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A History of Pioneering in the Pakan District, continued... As settlers continued to arrive in the area, Pakan became a busy settlement in the early years of 1900, as new business premises were opened to serve the needs of the growing population. Pakan now acquired a hospital, hotel, two blacksmith shops, two stores, three machine shops, a harness shop, telephone office, church, school, two doctors and a Justice of the Peace. My father's store had continuous competition. Starting about 1906, another store was opened nearby and was owned successively by George Kennedy, Sentner-Weekes, Mr. Margolis and finally by Mr. Brown, who closed it to start a store in Andrew. Prices of articles sold in my father's store contrast sharply with today's prices. For example, the best grade of strong bakers flower sold for $2.25 for one hundred pounds. A cheaper grade called Fourex sold for less. A gallon wooden pail of pure strawberry jam sold for seventy-five cents. McDonald plug tobacco came in twenty-five pound caddies and sold for thirty-five cents, with a small plug priced at ten cents. Chewing tobacco came in the same size caddy and had to be pried loose with a butcher knife. Candy of all varieties came in large wooden pails, also and sold for about twenty-five cents a pound. Leaf tobacco was packed in fifty pound bundles, selling at twenty five cents per pound. Herring, in brine, came in one hundred pound kegs and salt pork could be had in burlap sacks. Powder and shot was, of course, another important commodity sold in the store, since every homesteader had at least one single barrelled 12-guage shot gun with which to replenish his supply of meat. A great attraction for the ladies of the settlement was the bolts of dress goods in a variety of colors and materials selling for about twenty cents a yard. Also, women's high top shoes could be had for ninety cents while men's first quality work boots sold for $2.00. I can remember enjoying the gatherings in the store when the Ukrainian settlers celebrated a holiday. They came into the settlement and stayed most of the day, bringing with them loaves of home-baked bread which, combined with their purchases of salt pork and herring, comprised their dinner. After their dinner they would fill their pipes and enjoy a good smoke while they visited. I remember, too, that the goods and utensils which hung from the ceiling of the store were soon lost from view in the gathering smoke as the day wore on. As a merchant, my father also dealt in furs, bought mostly from the Indians at Saddle Lake, White Fish, and Good Fish Lakes. Fur-bearing animals were plentiful in those days before the outlying country became settled. There were marten, mink, otter, lynx, red silver, black and cross fox. A mink was worth $22.00, a lynx $35.00, a silver fox $1,000.00, with a good black fox bringing in $1,500.00. Weasel and muskrat pelts were plentiful but only brought seven cents a skin. With the cultivation of more and more land around the countryside came the demand for farm machinery. This demand attracted the companies of International Harvester, Massey Harris, John Deere, and Cocksutt. These agencies were later closed when the railroad was built through Smoky Lake in 1916, with the exception of Cockshutt Company which moved to Smoky Lake, where it was run by my brother, James A. Mitchell. The implement dealers listed did a "whirlwind" business during the first years of the 1900's. As the settlers slowly cleared their land, they were in need of plows, wagons, sleighs, harrows, binders etc. As they became more prosperous the settlers bought democrats and buggies. Machinery was relatively cheap at that time. A wagon, complete with box, sold for $85.00, a set of two-inch sleighs for $22.00, a seed drill for $115.00 and a six-foot binder for $175.00. All that was needed to make a purchase was the signing of a promissory note. Credit was unlimited as the new settler was given every consideration by these firms. The first threshing machine that came into the country was bought by Magnus Cromarty. It comprised a half feed and straw carrier separator, driven by eight horses hitched to a revolving drum. The drum had a gear that drove a shaft connected to the separator. The next machine to be used was more modern and was run by a portable steam engine. Both however had to be moved from farm to farm by horsepower. It was followed by the traction engine and separator with a self-feeder and blower. The hotel at Pakan was built by Arthur Cornelius. Arthur had married Miss Cusick, a nurse in the George McDougall hospital, and together they ran the hotel and the Cockshutt agency. The hotel accommodated travellers who arrived by way of the Ashmore Brother's livery service - a daily service between Mundare and Pakan using horse-drawn democrats. A lare livery barn at the rear was built to shelter the horses. With the arrival of the