HON. SAMUEL JAMES DONALDSON. 



	There is perhaps no man better known throughout the province of
Saskatchewan today than Hon. Samuel James Donaldson, ex-Member of
the Legislative Assembly, ex-Member of Parliament, and a prominent
resident of Prince Albert. It seems that no phase of life has passed him
by and his varied activities and numberless experiences serve to make
his life story one of the most interesting of any of Canada's native and
adventurous sons. He was born in Appleton, Carleton county, Ontario,
on the 12th of March, 1856, a son of Samuel and Jessie Donaldson.
	In the pursuit of his early education Samuel James Donaldson attended
the public schools of his birthplace and after putting his textbooks aside
he clerked in a furniture store in Ottawa, remaining there until 1875.
The following year he came to Saskatchewan, trekking through the wild
prairie country in the tide of late spring when the lands between Winni-
peg and Portage La Prairie were almost under water. The journey was
made under extreme conditions of discomfort.  If the harness needed
fixing, as was often necessary, one had to clamber down from the wagon,
clad only in shirt and no trousers and wade through two or three feet of
water or slime slush. It was extremely hard going for the horses and
only the most experienced drivers had any success with their teams. The
trek was many hundreds of miles and the teams, governed by the condi-
tions above mentioned, often made less than thirty miles a day. It was
thus that Samuel J. Donaldson made his trek from Winnipeg to Portage la
Prairie and thus he continued to trek from Portage la Prairie to Pelly,
Saskatchewan. In 1876 he joined the Royal North West Mounted Police
at Ottawa.  There were no railroads, no rails even, and the only trails
afforded the weary traveller were the sun and stars. On arriving in Sas-
katchewan Mr. Donaldson continued with the Royal North West Mounted
Police and served with them until 1882. He did police duty in Battleford
and Qu'Appelle, was chief of scouts in the Prince Albert district during
the Riel Rebellion, and later was one of a number of the Mounted Police
who acted as escort to the Marquis of Lorne from Prince Albert to Ft.
McLeod.
	Inasmuch as Colonel Donaldson's life history touches upon the Royal
North West Mounted Police and as it is one of the most interesting parts
of Canadian history, a short sketch of the force and the part played by
Colonel Donaldson as a member of it, is not out of place here:
	The present Royal North West Mounted Police was first known as the
North West Mounted Police and one would have to go back many years
in the history of Canada to trace the influence which this organization
has fashioned into the life of the Canadian peoples, or the peoples of the
frozen north.  The Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the present time
is largely comprised of men from the ranks of the Canadian Expeditionary
Forces. Not only are they men of excellent physique, well trained and
clean of mind and body, but they are men of super-courage and super-
intelligence. And of such men the Canadian Northwest had her full share
in the personnel of the Royal North West Mounted Police. It was the un-
written law among the men of the force that if any one was sent out to
affect an arrest, no matter what the risk to himself, it was to be accom-
plished. Once given an order for arrest, no man dared return to head-
quarters without his man.
	"Constable" Donaldson joined the police up in Ottawa, near his home
village of Appleton. Being sent out west he reached what was then the
small post at Winnipeg, which was at that time a village of perhaps some
eight hundred inhabitants. It was a growing community, however, even
at that early time and had prospects for a future. From Winnipeg the
little force of which Constable Donaldson was a member, trekked over to
Portage la Prairie and soon leaving Portage La Prairie Constable Don-
aldson trekked still further west, until he reached Fort Pelly, Sas-
katchewan. He spent two winters at the Fort, followed by one at Fort
Qu'Appelle, and from the latter fort he trekked north through the Duck
Lake country to the Prince Albert post. It was during this trek that he
had some of his most notable experiences. Finally Constable Donaldson
put in a winter at the Battleford post and resigned from the force soon
afterward.
	In 1882 Mr. Donaldson engaged in the livery business and formed a
partnership with Arnold Shiell in 1907. He proved himself as efficient
and dependable a business man as he had been a soldier, and achieved
substantial success in commercial circles.
	But Mr. Donaldson was not left to pursue the quiet existence of a pri-
vate citizen, for he was elected Councillor of Prince Albert in 1889, serv-
ing in that capacity until 1891. He was again reelected to that office in
1895 and served until 1903. He was mayor of Prince Albert from 1892 to
1894 and alderman from 1904 until 1908. He was elected to the Saskatch-
ewan Legislature for Prince Albert county in the general election of
1905 and reelected in 1908, and was again elected for Shellbrooke dis-
trict in 1912.
	Mr. Donaldson served as captain of the Prince Albert Scouts during
the Riel Rebellion and upon the outbreak of the Great war he was anxious
to get into active service.  In 1914, when the war broke out, James
Mackay, Member of Parliament for Prince Albert, was raised to the bench,
and as soon as his seat became vacant a convention was held in Prince
Albert and Mr. Donaldson was elected to the vacancy, and went to Ottawa
in 1915. The following year he was instructed by Hon. Sam Hughes, then
Minister of War for Canada, to raise a battalion for the front. Mr. Don-
aldson set to work at once and recruited some thirteen hundred and ninety-
six men as the One Hundred and Eighty-eighth Battalion. The Battalion
was first sent to Camp Hughes and subsequently Colonel Donaldson took
them overseas on the Steamship Olympic.  He returned to Ottawa in
March, 1917, and was struck off the strength of the Canadian Expedition-
ary Force. Some two weeks later Major Daly requested him to recruit
a forestry battalion, offering to put the Colonel on the pay roll in this
connection but to this proffer he gave a prompt refusal. It is interesting
to note that within the ranks of Colonel Donaldson's family three sons,
two sons-in-law and four nephews were members of the Canadian Expedi-
tionary Forces and all but one of them belonged to the One Hundred and
Eighty-eighth Battalion, which was recruited in the year 1916.
	In 1882, in Prince Albert, Mr. Donaldson was married to Miss Jessie
Paterson and they have become parents of three sons and four daughters.
Mrs. Donaldson accompanied her father and mother to Saskatchewan in
1881.
	Fraternally the Colonel is identified with the Ancient Free & Accepted
Masons. In religion he is a Presbyterian, holding membership in St. An-
drew's Presbyterian church.  For two years he was president of the
Prince Albert Agricultural Society, and his political allegiance has ever
been given to the Conservative party. Colonel Donaldson finds his great-
est recreation in outdoor sports and he is particularly fond of horse
racing, baseball, football and hockey. His life has been one of unusual ac-
tivity and he has been brilliantly successful in every phase of it. He has
contributed in a great degree to the development and improvement of
Prince Albert and the province and no man stands higher in the respect
and esteem of his fellowmen. He is now living retired.



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