Documents...

 1. Homesteading: From Bradwardine and District

2. First Settlers in Daly: From Bradwardine and District

3. Early Daly History J. C. Cousins

4. The Ancrum Story: From Bradwardine and District

5. Bradwardine Beginnings: From Bradwardine and District

6. The Promised Land by Eileen Scott

7. Roseville Church Story by J. C. Cousins

8. The Roseville Church Story by Denise Bromley

9. The Sioux by J.C. Cousins

10. The Railway Companies: From Bradwardine and District

11. Bradwardine Beginnings 2: From Bradwardine and District

12. The Chapman Museum Story by Ab and Harriet Chapman




Document #1: Homesteading

Excerpt From:  “Bradwardine & District, A Century & More”, Bradwardine History Book Committee, 2003
p.10

The District Homestead Office

In 1878, a district homestead land office was located at the newly established hamlet of Rapid City, jumping off point for settlers going to the then unnamed "Bradwardine" district.

Rapid City, or Farmer's Crossing as it was originally known, was located on the south branch of the long established Hudson Bay Trail that led west from Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie to the trading post of Fort Ellice and beyond. The village is located on 20/29-10-20 Wl on the Little Saskatchewan River originally called the Rapid River. Freight was transported by Red River cart to Rapid City until the C.P.R. was constructed to Forrest in 1882.

At Rapid City, settlers could check available homestead locations and then travel on by foot or horseback to view the prospects. Once a suitable homestead site was located, and location was identified by the number on the survey mound left by the surveyors, the settler would return to the homestead office to finalize his claim. John Parr's homestead and future "Bradwardine" post office were south¬west of Rapid City, a trip of over 20 miles cross country.

Many of Rapid City's first residents predicted that it would become the future metropolis that its name suggests. However, these hopes would not be realized. In 1881, construction of the transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway, with the establishment of a railway station at Brandon, settled the matter. Brandon quickly became the major trading centre in western Manitoba.

Manitoba Homesteads

After Manitoba became a province in 1870, the government proceeded with surveys establishing the base lines, section, township and range markers to facilitate settlement. At the same time, negotiations were proceeding between the Canadian government and the Native tribes, and the route for the transcontinental railway was being surveyed.

About 1879-80, the prairie lands were opened for settlement in western Manitoba and settlers rushed to the district to apply for homesteads. Not all land was available for free homestead applications. Two sections of land in every township were reserved for Manitoba schools, one and three-quarters sections for the Hudson Bay Company (HBC), and sixteen sections for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). These reserved lands were then subsequently sold to settlers. The CPR initially sold its lands in the Tarbolton district for $2.50/acre in 1881, increasing to $3.00/acre or more in the 1890's and $6.00/acre in 1908. Price may have varied, depending on the land's agricultural potential.

Homesteaders could apply to the government for a free quarter section of land (160 acres) for a $10.00 application fee. The application required a commitment that a house and barn be built and that the applicant reside on the property and break and cultivate 30 acres of land. After three years the settler could apply for a patent to the land if all conditions had been met. After the land patent was received, an application could be made to purchase an additional 160 acres for a $10 fee and payment of $1.00 per acre. This was known as "preemption".

Most of the early settlers came from Ontario where all available land had previously been occupied. The population in Manitoba in 1870 was only 12,000 people, half English speaking and half French speaking. By 1891 the population had grown to more than 108,000 and of these, more than 46,000 were born in Ontario.
Ox Carts and Early Travel to Western Manitoba -
Most early homesteaders hauled their possessions in Red River carts pulled by oxen, which were stronger and more durable than horses. However, oxen were extremely slow, 15 to 20 miles per day would be a reasonable distance. Some wagons were pulled by a yoke of two oxen, others by four. Most would have one or two cows tied behind the wagon and the usual dog.
Travel was often done in groups so that assistance could be offered when difficulties arose. Government guides were also apparently used in the early days. Snow, rain, mud, deep ruts on the trails as well as flies, mosquitoes, temperamental oxen, lost livestock, troublesome creek crossings and sand hills made travel difficult. If the wagons were heavily loaded, the problem sections of the trail in sandy, muddy, or hilly terrain might have to be travelled twice with the load split in half. One record indicates a time of three and a half days travel time from Winnipeg to Portage la Prairie, a distance of 60 miles, with two wagons and a yoke of oxen on each. This would be an average of 17 miles per day.

The Hudson Bay Trail from Winnipeg

The first settlers in Bradwardine district arrived about 1880. They travelled westward from Winnipeg on the Hudson Bay trail which followed the north side of the Assiniboine River through Headingly, Poplar Point, and High Bluff to Portage la Prairie.

The spring run-off in June of 1881 was exceptionally high, causing a flood on the Assiniboine which was at a 25-year high. The streets of Portage la Prairie that spring were reported to be virtual seas of mud and water. The flood caused major difficulties for the settlers traveling that year. Merchants and freight companies delivered goods of all to this boom town by steam boats travelling on the Assiniboine River. Settlers obtained their final provisions at Portage la Prairie, and many shipped their goods there by boat in order to save time, and to avoid the many problems with mud, broken down wagons and stubborn ox learns.

After leaving Portage la Prairie, the south branch of the trail passed by Rat Creek, Beaver Creek, McKinnon Creek, through the sand hills to Pine Creek (north of present Melbourne). It continued through more sand hills to Oberon, Fingerboard, Moore Park, and Rapid City. The south branch of the Hudson Bay trail continued northwest after leaving Rapid City and re-joined the north branch a few miles east of Salt Lake, near Strathclair.

There was some merit to travelling in the spring when the ground was frozen. There were no mosquitoes in the spring, and there would still be time to break land and plant a small crop during the first season on the homestead. Snow was a major disadvantage to travel in the early spring. Some

sections of the trail were difficult to traverse due to deep snow sand hills or equipment damage and the heavy loads might then have to be split up and advanced in stages.

Stopping Places

Various locations along the trail had "stopping places” here very basic shelter for man and beast could be obtained and where food was available. After spending a night in one of the crowded stopping places, many pioneers claimed the experience of having a host of other "very small tavellers" joining them for the remainder of the trip. Some  the early stopping place names were:

Rat Creek had Cook's Stopping Place (SP),
McKinnon Creek - Bryce's SP,
Pine Creek(near Melbourne)- Flewellings SP,
Oberon - Nicol's SP, and
Fingerboard - Dodd's SP
The location on the trail known as Fingerboard was near present day Brookdale, where branches led from the rmain trail to Minnedosa, Rapid City and Grand Valley (near the future site of Brandon).

Document #2: Daly’s First Settlers

Excerpt From:

 “Bradwardine & District, A Century & More”, Bradwardine History Book Committee, 2003 p.11

The survey of Daly Municipality was complete by 1874, and the availability of homestead lands were then advertised. However, prospective homesteaders may have been initially concerned about going into the then untamed prairies. In 1876, the Sioux massacred General Custer's troops in Montana at the battle of the Little Bighorn and then escaped to Canada for Queen Victoria's protection in the Northwest Territories (today's Saskatchewan). No one knew if there would be similar problems in the next few years.

Access to western Manitoba was by the Hudson Bay Trail from Fort Garry, or by steamboat on the Assiniboine River. Steam-powered paddle boats, which had long been active on the Red River, navigated west as far as Fort Ellice in 1879. Due to the meandering nature of the Assiniboine, the distance followed by the boats was about three times the distance as the crow flies - many travellers claimed that walking was faster. Cordwood was stockpiled at intervals along the riverbanks to supply these river boats, which stopped frequently to take on fuel.