railroad to the north, a few years' time, the hotel drew less and less business and was eventually sold. Transportation around Pakan took on a new note one day, when Dr. Archer, from the Lamont hospital, arrived driving the first automobile the settlement had seen. Since the roads in those days were, at times, barely passable for a team of horses, this arrival of a motor car was not only a remarkable sight but quite a feat as well. Pakan's hospital was built in the year 1904 under the direction of Dr. Charles H. Lawford and was named after the Reverend George McDougall, the missionary doctor. The building materials were brought down the river from Edmonton. The stone foundation was built by Henry Nelson, a stonemason from Norway. When completed, the hospital's heating system was fueled by wood supplied by the farmers. Coal mined from the banks of the creek across the river from the hospital was also used. Metro Ponich, employed by the hospital, dug as much as thirty tons of coal every fall for the winter supply. Dr. Lawford acted as Superintendent of the hospital, assisted by Dr. C. F. Connolly. IN the year 1922, the hospital was moved to Smoky Lake drawn on skids by a number of steam enegines, where it was in use until 1964 when it was pulled down to make way for a new hospital building. Dr. Lawford also conducted services in the church when it was built in 1906. The building was erected by Edward Anderson. All the lumber used was sawed and planed by hand, and donated by the people of Pakan and the Victoria settlement. The pews were made of fir, and were bought and donated by the Ladies Sewing Circle. Over the years, the church held a variety of gatherings. Besides the Sunday services, it was also the gathering place for many a good Christmas concert, with dialogues, songs by the local boys and girls, and the lively fiddling of the violinists of the district. The first school in the Pakan district was situated two and one half miles west of Pakan on the south side of Victoria Trail and known as Victoria school. After a number of years, it was sold and a new school was built two miles northwest of Pakan on what is now one of the Pentelichuk farms. In time, this was closed and sold wiht the building of a school in Pakan. This school was in use until Victoria School District #75 was discontinued. Records belonging to the Victoria School District are now in my possession in the Victoria Museum. They contain all the business transactions dating from the year 1891 to 1896. Some of the items take from these records read as follows:
The following were amounts due to the school district in taxes for the year 1894:
In addition to the cultivation of land and the raising of livestock, there were other sources of income for some of the farmers of the area in the early twenties. Edward McAdam, for example, operated a fox ranch in Pakan. He caught red, silver and cross foxes, as pups, north of Smoky Lake and raised them on rabbit and horsemeat. The sale of coal was another source of income. It was mined in the winter from seams found along the shore of the river and along the banks of the creek that run into the Whitford Lake. Wm. Garred and son, living closest to the area, mined about 600 tons each winter by stripping off the top soil covering a seam, to a depth of three or four feet. Other mines were worked by tunnelling into the bank and bracing the ceiling with props. The coal was sold for about $4.00 per ton. This deposit of coal seems to explain the location of a gas well drilled at the mouth of this creek in the year 1880. Gas was found at 1,800 feet in the drilling and an eight-inch pipe was put down but never capped. As a result, the gas still burns for some time when lit. Another natural resource in the area that was mined for a living was gold. At one time it was a common sight to see eight or ten miners scattered along the shores of the river upstream from Pakan, operating their sluice-boxes at the edge of the water. Some were two-man outfits working by hand; some used gas engines to pump the water into their mining apparatus. Most of the miners made up to $2.00 per day, which was considered and excellent return for a day's work. One of the two-man outfits even made up to $13.00 per day. Ice harvesting on the river was yet another source of income for some. The ice was harvested in March and sold for around $4.00 per ton. One of the biggest buyers was the Andrew Creamery which used six hundred tons a year. As well, it was necessary for every farmer in the Andrew and Mundare districts who sold cream, to put up several tons of ice every winter for his own use, before the advent of electricity for refrigeration. The lumber industry flourished in the Pakan area in the early 20's as spruce timber was to be had in plentiful supply along the river banks. The farmers cut, then hauled their logs onto my farm in the winter by horse-drawn sleighs. Here, the logs were piled in sets ready for