A History of Hart Butte Municipality - R.M. No. 11
and Memories
by E.A. Winter

 

HISTORY OF THE RURAL MUNICIPALITY OF HART BUTTE NO 11

by Edwin A. Winter

 

​This portion of Saskatchewan was surveyed and opened for settlement in the year 1909. A few settlers filed on their home- steads in that year, but the big rush took place the following summer. Practically every day there were people driving over the prairie in buggies or wagons, looking for suitable lands.

 

Most of those who filed in the year 1910 left for the winter and then returned in the spring of 1911 w1th their farm equipment and stock. Some brought their belongings by team and wagons from their former home in the U.S.A. but a good many shipped in car load lots of settlers’ effects to Ogema and then hauled from there by wagons to the land they had selected and filed on. The C.P.R. was just being constructed to Ogema at that time. No local freight could be shipped to that point, but the construction crew would bring car loads of settlers’ effects. When the car arrived, it would have to be unloaded at once and the contents left beside the track until it could be hauled home. The new settlers were evidently honest as no thefts of goods were reported. The trail that spring was busy w1th teams hauling home equipment. As there were no roads, a number of settlers usually went together so they could double up their teams to cross the water holes or get their loads up the hills. The hardest place to cross was the Big Muddy bottom as there were numerous alkali places where there seemed to be no solid bottom. Sometimes a wagon would sink to the hubs and then it would have to be unloaded before it could be pulled loose. In some cases, it was even necessary to take a wagon apart and pull it out piece by piece. As there were no stopping places, the settlers would put their wagons in a circle and keep the stock inside so that they would not stray away and then roll out their blankets and sleep under the wagons.

 

Many of the settlers remained here during the winter of 1910. There was no Post Office or store in the district so it was necessary to go to Willow Bunch for supplies and mail. There was a great deal of snow that winter, so for a short time the mail, consisting of letters only, was brought to Willow Bunch from Moose Jaw, by dog sled.

Provisions got quite short too as all of them had to be freighted from Moose Jaw. Two bachelors had Christmas parcels sent from Ontario- one arrived on February 15th and the other on March 3rd- they were

still welcome, although some of the contents had spoiled. It was often impossible to get vanilla or lemon extract at Wi1low Bunch in the early day as the Metis who did the hauling often drank it on the way.

 

There were no coal mines in operation the first winter, so everyone had to locate his own. Even after the coal was dug, it was almost impossible to get it hauled home, as there were no roads and the coulees were filled with snow. Some settlers ran out of fuel and then they moved in with someone more fortunate. Some got along by carrying wood from the coulees. Needless to say, there was little comfort in a shack with such fuel when the temperature went down.

 

Early in 1911 a mail route to serve Hart, Luella and Pretty Valley was started from Willow Bunch. Harry Keast took the contract for hauling the mail and he also was postmaster at Pretty Valley, which was situated on his farm about 4 miles south of the present town of Coronach. Henry Sherwin who lived on Section 18-2-27 was the postmaster for Luella and C.E. Petreman who lived on Section 14-3-27 was postmaster for Hart. The Hart Post Office was later taken over by George E. Penton when he opened his store.

 

Another mail route brought mail from Bengough and this was handled by W.P. White who also had a small store on his farm on Section 26-1-25. Charles Weber was the Postmaster for Dry Forks Post Office, Mr. Frederick for Eddyside P.O. and Herb Sheffield for Gallocks. Some weeks the weather was too bad for the men to make the long trip, but conditions had to be tough to keep these mailmen home.

 

The settlers who had farmed before coming here, generally has horses to do their farm work, but many who never had been so occupied depended on oxen to do their breaking. Those who came West to prove up a homestead for the thrill of trying something new, sure got all the thrill they wanted when they bought green steers from a ranch and then proceeded to get them to pull a breaking plow.

 

The Torgerson boys who farmed in the vicinity of the present hamlet of East Poplar did custom breaking with their oxen. Two of them each drove 6 oxen on a gang breaker and another did the cooking, sharpened the plow shares and did the odd jobs.

 

One of the early landmarks in the district was the huge sod barn erected on the farm of C.D. Willford on Section 13-2-27. Most of the newcomers headed for that place and were always sure of a hearty welcome by Mr. and Mrs. Willford who were known to many as Dad and Ma. I know if it had not been for their hospitality that some bachelors would not have stayed in the district.

