THE PRESTONS OF CARNDUFF AND GLEN EWEN DISTRICTS.
There are few stories more outstanding in a quiet way than that of
the Prestons. John W. Preston was an old resident of the County of
Bruce, and was therefore one of the original old brigade from Huron
and Bruce," but he was one of seven brothers born and raised in the
County of Halton. When he died at the age of seventy-five the local paper
said: "An honored landmark in the history and building up of the country
had been removed." He was one of the settlers who had the pluck to go
into the Glen Ewen country a hundred miles from a railroad in the spring
of 1882. His influence was always for the good of the district. As a
farmer he was enterprising and successful and in later years his name
often appeared in agricultural prize lists. He died in 1904 and was buried
at Carnduff, leaving a widow, one son and five daughters, all settled in
the surrounding district. His brother Thomas, five years his senior, also
survived him and was living in Carnduff. When Mr. Preston came to
Glen Ewen there were still some buffalo on the plains to the west and
settlers occasionally went to look for them, but it is not recorded that they
met with any success.
TROUBLE UPON TROUBLE..
But the principal interest of the numerous and worthy Prestons centres
in the well-known J. B. Preston, the pioneer merchant of Carnduff, who
died a few years ago full of years and honor. There are few finer in-
stances of misfortune courageously faced and overcome. It was on the
first of August, 1904, that Mr. Preston celebrated his eighteenth anni-
versary as a Carnduff merchant. On that day the writer met him and
was told a story of struggle which showed Mr. Preston to be a man whom
nothing could daunt. Mr. Preston, like so many people of strong char-
acter, was quiet and non~aggressive in manner and speech. As a lad he
went with his parents to North Carolina, where they resided ten years.
From there in 1879 he came to Pilot Mound in Manitoba. There with
two relatives he embarked in the sawmill business. Settlers with money
were coming in and the lumber was eagerly bought up. Next year a grist
mill was added. Then came a disastrous fire. Both mills were de-
stroyed, but quite a pile of logs remained, and the engine and boiler were
capable of being renovated. This was a lesson to J. B. and he concluded
he would get some land, land which couldn't be burned up. He came west
with a party in 1881. West of Sourisford there was not a settler. Seven
of them selected land near the site of old Carnduff on the Antler. Seven
half sections were picked out and then they drew for choice of lots.tb
Others quickly followed, including John Carnduff and Andy Preston, a
cousin of J. B.'s. J. B. Preston put up a sod house, stable, and hay. He
returned to Pilot Mound to realize on the logs spared from the fire; made
a dicker with a man who had a sawmill attachment; turned in and con-
verted the logs into lumber. But misfortune was awaiting him in a worse
form than ever. His left arm was cut off clean by the saw. A doctor came
from a distance and condescended for a hundred dollars cash to dress
the stump. Mr. Preston had lost a great deal of blood and for six months
it was doubtful if he would pull through. Getting fairly strong he made
up his mind to start for old Carnduff again. He had a yoke of oxen, but
just before the time for starting one of the oxen got mixed up in a wire
fence and was killed. He replaced the ox and found himself after this
fresh instance of bad fortune practically penniless again. Minus an arm
and unable to work he again landed at old Carnduff only to find his house,
stable and hay destroyed by a prairie fire. He and his cousin Andy bached,
Andy working the two places, and J. B. doing the home work, and what
he could with his one arm. Meanwhile settlers and land hunters were
coming in. There was no store nearer than Moosomin, and it occurred
to him that if he had a stock of staples he could make a little money.
There were some outstanding lumber accounts at Pilot Mound and he
started down there again to collect it if possible and get a small stock of
groceries. He succeeded in getting $110. This he invested in goods which
he hauled to Carnduff with a cart and a white-faced pony. This pony was
known all over, and money couldn't buy him. With this stock on the 1st
August, 1884, Mr. Preston opened out in a shack at old Carnduff. To
replenish his stock he made many lonely trips with the white-faced pony,
sleeping at nights under the cart. Practically, however, the hard luck
turned with the first load of goods, and Mr. Preston's career since has
been one uninterrupted success as a merchant and farmer. He enjoyed
the esteem and confidence of the whole community.
THE PIONEER PONY.
