years to late.

[Moosetalker]

Makes sense that if the rabbit population was so high 1910 the Lynx would be very common back then as well.

Keep it up Red never tire of Alberta history.

Ernest told me one story from when he was young his father took him to a place a thresher crew west of Flatbush in the mid 30s the crew had there big thresher sunk in a wet field after a heavy rain the 2 huge steam tractors they used couldn't move it at all. However someone working/living in the area had a team of 12 Oxen they hooked up and had it out in no time flat. Would have been something to see.
He went on to say that Today's big tractors could not out pull one of those old steam units pound for pound.

[ThePokGuy]

Llyodminster was originally going to be an exclusively utopian society based around sobriety

[Who Da Fisherman]

Originally Posted by ThePokGuy

Llyodminster was originally going to be an exclusively utopian society based around sobriety

Somebody's on a roll to get there post count up, next up the buy and sell
WDF

[Red Bullets]

i don't have the story about this picture but it is a great picture. The second pic is a blow up of the ram on the right. Looks pretty heavy to me.

The hunters of Mountain Park. (unknown year)

[MountainTi]

Great stuff Red. Always look forward to your posts!

[Bushrat]

Red, can you blow up the mule deer rack under the moose rack in the center. It looks pretty unique. Like coral or similar.

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by Bushrat

Red, can you blow up the mule deer rack under the moose rack in the center. It looks pretty unique. Like coral or similar.

Looks like it might be wrapped in burlap. Nice sized rack too. I notice the separate mulie antlers have velvet.

[Red Bullets]

We read about mine tragedies and loss of miner's lives in Alberta's history. The Hillcrest mine disaster took many lives. All shaft mines had the hazards.

A footnote about the Strathcona coal mine that started in 1905 a block east of the south end of the High Level bridge in Edmonton. On June 8 1907 a fire started at the mine pit house building. 5 men were working 100 feet down the shaft. One man went down the shaft to warn the other men. On the way up the ladder burnt and he barely got out. The 5 miners died and were burnt in the shaft and the man that tried to warn the 5 miners died shortly after getting to the top. The mine shaft was re-opened and worked until 1911. Miners earned 4 dollars a day.

~~~
Up until 1928 the river lots on the south side of Edmonton were still grazing cattle. The flats where the university and Windsor park neighborhood is now were river lots 6 to 9. Kinsmen field house was river lot 11.

[Red Bullets]

Antlercarver shared a poem from the old days with me. Very worth sharing.

Athabaska Dick

When the boys come out from Lac La biche in the lure of the early Spring,
To take the pay of the "Hudson's Bay", as their fathers did before,
They are all a-glee for the jamboree, and they make the Landing ring
With a whoop and a whirl, and a "Grab your girl", and a rip and a skip and a roar.
For the spree of Spring is a sacred thing, and the boys must have their fun;
Packer and tracker and half-breed Cree, from the boat to the bar they leap;
And then when the long flotilla goes, and the last of their pay is done,
The boys from the banks of Lac La biche swing to the heavy sweep.
And oh, how they sigh! and their throats are dry, and sorry are they and sick:
Yet there's none so cursed with a lime-kiln thirst as that Athabaska Dick.

He was long and slim and lean of limb, but strong as a stripling bear;
And by the right of his skill and might he guided the Long Brigade.
All water-wise were his laughing eyes, and he steered with a careless care,
And he shunned the shock of foam and rock, till they came to the Big Cascade.
And here they must make the long portage, and the boys sweat in the sun;
And they heft and pack, and they haul and track, and each must do his trick;
But their thoughts are far in the Landing bar, where the founts of nectar run:
And no man thinks of such gorgeous drinks as that Athabaska Dick.

'Twas the close of day and his long boat lay just over the Big Cascade,
When there came to him one Jack-pot Jim, with a wild light in his eye;
And he softly laughed, and he led Dick aft, all eager, yet half afraid,
And snugly stowed in his coat he showed a pilfered flask of "rye".
And in haste he slipped, or in fear he tripped, but -- Dick in warning roared --
And there rang a yell, and it befell that Jim was overboard.

Oh, I heard a splash, and quick as a flash I knew he could not swim.
I saw him whirl in the river swirl, and thresh his arms about.
In a *****, strained way I heard Dick say: "I'm going after him,"
Throw off his coat, leap down the boat -- and then I gave a shout:
"Boys, grab him, quick! You're crazy, Dick! Far better one than two!
Hell, man! You know you've got no show! It's sure and certain death. . . ."
And there we hung, and there we clung, with beef and brawn and thew,
And sinews cracked and joints were racked, and panting came our breath;
And there we swayed and there we prayed, till strength and hope were spent --
Then Dick, he threw us off like rats, and after Jim he went.

With mighty urge amid the surge of river-rage he leapt,
And gripped his mate and desperate he fought to gain the shore;
With teeth a-gleam he bucked the stream, yet swift and sure he swept
To meet the mighty cataract that waited all a-roar.
And there we stood like carven wood, our faces sickly white,
And watched him as he beat the foam, and inch by inch he lost;
And nearer, nearer drew the fall, and fiercer grew the fight,
Till on the very cascade crest a last farewell he tossed.
Then down and down and down they plunged into that pit of dread;
And mad we tore along the shore to claim our bitter dead.

And from that hell of frenzied foam, that crashed and fumed and boiled,
Two little bodies bubbled up, and they were heedless then;
And oh, they lay like senseless clay! and bitter hard we toiled,
Yet never, never gleam of hope, and we were weary men.
And moments mounted into hours, and black was our despair;
And faint were we, and we were fain to give them up as dead,
When suddenly I thrilled with hope: "Back, boys! and give him air;
I feel the flutter of his heart. . . ." And, as the word I said,
Dick gave a sigh, and gazed around, and saw our breathless band;
And saw the sky's blue floor above, all strewn with golden fleece;
And saw his comrade Jack-pot Jim, and touched him with his hand:
And then there came into his eyes a look of perfect peace.
And as there, at his very feet, the thwarted river raved,
I heard him murmur low and deep:
"Thank God! the whiskey's saved."