 

The Willford boys purchased quite a bunch of bronco horses and proceeded to make work horses out of them. It was quite exciting to watch them hitch up an outfit of them and then turn them loose. They generally left the yard at full speed, but when they made a few rounds in a field they did not have so much pep.

 

Many of the original settlers have either died or have moved away, but a number have retired and live in the village of Coronach, and their children are carrying on with the farm work. Two of the first settlers who are still residing on their farms are Wilson Barrett and Helmer Torgerson.

 

It Cost $10.00 to file on a homestead and the settlers used to say that they had made a bet of that amount with the Government against 160 acres of land that they could live on the place and do the necessary homestead duties without starving to death. Many lost the bet, although none starved to death.

 

Hospitality was at its best in the early days. No one ever thought of locking a door and a hearty welcome was extended to all who passed that way. If the owner was away the caller just went in and helped himself to a meal. Quite often when the owner came home at night he found his company sound asleep in his bunk.

 

There were very few ladies here in the early days, so at the dances which were held in the local school, some of the men tied a hand­kerchief on his arm and he took the place of a lady for the evening. Needless to say, the few girls and married women there were in great demand and never had a chance to sit out a dance. A fellow considered himself lucky to get even one dance with one of the opposite sexes.

 

Poplar Creek was the first School District organized and the school itself was built on the present farm of Reinhard Wagner 1 1/2 miles south of Coronach. This school was used for Church services for many years by the Methodist Church and it was also used for the United Grain Growers’ Meetings and other local activities. The Church erected a manse just north of the school and this was later moved to Coronach and used as a manse by the United Church. It has since been sold and another manse purchased.

 

This district was formed into a Local Improvement District in the year 1912 and the following officials elected: E.E. Brooks, Wm.B. McBurney, Harry Keast, E.E. Hicks, Geo. Allen and H.J. Heckman. Mr. McBurney was chosen as Chairman and Geo. Penton was appointed as Secretary Treasurer and E.A. Winter as Auditor.

 

In 1913 the Rural Municipality of Hart Butte No 11 was organized and the following officials were elected: Reeve-L.H. White, Councillors Div.1 J.J. Patterson, Div. 2 A.F. Stone, Div 3 V.G. Tracy, Div 4 Chas Stover, Div 5 E.J. Schoenau, Div. 6 H.J. Heckman.

 

The following January the Council called for applications for the position of Secretary Treasurer and E.A. Winter was engaged at a salary of $500.00 per annum. When he resigned in 1958, he was succeeded by H.M. Siggelkow.

 

The members of the first Council received $2.00 per day for their services for attending the Council Meetings.

 

The first weed inspectors were E.E. Stubblefield, F.C. Kempfield, T.E. Bates, Chas Stover, Mel Reid and Bert White. They were authorized to work for 3 days in the year at a wage of $3.00 per day for themselves and team.

 

Prior to the year 1914 taxation was on a flat basis of an equal amount on each quarter, but in that year H.M. Ching was engaged to make an assessment of all the lands in the Municipality. He completed this task the same year and since then taxes have been levied on a mill rate on the assessed valuation.

 

In the year 1914 the Council sent a petition to the Minister of Customs, requesting that a Customs House be established on Sec 4-1-26-2 with A.J. Hindoien as Customs Officer. This was done, but later the Customs House was built on the SW 3-1-26-2 and named the East Poplar Customs. Highway No 36 now extends from the Customs House to Moose Jaw.

 

For a number of years all roadwork was done by the settlers with their horses and some small scrapers or fresnos and their wages applies as a credit on taxes. For a number of years, the settlers were also allowed a credit on their taxes if they poisoned the gophers on their lands.

 

In the spring of 1926, the Council purchased three blade graders and a number of road patrols and embarked on a road building program. Mr. Roy Willford took the contract to grade the roads selected by the Council and the settlers were engaged to do the maintaining. At first Mr. Willford used 18 head of horses to pull the grader, but later he used a large gasoline tractor. Under this contract 210 miles of roads were improved.

 

During the drought years most of these roads had to be neglected as few taxes could be collected, but now the Council are endeavoring with a Motor Grader, two Diesel Caterpillar Tractors and Scraper and Elevating Grader to get them in shape to take care of the ever-increasing traffic.