One of the first arrivals in Daly was T. Cousins, who constructed his cabin in 1879. Other homesteaders purchasing Township 12, Range 22, land in 1879 were: William Harvey (NW36), Ernest Glinz (SW34, NE35),George Taylor(all 25), William Dawe (SW&SE 23)and Joseph Whitechurch (all 24).

Others arriving in 1880 to settle in Township twelve in Daly were: John Rutherford (NW10), Thomas Thomson (SW10), William Baily (NE14), Joseph Z. Baily (NW14), Alfred Field (SE18), John Baily (NE 22), Zachary Baily (SE 22), Samuel Shortreed (NE26), Edwin McTaggart (NW28), Robert McTaggart (SW28), James Dobson (NE30), Needham Furnival (SE30), Thos. H. Gregson (SE32), Edward Reid (NE34),and John Marsh (NE36).

The majority of these early arrivals in 1879 & 1880 claimed homesteads in the northeastern portion of the township, the area now known as Lothair. Possibly this was due to finding suitable agricultural land closer to Rapid City where supplies could be obtained and the supposition that grain crops could be marketed there when the railway arrived.

Homestead families arriving in Township 12 in 1881 were: Joseph Shuttleworth (NE6), William Ruller (NW6), Edward Hunter (NW7), John Dyer (SW12), Zachary Baily(NE15), Archibald Chisholm (NW, NE18), John Marsh (NW20),and A.E.S.Sharman (NE20). Many others also arrived early in 1882.

In 1880, the first families to file for homesteads in the Township 11, Tarbolton, area were William Rutherford, James and Ann Joynt, Thomas Seens and William Wood. Others who were listed as arriving in the district about the same time were John Ramsay, Thomas Thomson Sr., W. Graham and J. Wedderburn.

Company records indicate 1881 buyers of CPR Township 11, Range 22, Wl land were James Young (Sec.9 & 19) on Oct. 10, 1881, Bery Garrett and Peter Ferguson (Sec.33) on October 26,1881; and George and Frederick Wolrige (Sec.33) on November 30, 1881. The trickle of settlers became a flood in 1882 when the CPR was built west to Brandon and transportation of people and supplies to the district became fast and economical.
 
Document #3:  Early Daly History

Excerpt From the work of J.C. Cousins, one of the earliest settlers in the district

Local Government

Before the Province of Manitoba was divided into separate Municipalities, it was governed, by County Councils. I will show the County of Brandon of which Daly formed a part. The County was comprised of five Municipalities, Daly, Elton, Whitehead, Glenwood and, Cornwallis and in 1882 the names of the County Councillors were as follows; James Pettitt represented, Daly, Mr, Clegg represented Eiton, Mr. Hannah, represented Whitehead, Mr. Steel represented Glenwood and as Brandon was unorganized and situated in Cornwallis Municipality, Charlie Whitehead a C.P.R. Contractor, represented it.

, Macdonald was Solicitor, George H. Halse was Secretary Treasurer of the County. He subsequently went to Vancouver and took over the management of the British Columbia Telephone System. In 1883, a Mr. William Thompson and William Hunter contested the Seat for Daly Thompson won.  He died before the yearly term was up and Williiam Sargent  (A brother of W.J. Sargent who was  Reeve of Daly at a later  for ten years) and Matthew Kennedy were nominated, to fill In the unexpired, term. Sargent was elected.

Mr. Sargent

Also a reference to the Western Judical District Board. Major Lawrence Buchan was Secretary Treasurer at this time of what was called Western Manitoba, west of Carberry. This originally formed, part of the North West Territories, and was then added to the other part of the Province of Manitoba. A polling booth was at a Mr. Valliant’s on Section 8-12-20 for the election of a County Councillor for 1885. John A. Dyer and a Mr. McLean were scrutineers for Mr. Kennedy and. Thomas Cousins represented Mr. Sargent.

In 1884 when the bridge was being built across the Little Saskatchewan at the original Pendennis Post office, Walter Sargent had the Contract and he sub-let the work of filling in the approaches to Charles Tufts and Harry Simonite (Mr. Simonlte’s son is an alderman in Winnipeg). This Bridge site was situated between Section 14 and 23-12-21 (the present C.P.R. trestle bridge was built over the same site.  George, my brother, worked on the bridge.

In 1884 the Province was divided and organized into separate Municipalities. James Pettit and William Sargent were nominated to contest the seat for the Reeveship. Pettitt won.  He had been educated for a Presbyterian Minister. The Councillors elected for each Township were as follows;
 
Township 11 Range 20 -   James Browning,
            "                "   21 -   John Bradley,
        "         11     “    22 -   James Sibbald
           "      12      “    22 "   -  Zachary Bailey
         "      12   "         21         - Fred Westwood
            "      12   “       20      - William Brown.

                   Clerk • Douglas Ayer,




James Sibbald – grandson of the Midshipman James Sibbald who was with Admiral Nelson and was to one who placed his kit bag under the dying Admiral’s head as he lay dying.


Council

At the house of William Creighton, Sec.  11-21,in the Municipality of Daly, on January 8th, 1884, the first meeting of the Council took place. Reeve Pettit in the chair having signed, his declaration of office at Brandon. The following persons then signed the Declaration of Office and were sworn in as Councillors for this year 1884: John Bradley, James Sibbald, William Braun, F.T.  Westwood and Zachary Bailey.  Applications for the position of Clerik were received -
T.N. Shepherd, Robert Kerr. Douglas Ayer. Moved by John Bradley and William Braun that Douglas Ayer be Clerk for the ensuing year and, he was then sworn in as Clerk for the year 1884.

The report of Matthew Kennedy, returning officer was read and accepted. Motion -  Bradley and Braun, returning officers will be paid. Motion Z. Bailey, seconded by John Bradley that the Reeve be empowered to employ a solicitor.

Moved by Westtwood and Bradley that the clerks purchase the necessary books and supplies.

Council adjourned to meet at Willlam Creighton’s on January 28th, at 12 o'clock.

James  Pettit  - Reeve,
D. Ayer,      -  Clerik

January 28th, 1884 – Second Meeting of Council.

The meeting was called to order b Reeve Pettit. James Browning took the oath of office, The Minutes of the last meeting were read and accepted.                                              
Applications for the position of Assessor were received.

From:

Matthew Kennedy,
Robert Chisholm,
F.C. Thorne

Applications for Treasurer from Aaron Tyerman and. Archibald Chisholm.

Motion -  Bailey and  Browning - that  Matthew Kennedy by Assessor for the year.                       Carried.

Motion – F.T.  Westwood and Braun that the salary of the Assessor be fixed at S65.00              Carried.

Motilon - Browning and Bradley - that the Motion appointing Matthew Kennedy Aaaessor, be rescinded. Carried

Motion - Browning and Bradiey - that Robert Chisholm be assessor at a salary of S65.00 per year.

Amendment - Westwood and Braun - that F. C. Thorne be appointed assessor at $65.00 per year. The amendment lost.  Motion Carried.

Motion Westwood and Braun - that Douglas Ayer be appointed Treasurer upon his furnishing two securities of S200 each and himself in like amount  satisfactory to Council and that he receive a salary for the combined, office of Secretary and Treasurer of S200  per annum.