~~~ Robert William Service~~~

[Red Bullets]

An interesting bit of folklore about a lake we know and enjoy today. Next time you go to Rock Lake north of Hinton be reminded of this folklore that tells of how the lake got its name.

Many years ago there was a Stoney medicine man that was banished from his tribe near Rock lake. He wanted to rejoin his people badly. He decided to go north to kidnap a girl from the Dogrib First Nation near the Great Slave lake and then return to his people. The medicine man turned the woman into a dog to steal her unnoticed. He then turned her back into her human form when he returned but had taken her voice away. He returned to his tribe north of Hinton and was accepted back with his woman. Weeks later a Dogrib man came to retrieve this woman and tricked the Stoney medicine man into restoring the maidens speech. The Dogrib woman then told the truth of what had happened. The Stoney chief was not pleased as the medicine man could have had brought trouble to the Stoney tribe. The chief had the medicine man tied up, weighted with a heavy stone and thrown into the lake. And the lake is known as Rock lake ever since.

[Red Bullets]

A small tidbit sbout pipelines.

In 1942 Canada had 418 miles of pipe lines. By 1953 Canada had 5700 miles of pipe lines. The Trans Mountain pipeline was laid in 1952, 718 miles from Edmonton to Burnaby BC. Then in 1953 the Trans Mountain pipeline extended 69 miles to Washington state. 2 refineries were built in Washington state just to process Alberta's crude.
~~~
Another oil tidbit..

Prior to 1957 one of the three refineries on the east side of Edmonton was bought from the US Army for 1 million dollars. It was dismantled at Whitehorse, Alaska, moved to east of Edmonton and reassembled at the cost of 8.7 million. The cost of a new refinery.

[Red Bullets]

The North West Company took a great amount of fur pelts and skins out of Canada in 1787. 139,509 beaver, 68,142 marten, 26,330 otter, 16,951 mink, 8913 foxes, 17,109 bears, 102,656 deer, 140,346 raccoons, 9816 elk, 9687 wolves and 125 seals.
~
Around the year 1800. Two types of beaver pelts were being traded.

"Castor Gras" was a fully prime beaver pelt trimmed square. 5 to 8 pelts were sewn together and worn fur side in for 12 or 18 months. This wore off the guard hairs and conditioned the 'felt' hair. These enriched pelts were most valuable. Another name they used for these pelts was "coat" beaver.

The second grade of beaver, "Castor Sec" was a beaver pelt that was just stretched flat, dried and sold right away for a lesser value.

[Red Bullets]

Alberta's first gardens produced amazing vegetables. One oldtimer said he sent his boy to the neighbors place to borrow a buck saw so he could cut down his cabbage. The neighbor couldn't borrow the man the bucksaw because it was stuck in a potato.

[Red Bullets]

Some interesting stuff about one man's accomplishments in Alberta. We can thank this man for some of our existing heritage that otherwise would have been lost. Amazing actually considering most men today are educated and only have one trade or job. This man completed these things before we had much in Alberta.

This man's name was Hobe Dowler. He moved to Pigeon lake as an young man with his parents in the beginning of the 1900's. He did not have much formal school education and by the time he was a teen in Ontario he was Canada's own Paul Bunyan when it came to being a master axe man. He also became a self taught master architect as a teen that made his blueprints down to the last nail hole.

When a person drives by the Old Fort, cabin and stockade at the Calgary Stampede Grounds, log buildings in Banff, the Southern Alberta Pioneers Cabin overlooking the Elbow river in Calgary, the fort at Fort Macleod, the Northern Alberta Pioneer Oldtimers Cabin in Edmonton, and Rundle's Mission cabin at Pigeon Lake you can think of and thank one man. All of these buildings were built by him, and his helpers, from logs taken from around south Buck Lake. The logs for all these buildings were all peeled and prepared by Pigeon lake and later transported to the sites around Alberta. Even the 17 tons of logs (350) used in Calgary's stampede ground's fort were transported from Pigeon lake. He also made many of the Red River carts you will see at these various sites. He also built a few big log structures and cabins around Pigeon lake, of which are still standing.

And By the time he was in his twenties at Pigeon lake he also became a grain buyer for a big grain company with elevators. He then pioneered, the first to create, the western route for shipping grain from Alberta to the Pacific and down the west coast.

Aside from those accomplishments he also found time to climb over 50 major mountain peaks from Alaska to Mexico and was said to have seen more than 250 glaciers. He belonged to several scientific societies and wrote articles about the grain trade and his geographic excursions.

Hobe was born in 1880 and passed away in 1962. He is buried at Pigeon Lake by the Rundle's Mission site.

[mse]

This is a fantastic thread! I searched the forum and didn’t see this one mentioned. It’s one of my favourite anecdotes. Just goes to show that nothing’s changed in over a century.

Rupert Brooke, the English poet, toured North America in 1913, recording his impressions in letters back home. He died in 1915, en route to Gallipoli.

—

The inhabitants of these cities are proud of them, and envious of each other with a bitter rivalry. They do not love their cities as a Manchester man loves Manchester or a Münchener Munich, for they have probably lately arrived in them, and will surely pass on soon. But while they are there they love them, and with no silent love. They boost. To boost is to commend outrageously. And each cries up his own city, both from pride, it would appear, and for profit. For the fortunes of Newville are very really the fortunes of its inhabitants. From the successful speculator, owner of whole blocks, to the waiter bringing you a Martini, who has paid up a fraction of the cost of a quarter-share in a town-lot—all are the richer, as well as the prouder, if Newville grows. It is imperative to praise Edmonton in Edmonton. But it is sudden death to praise it in Calgary. The partisans of each city proclaim its superiority to all the others in swiftness of growth, future population, size of buildings, price of land—by all recognised standards of excellence.

I travelled from Edmonton to Calgary in the company of a citizen of Edmonton and a citizen of Calgary. Hour after hour they disputed. Land in Calgary had risen from five dollars to three hundred; but in Edmonton from three to five hundred. Edmonton had grown from thirty persons to forty thousand in twenty years; but Calgary from twenty to thirty thousand in twelve…. “Where”—as a respite—”did I come from?” I had to tell them, not without shame, that my own town of Grantchester, having numbered three hundred at the time of Julius Caesar’s landing, had risen rapidly to nearly four by Doomsday Book, but was now declined to three-fifty. They seemed perplexed and angry.

[Red Bullets]

In the 1870's was when a community was started outside of fort Edmonton's palisades. At first the community was just a few farmers and a few miners squatting and living in cabins along the river. By the early 1882 the land along the river was being surveyed into river lots. The population around fort Edmonton was about 300 people in 1882. It sounds like a picturesque setting on the edge of the frontier. Funny how you don't hear these stories much, about the real picture. This excerpt gives a candid idea of the livestock in the area.

One person wrote a comment in the 1882 Edmonton Bulletin ... "There is a strong feeling the Edmonton should seek incorporation as a town shortly, not because we have a large population or because we wish people to think we have, but so that we can compel the owners of the 2000 pigs (more or less) which now go grunting around door steps and into gardens, to keep them at home".

