SASKATCHEWAN AND ITS PEOPLE
1924
Volume II



         

EVOLUTION OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES.


BUCKBOARDS AND BUCKSAWS.


The lumber wagon and buckboard were practically the only wheeled vehicles in use. The buckboard was a light vehicle without springs. The floor was made of slats an inch or two apart, so there was no lack of ventilation. Governors-General, Judges, high and low, rode in this vehicle which it is only fair to say was ameliorated by a spring seat. Among the ordinary homesteaders, for years, the man who had a buckboard was distinguished among his fellows. Somewhere about 1896 the covered buggy made its appearance, and as times were pretty good it spread like an epidemic and in a few years the buckboard became practically ex- tinct, although here and there one lingered, for a real buckboard was almost indestructible. A good story is told by one of the pioneer home- stead inspectors. R. S. Park, of Whitewood, had to meet his colleague, John Rogers, of Regina, at Qu'Appelle Station in order to make a joint inspection of a homestead about which there was a dispute. Mr. Park's vehicle was getting the worse for wear and one of the hind wheels was badly dished. At the Queen's Hotel just as dinner was to be served, Park made an excuse and slipped down to the livery stable where he changed his bad wheel for a good one from Rogers' rig. Rogers didn't realise the change, although he noticed that one of his wheels had gone suddenly wrong. The joke lies in the fact that Rogers, through this bad wheel, was able to get a brand new trap from the Government, while Park had to make shift for a long while with his old vehicle.

The bucksaw and the sawhorse formed another ubiquitous institu- tion. Very little coal was used. Indians and whites hauled wood into the villages and the woodpile was visible on every farm. Sometimes the poles were placed upright, and the wood piled like a tepee, might be visible on the open prairie for miles. To reduce the poles to stove lengths was a daily task. Many a man, hard up for a dollar, has found his salvation in the villages by going round with a bucksaw. Probably the legend, "Say nothing and saw wood" owes its inception to the homely but indis- pensable bucksaw of the early days. No doubt its kindly rasp can be hear~ today in the back settlements. Bibliography follows:



Previous Page Previous Page SASKATCHEWAN AND ITS PEOPLE VOL II INDEX Next PageNext Page


THE STORY
OF
SASKATCHEWAN
AND ITS PEOPLE



By JOHN HAWKES
Legislative Librarian



Volume II
Illustrated



CHICAGO - REGINA
THE S.J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1924




Visitor #

Web Master: Sask Gen Webmaster,

for Sask Gen Web Project

Re-published ©:

URL:






We encourage links to this page.

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, must
obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal
representative of the submitter, and contact the listed WebmasterWeb
master with proof of this consent.