Motion by Browning and  Bradiey that T.M. Daly be appointed solicitor at a salary of S60.00 per annum. Carried

Motion by Browning and Bradiey that the Reeve be authorized to procure a Seal for the Municipality. Carried,

Motion by Braun and Bradley - that clerk be entrusted to procure eight copies of the Municipal Act.
Carried,

 
Document #4. The Ancrum Story

Excerpt From:
 “Bradwardine & District, A Century & More”, Bradwardine History Book Committee, 2003 p.13

Wellwood/Ancrum School District

In 1881-82, the Chisholm, Scott, Crowe, Sharman, Doering, Lockhart & McDermid families had all acquired land within a one-mile radius from the SW of Section 16. The area was then known as a part of Lothair district, but would in future be called Ancrum. Robert Chisholm, who owned the SW16, must have been a prime mover in the formation of Wellwood School District as the new school was built on Robert's land and he also became the first trustee.

In September 1884, a bylaw was enacted by Daly Municipality fixing the boundary and establishing the Protestant School District of Wellwood. In 1885, Ancrum school was built on the west side of SW Sl/2 16-12-22, about midway between the corners.

Mr. Robert Chisholm was the first trustee and the first teachers were Miss Cameron and Mr. Hays.

Ancrum

About 1900, the proposed route for the Great Northwest Central included a railway station at Ancrum, then the location of Ancrum school, the Canadian Order of Foresters Hall and St. Matthew's Anglican Church. (A small two-story house was located immediately south of the old church site and was occupied until about 1946. It was originally intended as a manse.) However, in the final design the company moved the station one mile west to an alternate site at Bradwardine.

Ancrum was apparently not chosen for a townsite by the railway builders due to a dispute about land price and what was claimed to be an unsatisfactory railway grade. The site switch was a common tactic used by railway companies to minimize construction costs by obtaining cheaper land. The school has been gone since the early 1900's, and the Anglican Church manse since about 1950. The Anglican Church was closed and relocated to the farm of Clair and Beth English in 1986, a mile to the north of Bradwardine on Highway #259.

The Forester's hall was moved to Bradwardine shortly after 1902. Used first as a hall for the Foresters, than as a school, later as a residence during WWII, and finally as a hall for the Canadian Legion, it was destroyed by a fire in 1967.

Today, the only evidence of the small settlement at Ancrum is the stone cairn which marks the site of the former Ancrum school. It may be found three quarters of a mile south of Ancrum cemetery inside the fence on the east side of the road.

A half mile north of the old Ancrum church site, on the northwest corner of the highway, many of the pioneer family members and their descendants are remembered in the well-kept Ancrum Cemetery. A historical cairn is located at the SE corner.

Many other pioneer family names are to be found in the Greenwood Cemetery near Harding in Woodworth Municipality and in Tarbolton Cemetery.


Document #5: The Bradwardine Story

Excerpt From:
 “Bradwardine & District, A Century & More”, Bradwardine History Book Committee, 2003 p.12

Construction in 1883 / 84 / 85

The Forester's Hall was built at Ancrum in 1893. That was also the year that the R.M. of Daly came into existence with the distinction of being the first rural municipality established in Manitoba. A new school was built at Tarbolton in 1883 to fill the educational needs of the children from the many new homestead families.

John Parr opened his store and became the first postmaster at "Bradwardine" on W12-12-23W1 in 1884. The mail confirmed rumours that the Cree had started an uprising in the Northwest Territories (Saskatchewan area) led by Big Bear. The newly built CPR was quickly used to rush troops from the east to quell the uprising.
How Bradwardine got its name -

Bradwardine may have received its name from that of a character in Scott's novel "Waverly". There is also a place of a similar name in south-west England, which has only a minor difference in spelling.

Bradwardine is also a famous English family name. Thomas Bradwardine (1290-1349) was the confessor to King Edward III and later became Archbishop of Canterbury.

In any event, Bradwardine was the name given to the post office which John Parr established in his home and store on August 01, 1884. John was a half brother to Mrs. Edward Hunter (nee Carefoot/Parr).

In 1875, John Parr and his family moved from Ontario to Winnipeg where John obtained work as a messenger for the CPR. The family came up the Assiniboine by boat in the spring of 1882, disembarking near the Anglican Mission where they took shelter. The trip lasted only a week as the Assiniboine was in flood stage and short cuts could be taken. The Parrs claimed a homestead and were soon joined by the Ed Hunter family which had travelled west from Portage la Prairie with oxen.

The original location of John Parr's "Bradwardine" Post Office was W12-12-23W1, "across the line" in Woodworm Municipality, one and a half miles directly to the west of the present day Bradwardine in Daly Municipality.

The Village of Bradwardine was built in its present location as a result of the establishment of a railway station on the new line for the Great Northwest Central Railway (GNWCR). After the construction of the GNWCR, Parr's original "Bradwardine" Post Office closed and relocated to the new village in the E7-12-22 Wl in the Municipality of Daly.
Registered Plan of the Village of Bradwardine

The original homesteaders of the NE, SE, & SW of 07-12-22W1 were Andrew Elliot and J. Scott, who purchased the land from the CPR for $2.50/acre in 1882. Mr. Scott later assigned his interest in these three quarters of the section to Mr. Elliot in 1898. In 1901, Andrew and George Common purchased the property from the Elliot family.

When the Great Northwest Central Railway was built to Bradwardine, the required land for the village and railway was purchased from the Common family, then owners of the east half of Section 7. The legal survey was undertaken and on its completion a plan was drafted and signed on July 09, 1902.

The plan was later registered as #145 in the Brandon Land Titles Office on Jan. 30, 1904. It shows the prior land owners to be George and Andrew Common, who operated a farm just west of the new village. Common family members also operated Bradwardine businesses in the early days. Their descendants still reside in Daly municipality.

The original village plan consisted of four blocks and included a school site. The streets were named Elliot and St. James. Elliot Street, named after an original homesteader on the land, runs adjacent and parallel to the railway line. The avenues were named from west to east, St. Andrews, Kings, Richardson and Park, north to south.


Document #6: The Promised Land  

An excerpt from: “Porridge and Old Clothes”, Eileen M. Scott, 1982

"Shake your sark-tail, Agnes, we're gangin' awa' tae Canada," so said my great grandfather to my great grandmother a-way back in June, 1882. Agnes sat there stunned for a moment, but she was never one to sit stunned for long. She packed their meagre belongings in a couple of stout, home-made trunks and some boxes, gathered together their nine
remaining offspring, the two eldest already having emigrated to Canada, and. set sail on the "S. S. Manitoban". As the shores of Scotland grew fiminer and dimmer, Agnes had some misgivings about the venture. There

There wild Indians over in Canada and, she had heard, they sometimes went on the warpath and scalped people. The skin began to prickle on the back of her neck and her heart gave a lurch, but she said nothing
to Andrew, her spouse, because he was so looking forward to pioneering in a brand new land, and they were both anxious to see Jock and Willie, their two eldest sons, again. She thought of the three tiny graves they were leaving behind and quickly put it out of her mind.

The trip was long but quite uneventful. Thankfully, the food was good and the ship was comfortable. When the whistle blew and the ship began to move, the three youngest children screamed in terror. Andrew Jr. pointed to the far end of the ship and said, "Is yon Manitoba, is yon Jock, is yon Willie?" all the time tears streaming down his face. Then the steward lined up everybody on deck and took the roll-call. "Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Rutherford, Agabella, George, James, Mary, Sandy, Tina, Robert, Archie, Andrew Jr.," he bellowed. Aye, all present so far. All became seasick for a period of about four days and then they were up on deck again, all except my great grandmother. She just couldn't get her head up, as she put it. The stewardess and the captain went down to her stateroom to see what was wrong and surmised that she was simply exhausted. At last, the stewardess and Agabella managed to get her on deck and she slowly revived. The immigrants landed at Point Levy and proceeded by train to Toronto. They couldn't get over the fact that they could walk from one end of the train to the other instead of being locked into a compartment as they were in Scotland.

