When I started at Fort Battleford I reported to the Superintendent of Prince Albert National Park. At that time the natural side of the park system had little interest in or knowledge of anything historic. It was general accepted by them that “man was in conflict with nature and therefore his presence in the country should be ignored” as far as National Parks were concerned.  It didn’t long before I was reporting directly to the National Historic Sites headquarters on Ottawa. National Historic sites and staff were few throughout the country, including those in Ottawa. I was the only permanent employee west of Fort Malden. We were also entirely without professionals; in fact, the various disciplines, as we know them now had not been Identifies; no historians, no archeologists, no restoration architects. No self respecting archeologist would waste time on Canadian history and there wasn’t a professional restoration architect in Canada. Even the head of Historic Sites in Ottawa was a retired colonel not a trained historian.

But being new and remote I was unaware of the lack of professionalism until logs began to arrive at The Fort for the rebuilding of the stockade. A previous stockade replacement done during the tenure of the Historical Society had become rotten. The project was already on the books when I arrived and I had assumed that people knew what they were doing until I saw those great saw-logs. Upon enquiring I found not only that no one knew what the original stockade looked like or where it was actually located, but that everyone, except me, thought such question were quite unimportant.

 So I set out to do my own historical research. I read everything I could find on the subject, corresponded with RCMP headquarters for old records and visited archives in Saskatoon and Regina. When I was called to Ottawa during the winter on another matter I took the opportunity to visit the RCMP headquarters there and the Public Archives.

There I discovered the photographs taken by Captain Peters in 1885 at Fort Battleford. Captain Peters was a gunner with Middleton’s forces during the 1885 Rebellion and took the first ever photographs of Canadian Forces in combat. He took several at Fort Battleford and they clearly showed the style of the stockade.

At RCMP headquarters I was treated most royally. It turned out that the liaison officer, Lindsay, had grown up in Battleford. He apologized that the Commissioner was busy with the budget committee. Superintendent Hanson, in charge of crime detection had been Officer Commanding at North Battleford, as had Superintendent Harris who was in charge at Rockcliffe, both had been committee members in support of the Fort’s historic development. They were all happy to see a hometown boy, to hear about the Fort and anxious to extend their time personal, as well as every courtesy.

I obtained the best of help with documents and anything else I needed to accomplish my mission. Their help and hospitality was so outstanding that for many years I could forgive any officer who issued the odd speeding ticket.

By the time that spring arrived, I knew what the stockade should look like and where it should go. But the local Historical Society insisted that their location as built earlier was correct : I needed more proof of my findings. When the frost was out of the ground I got shovel, trowel and brushes, pencil and paper and commenced my own archeological excavation. It did not take much. Within fifteen minutes I had verified my documentary findings. I did minimal cross-trench tests in various key spots to determine the exact alignment on all four sides. I was unable to easily get evidence of bastions. To prove historical fact brought the wrath of several of the old Historical Society members, but Campbell Innes readily accepted the proof of my evidence.

My efforts were successful in getting the new replacement in the right location and even managed to keep the undergournd remains of the old stockade from being destroyed by having the supporting logs placed every 10 feet and the rest above ground. This at a time when presuring the remains of old structures was unheard of. But it could not deter the momentum of a government project. Even though I had taken samples of wood for analysis as well as measurements of post moulds the new logs arrived and were much too large, much to regular and not the right local species. They had been hauled in from the forests of Prince Albert at considerable expense and so had to be used. That set the pattern for stockade reconstruction at Fort Battleford that even thirty years later was inconsistent with historical authenticity. When, years later, the next replacement was required, the old plan was pulled off the shelf and faithfully followed, not even incorporating any needed modifications I was able to identify for a little more accuracy.