| It has
frequently been said that fact is stranger than fiction. This might easily
apply to the lives of many of the early pioneers of Alberta, whose lives
are more colorful in romance and adventure than those of characters which
live on the printed page. |
| Many of
the old-timers have taken the last long trail home but many are left to
tell the tale of their trek into the country when the Western world was
young, and lured them from the hearthstone of the older civilization.
One of those is Mrs. Agnes Hutchings, who is now living in California.
Mrs. Hutchings came to Alberta, a bride, in 1880 and lived there
until 1923 when she travelled farther west to California. During the forty-three
years of her [life] in Alberta, she saw much history made, and had a part
in the making. This is commemorated in the archives which the Edmonton
Pioneers and Old-Timers' Association are compiling. |
| It was
on July 7, 1880 that Agnes Cram became the bride of Alfred Hutchings
at her father's home, two miles west of Carleton Place, Ontario. Previous
to this time, Mr. Hutchings had been in the west, trading with
the Indians, and after visiting with his people on a farm near Newboro,
on Rideau Lake, the young couple turned their faces westward to make their
home in the then far away country vaguely known as the North West Territories. |
| The first
part of the journey was comparatively luxurious. Travelling by boat to
Kingston, they took the train there for Detroit, crossing the St. Clair
river on a ferry. From Detroit they went to Chicago. That city did not
cover so much ground as it does today, for the honeymooners travelled
from one end of it to the other by hack and thoroughly enjoyed the sights.
After leaving Chicago, they travelled by train, with neither diner nor
sleeper, from Monday evening until Saturday night, when they reached St.
Boniface, Manitoba, the end of steel. They crossed the river to Winnipeg
where Mr. Hutchings brother, E. F. Hutchings, was in the
harness business in partnership with Mr. Stocker. |
| In Winnipeg,
Mr. and Mrs. Hutchings saw a historical sight -- the first train,
consisting of an engine and a few flat cars, crossing the Red River. But
it did not travel far enough to help them on the last leg of their journey.
They rested in Winnipeg for a fortnight while getting ready for the trip
to the North West Territories. It was necessary that they provide themselves
with equipment, so they secured four carts and one ox for each cart, and
a pony and rig for Mrs. Hutchings. Then they started on the long
journey across the prairies. |
| At Pleasant
Plains they overtook Frank Oliver and his party, James Ross
of the Ross Bros. Hardware Company, and James Brewster, with whom
they had travelled the last six hundred miles of the journey. |
| "This is
what distance does for us; the harsh and bitter features of this or that
experience are slowly obliterated when memory begins to look on the past."
Perhaps this accounts for the fact that old-timers review their early
experiences with apparent enjoyment, and we never hear one of them speak
regretfully of the hardships which came their way. But there were experiences
in their westward trip which Mrs. Hutchings says she shall never
forget. One of them occured on their arrival at the Battle River. October
had reached there before them, and brought with it the early autumn frosts,
but the ice on the river was not of sufficient thickness to carry the
party over. They waited a few days and the weather moderated. The ice
broke up and floated down stream, but the men decided it was dangerous
to force the animals to ford the river as the water was very cold. |
| The travellers
had been journeying with, or in company with, a band of Indians for a
few days previous to reaching the Battle River. The Indians had been on
the plains hunting buffalo and were on their way back to Lac La Biche
for the winter. The man-power of the party totalled seven. After long
consultation, they decided to unload all the provisions from the wagons
and carts and take all the machinery apart. From the woods they cut out
logs, and lashing the wheels to the logs, formed a large raft. On this
everything, including Frank Oliver's first printing press, provisions,
wearing apparel and other equipment, was floated across the river by means
of long poles guided by the men. |
| As there
were two heavy lumber wagons, six or eight carts, provisions and clothing,
to say nothing of the luggage of the Indians or Mr. and Mrs. Hutchings'
personal outfit, it took a week to assemble the outfit and get everything
loaded and in shape after crossing the river. The great difficulty, however,
was to hold the animals as they had become badly chilled while fording
the river, and it was necessary to arrange the wagons, carts, rigs, etc.,
in the shape of a corral. The Indians showed no resentment of the coming
of the white man, but were very ready and willing to help them before
they left them at this point. |
| Autumn
rains had come by this time and the trails and roads were in bad condition.
