Rearview
Read Emma's Journal
| Return to Read Emma's Journal Chapter 8 main page |
Transcript
Chapter 8: Camping Out
The weather in this country is so much clearer & dryer than in England that it seems to have an exhilarating effect upon every one & we certainly felt as happy the morning after our arrival at Minnedosa as any family surrounded by every luxury. We took our breakfast seated on the prairie & soon after our friends of the previous evening brought an English lady to see us, she had only been at the Hotel a few days & was quite as charmed with the beauties of this pretty spot as we were, the town at this time consisted of about 6 houses & these divided by the little Saskatchewan. There was a large store, grocery, drapery, boots, harness or implements & we regretted having purchased so much at the Portage as the paper on most of the parcels burst & we had a mixture of oatmeal, coffee, rice, sugar etc. The saw mill was only at work for the first season & a great mill was to be built beside it. There were several other stores & a large Hotel, but these were only canvas erections, which with the smaller tents pitched by the immigrants had a very picturesque effect. During the morning we crossed the river to see our companions of the past week, before they went on to their homes & a few miles distant, they had all been very pleasant & we had left them hurriedly the previous night. The water in the river was so high as to be for beyond the bridge & a temporary extension, was made of planks on tressles, about eight on each side & I felt almost afraid to try & walk on such a narrow board over that swift running water, but my sister crossed so cleverly that I followed & thanked my walking stick accomplishing it in safety, but when we returned I mentally resolved not to go over again just directly though we felt rather elated when we were told it was considered quite a feat. The word Minnedosa & Saskatchewan are synonymous meaning Rapid water being Indian words the one in the Sioux & the other in the Cree language. The next few days my husband spent in looking over the vacant land within a walk of the town & I am afraid the rest of us were content to do little, except write letters, read what books we could obtain & have friendly talks with those who came to see us. It is astonishing how much more quickly people become acquainted in a country like this than in Europe, every one leads so much the same kind of simple, industrious life & delight in making the best of every thing to the new comer. Not a murmur did we hear at the privations which have to be endured in this land of our adoption. I fancy it must be the beautiful climate that makes people so contented & hopeful for the future & to make the best even of the mosquitoes. These soon began to trouble us & the first evening we went inside our tent & closed the door, just after we heard our considerate friend again lighting us a fire or "smudge" to keep away the little pests. This is only one instance of the thoughtfulness always shown to unexperienced colonists.
On Sunday morning we heard that there was to be the first church of England service held at Minnedosa, by the recently appointed Chaplain (the Rev. Sargent) who resides at Rapid City eighteen miles distant, so we went to the Hotel & were glad to see quite a number of people assembled & also to find that even here the "New Edition of the Ancient & Modern Hymns" had found their way. Hearing & joining in the familiar words made us almost forgetful of the thousands of miles which separated us from our native land & many friends. That evening the mosquitoes were very numerous & more troublesome than they had been at all & we found them creep in under the curtain of the tent, so acting upon the advice of our neighbours we placed turf round the edge & after this they never disturbed us during the night. When the tent was closed for the last time, we always took a candle & burnt everyone we could see, this often proved a tedious business, as the upper part was frequently lined with these horrible little insects & it was necessary to destroy them all, as even one was most disturbing & there unpleasant noise was only surpassed by their bite. The children were so sunburnt & covered with mosquito bites that they appeared as if they had the measles, but after the first fortnight they seemed almost unconscious of these tormentors & my sister & I envied them their indifference. During the 10 days after our arrival, my husband walked 120 miles in search of a suitable location & often came home tired & depressed. June 26th he was more successful. Hearing of a young man who had to leave his and without fulfilling the homestead act, he applied for it & was fortunate in being the first, & in getting 2 of the neighbours to sign an affidavit to that effect before a magistrate, still he could not claim it until the expiration of 30 days, during which time the present owner had the chance to return & prove his title if possible. Meantime my husband & little boy started with the oxen & wagon to bring our luggage from Grand Valley. They went about eighteen miles the first day & asking a "smudge" for the cattle, slept in the wagon, but awaking early the next morning found the oxen gone. He had not tied them up on our journey from the Portage, so he had not thought it necessary to do so now & most sincerely did he regret it during the next fortnight. He walked in various directions making enquiries wherever he could see a house & by the middle of the day reached an old gentleman's who kindly gave them dinner & introduced him to a friend who was driving to Minnedosa & as it was possible the oxen might have returned there he thankfully accepted the offer. Great was our astonishment at seeing our absentees coming back in a buck board & great there disappointment to hear that the cattle had not been seen by us. The next day was July 1st celebrated throughout Manitoba & the N.W.T. as the anniversary of their annexation to Canada. This was the first fete held in Minnedosa in commemoration of the event & the first ox ever killed in the town was in honor of this day. There were to be sports & various kinds of amusements. The weather was perfect, bright & sunny without being too warm & by eleven o'clock the people began to congregate & the part of the prairie near our camp was covered with wagons, a small band had been engaged & having arrived the night before, now took their places in the stand erected for them, in the centre of the race-course, for there were to be foot races, horse races & a trotting match & we had been much interested in watching the competitors prepare for the event almost every evening since our arrival. By the afternoon there were many more people than I expected to see being strangers of course we knew none of them, but I imagine some must have come a long distance. What I thought the most attractive part of the programme was the horse race in which the costumes were various, one rider being in jockey dress of pale blue & another on Indian, in his own gay dress & who rode his saddleless horse with such an easy grace, that he might have been part of the animal. Neither of these however were first at the winning post & the gentleman in the blue with his nice looking horse had to return to Rapid City crest fallen.
