Genealogy, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, Pioneer,Saskatchewan history, Temperance Colony, Temperance Colonization Society, Pioneers,John N. Lake, John Lake, Saskatoon history, Saskatoon Gen Web, |
with sorrowful hearts we watched the other spans fall over. The ice coming
down in masses, acres in size, tore the planking off the piers, then snapped
off the piles like pipestems. The chords creaking and crashing gradually
fell over into the water, leaving the rails held together by the fishplates
swaying in the air till caught by the ice floes they, too, were dragged down
and disappeared. The sight of the mighty force of the ice carrying destruc-
tion before it was awe-inspiring. What of the effect of rail communication
being cut off from our town for an indefinite period, just at the time when
we were prepared for expansion, and in fact were advised that trainloads
of settlers with their effects were on their way, the outlook was dishearten-
ing. Worse news came over the wires, the valley at Lumsden was rapidly
becoming flooded with water from the melting snow, threatening to flood
the railway track and prevent the trains from running. Twenty-four hours
after the bridge went out, news came that the water was eight feet deep
on the track and a mile wide. Our hearts "went down into our boots."
Bad enough that cars might be stalled on the east side of the river, it was a
thousand times worse that they should be stranded at Regina. The Cana-
dian Pacific Railway Company, realizing the seriousness of the situation,
had train loads of material assembled on the main line awaiting the receding
of the water at Lumsden to have them rushed to Saskatoon. Three weeks
passed before a train crossed the Qu'Appelle Valley at Lumsden. Fortun-
ately the train from Prince Albert going south had not gone through. We
had an intermittent service on the line northward. Gradually the com-
mercial travellers began to collect at Saskatoon. They had been scattered
along the line on their spring trip, till there were over thirty of them
assembled. Full of life, they were driven to all sorts of expedients to pass
the time. The first week passed off pleasantly, then the idleness and un-
certainty of relief began to tell on their spirits. The great fire in Toronto
at this time occurred, of which we got meagre news, telling of the destruc-
tion of many of their business houses. It caused a lot of them to feel blue.
At last, on the 20th of May, the flood receded at Lumsden so as to
admit of a crossing in boats, the travellers fitting up a box car with planks
for seats, started off from the east side for Regina. The Canadian Pacific
Page 66
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NARRATIVES OF SASKATOON1882-1912Genealogy, Saskatoon, Pioneer, Saskatchewan history, Temperance Colony, Temperance Colonization Society, Pioneers,John N. Lake, John Lake, Saskatoon history, Saskatoon Gen Web, Saskatoon Genealogy BY MEN OF THE CITY PREPARED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OF SASKATOON PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY BOOK-STORE |
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