Vol. 38 • No. 2 Website: www.pioneersalberta.org Email: southernalbertapioneers@shaw.ca January 2006

President’s Message

Thank you for giving me the privi-lege of being your President for

2006. I am looking forward to meet-ing and working with many of you inthe upcoming year. Some of you willknow much of the following, but newmembers may not, therefore........

Our Memorial BuildingOpened June 8, 1955

Sitting on a bluff above the ElbowRiver, with a commanding view of allsouth Calgary and the magnificentRocky Mountains to the west, is theMemorial Building of the SouthernAlberta Old Timers. The site of ourbuilding is also a historical one as it isjust above the old ford on the ElbowRiver, which was used by the first set-tlers upon arrival in Calgary. With itsroots as deep as our province, this2,400 square foot building containssome of the city’s most importanthistorical records, photos and memo-ries, yet few Calgarians know itsevents. This is the home of the South-ern Alberta Pioneers and TheirDescendants – a group that wasformed in the early 1900s. The man-date of the Association is to collectand preserve information, picturesand artifacts on the early settlementof the province and of the familieswho broke the ground.

The front of the site is marked bya large “Memorial Gate”, built tocelebrate Canada’s centennial year.The archway bears, on its easterlyface, two plaques – one a simplededication to our pioneers and the

other a listing of the signatories ofTreaty No. 7 in tribute to the Indianpeople who originally occupiedthese lands. The westerly face of thearchway bears plaques perpetuatingin bronze the names of 1,050 of theheads of original Pioneer Familiessettling in Southern Alberta beforethe end of 1890.

Our building is full of history andit is a lovely place to visit. It is evenmore fun to discover in person, byyour attendance at a social function,where you could experience all ofthis in person. We look forward tomeeting you at some future date.

– Cheers,Peggy Barr

12th Annual

WINETASTINGNIGHTSaturday,

February 18, 20067:30 p.m.Convenors:

Shirley Siddon & Lance CookeFeaturing a selection of Fine Wines

from Canada & Germany &Delicious Hors d’Oeuvres!

Tickets are only $20.00 per person (includes all wines)

Available from Pat Rodriguez@ 279-6435

Limited to 60 people

Christmas Dinner

Over 100 members and theirguests gathered at the Memorial

Building on Saturday, December 3rdfor the annual Southern Alberta Pio-neer’s Christmas Dinner. An eveningof good fellowship, a wonderfulturkey dinner with all the trimmings(including Christmas pudding) andcarol singing put one and all in a fes-tive mood.

The singsong was led by PatriciaCox and piano accompaniment wasprovided by Ann McTavish. Thisevent was a sellout, so make sure youorder your tickets early for next year’sdinner! Information will be includedin the September Newsletter.

– Pat Rodriguez & Moyra Ferguson

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The following have donated to ourMemorial Building Fund since my

last report in September, 2005:Mrs. Betty Ann Schmaltz Ms Jeanne Rodbourne (in memory

of Sherry Rodbourne)Mrs. Margaret Buckley (in memory

of Betty Schmaltz)Mr & Mrs. D.J. Ballard Mr. Joseph G. HindeMrs. Olive Bain (in memory of

George Godlonton family)Mr. Robert Vine (in memory of

Murial (Phillips) Vine)Contributions to the Fund are

income tax deductible. Chequesshould be made payable to TheSouthern Alberta Pioneers’ MemorialBuilding Fund. At November 30,2005, the Fund stood at $182,043.

In addition to donations fromindividuals and bequests from estates,The Southern Alberta Pioneers’ Asso-ciation contributes $50 to the Fundin memory of each deceased member.

– John L. Hutchings

Memorial Building Fund

Membership Report

IF YOU HAVE NOT PAID THISYEAR’S DUES YOU WILL FIND A

COLORED NOTICE WITH YOURNEWSLETTER.

The Newsletter can be read at www.pioneersalberta.org.

