In early
1886 a meeting was held at which it was decided to organize a Central Saskatchewan
Agricultural Fair. Membership dues were set at a dollar, memberships received,
and a board of directors elected. Grants
were sought from the Department of Agriculture of the North West Territories at
Regina and from the Temperance Colony Company at Toronto. The Department
replied that it had used up its allocation for the year; the Colony Company
made a donation to the prize fund.
According
to Rob it has been claimed that the first fair was in 1887, but this is based
on the year of the first grant from the government to the fair. The 1886
officers continued in charge of the fair in 1887.
Excerpts
from “A Century of Grant MacEwan: Selected Writings”
The first fair was held on the second
Wednesday in October 1886. There were no
gates on the grounds and no grandstand, but according to Joseph Caswell, every
settler brought something to exhibit.
The prize list offered more of interest than
monetary reward, but nobody exhibited to get rich. For the best herd of Durham cattle, the first
prize was a dollar and a diploma; for the best in Ayrshires, the reward was the
same. Joseph Caswell and his brother had
brought some Shorthorn cattle (Durhams in the prize list) from Ontario that
spring, driving the cows from Moose Jaw to Saskatoon on foot, and then returned
to the railroad to transport the new bull to Saskatoon by wagon. The bull was too fat to walk that distance
with the cows. Anyway, the herd was ready
for the exhibition at the Fall Fair and the fat bull received as much
admiration as Babe Ruth at a youth rally.
Attending the Golden Jubilee of the Saskatoon
Exhibition was Mrs. B.C. Anderson of Sutherland who recalled walking to
Saskatoon and driving two cows, two heifers and a heifer calf for the first
fair. Nancy, the calf, was stubborn and
wanted to go home and when they arrived at the scene of the fair, both the little
girl and the calf were tired. To make
matters worse, it was learned that there was no class for Nancy. But there were other calves in similar
position and sympathetic directors made a special class and Nancy won first
prize and fifty cents.
There is no evidence of inferiority among
those who drove and exhibited oxen on the streets of Saskatoon at that first
fair. Joseph Caswell, who was a director
and exhibitor on that occasion and had the distinction of being an exhibitor in
the livestock classes at Saskatoon Exhibition exactly fifty years later, told
the writer that when the class for the “Best Walking Team” was called, Stanley
King entered with his oxen. The horsemen
protested. But the committee took a
stand against racial discrimination and ruled that two oxen made a legitimate
team. King won the competition.
Robert Caswell, who later owned the
internationally famous shorthorn bull, Gainsford Marquis, won a dollar for the
best pen of fowl and H. Bowman had the winning trotting horse, an Indian pony,
blind in one eye, but the fastest trotter seen around Saskatoon in those years.
The day
before the fair, Joe took the horses, cattle, vegetable and grains being
entered by Robert and himself, and probably also John’s entries. When Rob stopped
to pick up John and his family, he remembered that he had intended to enter
cabbages as well. He slipped into John’s garden, picked out two fine cabbages,
and entered them as his own. To his immense delight, these cabbages won the
prize against those that John had selected.
At the first fair in 1886
a registered Shorthorn cow “Mary of Palmerston” was exhibited by two Caswell
brothers. Of course named after their mother, Mary Jane Caswell.
Joseph
Caswell collected vegetables to send to the 1893 world’s fair in Chicago. Seager Wheeler included two squash he could
just get his arms around.[1]
The
earliest newspaper I could find was the Saskatoon Phenix (sic) from Oct 17,
1902. On the first page was an article
about the 16th annual exhibition of the Central Saskatchewan
Agricultural Society on Oct 2nd and 3rd, 1902.
The weather was all that could be wished for,
and consequently the attendance was large.
The exhibits of horses, cattle, swine and sheep were excellent, though
not large in number, and would make a creditable showing in any of the larger
towns of the West. The exhibits of
ladies work were good and a large number of entries were made; but the exhibits
of grain, roots and garden produce, though of good quality, were very
small. Possibly the most noteworthy
exhibit in the hall was John Caswell’s display of grains and cultivated
grasses, competing for Garrison and Brawley’s prize.
