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Finlay
Under
the leadership of Thomas Greenway, later the Hon. Thomas Greenway, some
dozen homesteaders left Exeter, Ontario. They came by way of
U.S.A. and entered Manitoba at Emerson. They travelled by ox team
to Crystal City. There most of them settled. My father,
James Finlay, homesteaded near Clearwater in 1880, the year in which I
was born. Two years later father sold and intended to take
another homestead, but for some reason, no homesteading was allowed
until after father had bought W½ 28-2-17 (Aug. 1952)
James
Moir homesteaded W½ 28-2-17. There were 15 acres broken and a
house built on the Red River, frame plan of all hewn oak timber.
At that time our nearest neighbours were George Crawford, F. Quissey,
Dyer Kenef and Mr. Rolston. Samuel Hossack lived south of the bay
in a log house with a thatched roof. J. Williams who had the
first resort at Killarney Lake, sold lots and drugs. The town of
Killarney now covers all his homestead, part of Mrs. Gate’s to the
north of the C.P.R. and part of S. Hossack’s to the south.
Mr.
Charles Bate moved from his farm and became Killarney’s first
postmaster. He was also the first Superintendent of a United
Sunday School. He had been a sailor and kept excellent
discipline. He delighted in seeing children happy, but would not
tolerate any mischief. He gave marks for attendance, lessons in
good conduct and prizes for the best three in each class at
Christmas. A grand prize for the whole school was also
awarded. On the 24th of May each year the Sunday School picnic
was held. This was a very important event to the whole
community. I remember all the girls were supposed to wear white
dresses for this special occasion. One year we went to Pelican
Lake in a wagon procession, that procession was led by the bagpipes
played by my own father, James Finlay.
Stories
as told by D. N. Finlay, now of Winnipeg, Manitoba, formerly of
Killarney, Manitoba.
Mr.
Otter’s neighbor, upstream, dammed the river. This caused much
loss to Mr. Otter. He was removing the dam, the neighbor came
with a shotgun and filled him up with shot. The neighbor was
charged with shooting an otter out of season!
The
same Mr. Otter had his own hand loom with which they made their carpets
and course cloth.
The
great herds of buffaloes that roamed the plains left on our farm their
trails and bones. I remember after a prairie fire you could see
the many bones. We gathered them as there was a market for them
at the store. What a pile of bones they had on the ground, the
spot where the Killarney post office now stands!
On
our
land we found flint arrow heads and stone hammers left by the
Indians. I remember that one day two Indians came to our home to
trade willow baskets for flour. We were somewhat frightened until
they left their muskets outside.
The
local land guide, John Sidney O’Brien, who named Killarney, and his son
lived north of the lake. Mr. Dyer squatted on some of the land
they wanted. One day they came upon Mr. Dyer and a dispute arouse
regarding the land. As a result, John said to his son, “Chop off
his head and throw him in the lake.” Mr. Dyer soon moved to
32-2-17.
The
first day I went to school it was held in Can’s house. Mrs.
Richardson, the teacher, always took a nap after lunch. One day
all the pupils decided to play hookie. We spent all that
beautiful summer afternoon down by the river. My brother Jim
received a gold medal for the composition which he wrote about that
afternoon! (His daughter is now Professor of English in the
University of Washington and has written several books).
Soon
after, a school was built on the John Sander’s farm. The first
teacher in the school was Miss Baskerville. We had school for
nine months of the year, beginning in April each spring.
Prairie
fires were one of the greatest dangers of pioneer days. All farm
buildings had to be protected by fire breaks. These were made by
plowing a strip of land 10 to 20 feet wide around them. One lady
who lived just a mile and a half west of us was suffocated in a prairie
fire.
My
father used to tell his story about a fire he well remembered. He
and the Killarney postmaster, the late Charles Bate, were putting up
hay at the outlet of the lake, a mile north of our farm. Father
noticed smoke in rapidly increasing volume a few miles to the west, and
he told Mr. Bate of the danger. Mr. Bate said that if the fire
did come, he would beat it out with his vest. Father suggested
that he plow a fireguard while he would go up on the bank to see how
near the fire was. Then realizing the immediate danger, father
called to him to come quickly with the team and rack and he would start
a fire, leaving a place for them to escape from being burned to
death. The fire came, burned all that hay, jumped the Long River
and swept down to our house. Only by having a good fire break was
our house and family saved.
Manitoba
blizzards were dreaded by all. Well I recall one of them.
It had been so misty in the morning that we could only see for a few
feet ahead as we walked along. During the day it began to snow
and to blow. By four o’clock it was the worst blizzard that I
remember. We just could not go home that day. Mr. Sanders
who lived a half mile from the school came for the teacher and the
pupils. We stayed the night there. By morning it had abated
enough that my father came to take us home. We missed a few days
school that time.
The
earliest settlers had very little to work with, a yoke of oxen, wagon
and plow. There would be a homemade harrow, a scythe, a cradle to
cut the grain and a flail to thresh it. Friendliness among the
neighbors was one of the virtues of the times. They visited and
had logging, raising and harvesting bees. These bees provided the
social life for the district.
The
ladies had quilting bees, carpet hooking bees and many others.
The women did all the baking and cooking at home. They made the
yarn with which they knit socks, scarves and sweaters. They made
practically all the garments for the whole family. They picked
hops from which they made yeast for their baking. They also made
soap and candles at home.
Until
1885, when the railroad came to Killarney, the nearest market was
Emerson, then Brandon was the closest one. One man started for
Brandon with oxen and after travelling all day, he was still just six
miles from home. He had to go to Wakopa to cross the Long River.
I
remember going to the grist mill at Wakopa with father. We took
about 10 bushels of wheat (known as a grist) with us. A
percentage of this paid for the grinding and there was a certain
percentage for flour, shorts and bran.
At that
time Wakopa was quite a town. As well as the grist mill, there
was a saw mill, a general store and blacksmith.
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