Allusion has been made to J. B. Preston's pony. His name was
Shockey, and his career and death met with the following written appre-
ciation at the time:
"Many a man and woman will read with a sense of loss that Shockey,
Mr. J. B. Preston's old white-faced pony, is no more. He was identified
with the whole history of the south country, being one of its four-footed
pioneers. His age is not definitely known, but he came into the possession
of Mr. Preston as a full grown horse in 1882, 50 that he must have at
least been 24 or 25 years of age.
"Many interesting incidents and adventures cluster around the remem-
brance of this faithful animal; and his owner gives him the credit of
helping to make his start in this new country, for when they both struck
this district, in the early eighties, 'Shockey' could haul all his master's
earthly possessions on a cart. In the early days of Carnduff vicinity, the
pioneer merchant freighted his goods with this pony from the main line
of the C. P. R., a distance of seventy-five to eighty miles. Settlers were
few and far between and when night overtook him he camped, often 20
or 30 miles from any human habitation, with no friend near, except the
ever-faithful Shockey. With these surroundings, has our townsman rolled
himself up in his blanket under the cart and been lulled to sleep by the
hideous howling of the prairie wolves, which were ever kept a safe dis-
tance away by the snorting and pawing of the excited Shockey.
"Shockey was one of the last remaining ponies that have chased the
buffalo, which he did in the early spring of '82 in the Wood Mountain
district with Mr. Preston's brother on his back.
"This remarkable pony was classed among the swift in his young days,
and won for his owner several valuable prizes. His record was a half
mile dash in 52 seconds at Rock Lake races in 1883.
"With this pony was turned the first sod on the Carnduff townsite in
the fall of 1891.
"Many other instances could be related in connection with Shockey-
who was named after Shockey in the Hoosier Schoolmaster-but enough
has been said to show that the news of his death will be received with
interest by many of the early settlers, to whom he was a familiar figure,
both in Manitoba and the Northwest in the pioneer days."
Mr. Preston gave the writer the following particulars, which are of
interest. He said
"The first missionary was Mr. Hay, who was a Presbyterian student.
The first service in the Carnduff district was held at Mr. J. C. Pack's.
Mr. Pack's house was a log building, and service was held in the kitchen.
The Methodists came in '87. Mr. Chas. Cross was the preacher, and he
preached at my house. In the early days people often came ten miles to
church. After church they would perhaps want to buy a plug of tobacco
from me. Cross saw something going on and he suspected that I was
selling tobacco. When he found out that I did he gave me a calling down
for breaking the Sabbath.
THE PRESTONS OF CARNDUFF AND GLEN EWEN DISTRICTS.
THE FIRST SCHOOL..
"The first Anglican preacher was a Mr. Cartwright. About 1888 Mr.
Cartwright preached for the first time in my house, and he wanted me to
take up the offering. Knowing that I was not acquainted with the pro-
ceedings of the English Church, he told me he would tell me when it was
time to take up the collection. He gave us all books at the service, and he
also gave me a nice embroidered bag from the old country in which to
take up the collection. Mrs. Preston had an organ in the house and she
played the organ. As he went through the ritual, of course, I followed
him in the book, and when it came to 'Collect' for the day, I did not know
what a collect was, and so I thought it must be to take up the collection,
and so to be a little smart, when it came to 'Collect' for the day, I started
to go around with the bag. Mr. Cartwright sang out 'It is too soon yet.'
I sat down and they all snickered at me. About the only time I ever saw
Mr. Cartwright laugh was when I told this story in his presence.
"The first Sunday School was organized in '86 and was held in my
house for a portion of the time until the summer of '86. It was afterwards
held in the next house, which was Mr. Barker's. Mr. Plews, Sr., was the
first superintendent of the Sunday School. Mr. Plews was not very good
at Bible exposition. He took the Winnipeg Tribune. There was a Sunday
School lesson in it every week; this lesson he read to the Bible Class every
Sunday out of the newspaper, and one or two old timers even now ask
me from time to time whether I remember when we used to get the Sun-
day School lesson out of the Winnipeg Tribune.
"The first public school in southern Assiniboine was in 1887, when
the Carnduff school district was organized. The first school was taught
in a log granary belonging to J. P. Carnduff. The teacher was T. R.
