THE BARR COLONY. (con't)
ments, and the fact that Mr. Barr never saw the promised land till he
came with his army of colonists. Be that as it may the selection was
a good one.
At first the colony was managed by a Committee; then the village
of Lloydminster sprang into existence, being named after the present
bishop of Saskatchewan, who was the pastor of what at times was not
the easiest flock to manage. The first overseer was Mr. R. N. Blackburn,
an engineer, who now holds an important position in Regina. The
health of the community was in the able hands of Dr. Amos, who twenty-
three years ago was a young Montreal graduate, and who joined the
colonists at Saskatoon. Mr. Barr had a tremendous amount of tents,
blankets and similar supplies which were army left-overs from the Boer
war. Among these supplies was a fully equipped tent hospital for twelve
beds, with nurses, but no doctors; hence the engagement of Dr. Amos in
Montreal. The hardships suffered by the Brittania colonists were in
some cases very severe; and many of the single settlers drifted away.
Houses built were sometimes not of the best. A few built sod houses
and instead of laying the poles supporting the sod roof on the sod walls
they had cross pieces on supports. The result was that when the sod
withered and dried and shrunk, the walls fell away from the roof, leaving
an opening all round the building of several inches. The Mounted Police,
often with Dr. Amos along, visited these places, and others which were
not constructed to keep out the cold, and removed the inhabitants to two
large marquees divided off into cubicles by blankets. The one for single
men was packed and about thirty families inhabited the other big tent.
Most of the houses were log, but some were of frame. The Government
was much criticised in some quarters but it appears to have done on the
whole very good service. Certain it is that if the colony had been left
from the first without any outside guidance in its first year the result
would have been very unsatisfactory indeed. The colonists certainly
had reason of complaint in the second year when they were supplied
with a lot of bad seed. The grafters who did this certainly committed
a crime compared with which stealing grain from a granary is a mild
indiscretion.
The townsite of Lloydminster was thrown open in October, 1901, and
a report stated that where three weeks before there was only one house,
there was now a busy little town. Miller Brothers were the pioneer
store keepers. Their stock was hauled from Saskatoon in eighteen
wagons. They were not long without competitors, for Hall, Scott and
Co. built a 24x60 store with material hauled two hundred miles from
Edmonton.
In September of the following year the colony was visited by Gov-
ernor-General Lord Minto, who camped about a mile outside Lloydmin
ster. He came into town and was the guest of Rev. G. E. Lloyd at
luncheon. At the table with His Excellency were the host and Mrs.
Lloyd, R. N. Blackburn, overseer; Councillors N. Jones, H. B.
Hall;
Bibliography follows:
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