Andrew telegraphed to the Robertsons of chocolate fame and Gideon, the son, met them at the station. It was four o'clock in the morning and they had to walk a mile to the Robertson home.. The children were crying because they were so tired. The streets were lined with beautiful trees and Agnes could hardly believe it when she saw the splendid stores with their goods displayed in the windows. They finally arrived at the Robertson home and were ushered into a handsome room. It was not long before Mrs. Robertson, Andrew's eldest sister, appeared. They  had not seen each other for thirty years and embraced affectionately. She was the eldest and he the youngest of a family of ten. As soon as all eleven of them had a bite to eat, they marched up to the bathroom and had a wash which helped to refresh them. After resting there for three days and two nights, Agnes, Andrew, and the children were given plenty of provisions by Mrs. Robertson and. they set out by train for Sarnia.

On arrival at Sarnia, they had to take an old wreck of a boat up the Great Lakes.  Incidentally, it sank on the next trip.  Agnes mentioned that she could see the water down through the floor boards.  The Great Lakes trip took five days and there were no beds on the boat. They landed at Duluth on a Saturday night and stayed, all night in the immigration shed, for to stay in a hotel would have been too expensive. On arising on the Sabbath, they were shocked to see men at work painting houses.

The train left Duluth on Sunday afternoon.  Willie was at Winnipeg to meet them and the first thing he said was, "Where is ma mither?" In those days, the boat plied up and down the Assiniboine River and they took it to a point just beyond Brandon.  Willle took them to a friend's place where they stayed all night.  It came a dreadful thunderstorm during the night and the rain came through the roof onto the bed.  The mud ran down the walls for it was a log house plastered with mud.  They had been on the road exactly one month to the day.  The next morning, they had just eaten their breakfast when the Indian missionary arrived to tell them that Jock was waiting on the other side of the river with the wagon and oxen.  They had. to wade through long grass to the river, which was in flood, carrying the smaller children.  Agnes climbed into the small rowboat with the youngest child and the missionary rowed them across.  She was more afraid of this crossing than crossing the Atlantic. Several trips later, all were safe on the other side.  Jock took his mother in his arms and carried her to the wagon, the rest wading through the wet grass.  They all got into the wagon and, with Jock gee-hawing the oxen, drove off with a crack of his whip.  Agnes noted, the absence of reins and wondered how one stopped the oxen if they should decide to run away.  It was a long, rough nine-mile trip that Agnes thought would never end but, at last, she could recognize Maggie, Willie's wife, coming to meet them with two children clinging to her skirts and one in her arms.  At long last, they were at the end of their journey.

The next job was to find a suitable homestead, and to build a sod shanty before winter set in.  Andrew finally chose a piece of land with rolling hills, valleys, and the Oak River running through it.  He said that it reminded him of the hills of home in the Yarrow Valley of bonnie Scotland.  Being a joiner by trade, it didn't take him long to figure out how to build a "soddy" as the sod shanties were sometimes called, After living in a "soddy" for awhile the immigrants had more colourful names for them!  With the help of his eldest boys, he cut poplar poles
and put up a framework.  Then the tough prairie sod was cut into large "bricks" and these were stacked, one on top of the other, until they reached the roof, leaving openings for a door and a window.  The roof was made of poplar poles laid close together, then a layer of hay was added, a layer of sod, more hay, and, finally, the whole was covered with a layer of earth.  Sod houses were very warm in winter, cool in summer, and. leaked like a sieve whenever it rained.  When the house was finished, Agnes put up drapes that she had brought all the way from Scotlan thinking to make it look a bit more homey, and the first big rain  completely ruined, them. The rain leaked onto bed, and. Agnes had. to
put up her umbrella.

That first year was a real hardship so Andrew and son, Willie, got busy the next spring and built a proper log house. It was a tremendous improvement over the sod shanty.

In 1882, life in Manitoba wasn't all that primitive. True, there were plenty of hardships, but Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald was in the driver's seat, the Indians had calmed down considerably much to my great grandmother's relief, the bison had almost disappeared from the Manitoba scene, and barbed-wire fences enclosing cultivated fields were fast taking over the wild beauty of the landscape. This was also a time of transition from old to new farming methods. The European method of farming on small tracts of land didn't lend itself to the cultivation of the huge expanse of the prairies. The binder was replacing the reaper and, thus, releasing scarce workers from having to hand-tie the grain into sheaves. Long seed drills, pulled, by a four-horse team, were becoming numerous but it was much later that a step was installed at the back of the machine to allow the driver to ride Instead of walk. The gangplow, also employing four horses, was quickly taking the place of the walking plow, although the latter was still favoured for the initial breaking up of the sod. Tough horses of mixed breeds with a shot of wild broncho in their bloodlines were taking the place of the slow oxen. The great lumbering steam-engine, coupled with a threshing separator, made its appearance in Manitoba in the early eighties. At first, the separator was pulled between a double row of stacks and the pitchers toiled to keep the sheaves moving Steadily through the feeder. In those days, grain was bagged as It came forth from the separator. In later years, a different method was  employed when manpower becamemore easily obtained. The threshing outfit would be placed in the middle of a field of stocks and stock teams, consisting of two pitchers with a team of horses hitched to a hayrack, would bring the load of sheaves to the threshing machine. These were pitched into the feeder of the separator, just as in days of old, and the separator then deposit the grain by chute into a portable granary, and a blower deposited the straw in a stack to be used later as bedding for the animals.

Life for my great grandparents wasn't without its tragedy. Young George took a homestead not far from the home spread. Being a bachelor, he probably didn't look after himself very well and, as a consequence, he caught pneumonia at the tender age of twenty-two and died, alone, on May 25, 1888. If only there had been a telephone.

Another tragic incident occurred when Andrew Jr. and Frank Grant, son of Mrs. Ed. Willey, ran over and killed a small Indian child while racing their Indian ponies. They had gone to an Indian pow-wow on the Sioux Valley Indian Reservation and, when it came time to go home, they raced their ponies out of the camp with the others. A small Indian child raqn out of one of the teepees and was run over by one of the ponies. The Indlans mounted their ponies, took out after Andrew Jr. and Frank, and caught them. It looked mighty serious for them for a while Because the Indians were really aroused but clearer heads prevailed and tempers finally cooled The two thoroughly frightened lads were released and
allowed to return home.

One of the first things immigrants did when they arrived in Manitoba was to plant trees around their 'buildings. Apart from being very fondof trees, the immigrants found them very useful as windbreaks for the farm buildings against the cold north winds during the winter. They usually chose cottonwood or Manitoba Maple because it didn't take these trees very long to reach maturity in the rich virgin soil.
Manitoba  Maple was also quite often chosen to line the streets of a town
Because of its wild array of colour during the autumn season. During summer, the wide spreading boughs afforded welcome shade on a hot summer’s day.