Preston, who had a Manitoba certificate and there were 12 on the roll.
The first school house was built in 1888 between my store and J. P. Cam-
duff's house. Mr. Carnduff kept a stopping place. It was built in the
spring and opened in June. It was a frame building and was built of
lumber which was hauled 65 miles from Deloraine. The building cost
about $450. The first trustees were W. F. Barker, John P. Carnduff, J.
R.
McKinnon, and Secretary-treasurer J. B. Preston. They were elected
by acclamation so we had no competition.
EARLY EXPERIENCES; JUMPING DEER; BUFFALO.
"On May 27th of 1882 our whole party moved up to what is now known
as Caruduff town. There were four teams of us. That was the first year
that there ever was a mark of a wagon on this prairie. We followed the
correction line (Settler's wagon). There was absolutely no trace of life.
Ducks were in great numbers and also deer. We camped that night at
the site of Old Carnduff, and a jumping deer came up close to the camp.
Probably it had never seen a human being before and was, therefore, very
curious as to what our outfit really meant. It stood and looked at us in
a very interested manner. Somebody ran to get a gun, but I would not
shoot at it and it turned and ran away. We frequently saw deer and there
were ducks in vast numbers on every slough. Chickens were not so much
in evidence, although there were some.
"Toward the fall of 1882 a stray buffalo was seen in the vicinity of
the second crossing of the Souris River near where Kimberley post office
now is. It was a bull, and he was supposed to have strayed down there
from Wood Mountain. My brother William was up in Wood Mountain in
the spring of '82 with a party hunting buffalo and they came across the
remainder of two droves. There were half-breeds there then. In the
spring of 1882 eight carts came north of my place. The half-breeds had
a quantity of dried buffalo and buffalo skins and they had the appearance
of being taken from buffalos killed only the year before. The half-breeds
wanted $8.00 apiece for the skins. There were some beautiful specimens.
That was the last I saw of buffalo skins.
"Our first party consisted of J. B. Preston (myself), W. S. Barker,
James Barker, R. Atkinson, John Preston (an uncle of mine), and Dan
Preston (son of John, of course a cousin of mine), William Rowen and
Andrew Preston (a brother). Mr. Atkinson would not stay with us
and went on to Moose Mountain and took up other land not marked
here and after looking at the land decided to locate, but they went
up with him to look at the Moose Mountain country, although intending to
come back, which they did, leaving him up there. There was no land open
for homesteading and so we had to squat. That was on the 12th of June,
1882. John Carnduff, William Lee, John Lee, Richard Carnduff and John
C. Pack arrived in a party. The original seven of us all tented in one tent.
When we squatted down here we went around and picked out seven of the
best sections we could find. We then put the numbers of the half sections
on little pieces of paper, putting them in a hat and shook them up, then
drew lots. The understanding was that providing any one was not satis-
fied with the half section that he drew, he could take any of the others,
but we agreed that we would go around with him and help to look up
another half section. Andrew Preston, the Barkers and I (J. B. Preston)
were satisfied with the lots we drew, but John and Dan Preston were not;
they wanted a half section with more water, and so they picked out two
other half sections at the Souris River, south of Glen Ewen, where Dan
now resides. Later on in the season of '82 came J. W. Connell, James
Forsythe, Dan MeKillop, Malcolm Solandt, Gavin Middleton and James
Parsons. They were all Canadians, and all the names I have mentioned
are those of Canadians. Mrs. Andy Preston also came in that fall. They
had most of them trekked from Brandon. Atkinson (the man who went
to Moose Mountain) had a team of horses; all the rest of us had oxen.
Coming in from the east the last settlement we left behind was in the
neighborhood of Lyleton, Manitoba, which was 40 miles away. In '82
there also came in John Scott and Archie Nichol, who settled on the same
section. E. Bierworth settled south of Glen Ewen, but John Scott after-
wards moved to Hartney, Manitoba, and went into the grain trade, and
his son has since been mayor of Hartney.
FIRST WOMAN MAKES PUDDING IN WASH DISH.
