Genealogy, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, Pioneer,Saskatchewan history, Temperance Colony, Temperance Colonization Society, Pioneers,John N. Lake, John Lake, Saskatoon history, Saskatoon Gen Web, |
Railway put an army of men to work erecting a temporary bridge. Seven
days from the time they started the trains were running over it. This was
the 3rd of June. Forty nine days we were without train service. In the
meantime an accumulation of settlers' cars had piled up at Regina and
adjoining sidings. There were sixty-one cars of settlers' effects, three hun-
dred head of stock and nine hundred settlers. The stock had to be fed and
the people lodged and fed at the expense of the Railway Company. A
large number of settlers headed for our district were induced to go else-
where along the main line to the loss of our young town.
Before the building of concrete piers for the permanent bridge I ap-
proached Osler Hammond and Nanton, financial agents for the bondholders
of the road, with a suggestion to build a traffic attachment to the new
bridge. They had no funds to enable them to do this. Then I went to
Haultain's Government, trying to get them to pay for the extra cost of this
addition to the bridge. After getting estimates and negotiating for some
time, a sum of sixty thousand dollars was arrived at between the parties
interested. However, as the Territorial Government was about to be re
placed by a Provincial one the scheme fell to the ground.
In September, 1904, the Third Session of the Fifth Legislature was
held. I pass over the previous two Sessions as nothing exciting occurred
to ruffle the tranquility of Legislation. The demand for full provincial
status was being urged strongly by the Territorial Assembly and Executive
Council. Voluminous correspondence was carried on with Dominion Gov-
ernment, also a Draft Bill was submitted by Mr. Haultain at request of tbe
Government. The final letter from the Premier of the Dominion, Sir
Wilfred Laurier, dated 30th September, intimated that should his Govern-
ment be sustained at the approaching general election, negotiations would
be entered upon and a Bill granting provincial autonomy would be sub-
mitted at the next Session of Parliament. The local House was prorogued
on the 8th day of October, and the Territorial Assembly was a thing of the
past. This Session terminated my connection with active participation in
political affairs.
Looking back over the fourteen years I had served as representative
in the Assembly, I am pleased to think that I had taken a part, however
humble, in laying the foundation of and in helping to develop the great
heritage, in this Western Canada. In the beginning, the sparse settlement
of the country, the lack of railway facilities, the great distances between
settlements, and the lack of revenues, made the task full of serious diffi-
culties. The continued struggle with the Dominion Government for better
terms, for fuller powers and greater responsibilities kept the mind in con-
stant strain. It was with great satisfaction that I dropped out when, after
our endeavors, full provincial autonomy was in sight. I rather liked the
work of the Assembly, but in connection with the position were other
features that were distasteful to me. The having to plead for support at
election time, the abuse you had to take from opponents (I fancy in my
time I, have been accused of every crime in the calendar, except bigamy),
the misconstruction of the motives of your actions, the attention you have
to give to trivial matters, the impossible requests that are pressed on you
by some of your constituents, I disliked and found burdensome.
In spite of the set-back due to the flood of April, 1904, a buoyant
feeling was amongst the citizens of our town. All were embued with an
optimism that Saskatoon was destined to become an important centre.
Newcomers in business were welcomed and encouraged; everyone pulled
together to develop and boom the town; there were no petty jealousies of
one another. In fact there had already come to life what has been rightly
named "the Saskatoon spirit."
It was a great event when Saskatoon's first fire engine was tested. It
was a gasoline engine and did good work. It is still on hand and is used
occasionally to pump out basements, etc. For fire protection, several
reservoirs were sunk in the ground down to the water which underlay a
great part of the town. One was placed at the Nineteenth Street foot of
Second Avenue, one at the corner of Twentieth Street and First Avenue.
and one at the corner of Twenty-first Street and Second Avenue. This
Page 67
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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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