The people in the district thought it was high time they had a church so, in 1888, on a piece of property kindly donated by James Sibbald and with a generous donation from J. W. Wedderburn, my great father, son Willie, and John Ramsay built the Tarbolton Presbyterian Church. It had a coal and wood heater in the middle of the room and those who sat too close were par-boiled, while those by the window nearly perished with the cold. Then they built a stable for the horses And '''twa' wee hoosies" at the back of the church and they were in business. Prior to this, services had been held in the Tarbolton school. It is nice to know that, ninety-three years later, the church that my great grandfather helped to build is still standing and in excellent condition lovingly cared for by a small congregation of dedicated people. Incidentally, it is now the Tarbolton United Church.

In 1883, the first schoolhouse was built and it had a complement of sixteen pupils of all ages and grades up to grade eight. However, it wasn’t open all year but closed from December 1st to April 1st and the pupils enjoyed only two weeks of summer vacation. It was struck twice by lightning and a world globe, hanging from the ceiling, was split in two. Luckily, the children were on their way home at the time. . After that,whenever a storm was brewing, the children were quickly dismissed, In 1907, a new school was built because the old one was much too small for the growing population. This school had a furnace in the basement

Instead of the old pot-bellied stove in the classroom. The children used to roast apples on top of that old pot-bellied stove. There wasn't a well at the school so the drinking water had to be carried from Bill Cochrane’s farm every day, and the horses were lodged at the church stable just half a mile down the road.

Teachers were made of good stuff in the early days. They had to they wouldn't have survived! Eight grades in one room, as many as pupils ranging in age from six to sixteen, and all having to be taught different subjects at once. Furthermore, they were well taught. Actually having several grades in one room was quite a good idea, because the the children in the lower grades could listen in on the lessons taught to the older children and, when they graduated to a higher grade, they already knew most of the work. Nowadays, if teachers have
More than twenty pupils in only one subject and, in only one grade, they start
to scream holy murder.


Agabella's Dream Comes True

Agabella thought longingly of her 'boy-friend, Robert Thomson, back in Scotland and wished fervently that he would emigrate to Manitoba. She didn't have long to wait because he followed her out in 1883, andworked for Jack Johnstone for a short time before taking up a homestead.
 Jack was a bachelor and he and Robert lived on boiled potatoes, rice
pudding and eggs part of the year. On a cold winter's day, snow would sift through the cracks in Jack's shanty, the nail heads and hinges on the door would be covered with frost, and ice would form on the water bucket during the night. Of course, this was a common occurence in most of the early-day shanties, and even the strongest and toughest of pioneers would think longingly of their old homes and would wonder if they had made the right move. Two years later, when Agabella was just twenty-one, Robert proposed and they were married.

The first year was a bit of a disaster in that Agabella, in her enthusiasm to have the yard neat and tidy, let a small fire get away from her. When a fire gets going in the prairie "wool" it is almost impossible to stop. Prairie wool is grass that has been flattened to the ground and has dried and cured itself. The bison liked to eat the nutritious "wool". She and her sister, Tina, rushed out of the shanty to fight the fire, leaving the door open and the bread baking in the oven. In the meantime, a wandering cow entered the shanty and the door slammed shut behind her. She became frightened and, in trying to escape she made an almost complete shambles of the shanty. When the two exhausted women returned from fire fighting, they had to shoo a wild-eyed cow out of the shanty and clean up an indescribable mess as best they could. One wonders what happened to the bread.

Robert had to haul his grain by team to Brandon in the winter, twenty-five miles away, for the first few years and then to Alexander, twelve miles away. On the Brandon trip he would drive as far as Gray's farm which was also a half way house, stay the night, drive to Brandon and back to Gray's farm the next day, and then home the day after. It was a long haul for both Robert and the team. The Alexander haul was an improvement because he could do it both ways in one day. There and back, he would stop at Mrs. Occapaw's teepee to warm himself. There would be scalps hanging all around the inside of the teepee and Robert often wondered if they were taken at the Custer massacre but he never dared to ask. Luckily, the Sioux were quite peaceful by this time. I suppose they realized that it was utterly useless to fight the hoards foreigners invading and taking over their land.

One wonders why the homesteaders didn't make the trip during the autumn with the wagon, but there was a very good reason. There was no bridge over the Assiniboine River and so they had to wait until the river froze over before they could get across. In 1892, a bridge was built which made the hauling of grain considerably easier.

Some mention should be made here of Mrs. Occapaw, the old  Sioux squaw, because she was quite a character. She was quite stout, partly because of the layers upon layers of petticoats she wore even on the hottest summer day. When asked, why she wore so many clothes, her reply was that if she left them in her teepee her daughter-in-law would, steal them. Quite often, she would be observed walking all the way from the Indian Reservation and stopping at each farm for a large dinner. By the time she arrived at Robert Thomson's farm she was fit to burst, but that didn't deter her for one moment. She would tie into another hefty dinner and then go outside and roll on the ground, groaning in discomfort, until she was able to walk again. The long walk in between meals probably saved her from a heart attack because she lived to a ripe old age,

The village of Bradwardine came into being In 1902 and the Canadian Pacific Railway came through in the same year. The first grain elevator wasn't built until 1903 so all the grain had to be hauled in sacks until around 1906 when the farmers were then able to haul their grain in bulk. The homesteaders were now hauling their grain to Bradwardine because the route was so much shorter. Around 1909 Bradwardine suffered a great disaster when the main street was completely gutted by fire, a tragedy from which it never fully recovered.

The first post office in the district was located in the log home of Thomas Seens and was called Roden. This name was submitted to the post office department by Mr. Seens and accepted, the office being named after a Lord Roden in Ireland. The mail was carried on foot by Davie Aitken from Brierwood. In 1904, Jack Laing took over the task of mail carrier which he carried on until 1918. The mail then came to the village of Bradwardine where Jim Hays ran the first post office until it was taken over by Ab Hays who ran it for many, many years. From 1904 to1914, the mail was delivered by team. The route followed consisted of twenty-three miles from Roden through Brierwood, Hillview, Maakewata, to Griswold and return, making it a forty-six mile trip in one day. This was done twice a week. The last four years were a bit easier as the trips were made by Model T Ford during the summer.

In early days homesteaders made their own entertainment with dances, skating parties, sports days, picnics and concerts using home-grown talent, some of it remarkably professional.

Dances were held in various homes and people would, travel for miles to attend, often not returning home until morning. They worked hard and they played hard.
When the slough froze over, a gang would gather together, build a bonfire at the edge of the ice, and enjoy an evening of skating.

Whenever a homesteader required a new barn, all the neighbours would collect on his farm and they would raise it in double-quick time. Women would also come along to help in the kitchen. After all, the builders had to eat. After the barn was finished, there would be a dance and homesteaders for miles around would come. There was always a fiddler around who could provide the music and the festivities would go on until it was time to milk the cows the next morning. Helping one another seems to be a natural trait of prairie people.

A farmer thought nothing of working fourteen hours a day with no overtime pay. Most of the time he worked his guts out for nothing. One a farmer could be gloating over his field of golden grain waving gentle breeze, mentally tabulating what forty bushels to the acre Manitoba No. 1 Hard was going to bring him and, in less than half an it could he blackened and flat as a pancake from a freak hailstorm. If a farmer was lucky enough to avoid the hailstorms, there was always
it, a cyclone, an early frost, rust, cutworms, or those perishing hoppers with which to contend. Why do farmers take the gamble year year? Because they are incurable optimists, I suppose. It is certain to be better next year.