"When we had all settled down a bit, we decided to hold a kind of
celebration to celebrate the founding of the settlement. Mrs. Andy Preston
made a big pudding in the wash dish, which was the only convenient dish
which she had to make it in. It was a mixture of bread and dough. Mrs.
Andy Preston was the first woman in the settlement. Mrs. Preston was
not with us on May 27th. She followed behind and overtook us. At that
time Mrs. Andy Preston was Miss Katherine Preston, daughter of John
Preston, and she subsequently married her cousin Andy. Gavin Middleton
came in, in June, 1882, but he left his wife behind him at Brandon. Gavin
was always a good, pious man.
PRAYER IN CAMP.
"When we squatted on our land one evening a big team of oxen drove
by our camp with two men in the wagon and they camped for the night
across the correction line. We had just a few words with them as they
went by. In the morning the two men got up early. We saw that they
had camped about 200 yards from us. They drove some sticks, made a
fire and hung their pot of tea on it. They made breakfast and spread it
on the ground, after which we noticed one of them take out a book and sit
down and read to the other; then both got on their knees and had prayers;
although we were not religiously inclined ourselves we said: 'There's two
pretty good old men.' We had better have them among us in this part
of the country, and so we went over to them and induced them to remain
with us. They took up land about three miles south of old Carnduff and
one of these was Gavin Middleton and the other James Parsons. They
are both dead and gone now. The fact that a railroad had been surveyed
was an inducement for people to locate, but between the delay of the rail-
road and some loggerhead business of the Government, the railroad was
not put in until the fall of 1891. During all that time the non-arrival of
the railroad was, of course, the burning question with the settlers, and
owing to its not being built, a great many settlers got discouraged and
left the country. A great many of those who remained would have gone
if they could, but they could not get away, and some of these men who
stayed are among the wealthiest in the district today.
"It was not until 1883 that another woman came in besides Mrs. Andy
Preston, and that was Mrs. Carnduff, who came in when John Carnduff
brought his wife and family from Manitoba; then Robert Barker's wife
and family came in, also Mrs. Gavin Middleton and Mrs. Parsons and Mrs.
Bierworth, J. W. Connell's wife and sister and James Forsythe's wife
and family.
"My general store was opened in 1884 in a building 10x16. J. P.
Carnduff had a stopping place and I had a kind of overflow stopping place,
and when Carnduff was full up, I would take in the balance. I was
baching at the time. R. Gordon had a blacksmith shop, S. Ballantine a
harness shop. We all moved to new Carnduff in the fall of '91. The old
townsite was on the corner of three sections which cornered each other.
In '82 we squatted and ploughed, and in the fall the land was properly
surveyed for homesteading.
"The first load of stuff that was dumped on the site of new Carnduff
was brought in by Gordon & Stovin, blacksmiths.
"The first resident minister for new Carnduff was the Reverend John
Cairns, who was appointed in 1884."
CHARLES WALSH (OXBOW).
The brothers Walsh, Walter and Charles, were in the front rank of
the pioneers of the south country. The subjoined story was told the
writer by Mr. Charles Walsh, in 1910. Walter was born in 1852 and
Charles in 1854, their birthplace being Milibrook, Durham, Ontario, but
the family moved to Peterboro town.
THE TUPPER LINE.
Mr. Charles Walsh said -"Through reading Butler's book, The Great
Lone Land, in 1879 I had a great desire to go west and see Edmonton and
that northern country. In 1881 at 27 years of age I left Peterboro with
George A. Mitchell (late of the firm of Reilly Bros. & Mitchell) and came
to Winnipeg through St. Paul. Sir Charles Tupper was Minister at the
time, and the Government line from St. Vincent near Emerson to Winni-
peg was commonly called the Tupper line. Some of that sixty miles was
graded in sod. There was a coach or two on the train; the rest of it
was box cars. We proceeded very slowly, and sometimes we used to
amuse ourselves by getting off and running alongside of the train. I got
to Fort Garry (Winnipeg) about the 1st of April, 1881, having left Peter-
boro, Ont., on the 20th of March.
TRAVELLING BY RED RIVER CART.
