WILLIAM & JESSIE MOVE TO ALBERTA
William driving first team - probably trip from train
depot to land in Caseleyville
About 1905, and in their
early 70’s, William and Jessie along with their mentally challenged daughter, Christina May, pulled up stakes, left Ontario and joined the
throngs of pioneers lured by cheap land in Alberta and Saskatchewan. They took up a homestead in Caseleyville,
which was near Red Deer, Alberta. At
that time, Alberta was trying to cement the location of their border – the land
offered was certainly not a choice location.
After a number of years of drought William and Jessie left their
homestead. I have no idea if they were
ever able to sell their farm or if they joined the list of 5,124
vacant or abandoned farms in the dry belt area (1).
 |
| William and Jessie in front of their home in Caseleyville, Alberta |
29 Jan 1912 …I had been reading on the papers you wrote that
a great part of the wheat was frozen out where you are. It is too bad after one’s hard work to lose
it all like that. You would have a long
move out to BC if you went. Do you work
the farm yourselves? Uncle William
cannot work it, surely he is too feeble is he not?
Grandson Keith Honeyford
said the Pattullo’s had seven crop failures in seven years. Our Pattullo’s had settled in the “special
area” of Alberta, an area of SE Alberta known for its cyclical severe droughts
lasting many years. The Dry Belt suffers
higher moisture losses because of summer heat waves and winter Chinooks. Approximately
80 per cent of the Alberta Dry Belt has a thin, light brown soil cover because
the organic and nitrogen content of the soil is low As a result, it is highly susceptible to
erosion in conditions of low moisture and high winds after the natural grass
cover is broken (2). And this is what our family moved to!
After numerous years of
trying to make a success of their farm, the Pattullo’s relocated to Vancouver
and Washington State, to live with various children. By 1912, they were living on West 22nd at the
home of their son Victor. The detail
in the following letter from an Alberta neighbour is a sad, but fascinating
description of some of the items Jessie & William left behind.
Your crop looks real nice, of course it is late but if the
frost don’t come too soon it will be alright.
It stands as high as the top wire of the fence. We did not have to go over to your house the
next day after, but we went over 2 or 3 day after, and then most of the things
were taken that was worth taking. We
cleaned the house up nice, and now the other day when I was over it looked as
if it never had been cleaned. I don’t
know who made such a mess out of it, most likely the children. One of the windows are broken so people go in
and out as they like. The dinner set is
there yet, that is what is left of it, but the box that it was packed in has
been broke open, and I guess some of the dishes taken. Your sewing machine was open when I was
there, and all the things belonging to it all over. I picked them all up and closed the lid; I
took the box with all the attachments in your home for whenever the machine is
sold. I will bring it to Mrs. Caseley. What do you want for the machine? If you like I can take the machine down to my
place and try to sell it for you. I have
one myself so I won’t use it. The
wringer is at Mr. Eastmead’s. Mrs.
Caseley said she bought but has not paid for it yet. The cross cut saw is in the house yet. Mrs. Vickse had the oil can and the new
granite pail. I got the other two pails,
one was in the cellar full of rotten potatoes and the other was up in the
house. I have one of the kettles, blue
outside and white inside. The sad irons
was taken before we got there, all the crocks were taken and also the preserve
jars and vinegar keg. I don’t know who
took all these. The washing machine is
outside of the house and turned upside down.
All the paint and goose oil is taken.
Now I don’t really know what beeswax looks like but I took down some or
all I found there. Now when I was up the
other day there is only one cake of brown wax and 3 cakes of white wax. What the white looks like rendered suet to
me. Now do you want me to send it all to
you? And tell me what to do about the
wringer. Mrs. Caseley claims all in the
garden so I don’t dare to look that way, let alone taking anything out of there. Must tell you that Hyacinth has your old
Mother cat and she has 4 kittens, and I tell you Hyacinth is just as proud of
the kittens as the cat.
Years of trying to make a
success of the Alberta farm would have taken a toll on their finances, even for
thrifty Scots.
No comments:
Post a Comment