| Autobiography of Ralph Howard; (Mr. Howard tells of the very first winter and earliest homestead days in the North Bend.) "We left Lloydminster by what we called the 'mail road' to Onion Lake. It was a prairie trail to a ferry on the North Saskatchewan River. A mile and a half from Lloydminster on this trail was a settler by the name of Sutton and near the trail was a spring of fairly good water. As this water flowed it brought a stream of bubbles. We later often stopped at this spring to water our team and get camp water. After we passed this spring. on this first trip, I spotted a coyote, seventy-five yards off the trail, having a look at us. I reached for my carbine and our expedition was delayed till I took his pelt. His pelt would bring a dollar; a dollar would bring a fifty-pound sack of second grade flour. Second grade flour would bring delicious biscuits- under the influence of the sourdough jar and good management. The trail crossed the Big Gully twelve miles out of Lloydminster. A settler by the name of Charlie Hayes lived here and down the Gully, two miles further another settler had completed his shack and moved in. At the Big Gully a trail branched off and angled east and northeast to the East End of Greenstreet Lake. Ranchers by the name of Greenstreet and Jones had a good bunch of cattle and were located. Here. We passed their ranch and headed northeast to pass a high hill and then headed north till we reached the North Saskatchewan Valley. which was narrow and deep. We drove along the brink of the valley until it made a bead to the east. We scared out a bunch of deer and camped. It was late afternoon and we tried for some venison, but were disappointed. We drove around and looked the country over for a week. It was very much alike, deep black soil, stony, in places. thick poplar in patches to match the open patches of prairie. The survey was twenty-seven years old; we couldn't find a corner to get section numbers. We had a township map. but that wasn't enough. I don't know what possessed Will Campbell but before we left Lloydminster he had bought two small watch compasses with a strong light strap attached. He gave one to Frank and one to me and said. "Fasten them on 10 you someplace where they can't come off or get lost, and leave them there." I happened to remember my compass. I said, Let's see that map." We were near a big slough. Now I said. "According to this map. there is a section corner about one half a mile east of the north edge of this slough." We found that corner and by starting a line by compass and passing seventeen hundred steps we could locate the next section corner. We got the numbers of three quarter sections that would do as well as any and beat it back to file. Our applications were received and recorded on October 22.1906. We returned to my homestead. the NW % section 10-53-26 W 3rd, and started building a log shack. While we were looking the country over, one day I took my carbine and done some investigating alone. I hung up a big deer that froze over night. and I packed a small one back to camp. After we had the shack nearly done. I had a little more than half a mile and set up a couple of traps. That night we had the roof on and Will said. "tomorrow I want to go to Lloydminster and catch a train to the States and bring up a car of horses and machinery in the spring." I said. "Okay I'll take you." We started with just the running gear of the wagon. We stopped half way, to feed the team oats and brew a pot of tea. Thea we cut a load of dry wood and reached Lloydminster after dairk. Bill's train left about midnight with him aboard. In the morning I sold my wood for three dollars. I brought a sash of glass for the window, a pound of tea, a pound of smoking tobacco. A fifty pound sack of flour and had forty cents left to winter on. I arrived at my homestead with a good fire going and a pail of tea on the make. It was snowing in the morning and continued till mid afternoon; the sun came out. Frank said he would rustle some wood and I went to look at my traps. There was something in one; I wasn't sure what. It was about the size of a large cat, but had a much longer tail. It was soaking wet and all covered with mud. When I got back to the shack, Frank had the wood cut and I told him, "I suppose we got a silver fox." I hung whatever it was hack from the fire till it dried. Then I gently brushed and shook it and the fur fluffed out and it was beautiful but was not a silver fox. I skinned and stretched the pelt. It was a cross fox. less valuable that a silver or black fox but more valuable than a red fox. We moved the tent to a good rat slough near the Big Gully and began hauling wood to Lloydminster. I would cut a load one day and take it to Lloydminster the next day and return to camp. It started snowing again. When I went in with the third load I took what fur we had and traded it for our grub and some oats for the horses. The snow was too deep now for wagons and we had no sleighs. We returned to the homestead and made what we called a foot of a big hill, three miles east of Greenstreet Lake where it remained until the following April. We camped in these hills. knowing the snow
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| The Howard Clan webpages submitted by Patrick K. Best The Howard Clan who were some of the original homesteaders of the North Bend District. It is hoped that you and many more people enjoy this history that this clan went through everyday to strive to live and provide a great part in making the history of Saskatchewan come alive. sites.rootsweb.com/~sklloydm/Howard/2Autobiography.html NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material (including notices and submitter information), must obtain the written consent of the contributor: Patrick K. Best or the legal representative of the submitter: Patrick K. Best and contact the listed Lloydminster Gen Web Region Project web master or Saskatchewan Gen Web Webmaster with proof of this consent. We encourage links to Lloydminster Gen Web and Howard Family Tree Web Pages. The Lloydminster Gen Web makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. It is always best to consult the original material for verification. You are our [an error occurred while processing this directive] visitor-- thanks for stopping by! |