 

At one time sixteen school districts operated their own schools in the Municipality; since the larger School Unit was formed, the pupils are now being transported to Coronach or Big Beaver by bus. The old schools have either been sold or moved into Coronach to provide the additional accommodation required there.

 

For a good many years the U.S. Customs and Port of Entry were located at Scobey, Montana, but later this was moved to the International Boundary opposite the Canadian Office.

 

In the year 1914 the Council passed the Sask. Municipal Hail Insurance by-law to provide for protection from hail on all lands in the Municipality. This by-law is still effective, although quite a few have withdrawn their lands from the operation of this Act.

 

For many years there was no railway in the Municipality, so all the grain and other goods had to be hauled by teams and wagons to either the Canadian points of Verwood or Bengough or the American points of Scobey or Whitetail. It was a common sight to see long lines of outfits either going to market with their loads of wheat or returning home. Most of the outfits were 4 horse teams pulling wagons carrying 125 bus of grain, but some farmers drove 6 horses and pulled 2 wagons. It is interesting to note that when the Sask. Wheat Pool was organized that the first shipping facilities they purchased where at Scobey, Montana and in one season over a million bushels of Canadian wheat were shipped in bond from that point.

 

Marketing grain was an expensive affair in those days, as it usually took two days for the trip, so the cost of staying overnight with man and horses, with the cost of wagon repairs and horse shoeing, took quite a slice out of the grain ticket. In some cases, if the elevator was full, it meant staying over for two or three days.

 

Life in the pioneer days was rugged and quite a few did not have what it took to prove up a homestead in a new country where there were no roads, villages, hospitals, telephones or places of amusement. Such settlers pulled out after a year or two and others took their places. One settler who was fed up with pioneering, left the following note on his shack when he pulled out: "3O miles from a railway, 6 miles from a neighbor, 4 miles from wood and 2 miles from water - God bless our home, we are going East to get a fresh start."

 

Those settlers who stayed on the job had to work hard and endure many hardships but they have the satisfaction of knowing they pioneered a new country. They have seen the district develop into a prosperous community and many now have the modern conveniences which take the drudgery out of labour.

 

Much credit is due to the pioneer women who had to stay home and raise their family without assistance or advice from a doctor or nurse. Mrs. Kinley who resided just south of the present town of Coronach and Mrs. Berg of Buffalo Gap were a great help as midwives and they were always willing to go when required. The women were often called on to take care of the stock and keep the home fires burning while their husbands were away, either hauling grain or assisting the neighbors with the threshing. Many of the women never had a chance to visit a town so their shopping had to be done from a catalogue.

 

In the fall of 1910, my chum and I decided to come west and take a homestead; we had good positions in the east, but wanted to have some excitement.

 

In those days a fellow could buy a South African war script from a veteran who did not wish to use it. This enabled you to file on an extra half section, provided you did the necessary duties on same. We each borrowed money to buy one, but in a way, this was not any help, as we had to live here all the year round, so had no chance to go out and earn any money, we thought when we came here, we could make some easy money by proving up land and selling same- we had no idea of ever staying in this country. As we had to borrow all the money required to buy stock and equipment and other necessities, by the time we proved up our land we were owing more than we were worth.

 

When we got to Moose Jaw, we found there was no way of getting into this district unless we walked, so we decided we would do that. As we were real tenderfeet and knew nothing of the country, having lived in a town all our life, we wanted to be prepared for anything. We were told there were no stopping places so we loaded ourselves down with plenty of firearms and food and hit the trail. It took us 2½ days to get to Willow Bunch and as we had new shoes, we had blisters on our heels as big as a silver dollar.

 

We located a Metis who lived south of Willow Bunch and engaged him to assist us in locating our land. As we each wanted to file on a full section and wanted it adjoining, we had difficulty in finding that so we finally selected what we thought would be suitable, but it was a very poor place. The prairie had been burnt off, so there were lots of stones. The Metis assured us they were all on top, but we later found out that where there were a few stones on top, there were many more underneath.

