McDonald General Store and Pine Creek Post Office
by Margaret West

In May 1889, this area was established by the Federal Government as a Cree Indian Reserve known as Bear's Ears Reserve. The land was surrendered back to the Government in 1896. In 1904, the area was surveyed into quarter sections of land. It was named the District of Pine Creek and offered to homesteaders.

In 1908, Sam McDonald moved to this location on the Victoria Trail adjacent to Pine Creek. He built this home for his wife Janet and two children, Anna Mae and Donald. Here, Sam and Janet ran a General Store, and in 1913 added the Post Office and Sub-Land Agency.

Sam was an astute business man and his success was evident when in 1917, the original log building was improved upon with the addition of a verandah and exterior covering of cedar siding.

 In 1909, the first Mass of the District of Pine Creek was celebrated by Father Boniface in the McDonald home.

With the arrival of the railway in 1919, commerce along the trail moved north to Waskatenau and Sam McDonald turned his hand to farming. Sam and Janet are laid to rest at the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Warspite.

In 1993, the homestead was purchased from the McDonald children by Harold and Margaret West. In cooperation with Alberta Historical Resources Foundation, the homestead was restored and is now a private residence.

From the Smoky Lake Signal, December 8, 1993

Heritage Home Restoration

Harold and Margaret West of Waskatenau are pleased to see progress being made in the restoration of their retirement home. The Wests have bought the farm with its well preserved house from Donald and Anna Mae McDonald. The home was built by their father, Samuel McDonald in 1908 and has been lived in by the family ever since. Donald and Anna Mae retired from farming and moved to Edmonton in 1981, renting out the land. However, summers were spent "down on the farm" until 1992 when it was purchased by the Wests.

The house is situated in a natural and picturesque setting along the historic Victoria Trail on the north side of the North Saskatchewan River. It is near the road where travellers can see it as they drive by. The basic structure of the two storey log house has remained the same with the kitchen, siding and verandah added in the early 1920's. It has been kept in good repair.

It skirts Pine Creek which now runs for only a very short time in the spring, if at all. The first post office in the area was called Pine Creek, first operated by a neighbour, Jack Henry from 1907 until 1913 and then by Samuel McDonald until 1920. When the railroad came through the post office was then located in Waskatenau.

Sam and his wife Janet opened a store in part of the house and served a large area with a supply of general goods from 1909 until 1916. Supplies were brought in by neighboring homesteaders using horse drawn sleighs or wagons. In 1916 a steamboat, the City of Edmonton, made several trips up and down the river picking up passengers, grain and livestock at Pine Creek and other points.

For a few years, a land sub-agency was handled by Mr. and Mrs. McDonald  from their home.

The first Roman Catholic Mass of the Pine Creek area was celebrated by Father Boniface in the McDonald home on September 25, 1909. This was the nucleus of what later became the present parish of St. Anthony at Warspite.

The "Gingerbread House" as it is called by some is a source of interest to passersby. It was mentioned in an article written by a member of the Edmonton Historic Society and published in the Imperial Oil Review after the group went on a tour down Victoria Trail to Pakan (Fort Victoria) several years ago. Area residents are pleased to see that this house which contains so much history is being preserved, and will continue to be a pleasant addition to the historic and scenic Victoria Trail. We wish the Wests many years of enjoyment in their retirement home.

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