Dry River (*By May Graham)
This is
written as a tribute to the pioneers of the Dry River District who
had sufficient courage, ambition, strength and faith to leave their
homes,
their relatives and their friends in the east to come to a new country
about
which they knew very little. They certainly must have been endowed with
a
great spirit of adventure. It is also intended to be a record of those
who
settled in the district not only in the beginning, but also through the
decades
which followed.
Dry River district is about 10 miles north-west of Pilot Mound as the
crow
flies and approximately 4 miles south-west of Mariapolls. It is bounded
on
the east by the Pembina River. The Pembina River derives its name from
an
Indian name - Pembina meaning "native cranberry". The old school
district
ran as far north as Township 4 for a short distance and at it's
beginning
it stretched west to the west side of rhe township On the south it goes
as
far south as the township for a part of the way. Then it reaches the
Pembina
River which it follows. Later on in 1907 when Zephyr school district
was
organized, some land. was taken away from the west side of the district.
This district was not settled quite as early as the land to the south
and
east of it owing to the fact that the Pembina River had to be crossed.
At
one point there was a ford in the river and at a place north of the
ford
the Diedrick Bridge was built. The name Diedrick was the name of a man
who
lived in the valley not far from the bridge. It is now known officially
as
the Creamery Bridge. In 1885, the Fairplay Creamery was built and the
Creamery
Bridge was erected. This gave the residents of Dry River two crossings
over
the Pembina River. A man by the name of S.A.Johansen came from Denmark
to
run this creamery. He also helped to build it.
The District was surveyed in 1872. At that time it was comprised of
some
prairie, but a great deal of it was solid bush. The main trees in the
solid
bush were Oak, Poplar, and Balm of Gilead. There were also many
willows,
especially around the sloughs of which there were many - some large and
some
small. There were a great deal of wild fruit trees: Saskatoons,
Pincherry,
Chokecherry,Cranberry and also numerous patches of wild raspberry and
strawberry.
These fruit trees proved to be a wonderful asset to the pioneers and
also
to those who followed in the 1930's. The those pioneers and to those
who
lived in the dirty thirties, rhubarb was combined with strawberries
which
made a very edible fruit and Saskatoons made good fruit too, and it was
preserved
in sealers for winter use and lovely jelly was made from Pincherries
and
Cranberries.
This land, when cleared, proved to be very fertile. One of the great
drawbacks
in those very early years were the summer frosts. Consequently the
farmers
turned to raising cattle and hogs as well.
Wildlife was quite common too. Thee were lots of wolves, deer. lynx,
and
also a few bear. Of course deer and rabbits were the edible ones.
Gophers
were a real problem to the farmers as they dug holes in the fields and
ate
the grain surrounding this hole. Therefore poison was put out beside
the
holes. Traps were set and in many cases this was done by the young boys
and
girls. The reason being that when they caught the gophers, they removed
the
tails, took them to town and received 1 cent for each tail. The boys
and
girls used to down the gophers out also. I'm not sure that this bounty
was
given in the very early days, but it was quite a common thing forty and
fifty
years ago.
While speaking of wildlife, we must also remember there were wild ducks
and
wild geese, prairie chickens and partridges. The rivers and lakes
teemed
with fish too, Pike and Suckers. Of course, the Pike were the best. In
the
winter time the fish used to jam and the were taken out by the half
sleigh
loads, so there was plenty of good fish to eat. We even canned them for
winter
use in the dirty thirties.
The first settlers had to make their way from Emerson in wagons drawn
by
either horses or oxen. There was one other altermative, and that was to
walk.
It was a distance of 100 miles. In 1882, the Canadian Pacific Railway
came
as far as Manitou, and in 1885 it was extended to Pilot Mound.
As the summer frosts disappeared, the farmers went into grain growing.
Wheat,
barley and oats were the main crops. The Dry River district was known
to
grow the finest malting barley in Manitoba and the Dry River district
once
held the world's record for the largest yield of hard spring wheat per
acre.
How the distict got its name is rather a conundrum. Dry River is what
we
would call a contradictory name. The reason for this is the fact that
west
of the road which is now known as Highway No. 440, there is a divide.
Ash
Creek runs down from the north and runs west while the Dry River comes
from
the south and runs east to Swan Lake. There is a piece of land between
the
two creeks which is a little higher than that surrounding it. This is
where
the Indians used to cross and J. Flannagan Sr. named it the Pass. Not
only
the Indians used this as a pass, but when buffalo roamed this district,
they
used it also. From this piece of dry ground was derived the name "Dry
River.
The original road across the Dry River Valley had many curves in it on
both
sides but now it is absolutely straight up and down. There is also
another
creek north of the Dry River and there once was quite a steep hill
there.
This was known as the Welman Ravine named after a contractor who worked
for
the Canadian National. This railway came through in 1894. This was a
great
boom to the Dry River District as they only had to haul their grain
less
than half as far in order to put in on the market. Every farmer in
those
days didn't have to put their grain in the elevator. If they had
sufficient
grain to fill a freight car (wheat or barley) they could order a car
through
the station agent. When the car came it was loaded, usually the
neighbors
helped one another load their cars. At that time there was no wheat
board
and instead there was the grain exchange and the price of grains
fluctuated
from day to day. Every car was shipped to the lakehead and the tamer
had
the privilege of selling his wheat when he so desired. Some people used
to
gamble on the wheat market. In fact some did gamble who had never grown
a
bushel of grain in their lives. Previous to this, Dry River farmers
made
Pilot Mound their
town, but after the new railway came through Mariapolis, a large
part of the district went to Mariapolis. They drew their grain there
and
purchased their groceries and other necessities there too.