"After we got to St. Boniface, we walked across the ice on the Red
River to Winnipeg. There was some water on the ice, and a kind of a
trestle had been built up on the ice with planks on it and that kept one
out of the water. I was a builder, but building operations were very poor
that year in Winnipeg. However, I stayed in Winnipeg from April to
August, when with a young fellow named Edwards, I bought two ponies
and carts and with these we left Winnipeg and proceeded westwards, our
objective being Edmonton. These Red River carts had no iron in them
and they would squeak so you could hear them for miles. We camped one
day at Portage La Prairie and fell in with McLaughlin, a Methodist Min-
ister, who was going to Fort Victoria, seventy miles east of Edmonton.
After that Edwards, McLaughlin and I travelled together. The preacher
had a wagon rigged as a prairie schooner and drawn by a team of Montana
horses. At Touchwood Hills my partner, Edwards, took sick and had to
return. We met a bunch of half-breed freighters going east to Fort Garry
with the previous winter's 'trade'-buffalo hides and the winter's catch of
furs. They had come from south of Battleford and were all breeds with
their families accompanying them. There were twenty-five carts. We
were following the Hudson Bay trail. I bought Edwards' share of the
outfit from him and he went back to Fort Garry with the breeds. There
was no stopping place on the H. B. cart trails. One just camped. Among
the freighters whom we met going in was old Jack Henderson (who after-
wards hanged Riel), Donald McLeod of Edmonton and P. C. Prudhomme.
It was quite a sight to see a party of these freighters or traders, with the
ponies and carts strung out along the trail, one following the
other.
OVER A THOUSAND MILES.
"On Sunday night at Shoal Lake a very severe thunderstorm overtook
us. One Sunday McLaughlin requested me when I was hitching up to
leave our cooking outfit with him, and he would return it when he caught
up to us. We left our frying pan and tea kettle with him, and McLaughlin
was to catch up with us in time for us to cook our breakfast, but it was
three days before he caught up with us, and we had to do our baking on
the end of the cart board. We would stand it up against the cart. While
waiting for McLaughlin on top of Snake Creek Hill near Birtle, Frank
Oliver (who was later Minister of the Interior) and his wife passed us
on a buckboard going to Edmonton. They had a team of ponies. He just
gave us the time of day as he drove by. McLaughlin had got stuck just
outside of Shoal Lake and had broken his harness. He would not get up
in the morning to make an early start. Edwards had previously gone
back. In the course of time we reached Battleford. It took us two months
and ten days to reach Victoria. It was between ten and eleven hundred
miles by the trail. We had a tent but we seldom used it. As a general
thing we did not set it up. We just threw it loose over the cart and slept
under it. Our grub consisted of flour, bacon, beans, loaf sugar, tea. We
had no canned goods. The canning factories were in their infancy then.
HORSES, FISH, DOGS AND A CANNIBAL INDIAN..
"At Fort Victoria I lost my horses and found them near White Fish
~
I met Bob Scott, an old trader, who left Winnipeg in the spring
and was too late to return that season. He and I went into winter quarters
~ Victoria. McLaughlin was stationed there in an old house that was
erected by old Mr. McDougal. It had an open fire place and everything
cheery. It was a log house, a kind of lath with willows, and then plastered
with mud. Before McLaughlin came it was empty. He was subsequently
drowned in Winnipeg years afterwards. During the winter I visited
White Fish Lake, which was fifty or sixty miles from Victoria, in order
to get white fish for the dog trains. We used to buy fish from the Indians.
Bob Scott was a Scotchman. When we were fetching the fish we used one
dog train and a couple of horses; sometimes we used the horses and some-
times the dogs. Scott was trading for skins.