 

We had to hire a Metis to take us to Moose Jaw, as you could not file on a script at Willow Bunch, where there was a local land office. When we got to Moose Jaw, the Metis wanted his pay and that was when our trouble started. He took us out to the Indian camping ground south of Moose Jaw and stayed there until he and his friends drank up all his money. He and six of his friends would not stay in any tent but the one we were occupying. If you have never tried sleeping in a tent with seven drunken Indians you sure have missed a real experience.

 

When we got to Willow Bunch, we walked out to the Metis who had helped us locate our home and who had agreed to haul our lumber and supplies to our new home. We just got there when it started to blizzard. He could not find his horses and we were unable to get back to Willow Bunch, so we stayed there for two days. We had to sleep in a lean-to that had cracks in the door big enough to throw a cat through, with one old piece of carpet for bedding. For food we had Bannock with no butter and tea with no milk or sugar. His wife, who was Indian and who sat on the bed all day working at a moccasin, could speak a few words in English, but all I heard her say was - "all time work.” The second day our host, Raul R. Reville passed us a plate of what looked like pork roast- we thought, now we will have a feed- It turned out to be badger. He said-" that fine meat" but it was too fine for us!

 

When the weather cleared so he could find his horses, we got our lumber from Willow Bunch and came to the land we had filed on. I do not know how he found it as there was there was no land mark of any kind and every hill looked alike. He unloaded the lumber and went back to Willow Bunch, saying he would bring our food on the next trip, but when he came back, he had no food, as the merchants would not let him take it.

 

We had to move into Joe Robinson's place, who was the first settler in the new township. He had to make a trip to Moose Jaw and he brought our supplies from Willow Bunch when he came back. Joe Robinson's place was three miles from our place and some days when it was foggy, we could not even find our pile of lumber.

 

Our first shack was built with 2 ply of ½inch lumber and was built on the line between our two scripts, so we slept with our heads on my partners land and our feet on mine.

 

We dug some coal as soon as we had a shack built, but we never got it home. There was only one team in the township the winter of 1910 and there was so much snow they could not travel. My partner and I had snow shoes and we carried wood from the coulees three miles east of our land­ needless to say we never had a fire at night, and even some days we could not get it warm enough in the shack to melt snow.

 

Our good neighbours, O.J. Monette and Edward Levort managed to get some coal home as they were closer to where it was dug, but it took three days to bring it and then the sleigh pole broke and we were out of luck for getting ours hauled.

 

Our other neighbor, Marcel Mols, lived right beside the place where we dug coal and he had a team of oxen, so he was well fixed for coal and wood but he had a sod house and when he built it, it was too cold and the sod did not settle properly, so the wind blew through the cracks. He had a small cot beside the stove and one night it was so hot near the stove he could hardly stand the heat- but it was 10 below on the other side. The first time I met Marcel Mols he was living in the sod house in one part and his oxen were in the other part. He left for a while and then came back and put up a tent in his sod house. That made it nice and warm, but there was hardly any room and there was no light. When Monette and Lefort ran short of fuel, they tried to carry wood too, but as they had no snow­shoes that was impossible, so they moved into a place where there was a good supply and the owner was away.

 

When the Municipality purchased their road machinery in 1926, they gave Alick Stone the contract for hauling the machines from Scobey, Montana with horses. It was shipped to Scobey as that was the nearest railway. I would like to mention that Alick Stone of Coronach and E.J. Schoenau, my old partner, who now resides at Mawer, Saskatchewan, are I believe the only survivors of the original Council of the R.M. of Hart Butte No 11.

 

In the winter of 1915-1916 we had so much snow that some shacks and barns were entirely covered. Lots of the crops were snowed under that

year, as the threshing machines could not be moved. What crop was left, was threshed the following spring. The writer went to Regina in January to have the Municipal books audited. His sister came from the East to meet him. She brought a trunk full of clothes, thinking there would be social gatherings- but she never used them. We came by train to Viceroy where I had left my team. The next day we went to Bengough and it took all day.

 

When we got to Bengough they were short of fuel and the hotel was burning 2 x 4s in the kitchen stove. The only heat in the hotel other than that, was a coal oil heater. As it was hard to bring a trunk in a jumper, we left it at Bengough, as I thought I would get a neighbor to bring it home for me. There was so much snow that the neighbors did not go to Bengough, so we did not get it home until some day in March- just one day before my sister left for the East.