Some people seem to have the mistaken idea that farmers had a time during the winter. Nothing could be further from the truth, especially in the early days. When grain was sacked instead of being left in bulk as it is now, the sacks had to be inspected for the smallest hole. These had to be carefully darned and Robert became exceptionally good at darning. Also, the binder canvasses had to be inspected and Robert used to mend his binder canvasses on Agabella's sewing machine. Can you imagine a modern sewing machine standing up to such usage? Then, all the harness for approximately a dozen teams of horses had to be carefully mended and lubricated to keep it pliable. Add that man hours! When all that was done, the grain had to be drawn by team to the elevator. Can you imagine what it must have been like to sit hind a slow-moving team in sub-zero weather for hours on end? The farmer walked most of way behind the sleigh to keep his feet from freezing.

Document #7: The Roseville Church Story

From the work of J.C. Cousins, one of the earliest settlers in the district

In 1882 my brother Dick canvassed the district for subscriptions for the purpose of 'building an Anglican Church. The Caporns, Piersons and Varcoes were anxious for a Church service, so a meeting was called and Dick pooled his efforts with theirs and in 1884 the Roseville Church was erected situated on the north east quarter of section 26-11-20.  Varcoes gave the land.  An Agreement was entered into by the four denominations then represented, Anglican. Baptist, Methodist and Congregational, each having the right  to supply its own Minister on one Sunday of eaoh month. The funds and collections were all pooled in, or under a Treasurer, This was the first Church erected in Daly Municipality.

Township 12 Range 20 was set aside as a Reserve for British immigrants.  Crecy John Williams was employed by the Dominion Steamship Company to bring immigrants out to fill up the lands on the township. He arrived at Portage La Prairie with sixty families. He met ay father and offered him a homestead and pre-emption for him and Dick, my brother, on the Reserve provided he would come West and assist him in locating these people on their homesteads. My father led them into the township had traveled miles in locating half-mile and corner mounds.                                                         !

I am going to set forth some facts pertaining to the early history of our Church in Rivers, as well as certain other facts relating to the early history of the Anglican Church in the English Reserve, which is, as the most of you knew, situated just east of Rivers and more particularly comprising township 12, Range 20, and also a bit of history about the first Church in the Red River settlement in Manitoba. You may wonder how the settlers of the years 1875 and up to 1880, that came west and homesteaded in the Western part of Manitoba, got on without a Church or Minister.  However, my Dad and family stopped and camped in a large tent for three weeks at a Peter McLean’s house and on the old Indian trail. In coming West to the English Reserve of course, my Dad and. brother Dick homesteaded on Sec. 17-12-20, three miles East of Rivers,  and. We. Together with the other settlers were without a Minister until the spring of 1880.  At this time the Reverend John B. Sargent was sent out "by the Anglican Church to Rapid City and. he used to walk out to our place, a distance of ten miles and hare service at our house, at which nearly all the settlers In the Township would attend. My brother Dick would drive him "bade home in the lumber wagon. These services were continued until 1884 at which time an arrangement was made and the Roseville Church was erected. I am reminded that this past year is the 50th anniversary of the Anglican Church history in Rivers. On October 7t, 1907 I received this letter inserted herein, his in answer to mine dated October 1st, 1907:

Mr. J. C. Cousins, Reeve,

Arva Farm,
Pendennis P.O. Manitoba.

Dear Sir;

Replying to your letter of the 1st inst., I am unable to say at the present time what reduction will be made in the price of lots at Rivers to be used for Church purposes. I have referred this matter to the executive of the Company and I will communicate with you when I hear from them. In the meantime, it would be well for you to make a selection of the lots you require. I enclose a blue-print of the town of Rivers upon which I have marked the lots already applied, for.

(Signed)   G.H. Ryley
We at once made the selection and purchased the lots.



Document #8: Roseville Church By Denise Bromley

88th Edition    The New Leaf    December 2010

This summer as a result of participating in our Branch‘s cemetery transcribing project, I re-visited the history of my community‘s little country church. Roseville Church was 1 1/2 miles down the road from our farm beside Roseville Cemetery. However, to preserve the building, it is now located at the Chapman Museum just a short distance from its original
location. This little church has given me a glimpse into what rural life was like for my
husband, Don, while he was growing up. Inside there is the organ that his grandmother used to pump out the music on Sunday morning, Attendance Roll charts hanging on the wall listing himself, his siblings, cousins and friends with stars strung out behind their names, hymn books along with many other items relating to the church and the people who once attended the services.

After taking some photographs of the church, of memorabilia and reminiscing with Lois Allen, I dug out my ―From Generations to Generations‖ history book as compiled by the Committee and Members of the Kirkham Bridge Women‘s Institute. The following, with permission is their article about Rosedale Church.

The English Church which had been holding services in this new settlement a few years previous to the building of Roseville Church, was first represented by the Reverend Shepherd, minister at Rapid City, and it is something worthy of note that the English Church has given a steady and continuous service up to the present time.

For the Baptist, Mr. Westwood, a local preacher, was the first to occupy the pulpit. When the Baptist College was instituted at Brandon, the students used to fill the vacancies, one of whom in later years was the Reverend K. Stone, a preacher in the First Baptist Church,. This denomination, at one time, held their baptismal service at the ―Ford‖ four miles straight west of Roseville, on the Little Saskatchewan River. It attracted many spectators; some even came the night before to set up camp so that they would be on hand early to get a choice seat on the bank, to witness the event.

A Methodist, Reverend Davies, is supposed to have held the very first service in the church on March 30th, 1884. One Methodist preacher stands out in the memory of one of the first church-goers. He could quote scripture ‘ad lib‘, his ordinary conversation was full of Scriptural texts and sayings, and his invocations were something extraordinary. He would begin very softly then get to forte, gradually working up to crescendo, until at last one could almost hear him a mile away, hammering at the Throne of Grace.

The Congregationalists were first supplied by the Y. M. C. A. of Brandon, who gave some very interesting and lively meetings. Reverend Mason ministered for several years, as did Mr. H. Cater, then Mayor of Brandon.

About 1915, the Methodists withdrew their minister from Roseville as he had a large charge which took in Forrest; Wesley and Bethel. The Congregational Church in Brandon, from where this denomination had drawn its supply of ministers was closed, so this left only the Anglican and Baptist denominations. For some time the Baptists carried on services but when the divinity course was no longer offered at Brandon College, it was found too difficult to secure someone to take services, so they too dropped out. Then for the next twenty-five years the Anglican and Union services alternated until gradually for various reasons the Union services were discontinued.

Through the years several changes have been made to the Church, all by voluntary labour. An addition, 16 x 16 was built in 1896, which increased the seating capacity considerably. In 1909 a basement was dug, then in 1926 a new foundation was placed under it, and a new furnace installed. It was repainted inside and out and another carpet purchased for the platform. In 1942 the interior was lined with gyproc and painted. The original seats and pulpit were made and donated by Mr. James Varcoe; but in 1952 these seats were sent to the mission at Snow Lake and Roseville fell heir to the pews from the disused Church at Wheatland. An altar was added in 1944, and a Booker Furnace some time later. In 1953 the building was wired for electricity. The building has served many purposes—for Sunday School classes, concerts (Christmas and otherwise), meeting place for the Circle of Kings Daughter‘s, Ladies Aid, Women‘s Auxiliary and Junior Auxiliary, and sometimes for picnic suppers, 25th, 50th, 70th and 100th Anniversaries have been celebrated.

