Leaving The Colonist Train

My great uncles Arthur and Ernest Nevard joined the Barr colonists in England in April 03 to journey to what would become Saskatchewan and go farming. That was the plan but by the time the train reached Winnipeg, Manitoba, the uncles had decided to leave the colonist train and strike out on their own. Ernest went into his former trade of brick laying which was quite in demand in the growing prairie city. This letter, dated August of 1903 indicated they were seeking a refund of the $10 entry fee paid to the Rev. Barr for their homestead since they had by that time paid another entry fee on homestead land in what would become the Lipton, Balrobie district. What amazes me is how fast they worked. According to family history by the time winter began they had travelled to the new homestead in Sask. and built a good one room log house to live in. The letter is dated August of 03 so they must have worked fast to get all that done in just a few months. Makes me wonder how different life would have been if they had continued on with the colonists to the Lloydminster area.

Looking For Horses etc.

February 24, 1948 and Dick and I got the fanning mill and the wild oat separator home this morning. After dinner I went for a drive in the sleigh to try and find Eddie Miller's horses and see if the mare that little Henry Schmidt was willing to trade was with them. I went to where Ed Miller is now living on 13 and saw his wife. She told me that their horses are on 21 and that Eddie had gone to K.D's to borrow the tractor for sawing wood so I went in there and saw Alfred and Eddie. They told me I would have to go through Manuel's yard and through Hobetzeder's so I went out on the road past Bill Senft's and called in at Manuel's where his wife told me that he was in Saskatoon and showed me which trail to take to Hobetzeder's. When I got there Hobetzeder was outside getting feed in the stable He showed me 9 young lambs (Shropshires). 5 ewes had ten lambs but one died. He offered to go with me on 21 and look for the horses. Grace was outside with the pony and he asked her to do the chores while he went with me. We drove across 21 but coud not see any horses so we went through the North line onto 28, then East to 35 highway where we saw a bunch of horses on 27 but when we got up close enough we saw they were not the right ones so we started back for Hobetzeder's along the highway. On the way we saw the horses over on 21 so we went through a gate and took a look at them. There were 8. Two of Hobetzeder's, 5 of Ed Miller's and little Henry's gray mare. Then we went back to Hobetzeder's where I stayed to supper. Both of the girls are home. August Hepting came over from McCullough's on horseback while I was there and was still there when I left. I got home in time to milk.

Charlie and Kate Hobetzeder with daughter, Ivy.

Two Brimstone Matches

A story my dad used to tell regarding great uncle Arthur Nevard. July of 1949, Arthur had gone to Regina to stay with his brother in law, Eddie Edwards. Eddie's wife, May, had recently died and Arthur went to stay with Eddie for a while to keep him company and help out where he could. Apparently it did not go too well. Arthur was heard to comment at a later date that he and Eddie were like "two brimstone matches". Arthur had stopped in to visit Jack Goff in Lipton on his way home and must have related how the visit went. Jack later commented to my dad that "Harthur says he's been in hell".

A photo of Eddie Edwards left, May Edwards right, and Mary Nevard centre. 1930s.

Arthur Nevard, 1940s.

S S Victorian

May 10, 1906 was the date on this vintage postcard. My grandfather Horace Nevard wrote the note and mailed it off to Alice Hall before heading out on the longest journey of his life to that point. From England to Canada. He would not see her again for another ten years until he returned to England with the 195th infantry division to join in the battles of World War I. They were married after the war ended and headed back to Saskatchewan to the homestead, never to return to England. Recent discussions on the name of the ship he travelled on in 1906 led to me looking up this old postcard and it appears this was the one. The S.S. Victorian of the Allan Line. For some reason I had assumed he travelled on the same ship as his sister in law and nephew, Mary and Bill Nevard, but apparently they came out a month later on the Virginian. When grandfather Nevard arrived in Canada he stopped at Indian Head, Saskatchewan and worked for a while on Copithorne farm. Later moving on to the Headlands district North of Lipton to take up his homestead on the same section as his brothers, Arthur and Ernest who had arrived here in 1903.

Almost 80 Years Ago

A letter written home to his father by Dick Nevard while he was in training at Camp Brandon, Manitoba. Post marked March 9th, 1943. Notice the Knights of Columbus stationary and envelope. All written in pencil in great detail it is an interesting look into the daily life of army training. I've got quite a stack of these letters.

Price Of Wheat

 Most would have thrown it out years ago but I've kept this old notebook that belonged to great Uncle Arthur Nevard. It gives a good view of the financial situation of the farm in the early 1900s. Records of the grain sold, groceries and farm supplies bought. 