Consequently, the party did not reach Bittern Lake until October 26. There
the Hutchings stopped while the Oliver party continued on
to Edmonton. Mr. and Mrs. T. G. Hutchings, who were settled at
Bittern Lake, gave the newcomers a glad welcome. They had been living
eight miles away from any white settler during that summer. Previous to
Mr. Hutchings' departure for the East, he and his brother had both
built shacks at Bittern Lake. They all lived in the larger shack for the
first winter. The other was used for a store room as the men conducted
a trading post with the Indians and it was necessary to keep the provisions
cold. Mr. Roswell (Rowswell) visited them there and later,
when the Hutchings moved to what is known as the Polar Lake District,
became their neighbor there. |
| Only one
winter was spent at Bittern Lake. On the first of April, 1881, the Hutchings
abandoned their shanties at Bittern Lake and "hit the trail" for civilization,
meaning Fort Edmonton. It took them about a week to reach the banks of
the Saskatchewan. On arriving at Walters' Crossing, opposite the Hudson's
Bay fort, they found the ice had commenced to move. This caused another
delay of a week or so. The weather turned colder again and the men hauled
the carts, wagons and rigs across the river with their own efforts, leaving
the animals to be forced over. |
| One would
think the wayfarers had by that time travelled as far as they wanted to
go. But not so. They left Edmonton and camped at Dan Hayes' (Noyes?)
farm overnight, then drove on to the Cut Bank farm, owned by Mr. William
Cust. There they stayed for two or three weeks, and on the twelfth
day of May, 1881, they pitched their tents on their own farm which later
Mr. John Fielders and Mrs. Hutchings christened "Poplar
Lake." Through the efforts of Mr. Hutchings a one-roomed shack
was built by July and on August 7th their eldest child, Herbert, was born,
with neither a nurse nor doctor in attendance. |
| During
November of 1881, Dr. Baird and Dr. Robinson, manager of
missions for the North West Territories, arrived in Edmonton and organized
the First Presbyterian Congregation. The charter members included Mrs.
Hutchings, Mrs. Tom Henderson, James Pertie, Mrs.
Heimiak, and Mrs. James Goodrich. Dr. Baird, a fresh
college graduate, baptized young Herbert Hutchings, then six months
old, at the Belmont School House. |
| In 1885
the Riel Rebellion broke out in Batoche, and when news reached the settlement
there was naturally great excitement. Mrs. George Sanderson, the
Misses Kelly, Miss Lizzie Long and her nephew Bert, Miss
Simpson, Mrs. Hutchings and two children camped in Bose
Bros. carpenter shop in connection with the Catholic Mission at St. Albert,
for two weeks, During that time Bishop Grandin kept the party informed
as to the rebellion at Batoche and Duck Lake. During the thick of it,
James Mowat volunteered to ride to Calgary for news, all wires
having been cut. In the excitement of the hour, the Hutchings brothers,
S.R. Brenton, Robert Bailey and Herb. Roswell (Rowswell)
gathered their respective livestock together and herded them north of
the Sturgeon River for protection. But they soon brought them back again. |
| It was
after the rebellion that the first boom struck Edmonton and the Hutchings
benefited thereby. Through the sale of one fat ox to the RNWMP barracks
at Fort Saskatchewan, they realized $180, a large sum in those days! |
| After the
rebellion the years passed in comparative quiet. The land was cleared
and broken, the home was gradually improved, and six [seven] more children
were added to the family. The next event of outstanding importance in
Mrs. Hutchings' life was a visit to Winnipeg in the summer of 1897.
On this occasion she was accompanied by her two youngest children. This
was the first time Mrs. Hutchings had seen a train since leaving
St. Boniface in 1880, 17 years before. In 1902, her husband went east
to visit his people and, returning brought barrels of apples and other
choice Ontario fruit. One can hardly imagine the relish with which the
family would consume those apples, possibly the first the children had
seen. |
| On May
17, 1905, the family circle was broken by death. After a short illness
in the Edmonton Hospital, Mr. Hutchings passed away. Two years
later, in the fall of 1907, Mrs. Hutchings and her five daughters
moved to Edmonton. The three sons remained on the farm. |
| Writing
from California where she now resides, Mrs. Hutchings says: "Although
I find the climate especially beneficial to my health, I often think of
Edmonton and particularly the old farm where so many happy years were
spent and where my sons Percy, Herbert and Frank are now carrying on the
good work and making the historical old spot (to our family) more beautiful
every year. Where we once carried candles and lamps, they now have electricity;
the milk pail has been replaced by the milking machine in a modern dairy,
as also the wagon by the automobile." |
| TOP of Page |