The day before we were surprised to see out trio of young Englishmen arrive, we had thought it probable, they would some day come to Minnedosa but their movements were uncertain so were our's. They seemed very pleased at having at last overtaken us, as they told us they had made numerous enquiries at the different places, they had stayed at & of the people they had met, describing us in a way we thought highly amusing. "An English family travelling in an ox wagon, 2 delicate looking ladies,4 fair children & a cow tied on behind". After regaling our guests with a very simple meal, we spent the remainder of the morning in the exchange of our various experiences, since leaving the Portage, they appeared quite as happy as ourselves & equally tormented by mosquitoes. We tried to persuade our friends to remain a few days, but only one could be prevailed on as they were still renting and & had been to Fort Ellice 60 miles further west & were now returning to Gladstone to see the section they had before thought of taking in that neighbourhood. As my husband could hear no tidings of the stray oxen he left early in the afternoon of the 1st & after a long walk had to sleep on the floor of a room in a very rough stopping house. The next morning though it was very wet, he was up again at 4 o'clock & began another days tramp & having gone 25 miles, he felt tired & was glad to accept the offer of a ride in an ox-wagon, the mosquitoes had been unusually tormenting & he was beginning to fear his oxen must have gone in another direction.
Saturday night he returned to our tent after walking 39 miles that day, thoroughly disheartened at his non-success.
July 4th there was no English service & my husband felt too tired & dispirited to have it amongst ourselves, the morning was stormy & we remained in the tent, but the afternoon was fine & a great excitement was caused by someone seeing a bear & five cubs, 3 or 4 sportsmen at once started in pursuit & through a field glass we watched their movements, but Mrs. Bruin was too wary & escaped with her family into the woods, out of reach of her pursuers. Many were the methods suggested to trace the missing oxen some thinking it probable they had gone back to Portage la Prairie. My husband had already walked as far as Boggy Creek, but not hearing of them there, he now felt anxious to obtain the help of an Indian or half-breed, they being particularly clever in tracking cattle. With this idea we went to the Indian encampment on the hill above us, but the only occupant of either of the tepee was a man, who after we had succeeded in making him understand our errand, shook his head, & pointed to a bad leg which he gave us to understand, he had had a long time. The next morning he came while we were at breakfast & seated himself on the prairie by us asking for milk & also offering us some ducks eggs, he had a dozen & wanted a shilling for them but as I declined to buy he went on to the next camp. After this we frequently saw him & he would sit for an hour at a time watching the children at play. Very early that morning my husband & our English friend had started to the Grand Valley & from there to Rapid City to ascertain if any tiding had been heard of the oxen, we did not expect them to return until Thursday & on Wednesday afternoon, thought we would be clever & move our tent, where it then stood being very bare & untidy. We had just taken up the pegs when the wind began to rise & we had not carried it to the fresh spot we had chosen before it was so rough that it seemed impossible for us to put it up alone, just as we had done one side the pegs blew up at the other end, for the ground was hard & we could not put them in, & began to repent undertaking our self-imposed task, but at length we won our battle & had just put everything in order when our pedestrians appeared descending the opposite hill, our surroundings looked so much the fresher for our exertions that we felt quite repaid & were glad they had not come an hour earlier, as they were tired, having walked nearly 6 miles that day, making 140 miles my husband had walked during the past week, without gaining any news of the missing animals.
The following Saturday he hired a pony & calling at a "stopping house" as the lodging houses on the trail are called, which he had passed before losing the oxen, was greatly cheered to hear that some cattle had been found at a farm a few miles away, to this he rode & saw the objects of his search shut in a yard where the farmer told him they had been for 10 days. Great were the rejoicings when he returned with the good news & having been joined by one trio of Englishmen we had quite a merry evening. The next day Sunday was the first really wet day we had had in the North West, on the whole we had lovely weather while we were camping at Minnedosa, but today it rained incessantly. Our friends who were staying at the Hotel came in the morning to see us, so we had the service, regretting that we should be gone by the following Sunday, when there was to be another public service at the Hotel. By 4 o'clock the next morning my husband & was once more on the road to "Grand Valley" which this time he reached safely & surprised us by being with us again, the next evening having done the 60 miles in the shortest time known with oxen. He was now most anxious to go to the land he had taken which was about 15 miles distant & a small shanty having been offered us on adjoining land we decided to go at once.
We had really enjoyed our stay at Minnedosa & the pleasant rambles over the hills, the evenings were spoilt by the mosquitoes, but with our vails on we remained out until dark, though they would sting even through a kid glove, during the day it was rarely too hot as there was always a cool breeze, & the nights were cold enough to make us require all our rugs & it is surprising how well we slept during those six weeks on the buffalo robes with only our travelling bags for pillows.