Some of the family names in the list of
prize winners:
Draught Horses – Yearling
– RG Barager
Agricultural Horses – Team
– RW Caswell Yearling – Robt. Caswell 1st and 2nd. Two – year old – David Caswell
Driving Horses – Team –
Jos, Irvine, Joseph Caswell Yearling – David Caswell
Saddle Horses and Ponies
Saddle horse – JJ Caswell
Specials – Best bunch of
horses – JJ Caswell
Shorthorn Cattle – Bull,
two years old – John J. Caswell Bull, one year old – Joseph Caswell, John J.
Caswell Bull calf – John J. Caswell, joseph Caswell Heifer calf – John J
Caswell, Joseph Caswell Heifer, one year old – John J Caswell 1st
and 2nd. Heifer, two years
old John J. Caswell, Joseph Caswell.
Herd of cattle – John J. and Joseph Caswell
Dairy Cattle Heifer, one
year old – Joseph Caswell
Grade Cattle - Cow – Joseph Caswell 1st
& 2nd Heifer, two years – Jos. Caswell Heifer, one year – Joseph
Caswell, David Caswell. Calf raised on
dam – Jos. Caswell Calf raised by hand – David Caswell, Rbt Caswell Steers, two
years old – Joseph Caswell Fat animal –
John J Caswell Herd – Joseph Caswell.
Swine - Fat pig – Joseph
Caswell
Poultry - White Leghorns –
David Caswell Chickens – D. Caswell Pair of ducks – D Caswell Geese - D.
Caswell
Field Produce - Red Fyfe
Wheat – Joseph Caswell White oats – Joseph Caswell Collection of grains and
grasses – John J. Caswell. Judges
specially recommend this collection for special prize.
Is this
the picture of the prize wheat and grasses?
Grandson John had this in his possession
Field Roots - Early rose
Potatoes – John J. Caswell Potatoes A.O.K. – Joseph Caswell. Turnips – John J. Caswell, Joseph
Caswell. Mangolds – Joseph Caswell Sugar
beets - Joseph Caswell Field Carrots – Joseph Caswell
Garden Products - Sett
Onions – Joseph Beirnes, RG Barager Seed
onions – Joseph Beirnes Seed onions, yellow – Jos. Beirnes, RG Barager Carrots
– Jos. Beirnes, John J Caswell Long blood
beets – John J Caswell turnip beets – Joseph Caswell Corn – John J. Caswell
Cabbages – Joseph Caswell Corn John J Caswell, Cabbages – Joseph Caswell
Cauliflowers - Joseph Caswell Shallots – Joseph Beirnes Recommended for prize, Winter onions – Joseph
Caswell
Dairy and Miscellaneous - Packed
butter – Joseph Caswell Cured Meat – John J. Caswell, Joseph Caswell Pair of
dressed fowl – Mrs. J Caswell Dozen eggs – Miss Case
Ladies work - Floor rug,
rag – Mrs. John Caswell Pair darned socks, - Miss Case, Mrs Beirnes Ladies hose
– Mrs. John Caswell, Mrs. Beirnes.
From an interview with Joe
Caswell[2]:
“When Sir Wilfred Laurie and his party were touring the west prior to his election
as Prime Minister in 1896, the directorate invited him to attend our fair. The invitation
was accepted and the special train was stopped in Idylwyld, near the show.”
“I, a bachelor then, won first prize
in butter which greatly amused Sir Wilfred, who with his political slap on my shoulder
called the attention of the ladies of his party to the “confirmed old bachelor‟ winning the
prize. Needless to say I voted for him at that election. All of the party were very
enthusiastic about our display and took away a nine-pound black Spanish radish and
wrote me later how the enjoyed it en route home.”
The
Caswell brothers from the very beginning took pride in the raising of stock and
produce as is illustrated by the number of categories they entered and the prizes
that they won at the fair. From its
inception the Caswells were involved with the Agricultural Society, with the organizing and running of it as well as exhibiting.
[1]
Canada’s wheat king: the Life and times of Seager wheeler by Jim Shillday
[2]
Star Phoenix