We also made a trip to Fort Saskatchewan in the year the cannibal
was hanged at Fort Saskatchewan. The cannibal was an Indian. At the
time that I was at Fort Saskatchewan he was in confinement. He was a
big, stout, healthy looking Indian, fat as a seal,-quite a noble looking
Indian. He killed a family and ate them. I visited Fort Saskatchewan on
New Years Eve; they had a big ball at the barracks and I was there. In
the winter of 1880 we had a visit from Colonel Stewart. He went down to
MacKenzie River to look for the remains of Sir John Franklin. I was in
Government employ then; we sold him potatoes that we purchased from
the Scotch half-breeds at Victoria, and we delivered the potatoes down at
Frog Lake, which was roughly speaking 200 miles distant. We considered
it 250 miles. We delivered the potatoes at the Indian agency at Frog
Lake; we took them down in carts. We had about ten carts loaded with
potatoes and the carts would carry eight or nine hundred weight apiece;
we delivered about 150 bushels. They cost Stewart about $2.50 a bushel;
that was their cost delivered at Frog Lake. This was about the first year
of establishing the Indian reservations, on the north side of the Saskatche-
wan River. The buffalo country was mostly south of the Saskatchewan
at this time. The buffaloes were getting very scarce; we used to meet
traders coming in who would say the buffaloes were falling off very rapidly
and that they were very disappointed in their trade. Everything was
called 'trade.'
FROG LAKE TO WINNIPEG WITH CART TRAIN.
"I left Scott to deliver those potatoes at Frog Lake, and from Frog
Lake I went to Winnipeg with the cart train. There was nothing special
about the trip. The train had about 17 carts. We used to figure that if
we had a good road, lots of water and good food for the ponies, that 20
miles was a good day, but some days a cart train would not make more
than eight miles, owing to the condition of the roads; for the carts
would get stuck or perhaps an ox, a pony or a horse would stray away.
The train consisted of mixed ox and pony carts. They were all just the
same kind of carts, although there might be a different critter hitched
up in front. We started early in the season and it took us about six
weeks to come down to Winnipeg. We started in the spring and got to
Winnipeg about the latter part of June, 1880.
"Mr. Scott came into Winnipeg with another train later on. I got
a job laying bricks until Mr. Scott came in; we had arranged to go to
Prince Albert with an outfit. I am a brick layer. Scott started out with
an outfit for Prince Albert early in the fall; it was a train outfit with
Indian supplies and it only reached Shoal Lake. He was a bad starter.
I had news that he was camped at Narrows near Shoal Lake for the
winter so I joined him there and stayed there with him through the
winter. That was the winter of 1880-1881. In the spring we returned
to Winnipeg. We never reached Prince Albert. That comes of being
a bad starter. We pulled out of Shoal Lake for Winnipeg in the spring
of 1881.
LOCATED AT ALAMEDA; HUNDRED MILES FOR SUPPLIES.
"In 1881 and 1882 I was foreman for Saul Bros., contractors at
Winnipeg, and also for part of 1883. In '83 I came out to locate at old
Alameda in section 20, township 3, range 2 west of 2. That was in the
spring of '83. My brother Walter had preceded me the year before. I
stayed until the winter of '84, and in the summer of '84 I went back to
brick-laying at Regina. I worked at the Court House and the gaol. I
returned south and put in the winter and summer of '85 at old Alameda.
In the spring of '86 I went west into Vancouver. That was after the
fire had destroyed the town, and I worked there rebuilding the town
after the fire. I returned that fall to my own quarters at old Alameda.
During the intervals at home we freighted our supplies from Moosomin
which was 90 or 100 miles. I have made five trips to Moosomin in suc-
cession for supplies. My brother started in 1882. I joined him in 1883.
My mind was turned to trade by my experience in the north, and this
made us the pioneer merchants in the district. We had the old store and
post office. James Walsh, the old fur buyer of Edmonton, used to buy
for St. Paul firms. He used to make trips here. He was one of the
voyaguers that came up with Wolseley. Old James Walsh after he came
up used to buy furs for Ullman. At one time my father used to take
horses to the old country. He was an old forty-niner, he crossed the
isthmus of Darien. He made two trips to California on foot. He built
the first Government road over to Victoria and it was from Esquimault
to Scomax. His history was written up by Tom Johnson and John Baird,
and published in the Free Press, Winnipeg.
"I made my first trip as a trader in '83. The first two years our stock
was hauled out by ox wagons. It was principally staples and men's wear-
ing apparel. There was nothing for the women. We opened up at Ox-
bow, which was then at the terminus of the road, in the spring of 1891.
The old settlers of this district drove in from Brandon and different
points. They were mostly Ontario men from Peterboro, Northumberland,
Durham and the vicinity of Dundalk, Chatham and Mitchell. Being a
mason I put the foundation under the first Alameda church.
HUNTING HORSE THIEVES.