If you would prefer to not receivea paper copy in the mail and read

the newsletter online, pleasee-mail sap.membership@shaw.ca

and let me know your wishes.

In Memoriam:Cyril Wooliams, Donald McNeil,

James Shortt, Betty Ann Schmaltz,John Robert Bateman, Jean Flemingand Frieda Purmal.

Welcome New Gold Card Members:

John Forrest Black, James Munroand Dulcie Cox.

Welcome New Members:Ryan Donald Pedlar, descendant of

Thomas & Flora Andrews, Calgary,1884.

George Dennis Grisak, grandson ofJohn & Anna Grisak, Lethbridge,1884.

Michael Brown, descendant ofDaniel & Margaret McEwing, Calgary,1889.

Brenda Simmonds, descendant ofJames & Margaret Robertson,Cochrane, 1881.

Linda Raasveldt, descendant ofEphriam McAlister, Innisfail, 1890 &Thomas & Rebecca Green, Penhold,1887.

Tanya Jones, descendant of Joseph& Elizabeth Connell, Gladys Ridge,1889.

Kyle Pedersen, descendant ofWilliam Hinde, Calgary, 1889.

Joseph James Cox, descendant ofWilliam & May Patricia (Gough)Scott, Calgary, 1875.

You can notify me of any changes

at sap.membership@shaw.ca or byphone at 271-5483.

Thanks again for keeping meinformed of Address/Phone Changes.

– Maureen PeckhamMembership Secretary

HERITAGE FAMILY FUNERAL SERVICESProfessional, Compassionate Service with

Dignity and Respect at Modest Prices

Third Generation Funeral Directors

HERITAGE FUNERAL HOME1708 - 16th Ave. NW

(Across from North Hill Shopping Centre)Ph: 299-0100 Fax: 282-5259

E-mail: hffs@telusplanet.net

CALGARY CREMATORIUM & FUNERAL SERVICES3219 - 4th St. NW

(Within Queen’s Park Cemetery)Ph: 299-0111 Fax: 282-1399

E-mail: ccfsco@telusplanet.net

The only Funeral Service Owned andOperated by the JACQUES FAMILY

Southern Alberta Pioneers Since 1880

Toll Free: 1-888-862-7448 Website: www.hffs.com

Douglas L. Jacques Laurie M. Jacques

Calgary Guild of Needle and Fibre Arts

Over 100 members and theirguests gathered at the Memorial

Building on Saturday, December 3rdfor the annual Southern Alberta Pio-neer’s Christmas Dinner. An eveningof good fellowship, a wonderfulturkey dinner with all the trimmings(including Christmas pudding) andcarol singing put one and all in a fes-tive mood.

Calgary Guild of Needle and Fibre Arts

Saturday, April 29, 200610:00 am - 4:00 pm

Calgary Guild of Needle and Fibre Arts

Members “Show of Hands” and“Elegant Tea”

$8.00 Advance Tickets$10.00 at the door

Contact Hilda Onions at 246-3651

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Glen@Godlonton.com (403) 829-9500

Proud member of theSouthern Alberta Pioneers

- Native Calgarian- Free in-home appraisal- No pressure assistance whether you are selling or buying a home

www.Godlonton.com

House of Real Estate

Glen Godlonton

Round-Up 2005

From all of the accolades that arestill being received the evening

was an unqualified success. Thetheme for the evening was “A Cen-tennial Celebration” featuring a 30-minute show by The Young Cana-dians of The Calgary Stampede.Steve Allan (well known to many ofour members as the son of FrancesAllan, President of our organizationin 1975), acting in his capacity asChairman of the Board and Presi-dent of the Calgary Stampede, wasour guest speaker for the evening.

Bill Murphy, our outgoing Presi-dent, acted as Chairman and emceeof our evening proceedings. JoiningBill and Eleanor at the head tablewas our Pioneer Lady for 2005,Gwen Hanna, accompanied by hus-band Art and the Pioneer Gent for2005, Jay Joffe and his lovely wifeBarbara. Rounding out the headtable were incoming PresidentPeggy Barr and our Padre, Bill Say-ers and his wife Marion, and ofcourse Steve and Marjie Allan.