 

When I first came to Willow Bunch, I was anxious to know about the country. I asked a Metis if there was lots of snow here in the winter He said- “not much snow- some come, stay maybe two, three days- Chinook come- take it all away” but he sure had things wrong. There was snow on the ground then and we did not see any bare ground until late in March.

 

Our first attempt at farming was not very profitable. We had five horses shipped from the east in the spring of 1911, but they were not used to this country. We lost three that spring and one got crippled, so we then decided to try oxen. They worked fairly well, but were hard to break and when they got warm, they headed for the nearest slough and would not stop until they got in the middle. We would have to sit in water up to our waist until they made for shore.

 

The first grinder in the district was owned by our friend Alick Stone. I do not think he ever made any money with it as he liked to have company and we liked to visit with him, so we must have eaten all the profit. The mainstay in those days was salt pork, beans and baking powder biscuits, but one day Alick decided it was time for pie. I do not know just what he put in or left out, but when his hired man came in, he took it out of the plate and nailed it to the outside of the shack.

 

The reason we used so many baking powder biscuits was because there was no quick yeast and the sponge had to stand overnight. Most settlers put a pail of hot water in a box in the basement, then put the sponge on top and covered the works with blankets. One lady had a different method. They had no basement, so she wrapped the kettle with the sponge in a blanket and took it to bed with her.

 

One lady had a lot of trouble with mice getting in her flour barrel, so she said she had to sift all that was left. We were very sure not to go there for a meal until we were quite sure that all had been used.

 

The first industry in the municipality was a tin smith shop operated by E.J. Schoenau. He had a complete set of tools and made most of the stove pipes, pails, tubs etc. used by the settlers. He made a crate on his buggy and almost every week he took a load to George Penton who sold them in his store. Although he has retired from his farm, he still does work for the School Unit in his district.

 

Most of the sod breaking in the early days was done w1th a sulky plow, pulled with either 4 horses or 4 oxen, but one of the first settlers only had 2 horses so he got a walking plow and managed to break 40 acres the first summer. One of our early reeves had another method- He only had two oxen, so he hitched them up with his milk cow and saddle pony and did his duties that way.

 

One of our first settlers woke up one morning and found it still dark so he rolled over and went to sleep. He did this several times then thought something must be wrong. He lit the lamp and saw it was 4p.m.

During the night the snow had buried both windows. He was able to get out through the door, but his neighbor who had built his shack in a ravine, had to chop a hole in the roof and climb out through that.

 

One of our settlers went to Bengough with his oxen and bought a mower and rake. He pulled them home behind his wagon, but when he got to the fences at the ranches in the Big Muddy bottom, he found the gates were not as wide as the rake. Instead of taking the rake sideways through the gate he thought of an easier way- he just hitched one of his oxen to the gate posts and broke them off.

 

During the drought years there was no money to buy gasoline, so a good many of the farmers made Bennett buggies of their cars by removing the engines and attaching a pole, so that it could be pulled with horses. A good many of the combines were used with horses for power. The big disadvantage of using horses was that it took a long time to unhitch 12 horses and take them home to eat and drink at noon. It was also necessary to add a brake, so that the combine would not run into the horses going downhill.

 

For about thirty-five tears the Municipal Office was located on the S.W. 22-2-26 West 2nd, the centre of the Municipality. Then in 1952 it was moved to Coronach, where the former building has now been replaced with a modern one with many labour-saving devices.

 

The Municipal banking was for many years done at Bengough, and then at Willow Bunch. During tax-collecting season the Secretary was required to make a weekly trip to deposit money collected. At one time the Bank of Toronto had an office in Coronach, but when conditions got tough this was closed. The building was sold to Mr. Clem Boughen, who turned it into a residence. Later on, a Credit Union was organized, with Clem Boughen as secretary treasurer and later Alex Stone. Since then, the organization has grown considerably, now offering full banking services. A new, modern office is now being built.

 

This Municipality was among the first in the province to engage a Municipal doctor. Dr. Welsh was the first doctor under this plan, which worked very well for many years. The contract which was used was copied by other Rural Municipalities. The first nursing home was operated by Mrs. Frank Day in a large residence in Coronach. Now we have a hospital with up-to-date equipment and a full staff of nurses.

 

Conditions have certainly improved a lot since the country was opened up in 1910 and we all have conveniences that we never thought of in those days.