"In '82 there was a camp of what was suspected as horse thieves. In
1883 they were troubling settlers who had horses, and they had to close
them up at night and sleep in the stables. I slept in the stable with a
good rifle and revolver and other old settlers did likewise, but the horse
thieves were well armed, so that if it had come to a fight they would
have mowed us down like so much wheat. They stole a bunch of horses
out of Moosomin stables and they crossed the mouth of Moose Creek (100
miles south of Moosomin) at 3 o'clock the same afternoon. They took
them from the stables at Moosomin at 2 o'clock in the morning and at
3 o'clock they were crossing the Moose Creek, 100 miles distant. Paper-
collar MacDonald was superintendent of the North West Mounted Police
at the time. He got a posse of which he was one, and there was also Peter
MacDonald, John Young (afterwards reeve of Enniskillen), James
Trumper, W. A. Greer, Chris. Troyer and I think J. J. Heaslip was along
too. We started from old Alameda. They were holding services at Mr.
MacDonald's. Superintendent MacDonald was at Chris. Troyer's house
and saw the horse thieves, and he sent word up to Alameda and told us
to hurry up. He rode up himself on horseback. I got the word from
him and he told me to gather up a crowd. He was in uniform. A petition
had been sent up about the horse thieves, saying there were horse thieves
in the district and that was what brought the superintendent there. We
crossed the Souris River in pursuit about two miles south of old Alameda.
We went down on the east side of the Souris River to what is known as
the Hill of the Murdered Scout. I heard there was a skeleton at the top
of the hill, but I never took the trouble to go up and look at it so I never
saw it. The river takes a big bend there and part of us went down on the
east side and part of us on the west side to return home. There were
just two horse thieves. When we had crossed the river to take up the
trail, Paper-collar Johnny and Chris. Troyer ran on them. They were
nesting there in a ravine with the horses bunched up. The thieves said,
'Don't come any further; go on about your business; if you don't there
will be trouble.' And Paper-collar Johnny and Chris. Troyer went home.
We were two miles west of them at the time. The thieves had ten or
twelve horses. They were stolen from Dunn's Livery Stables at Mooso-
min, just before the races. Paper-collar Johnny returned to Regina; he
recommended that a detachment be sent down to the confluence of Moose
Mountain Creek and to Souris River and they came down with Sergeant
Ross and made a camp there. I think there were ten men. Shortly after
their getting settled there, W. A. Greer returning from cutting hay sev-
eral miles south, quite close to the river, saw some very suspicious men
with some horses. He went home and notified Sergeant Ross. At night
the posse surrounded these men and took them prisoners. At the pre-
liminary trial before Chris. Troyer their story was not very good, but
still there was no evidence that they were horse thieves, so they were
given so long to get out of the country. They were escorted across the
boundary and several days afterwards the Montana Vigilance Committee
got them both and despatched them. One was hung and the other was
shot.
BUD AND SHAGGINAPPI JACK.
"The noted horse thief Bud, and Shagginappi Jack, came one Sunday
to do business at my store. Bud did the business, the other stood at the
door with a revolver in his hand. They did not want goods without pay-
ing for them. They were taking horses from the plough in the Arcola
district. Bud looked as if he would be 35 years of age; he was a very
good looking man, athletic, swarthy, with a heavy jet black moustache,
and a kind of a pleasant look in his eye, but he was a desperate character,
was Bud. He would weigh about 190 pounds. He was also caught in
the end by the Montana Vigilance Committee. Shagginappi Jack weighed
about 160 pounds. He was pretty well bowlegged and inclined to be a little
stooped. They wore chaps and had revolvers sticking in their belts and
their belts were loaded with bullets. After leaving our place they went
through Miller's yard a mile west. Miller had his mules tethered out.
They drew the tether pins and started off with the mules, but the mules
would not lead and so they turned around and handed Miller the tether
ropes and told him they had no time to bother with them, and he had
better put them on the tether again. Bud talked like an educated man;
he spoke nicely and was quite talkative to him (Miller). He used no
bad language. He asked me how long I had been there and how many
settlers were around. I found out that he knew more about the settlers
than I did, but I was not an inquisitive man."
Bibliography follows:
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