This page showing loads of wheat hauled to town in 1919 indicates a price of near $2 a bushel. I have not done the adjustment for inflation but I'm thinking $2 bought a lot of groceries and supplies in 1919. 

I'll throw in a picture of Arthur with a couple of his horses. They were the main source of power on the farm in those days. 

1937 Driest Year Of The 1930s

 April 14: Dad sharpening harrow teeth. Bud started plowing today.  (Early)

May 8: A frost froze the crop down. 

May 10: Uncle Horrie went to Lipton with barley. Got soaked coming home. 

May 14: Rained some in the afternoon. 

May 20: Digging a hole in the slough to get drinking water.

June 18: Last night it rained pretty hard. 

June 30: The big slough being practically empty Uncle Horrie, Bud and I started to scrape out a dugout on the edge of the slough using Topsy and Gleam. After dinner Bud brought Bill and Snap as it was too stony to scrape out otherwise. 

July 1: Both uncles, Roy and I working on the dugout using King and Duke for scraping. We were working in water at the finish. 

July 4: Weather very dry and crops burning up. 

July 5: The temperature rose to 104F by 2 PM this afternoon. A dust storm, wind and some rain came along in the afternoon and afterwards the temperature dropped to 57. 

July 11: Between 3 and 4 pm the rain came and it rained for about an hour. The biggest rain we've had for years and when we went out we found the pasture sloughs nearly full of water. It had washed deep furrows out in the summerfallow and must have flowed in a stream 30 yards across down in our valley. Most of our neighbours North and South didn't seem to get much rain. 

July 14: Roy and I cleaned out the drinking water well on the edge of the big slough but it was not a very satisfactory job as the dirt kept caving in under the crib. 

July 25:. Heard that Dick Barton, Philip Lutz and other young fellows have gone to Manitoba to get work harvesting. 

Aug 2: Dad started cutting wheat with the binder today. 

Aug 4-7. We cut and stooked what wheat we have at home. The others are cutting theirs with a mower and stacking it.

Aug 22: A storm came up this evening and made it nearly dark before sunset. 

Aug 23: It rained during the night and made it too wet to thresh. Dust clouds in the sky after dinner.

Aug 26: Our slough is just about dry so I took the tank down to the big slough but could only get 50 pails from the well. 

Aug 27: We finished threshing Dad's wheat today. 25 loads of sheaves is the total. 

Aug. 28: We threshed my wheat today. 6 loads of sheaves giving 60 bushels of wheat. 

Aug 30: Dad helped the others thresh their little bit of wheat. About 6 bushels each. 

Sept 2: Rain for the third night in succession. 

Sept 4: Dad and both uncles went to Lipton to a meeting to discuss the drought and relief. 

Sept 13: Uncle Horrie, Bud and I deepening the well in the big slough this morning. We could not do as much as we wanted as the water came in too fast. 

Sept 18: Dad was helping the uncles to thresh their barley. Uncle Horrie got 16 bushels. Uncle Arthur got 41. 

Sept 21: Uncle Horrie and Bud tried deepening the drinking water well at the big slough but the water to have given out there. We started digging a new well and trying to deepen the stock well simultaneously. Bud was down in the old well but was not able to get on very well. Dad took a tank of water home and the others went to dinner while I stayed on digging. By the time Bud and Dad got back I had dug through to sand and gravel which seemed to be full of water. 

Sept 25: Dad and uncle Horrie went to Lipton to get lumber for a well crib. 

Sept 27: Dad, uncle Horrie and Bud making a crib and putting it in the new well while deepening the well. 

Sept 28: Dad, uncle Horrie and Bud lowering the well a bit more but too much water coming in to do a lot. 

Oct 1: The Millers were boring for water in Bill Miller's big slough. 

Oct 7: Bud was helping Cliff Barton to dig a well.

Oct 26: Geoffrey Barton brought word that a relief car of vegetables is to be distributed in Lipton tomorrow. 

Oct 27: Dad and both uncles went to Lipton and got some potatoes and a mixture of other stuff. 30 pounds was supposed to be allotted each individual. 

Nov 3: Uncle Horrie and I went to Lipton with the wagon today. Another relief car being unloaded and divided up among the farmers. We went to the North Star elevator and got our bags of relief apples and vegetables..

Nov 23: Dad and uncle Arthur went to Lipton and Uncle A got 25 bushels of relief feed oats. 

The Big Slough as it appears in 2021