Jim McConnell's Autobiography 1877 - 1957Canadian pioneer farmer in Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia |
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11. those days, and after tramping araund Saskatoon for a day, I continued on to Prince Albert. The second day at Prince Albert I got a jab with an old-timer there, a Mr. Clark, cutting cordwood down by the river. His wife was sick with Typhus Fever, and they had a nurse hired. I lived in a little log cabin down near the river. There were not very big wages made at this wark -- cutting and piling a card af cordwood at 75 per cord. One day when in town, I heard af Cowell's Cordwood Camp, and the next day I went dawn the river an the ice with a team that hauled in the wood. Cowell paid $1.00 a cord far cutting and piling dry Jack Pine, and the men paid $1.00 a day for their board. The trees were scattered and when felled, buried themselves about 16" in the cold dry snow. Some af the boys, not experienced, were going behind and not able to pay their baard. I found it hard to make $1.00 a day clear. After working a couple af weeks I settled up and went back to town again. Next day I hired aut with railroad cantractars, Willmott and Woodward. In the winter they took out ties. Their camp was at Mistatim, down east towards Tisdale, near the border af Manitoba. I hired out to drive team and was soon at work with team and sleigh, gathering the ties in the bush and unlaading them along the railraad. It was below-zero weather. The first marning I turned aff the road to gather up the hewed ties laying in the deep laase snaw. My hind sleigh slid in behind a ten-inch tree, and I could not move it. My first jab was to take my axe and down that tree. After that I took a little more care in getting araund the trees in the deep snow. These contractors paid $26.00 a month and board. The work continued right through until Spring. Their main crew stayed for the summer to work an the railroad, but they paid us up and we took the first train back to Prince Albert. The next day I arrived at Hanley where I bought up supplies far the summer af 1908. I picked up the axen and wagon and was soon heading west again far another six months residence on the homestead. The snow had gone so it was now urgent to begin again that thankless, yet necessary job, af hauling water. The ground already broken, was disced and planted to oats, and then I continued to break up more land as required by the Homestead Regulatians. By now there were more settlers coming in and little houses were being built an all sides. Progress had to be slow as there was no water supply and no timber far fuel ar building. The summers were hot and dry. Later in the season, I decided to make a dug out, or dam as they were called at that t ime. A slight draw ar depressian led down onto my quarter from the school section. About 100 feet inside my east line, I plowed and began scraping out a hole about 30 feet wide and 60 feet long. Then with oxen and scraper, I moved the dirt: building a bank or dam across the draw so as to catch all the water that came down the draw fram heavy rain ar melting snow. Day after day I plowed and scraped at this dug aut and built up the bank by tramping it with the oxen until I knew that if this ever filled up, I would have a whole seasan's supply af water. The next year I planted trees around and above the dug aut to catch the drifting snaw. The aats sown in 190B grew well. I cut and stacked them near the stable. Later on the Goodroe bays came along with a little thrashing machine. The mill was driven with a treadmill, and a team af horses tied in the treadmill drove the thrashing machine.
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