Bill Holmes and DorothyHolmes, representing the HighRiver Pioneers and John and LauraWalter from the Northern AlbertaPioneers were our guests for theevening.

Accolades and presentations weremade to our Pioneer Lady for 2005,Gwen Hanna and our Pioneer Gen-tleman, Jay Joffe, Pioneer AssociateLady for 2006, Barbara Joffe andPioneer Associate Gent, Don Fipke.

Presentations were made to oldestdescendants in attendance, PriscillaRowland and Ken Urdman. TheExecutive and Board of Directors for2006 were then introduced, includ-ing the Pioneer Lady for 2006, AnnFitzpatrick and the Pioneer Gent,Jim Colvin.

Incoming President Peggy Barrwas introduced. Peggy gave a shorthistory of her pioneer connectionsand stated that to be selected asPresident was an honour, and thatshe was very much looking forwardto her term in office.

Dave Wake won the major doorprize consisting of a nights’ accom-

modation together with brunch atthe Banff Springs.

A sincere thank you to the com-mittee, namely: Shirley Siddon,Margaret Buckley, Gwen Hanna,Fern Dorsch and Fran Copithornefor all of their efforts and a specialthank you to all those who donated

the door prizes. And last but notleast, a big thank you to all thosewho attended for making Round-Up2005 a success.

Mark your 2006 calendar forNovember 4th for this year’s greatRound-Up.

– Danny Copithorne

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2006 Calgary Exhibition & Stampede Picture Displayadequate to display two units fromthe Remington Carriage Museum.

A request for the same 48 by 24foot location in the Roundup Centrefor the 2006 Southern Alberta Pio-neers exhibit was presented alongwith the speculation that our boothwould be essentially of the sameconfiguration, displaying a slightlylarger and more varied look at Alber-ta history, events, locations and peo-ple. In addition, we reported that arequest to The Remington CarriageMuseum has been submitted for theLarge “Red Concord Stagecoach” tobe made available for our show.

It is premature to expect repliesto our request for display space atThe Roundup Centre and anotherfor the use of the Large “Red Con-cord Stagecoach” from the Reming-ton Museum. However, at this time

we must be prepared to forge aheadon the assumption that these wisheswill be granted.

Today, January, 3, 2006, is justover six months away from the open-ing of the 2006 Calgary Exhibitionand Stampede. And in order to bedeserving of the space and equip-ment provided we must strive to pro-vide a diverse, interesting and slightlyvaried theme or method of displayingthe material we have available.

For 2006 we have consideredadding a series of early 1900s homepictures that display interestingarchitecture of the period. Many ofthe homes presented would bedwellings owned by families whowent on to become “The SouthernAlberta Pioneers and their Descen-dants”. Our picture source is in theform of a printed booklet featuringpictures of dwellings and businessesand just enough information toidentify each building.

Now comes the need for helpinghands. Deciding which homes tofeature and researching informationpertaining to each home is vital.Composing text and using thatinformation to make interesting andinformative captions becomes avital part of the project. Digitizingpictures, downloading them intoour computer, cropping images,inserting text, printing and mount-ing same on foamcore all takes time.

We anticipate recruiting assistancefrom the Historical Committee toaccomplish the research, but the skillsrequired to manage some of the com-puter operations may have to berecruited from members of our associ-ation who, at this time, are unknownto us. Perhaps there is someone read-ing this article, who can work withAdobe Photo Deluxe on on a PowerMacintosh G3 computer.

If you wish to help please callDave Wake at 288-5545 or Bud Vineat 279-4744.

On November 3, 2005 a letterwas dispatched to the Vice

President of the Calgary Exhibitionand Stampede stating that TheSouthern Alberta Pioneers and TheirDescendants valued their long-standing association with the Cal-gary Exhibition and Stampede andexpressed the Board’s appreciationof the space provided annually forour booth in the Roundup Centre.