Sections 11 and 29 in each township were school sections and coud not
be
homesteaded. The Hudson Bay Company also had land given to them by the
government
and the C.P.R. had some given to them also. The rules regarding
homesteadings
were as follows: The homesteader had to agree to live on his quarter
for
6 months out of each year for 3 years and break 10 acres a year. After
that
he could buy another quarter called a pre-emption at $3 per acre and
many
took advantage of this.
Mr. Alex McQuarrie and Mr. Tom Frey came out here from Ontario in the
year
1881. At first Mr. McQuarie was going to homestead in Maringhurst and
his
brother in Dry River but however they changed their minds and Mr. Alex
McQuarrie
took up a homestead on the S.E. 1/4 of 16-4-12. Later on he acquired
the
S.W. 1/4 of the same section as his pre-emption Tom Fry located on the
N.
E. 1/4 of 16-4-12. He built a house on that quarter and he went back
east
in the fall of 1882 to get married. His fiance did not want to come out
to
Manitoba to live so he gave up his homestead. He returned to the
community
some years later.
In the spring of 1882, Mr Wm. Robinson and his brother-in-law George
Stewart
came out from Ontario from a village called Nobleton. Mr. Robinson had
his
belongings in a freight car along with
another man. The Canadian Pacific Railway wouldn't put off Mr.
Robinson's
effects at Emerson therefore they had to go on to Winnipeg. The snow
was
very deep. In fact they could walk from the
roof of the freight car right on to the snow. They put the horses
in a livery barn and they took a room at the hotel. The horses took
distemper and therefore the men had to remain in Winnipeg until they
were
almost out of money. Finally they struck out west and found the water
was
so deep they had to return to Winnipeg and go south to Emerson. From
there
they were able to go west and then north. Finally, they arrived at Alex
McQuarrie’s
- friends they had known in the
East.
Mr Robinson took up a homestead on the N.W. 1/4 of 14-4-12.
He went back east in August and brought out his family. They came from
Emerson
in a wagon drawn by horses. They had cows tied behind the wagon, two
for
themselves and one for George Stewart. The mosquitoes were the worst
they
had ever experienced. Mr and Mrs Robinson had five children when they
came
west and another girl was born November 2d of that year. Such an
undertaking
would be considered ridiculous in our day and age, but they managed and
didn't
have to discard any of their belongings on the way as some of the more
unfortunate
people had to do.
They lived in Tom Fry's house during the first winter. In the spring,
George
Stewart, who was a carpenter, completed the house on the homestead of
the
N.W. 1/4 of 14-4-12 for Mr. Wm. Robinson.
Of course all of these homes were made of logs hewn out of the bush and
put
together with square nails. This story is an example of the trial and
privations
that all the pioneers experienced. From 1882 to 1885, several settlers
came
to locate in the Dry River district. Namely: Archie McAuley. Wm.
Apperley.
W. Wardman, I Bentley, W. Davis. Ike Tealing. A. Bonnan. J.
Flanagan,
Joe Sauders, W. Cressard, John Elson. T. A. Andersen, James and Wm.
Baird,
and Jack Baird, also W. Tisdale and Wm. Craik.
Dry River School District No. 339 was organized in 1885 with D.
Bentley,
Alex McQuarrie and Wm. Robinson as trustees and Miss Thring, of Belmont
the
teacher. School was held in W. Robinson's home until the next year when
the
school was built. A full list of the trustees and teachers will be
found
near the end of the book. The post office was opened in 1884 in the
home
of George Stewart, then moved to A. Eason's. In 1904 it was taken over
by
Wm. Craik followed by S. Robinson who had it until his death in1948. It
was
closed in 1948. The north district is now served by Mariapolis and the
south
by rural mail from Pilot Mound. The first religious services were held
in
the school by Rev. H. Cain Presbyterian minister. Church was held in
the
school for many years and also Sunday School. Some of the ministers
were
R. Hunter 1903 - 1904; Rev. Ashcroft, Rev. McLean, Rev. McLean, Rev.
Turnbull.
Rev Little and Rev. Morrison. The church was closed about 1920. This is
a
list of the Dry River Sunday School pupils in 1898.
Class I – Mrs. Elson — Ira Craik, W. J. Davis, Annie Davis,
M.J.
Davis, Archie McAuley. Sam McAuley, Kate McLennan. Jane McLennan,
Jennie
Stewart.
Class II - Mrs Barnes — Eddie Apperlev. Mary Craik, George Craik
Lila Davis, Charlie Eason, Fanny Eason. Bertha Eason, Jesie Eason
May Elson, Reggie McAuley, Aleck McAuley, John McLennan Maggie
McLennan,
Vina Robinson, Jack Stewart.
Class III – Mr. Sproule — Golda Apperlev, Gertrude Apperley
Cora Apperley. Lillie Craik. Annie Eason, Annie McLennan,
Ethel
Stewart.
Glass IV – Mr. McQuarrie — Fred Craik, Dan McLennan, Duncan
McLennan, Houston
McAuley, John McQuarrie, Walter Richardson, Edway Robinson, Robert
Robinson,
Willie Robinson.
Class V – Mr. Eason — John Bames, Jessie Craik, Christina
Crail
Charles Ealson» Charles Filden, Archie Graham, Willie Herrick
Mary McLennan, Mary McQuarrie, Alex McQuarrie, Angus McQuarrie Archie
McQuarrie
Lena Robinson, Harvey Robinson.
|
Portage Weekly, July 10, 1889
Brandon Sun, June 19, 1890
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Brandon Sun, Oct 31, 1889
Brandon Sun, Dec. 3, 1891
Daily Nor' Wester, April 3, 1894
Daily Nor' Wester, May 14, 1894
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Brandon Sun, May 19, 1892
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