AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
RALPH JOHN WESLEY HOWARD

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greeted me on the street. To which I replied, "fine so far". Lloydminster and the immediate surrounding land were appropriated by the Barr Colonists two or three years before our arrival. The town was theirs. A member occupied every branch of business. They had no business competition and would not allow a rival business to locate.

At a time not distant in history, a boat sailed from a port in England with a cargo of respectable citizens: destination, the New World. They arrived safely and disembarked at Plymouth Rock, U. S. A. In transit their social rating deteriorated from respectability to Yankee, or was it the reverse? When I arrived in Canada, I faced the same predicament; still I was proud of my English ancestry and nationality. This is characteristic of all people regardless of race, color or nationality. Later, I lived for some time in Lloydminster and found the people good neighbors and easy to deal with. They didn’t have much luck with their drilling rig. Some of the citizens decided to build a flourmill. When the mill was completed, they discovered they needed a good supply of water, and started their drill to work. The machine occupied this position half the summer and nearly half of the following winter. To keep their mill going they employed a man and team to steadily haul water.

One day at the homestead, I was surprised to receive a visit by Mr. Huxley, the mayor of Lloydminster. He asked me to come and complete the well. When the weather got cold, the drilling quit, it was such a disagreeable job. I well knew this, but I went back to Lloyd with Mr. Huxley and went to work. I finally left a satisfactory well at the mill and they sold the mill at a good price. The same as they did with their light plant, a few years before. I ran their rig two summers, cleaning old wells, drilling new ones and repairing pumps. When they didn’t have enough work to keep me busy, I paid them three dollars per day for the use of their rig and I drilled by the foot for farmer near town. Their rig had been in service 20 years before I took charge of it. I finally made them an offer to buy the rig, which they gladly accepted. I ran this rig and paid for it, then bought a house in town and moved my family to town and paid for my property. My family had increased to three boys and four girls. My wife, Ruvilla, had not been strong for the last six or seven years; under the doctors care at intervals. Shortly before my youngest daughter, Grace, was born, Ruvilla returned to the homestead for awhile. But her condition gradually got worse. It was about two years after this event I bought a house in town and moved everyone there. As long as I kept working, I could keep the bills and living expenses paid. There was