It was pointed out that the areaassigned for the 2005 array, the bestever, enabled us to display a total of324 items such as mounted and cap-tioned photographs, some short textfeatures and a few pertinent maps.The final arrangement, placed on 32panels, provided excellent viewingfor the visiting public without creat-ing a bottleneck to the adjacent traf-fic flow. The remaining space proved

Watson was born in 1847, onthe Island which years later

became the home of western civi-lization – old Fort Macleod. He wasborn to a life of adventure and haz-ard in the heart of a land teemingwith herds of wild life and hostileIndians.

“My earliest recollections are ofvast herds of buffalo, elk, deer andantelope roaming over the country.There were terrible Indian wars inthose early days and our lives werein constant danger. We lived amongthe Indians, subsisting on buffalomeat chiefly. For butter we used togrind up the buffalo bones, boilthem until the grease came to thetop. We would skim this grease andplace it in a buffalo’s bladder anduse it for butter. It was mightygood,” said Louis. “We used to eat agreat deal of pemmican. This is buf-falo meat ground very fine andfried. We used to pound it withrocks and axes. We raised a sortof barley, which weground betweenrocks. This barleyflour made a sortof black bread,which we washeddown with water,the hulls stickingin our throats.

“The firstwhite traderscame from Mon-tana. They broughtwith them old flintlockguns that we secured inexchange for our furs.

“I also remember the coming ofthe early Hudson’s Bay traders. TheHudson’s Bay traders gave the Indi-ans their first taste of whiskey andtobacco. They were afraid of this atfirst, thinking it was poison, butafter a while they learned to like it.Yes, they would even kill for firewa-ter. Whiskey did much to degradethe Indian.

“I remember seeing Louis Riel inthe Yellowstone Country across theline. He was a tall man with aheavy beard. His daughter, Bouteas,

was cooking for him. He was asso-ciated with a band of half-breeds atthe time.

“I met Capt. Walsh at Fort Walshand remember outwitting the Siouxthere. The Sioux were camped fivemiles from the fort. One night theystole my best buffalo horses. I wasdetermined to get revenge andplanned a visit to their camp. I setout across the prairie, the fires of theIndian Camp lighting up the sky. AsI drew near, I could hear the hideouswar songs of the braves as the cele-brated a victory over the Blood Indi-ans and the capture of my horses.Bent on getting full revenge, I creptinto their camp and secured a coupleof good-looking animals. Daybreakfound me back at Fort Walsh withtwo splendid horses. The officerswere amazed that I came back at allto tell the tale.

“I was in Macleod whenCol. Macleod and thepolice arrived in 1874.The Indians began to

get more peaceful,the wild lifebegan to dis-appear in the

mountains or tothe far north orsouth and whitesettlers started to

come in.“This marked the

beginning of a newperiod in the history ofthis country.”

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Family History

Born on the Site of Old Fort Macleod in 1847 – Louis WatsonFrom The Lethbridge Daily Herald, June 21, 1924

The Newsletter can be read at www.pioneersalberta.org.To help reduce the expense of mailing the Newsletter,

please notify the office to have your address removed from our mailing list. Send to: sap.membership@shaw.ca.

OFFICERSPresident

Peggy Barr.........................246-2843Vice-President

Bob Brewster.....................225-2376Past President

Bill Murphy ......................252-6565Secretary

Sandy Pedlar.....................278-1334Treasurer

John Hutchings................255-4211 Membership

Maureen Peckham ...........271-5483Directors: Two-Year Term

Laurie Jacques ..................271-0138John Douglass ..................641-2562Pamela Hilton ..................932-2637Fran Copithorne ..............271-1972

One-Year TermDavid Wake......................288-5545Shirley Siddon..................271-1118Beryl Sibbald ....................932-5584Bud Vine...........................279-4744