What a wealth of recollections these two words bring to the minds of those whose lives were coincident with the beginning and building of that Church, memories sweet and bitter, memories of joys and sorrows, memories of dear ones ―loved long since and lost awhile,‖ memories that are ever hallowed by the fleeting wings of Time. One cannot tell the story of Roseville Church without mentioning some of the incidents leading up to its beginning and building which has meant so much to the people of this district, and is held in such affectionate remembrance by all those who were members from its earliest history.

During January, 1882, Mr. William Peirson, visiting the Varcoes in Portage la Prairie, remarked to Mrs. Varcoe (then principal of Portage Collegiate), ―We are looking forward to the time when you settle on your homestead, so that you can take a Bible Class for our boys on the Sabbath‖. When she arrived on her farm Mr. Peirson called again, and urged the formation of a Bible Class. Accordingly on Easter Sunday, March 25th, 1883, at the invitation of Mr. and Mrs. James Varcoe eight young people gathered at their home to form a Class and to study God‘s word. Later on it was urged that the  ̳heads of the families should enjoy the privileges of Christian Worship‘, so through the summer of that year services were held in four different homes (Peirson‘s, Caporn‘s, Varcoe‘s and probably Cousin‘s), hymns were sung, with a word of prayer. It was found that at the end of a year, an average of 21 persons had been present each Sunday.

It should be emphasized here, that the formation and origin of Roseville Mission Hall (as it was then called) was greatly due to the efforts and sincere sense of Christian duty and service held by the James Varcoes, who have long since passed to the  ̳Great Beyond‘. In the spring of 1884, when the need of a place of worship was apparent to everyone, two friends went around collecting and canvassing for the necessary funds. Everyone visited, gave, or promised willingly sums of money, and also the needed labour for building this first church in Daly Municipality.

Mr. Varcoe donated two acres of land in the northeast corner of his farm on 8-11- 20 for a church site and burial ground. Thirteen teams hauled the building materials from Brandon, free of charge, then work commenced. A structure 16 x 24 was soon erected ―for the people had a mind to work‖ and the first service was held on Easter Sunday, April 13th, 1884. It might here be stated that owing to the smallness of any one denomination, it was thought better to make it a Union Church and to pool the funds under one treasurer. Each denomination — Baptist, Episcopal, Methodist and Congregationalist, held its own service one Sunday of the each month, which on the whole worked very successfully, as everyone joined heartily in the services whether it was their particular denomination or not.

In connection with this it might be said  ̳in passing‘ that while those inside the Church were singing ―Peace, perfect Peace‖, with every sign of concord and unity, there was often disunity outside. As is well known, in country places there is always a large canine population. So it was in those days. Every farmer was the possessor of two or three dogs and no doubt the latter did not see why they could not follow a team or buggy on Sundays as well as week days, so there generally was a goodly array of Church- going dogs.

Often when the congregation was singing a hymn, some dogs more musically inclined than the rest would join in, which did not contribute to the melody, but which not doubt, they thought a howling success. At other times just as the minister was beginning his  ̳thirdly‘, a dogmatic discussion would start up outside by some dogs belong perhaps to a Baptist or Episcopalian member, others would join in and it would end up in a  ̳free- for-all‘. This was very disturbing and tantalizing to the younger portion of the congregation inside, particularly when they could hear some of the boys at the back slipping out to see the fun. Sometimes an elder of the Church would go out ostensibly to stop the noise, but it was thought he really went to see that his dogs didn‘t get the worst of the discussion. Roseville, in those days, boasted a choir and choir master. One choir leader of note was Mr. George Mann who was a gold medalist, having sung before Queen Victoria. He proved to be master of any situation, when for instance on the Sunday morning that Mrs. Fred Caporn‘s big collie dog followed her to Church and as she took her place in the choir the dog took his place under her seat. While the first hymn was being sung the dog began to howl. Mr. Mann turned when (he) heard the sound and said, ―The soprano is out.
.
1959 saw Roseville celebrate its 75th Anniversary. The Anglican Ministers from Rivers continued to conduct services, but finally, because of changing times, it was felt that it would be better to amalgamate with St. James Anglican Church in Rivers. A once a year service and picnic continued to be held at Roseville.

In 1979 the Roseville congregation decided to close Roseville Church, and the building was donated and moved to the Albert Chapman Museum. The annual service and picnic have continued to be held on the Museum Grounds.
In 1983 a special service took place, to unveil and dedicate a cairn which now stands in Roseville Cemetery, where close by for so many years the community had gathered to worship. Centennial year, 1984, also was celebrated with thankfulness for 100 years of worship, fellowship, and neighborliness in Roseville Community.

Indeed, Roseville Church has remained a Beacon Light, casting its rays of Christian influence and blessings into the hearts and lives of all who lived within the radius of its beam.

 
Document #9: The Sioux

From the work of J.C. Cousins, one of the earliest settlers in the district.


A tribe of Sioux Indians were the first inhabitants of Daly Municipality. The Government set aside all the land lying between the Little Saskatchewan and Assiniboine rivers, more particularly described today as Township 11, Range 21, but the Government evidently discovered this was more suitable for farm lands and had the Indians removed to the Griswold Reserve.   

Wabadista was the Indian Chief at that time. This tribe of Indians had escaped from the United States and crossed into Canada to avoid the wrath of the United States Government

Nevertheless there were some fine stalwart Indians amongst them. A John Crow of the tribe had joined the North West Mounted Police - their duty was to patrol the whole of the North West Territories and John had become acquainted with every river, nook and corner of the West then left the Force, but when the 1885 Rebellion started (which was brought about by Louis Riel, he had not forgotten his defeat in 1870) John joined up again and did his best to prevent an uprising. An Indian trail led on from the Reserve to join the Yellow Head Pass or Trail, It was so called after Jasper Hawes one of the gentlemen adventurers of the Hudson Bay Company who had very red hair -  the Indians named it Yellow Bead Pass because he had hair the colour of September wheat in the sheaf. They called him Tette Jaune or Yellow Bead.  At the time of the rebellion, the then residents were very much afraid, having in mind the massacres, scalping and awful deeds perpetrated in the States at the time Custer in Minnesota and the South fought the Indians and was killed. They came over to Canada from Dakota after Sitting Bull was defeated . They never showed any desire to take up arms here or to become unfriendly, had many pow-wows, beat their Tom-toms and would dance around yelling “Hi Yi, Hi Yi.”
 

 
Document #10: The Railway Companies

Excerpt From:
 “Bradwardine & District, A Century & More”, Bradwardine History Book Committee, 2003 p.12

The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was under construction west of Winnipeg in 1881. Land surveys had been completed in Daly Municipality and were continuing elsewhere in the province. Governments of both Canada and Manitoba, as well as the Canadian Pacific Railway were actively promoting land sales and settlement of the province.

As the Bradwardine district was becoming settled between 1880 and 1890, there was a boom in new railway line construction. Many different lines were proposed in Manitoba, however, many had poor financing and were being promoted by speculators, while there were others where business did not meet expectations.
The Great Northwest Central Railway line from Forrest to Lenore was built through Bradwardine in 1902, some 20 years or more after the first settlers arrived. The Great Northwest Central line, like many other branch lines built at the time, was subsequently purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway.

At one time, the Canadian Pacific Railway ran tri¬weekly mixed freight and passenger trains on the Forrest/Brandon to Lenore line. This was later reduced to biweekly and lastly, in the late 1940's, on an as required basis to pick up grain cars. As of today, in 2002, the rail service has now been abandoned for a number of years, the rails have been removed, and the railway lands returned to agriculture.
 