sawing and plaining. As soon as the snow melted in the spring, the saw mill, operated by a steam engine, was then brought in and set up on the lower flat of the river bank. Here as many as 12,000 logs annually would be made into lumber, mostly for their own use or sale locally. Besides ice, minerals and timber to be had from the river and its banks in and around Pakan, there was always excellent fishing in the early years up to 1930. Old timers tell of catching sturgeon weighing up to fifty pounds. It was quite a common sight, they said, to see five to ten sturgeon strung on a pole, hanging over a fire to be smoked. The fish were speared in the winter with a long pole fitted with a gaff on the end. The fishermen stood along the shore and watched for the sturgeon to come upstream. They could be seen approaching with one fin sticking out of the water - an easy target for gaffing and pulling into the shore. There were other varieties of fish to be had such as jacks, goldeneyes, rainbow trout, pickerel, three kinds of sucker, Rocky Mountain whitefish and chubb. Fishing, however, was just one of the recreations in which men of the settlement could indulge. Pakan had its own football team, of which I was a member. During the years 1910 - 1912 we played against Lamont and Fort Saskatchewan regularly and, in addition, challenged all comers. We even had the opportunity once to play against a team of soccer players from England who were travelling down the river. In all our short existence we were the proud defenders of a cup we had won - the cup now on display in the Fort Victoria Museum. In the early days in Pakan, a wedding celebration was a highlight in the lives of the settlers. Weddings seemed to take place more often in the winter months when there was more time for the appropriate festivities. The ceremony began with the bridal couple driving to church in a bob sleigh, drawn by the best team of horses in the district. They would be followed by a procession of sleighs carrying the family and guests. Each team of horses was gaily decked with flowing ribbons and many strands of chiming harness-bells. After the ceremony, the party returned to the home of the bride where they were greeted by volley after volley of shot guns. After the wedding supper was served, the room was cleared for dancing. Among the dances performed at such an occasion were the square dance, reel of eight, reel of four, drops of brandy, French minuet, the waltz, duck dance, quadrille schottische and the circassian circle. The music for the dance was supplied by the local violinist accompanied by someone on an organ. When a jig was played, there was always keen competition between the men and the women to see who could perform the greatest variety of jig steps. Contrasting sharply with the soft rhythmic shuffle of those in the jig who wore moccasins, was the louder scrape of the dancers who wore hard leather soles. The dust that was being raised, meantime, by the energetic dancers, often became so thick it was necessary to call a halt once or twice during the evening to sweep the floor. After continuing till early morning, the wedding celebration would draw to a close and horses were once again hitched to sleighs that would take the guests home to their rest. While the winter months held the occasional wedding, the summers of the early 1900's held the event most looked forward to. This was the annual picnic and sports day. Early in the morning of the big day, everyone in the surrounding area for miles was on his way to Pakan. Activities began, first, with a football game that lasted the morning. Then by noon, the open fires which had been kindled had the kettles boiling for tea. The smell of fresh bannock baking was also a signal to stop for dinner. After dinner came the other sporting events, suck as: the men's one-mile, half-mile, quarter-mile, two-hundred-and-twenty yards and one-hundred-yard races. There were also the "old men's" races, the ladies' race and the children's races. These were followed by novelty races, such as: the sack, needle and thread, egg and spoon, the three-legged and the obstacle race. Of course there was always the hard fought, fun for all, "tug of war". Others were the running long jump, running hop, step and jump, standing hop, step and jump and the standing long jump for anyone with enough energy left to participate! With the completion of these events, it was high time to break away for supper, with those living near by going home but always returning by eleven o'clock to join with the rest of the picnickers to watch the display of fireworks that was put on by my father. After this chance to rest awhile, everyone then joined in the big dance that followed and lasted till the early hours of the morning. This brought the annual picnic to a close and, providing something for everyone to enjoy as it did, it was the highlight of the year.
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