NARRATIVES OF SASKATOON

1882-1912

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ical moment which his kindness and that of his noble and motherly wife dealt out to the bachelor boys of the day, and many are the memories of pleasure at their family circle since. He returned in 1883 to Ontario to bring his family and a stock of goods for his store, which has ever since re- mained open to the public. The consignment of lumber already referred to was supplemented by a large raft arriving at the end of October in charge of Florida and McIntosh. It contained some 60,000 feet, and had been four months on the way from Medicine Hat.The trials of this trip cannot be told here, but it consisted in part of making and unmaking rafts, of losing and finding sections thereof, of privations and starvation which few at this date can appreciate. The stock was sold at Saskatoon, and forms the main material in the construc- tion of the portion of the town east of the river. The cost was high, and the results attained were small although they seemed large in their day. The season of '83 closed in the third week of October by a severe storm and snow, with intense cold,-20 below zero,-lasting for a week. It, however, cleared away and fine weather lasted till Xmas. The operations closed for the season with only a limited preparation for winter on the part of many settlers, and the experiences of this winter are best left to be told by those who passed through them, if at all. The settlers of the year included A. Brown, J. Fletcher, W. Horn, D. Lasher, F. Robinson, W. Irvine and his sister, Frankie, now Mrs. R. W. Caswell,~the first marriage in the settle ment; also among them being Mr. and Mrs. J. McGowan, to whom belongs the honor of having the first baby born in Saskatoon in August of that year. They now reside in Iowa, U.S. A portion of the settlers returned east for the winter, to bring others in the following year. The agent closed the year by an overland trip to Moose Jaw, accompanied by some half- dozen of the settlers who went for supplies to that point. where, after a trying trip, they arrived on Xmas eve. From here they did not leave on their return trip till February, owing to severe storms (1). The return experience can best be told by those who made the trip, among whom are Dr. Willoughby, Will Horn, Robt. Hamilton and John Littlecrow (Indian guide). In this year Frank Clarke's horses were stolen (2). Fortunately for Frank, and very unfortunately for the thief, Frank's driving horse was left hen the half~dozen working horses were driven off. The police were inform- ed and the telegraph put into requisition, but they were too slow, and the thief would have got off to the States with the whole lot if Frank had not acted on the motto, "When you want a thing done, you must do it yourself, you must not leave it to others." He borrowed Will Horn's rifle, hitched up his only nag, and went in pursuit himself. No clue could be got; there- fore he took chances and headed for the south. Some distance away he struck what he believed to be the tracks of his horses, and kept following on, occasionally finding signs, and oftener none, till he finally struck the bunch, with the thief asleep, some miles south of the Elbow, and nearly a hundred miles from the place where the horses were taken from. The sett- lers were gratified to see Frank returning with the bunch of horses, and his story was a most interesting one, but he declined to repeat the exact words he used when he awoke the thief and had him covered with the rifle. Frank disarmed the rascal, but allowed him to keep his mule, and let him go. To relate the experiences of 1884 is hut to renew those of 1883. The settlement was enlarged' by the arrival of many new faces, and the return of former settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Powe were added to the list in June, ac- companied by Mrs. Dulmage, and with them came Mrs. N. R. Willoughby, who so recently passed away on her second Visit to Saskatoon. We also had the Blackley family in part, and a large detachment from Winnipeg, under the leadership of Sam Kerr. This important addition had among (1) Archie Brown was of the party. He makes the delay "two weeks." He describes the return trip on page 80. 2) Archie Brown tells of this incident in full detail on page 31. Page 12

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