In 1905 two events transpired that later affected my family. August 27th of that year my father Lloyd was born unto Cora, the second wife of his father, and in that same year Saskatchewan became a Province of Canada. Early in the year my father was six years old, his father, along with his son Clinton by his first wife, packed some farming equipment aboard a Canadian Pacific Railway train car, and alit in Ernfold, Saskatchewan. As Clint was 18, he got a quarter section of land as well as his father Will. The two parcels of land attached to each other.
Later that same year, the remaining four family members went to the new homestead. Floyd had been born in 1907, and Clara that same year of 1911. That first winter the family lived in a dugout cave in the side of a small raised area. Will, Cora, Clint, Lloyd, Floyd, and Clara all lived deeper in the cave, while the horses and cow lived nearer the entrance. During 1912 a small house was built with three upstairs bedrooms and a living room and kitchen below, which was a vast improvement over the cave.
The family raised wheat, each year a little more than the previous, but never enough to sustain life, pay taxes, and remain solvent. When berries were in season several families joined forces to go to the berry fields some forty miles distant from their homes. With every man, woman, and child working together over a two to three week period, all families would gather and can enough for a winter’s supply.
The family remained in the Ernfold area until 1918 when they moved on to a homestead in Montana.
I did not know any of this. I am astonished that my father lived in a cave! Are you continuing with an entry about life in Montana? I am definitely interested.
ReplyDelete