~~~

Also in the news of 1882.

May 13 1882 - The North Saskatchewan river that was running high for the past while has lowered down and sturgeon are being caught in considerable numbers. Many sturgeon are being taken with nets and gaff hooks. A Mr. John Frazer caught two mountain trout(bull trout)at the river recently. One weighed 14 lbs. and the other weighed 16 lbs.

~~~~

And in 1882 there was sad news. This dark rumour came in from Lac Ste. Anne...

Last spring a Stoney man showed symptoms of insanity and cannibalism when he bit a piece from his wife's arm and swallowed it. In July 1881 this crazy man with his family and another family started to head out to Edmonton to take the man to the police. Since then neither family has been seen or heard of since. It is suspected the crazy man killed and consumed the party of people.

[Red Bullets]

I found this interesting... A man, D. Whitford, that was living at Pigeon Lake 50 miles SW of Edmonton in the 1870's wrote a letter telling of how many furs he had in stock that winter and was sending to the fort soon. These furs would have been taken within maybe 30 to 40 miles of the lake at most. Maybe closer. Not a bad season.
He mentions: 120 beavers, 18 mink, 450 muskrats, 17 lynx, 14 skunks, 9 black bear, 4 wolves, 8 buffalo robes, 50 buffalo half hides of leather, 2 badgers, 9 moose hides. 10 lbs. beaver castor.

No mention of pine martin or fisher but this notation on the list is interesting...

17 wolverine.

[dodger]

This thread is an enjoyable read. Thanks !!

Dodger.

[pikeman06]

Awesome Red. Love that stuff

[Fish along]

Still lots of great reading thanks for all your research effort,its greatly appreciated.

[Red Bullets]

One hundred years ago during July, August and September in the mountains a person could take a pack horse trail ride to a camp using a few routes. One of the trips was on the Spray Lakes Route. Rides from Banff to Kananaskis lake.

Would have been nice if today's outfitters did a 100 year anniversary event and have the trail ride and mountain camp at 1921 prices.

$3.00 a day for a horse, $1.00 per 40 lbs. of gear and camp was $4 or $5 a day.