 
Document #11: Bradwardine Beginnings (2)

From various sources

The townsite of Bradwardine sprang up with the arrival of the C.P.R branch line from Brandon in 1902. Prior to the arrival of the rail line the well-populated region centred around local schools and post offices, with the community of Tarbolton being the most identifiable centre with both a church and a school on 21-11-22. St. Matthew’s Anglican Church had been erected on SE 20-12-22 about three kilometers northeast of the current village of Bradwardine, in 1901 near where Ancrum school had been opened in 1882.

Early settlers, many of them from Scotland, but also from England and Ireland, were here before the railway reached Brandon and it wasn’t an easy trip. During the spring they could come by way of the Assiniboine River, debarking from the steamers at Hall’s Landing, a few kilometers north of where Hall’s Bridge sits today. There was a Mission near that spot that offered shelter and some help to arrivals. In other season arrivals trekked from Winnipeg on foot or in ox carts.  Upon arrival they could consider themselves lucky in that there were enough trees on the many ravines and creek bottoms to provide logs for building – those who chose the more southern locations had to make do with sod huts.

Soon after the first train arrived  the village had the full range of pioneer era services arranged in a modest grid of streets along the railway line, the most vital of which would be the elevator constructed in 1903 by the Ogilvie Company. Two other elevators followed with the Pool Elevator, built in 1927, standing alone today. Bradwardine School was built in 1905. A Presbyterian Church was soon open in the village to serve that denomination. Limber yard, blacksmith shop and a hotel soon were in business.

A private bank was opened by a Mr. Dickson and it was later taken over by the Bank of Hamilton. The vault still marks the spot, just south of the elevator.

Sometime around 1910 a fire destroyed much of the main business district, and although the town continued to grow the commercial sector never really recovered from that setback.


Document #12: The Chapman Museum Story

IT  JUST  HAPPENED

Ab and Harriet Chapman

At the beginning it wasn't a dream, or even a thought to own our own Museum or anything of that nature. It was just a desire to acquire a set of crockery jugs from the small pint to a large five-gallon. This started after we purchased the old General Store at Carnegie. While dismantling it, we discovered a huge five-gallon jug in one of the corners. It found a place in our kitchen and in no time was the center of a set of other sizes and trade names. Then along came Canada's 100th Birthday - 1967 - with the desire to set up a small display as our way of celebrating the Centennial. Well! We had an
empty "Bunk House'' which had been built during the 1940's to accommodate extra harvesters needed to help with our farming operations. This seemed like the ideal spot to put the jugs, churns, and a few other articles acquired during 30 years of wedded bliss. From there it was off and running! We were bitten by the "Bug". We came to
know the fun and rivalry of Auction Sales. We found ourselves the recipients of gifts from folk who didn't want to throw old, unused articles away, but who wished them to be kept undercover. Soon our "Bunk House" was bulging at the seams. Luckily, some years prior to 1967, we had purchased the Pendennis Railway Station which we intended to use for grain storage. It was moved to a new location and soon became part, and full, of our collection. The "Complex" as we now call if as it seems to be "the word" nowadays, is made up of Robinville School, a Jug House, a General Store, a Library, andSmoke Shop combined, as well as the two above-mentioned buildings. Oh yes, the "Bunk House" has been renamed-the "Glass-House". Much more sophisticated.

Let's have a short run-down of a few of the items each building contains; The Glass House houses a collection of glassware from cup glass to Depression glass; china - from Ironstone (remember the large white soup plates you ate your hot porridge from each morning?)  to fine English and European china; lamps - many models and sizes, including a beautiful hanging lamp complete with hand-painted shade and crystal drops; bathroom sets (mostly missing the mug that went under the bed, guess it got the most practical use); gramophones with both cylinder and 1/4 inch thick discs; stereoscopes and cards; and photograph and postcard albums. Our lady visitors seem to like the Glass House more than the other buildings.

Next in line is the library and Smoke shop. Here we have modem books as well as old, dog-eared volumes. Our oldest book is a huge Bible with an inscription on the cover showing it was given as a gift in 1756. It is written in the German language. Here also is a conglomerate of newspapers, news-magazines, farm journals, and craft magazines. There is a "Grain Growers Guide", September 10th, 1919, Volume XII, No. 37, publjshed weekly with George F. Chipnan, Editor and Manager, which has a page of Arch Dale's "Doo Dads". There is also "True Story" magazine, October; 1925, Volume XIII, No. 3,
published monthly by True Story Publishing Company, New York, New York. It has proven to be a real eye-catcher. There's many a gal who remembers avidly reading "True Story" and hiding it quickly under a pillow when Mom and Dad approached. The Smoke Shop consists of tins, cans, and humidors that once contained that evil weed called tobacco. One tin has the price ten cents stamped on it. Imagine! Also displayed
here are articles pertaining to tobacco - pipes, tobacco cutters, cigar lighter and other numerous articles. A guest book in this building shows visitors' names from many places in Canada, Great Britain, and the United States.

Let's move on to the General Store, On the way we pass a C. P, R. baggage wagon on which proudly stands a large brass school bell purchased at Gainsborough, Saskatchewan; as well as a feed cooker or pig scalder and a wooden-wheeled child's wagon. Outside the store, a hand-wound barber pole is placed on the wall. Inside are many articles that were found in most country stores, haberdashery shops, and hardware stores. There is also a wooden apple-barrel from Ontario with a checkerboard tacked on the lid, as well as a "Whatzit". What it is, is a large, cumbersome butter roller standing on 24 inch legs, It was put out by the T. Eaton Company about 1917. There is, of course, a large pot-bellied stove in the General Store,

Now we are going to Robinville School which is the former country school in our neighbouring district. In here we have a varied collection of sealers such as Beaver, Canadian Queen, Doolittle, and Mason, as well as bottles. It's a real find to come across an embossed bottle bearing the name and address of a chemist or druggist, or an old pop bottle whose manufacturer has long been outof existence, A Raleigh's peddlar's carrying case of 1921 with many full bottles and tins, sits or. a table. Besides it is an electric refrigerator with the cooling unit on the outside on top of the  refrigerator. Shelves inside the classroom are lined with old and new school books such as a sot of Canadian Readers, published by Gage and Company, Toronto, dating from 1881 to 1883, and a set of Victorian Readers, published by Copp, Clark Company and W.G, Gage Company Limited, Toronto, dated 1898, There are also map cases, chalk boxes, slates and slate pencils, and four heavy ledgers containing accounts of Christie's School Supply Limited, Brandon, Manitoba. These ledgers show the company dealings with schools all
over Western Canada and Ontario. These are accounts of the years 1910 to 1916. We had hoped to set this building up as an old-time classroom, however, because it is a fairly large building and our collection is also fairly large, the additional space was used to
display radios, cameras, harnesses, Indian artifacts, and war-time mementos.

From Robinville we walk to Pendennis Station. This contains railroad lanterns, brochures for travelling by rail or steamer, mail sacks and locks, and a long pole with a hoop on one end used to pick up messages without stopping the train. Here also we see a large collection of wrenches. Many an old-timer reminisces here while: displaying a badly-
bent finger or a hand missing a finger and pointing to the wrench that did it to him. Also on display are license plates (still with one or two missing to complete the set), tools, keys, washing machines and a string of brass harness bells, each one with its own distinctive ring and tone.

See also: The Chapman Museum Project