COMMITTEESBridge

Fern Dorsch......................278-2793Building

Danny Copithorne...........271-1972Casino

Pat Rodriguez ...................279-6435Cookbooks

Fern Dorsch......................278-2793Historical

Jim Mackie .......................228-4046Joan Davis ........................251-4915

LibrarySharon Thielen.................282-1302

NewsletterKerri Fipke ........................271-9581

Newsletter AdvertisingBeryl Sibbald ....................932-5584

Records ManagementAnne Fitzpatrick...............271-3179Peggy Barr.........................246-2843

Sick & Visiting Alice Schwieger ................287-0995

Social Moyra Ferguson ...............249-9989

Stampede ParadeDon Edge..........................875-6851

Stampede DisplayDavid Wake......................288-5545Bud Vine...........................279-4744

Telephone Bud Vine...........................279-4744

PadreRev. Bill Sayers .................282-8526

Pioneer LadyAnne Fitzpatrick...............271-3179

Pioneer GentJim Colvin ........................289-1477

Memorial Bldg. CaretakersGeoff Wright ....................246-7061

Cell 519-8806Sylvia Graham..................217-1708

Cell 512-5681SAP Office........................243-3580SAP Fax ............................287-2485Hall ..................................287-2489

Sunday, Jan. 15 – Family Games,2:00pm, potluck, 5:00pm. Convenors:Audrey & Ernie Rice, 255-4103.

Saturday, Feb. 18 – Wine TastingEvening, 7:30pm. Convenors: ShirleySiddon, 271-1118 & Lance Cooke,286-2755.

Sunday, Feb. 19 – Family Games,2:00pm, potluck, 5:00pm. Convenors:Pat Rodriguez, 279-6435 & LauraWhite, 271-6055.

Sunday, Mar. 19 – St. Patrick’s FamilyGames, 2:00pm, potluck, 5:00pm. Con-venor: Fern Dorsch, 278-2793.

TBA – Volunteer Appreciation Day. Con-venor: Peggy Barr, 246-2843.

TBA – Building & Yard Clean-up. Con-venor: Building Committee.

Sunday, May 7 – Gold Card Tea, 2:00-4:00pm. Convenor: Moyra Ferguson,249-9989.

Friday, Jul. 7 – Pre-Parade Breakfast forparticipants @ Rotary House, 5:30am.Convenor: Kerri Fipke, 271-9851.

Saturday, Jul. 8 – Stampede BBQ,6:00pm. Convenor needed.

Sunday, Jul. 9 – Memorial Service &Tea, 2:00pm. Convenor: Audrey Rice,255-4103.

All events are held at the Memorial Hall,except where otherwise noted.

Relay any updates or changes to Peggy Barr,246-2843.

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2006 Board of Directors and Committee Chairpersons

Historical CommitteePlease submit Family Histories to

be entered in our archives. Wewould like to feature a family histo-ry for each newsletter publication.Contact Pat Cox, 252-4220.

DeadlineDeadline for newsletter copy and

photos to be submitted in writing atmonthly Board Meetings or left atSAP office. Newsletter printed Janu-ary, May and September.

Historical CommitteeResumes regular weekly meetings

on Monday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.Contact Jim Mackie, 228-4046.

Sick and VisitingPlease notify Alice Schwieger

(287-0995) of any illness or death inyour family or if anyone has need ofa hospital visit.

Board Meetings1st Tuesday of the month at

7:00 p.m. (except July). Memberswelcome.

Card Night3rd Thursday of the month at

7:00 p.m. (except July, August andDecember). Everyone is invited,members and friends. $2.00 perperson. Contact Fern Dorsch at278-2793.

AdvertisingTo place an ad in this publica-

tion, please call Beryl Sibbald,932-5584. Deadline to place a clas-sified ad – SAP Board meeting priorto publication.

Members are encouraged to sup-port the businesses advertised in ournewsletter.

Memorial BuildingBookings phone 243-3580 (office)

287-2489 (hall), fax 287-2485.

Website: http://www.pioneersalberta.org

Email:southernalbertapioneers@shaw.ca