Tales of Uncle Harry Talon and the Woodpeckers- 1916, 1930

This picture of Dad’s Uncle Harry Talon is actually a postcard. When I asked Dad how a picture from 1916 ended up on a postcard he said that “Uncle Harry did a lot of things. “He build a radio that was around home for a while. He ran a picture show in North Battleford so […]

Harry and Bud get a scare – 1928?

It could have been either before or after Jean’s arrival that Bud and I had a scary escape from the Indians. Grandma, who was born at Wabasha, Minnesota in Sioux country told hair-raising stories about family experiences there: when they fled to the woods to escape a raid, her father’s terrible experiences during the Civil […]

Early Memories : A New Sister -1928

My earliest memories are of events that happened when we lived at Potvin’s house, a much improved house over the log one a half mile south-east where the family lived at the time I was born. Although some people say I was too young to remember it, I am sure I do remember when a […]

Flying at Fort Battleford – circa 1960

I had first know Jerry Iverson as a teenager. He was my own age and lived north of North Battleford. We met again when I was at Fort Battleford and he was still living in the area. Jerry had become owner of a very small aircraft that would carry two if they weren’t too big. […]

Flying with Lamb Airways – 1968

LAMB AIRWAYS TO YORK FACTORIES There was a time I travelled with my Director, Bill McKim, on a Lamb Airways plane out of La Pas. We were travelling from Thompson, Manitoba to York Factory on Hudson’s Bay. We were ready to leave when the young Lamb boy who was to pilot the plane got an […]

Flying was the Only Way -1975

When I was responsible for National Historic Sites for all of western Canada I was required to do a lot of traveling among those very scattered locations. Flying was the only practical way to get from Calgary to the most of them. Those big jets and commercial flights carried a lot of passengers and one […]

How Cold Was It? 1943

It has been cold in Calgary the last few days. The coldest this winter so far. Colder than almost any time last year. When it is that cold it gets you talking about other, sometimes long ago, cold times. Here is the time it put Dad in mind of: “ One very cold day Bud, […]

One Christmas at the Brada House – 1928

My Earliest memories of Christmas back at the Brada farm are from just at the time of the start of the great depression. The contrast to Christmas today would be hard to understand for the modern generation. Now people spend  two months facing advertising, decorating home and office and gift shopping, At that time Christmas […]

Official Opening of Farwell’s Post – Spring 1968

During my years with National Historic Parks there was a policy to have an official ceremony for the unveiling of a new memorial plaque or when a site or historic building was opened to the public. So in the spring of 1968 the ceremony was set to open the reconstructed and furnished Farwell’s Post. It […]

FORT WALSH Human Remains 1966

In the early days of the handling of historic sites in western Canada not much was done to research or preserve a site. By the time I was at Calgary that had changed and I was happy to see work being done at Soloman’s Post near Fort Walsh. The remains of Farwell’s Post and a […]