Ranching in the West had really started when the Dominion Government, urged on by eastern Canadian investors, saw potential revenue in opening some land for leasing. After the disappearance of the buffalo, there was a need for beef to feed the people of the Reserves and the new settlers pouring in. There were also very good markets for eastern Canada and Britain. Furthermore, there was a plan in the making to build a railway to Hudson Bay, and funds were needed for this project. In 1881, the government formulated a policy to enable a rancher to lease up to 100,000 acres of land for 21 years, at one cent per acre annually. And, ranchers had three years to stock their range. This policy worked very well, with ranches of various sizes spreading out across the West.
Winnipeg in those years was the most important shipping and distribution center in Manitoba and for the Northwest, especially after the railway was built in 1881. It was a Mecca for new settlers, outfitting themselves for their journeys to more distant destinations. With ranching, there were now new enterprises in the city-buyers and exporters of cattle and horses. One of these enterprises was Gordon, Ironside and Fares. This corporation also leased and bought ranches across the west for several years. It did some business in the Yorkton district, as this company's name appears in a list of area ranchers, which will be published in the next week's column.
This week, we feature the story of a young man who came West, took up ranching, ended up not too far from Yorkton in the Good Spirit Lake area, and eventually became a prosperous Yorkton businessman:
DUNLOP, WILLIAM DAVID 1859-1943
William David Dunlop was born in the city of Hamilton, Ontario on December 6, 1859, and at the age of four he moved with his parents to Mornington, north of Stratford, in north Perth, where the family engaged in farming. Three years later, they moved to another farm at Wallace, near Palmerston in Wellington County. William attended school, all the while working on the farm and when only 17 years of age, he was operating a grain warehouse in Moorefield near the family home.
On June 18, 1882 Dunlop arrived at Fort Qu'Appelle with fellow travelers by the names of Grey, Craig, and Fraser who all found land in the district of Edgely, some thirty kilometers west of the Fort. He began ranching with 25 head of cattle. Feed was scarce in this area at the time and he was obliged to travel over a 100 miles to Devil's Lake (Good Spirit) to obtain feed. While there he met other settlers/ranchers; Donald Gunn, Bob Buchanan, James Neilson, Russell Smith and the Pearsons who persuaded him to move his operation to Devil' s Lake. He did move in 1887 and carried on a successful ranching business for several years.
After the railroad arrived at the new locality of Yorkton in 1891, Dunlop accepted the appointment of Deputy Clerk of the Court. He sold his ranch in 1894, moved to Yorkton and also worked with the Massey Harris Farm Implement Company. Later, Dunlop built a warehouse on Second Avenue and Smith Street-(where the Tower theatre is today) and went into the farm implement and furniture business with John Bull. They were agents for the McCormick Farm Implement Company, then the Cockshutt and Minneapolis machine Company. Now a successful entrepreneur, William Dunlop traveled to Toronto to marry Catherine Loughran on June 8, 1896.
Dunlop purchased the eastern corner lot of Broadway and Second Avenue North in 1903 and constructed the Dunlop Block. He leased the building to the Bank of British North America and Eby' s Drug Store. Records show he partnered with Howard Bradbrooke and William Hopkins to open a general store--the Yorkton Supply Company in the same building as the bank and the drug store. Soon a branch store was opened in Buchanan with Ted Hopkins in charge.
In 1912, Dunlop built an addition to his block, a three-story structure facing Second Avenue. He leased the building to T.E. Vanstone Company Department Store, who took over the space occupied by the Yorkton Supply Company, and therefore had frontages on both Broadway Street and Second Avenue. The T. E. Vanstone Company remained in business until 1918, when Dunlop and Eli Poulter formed a partnership and operated Poulter and Dunlop's Department Store. The second floor housed various offices.
Dunlop became owner of a large parcel of land, which became part of one of the town's subdivisions. In 1913, he had Block 16, within NW ¼ Section 2, Township 26 West of the 2nd Meridian surveyed and divided into lots. Gladstone Avenue, Dunlop Street, and Ontario Avenue border this block of land. (Ontario Avenue was later re-surveyed and ended at Darlington Street.)
In February 1922, Dunlop purchased Poulter's share of the business and continued operating the store. Poulter went into business for himself opening Poulter's Men' s Wear.
For many years, the corner of Second Avenue and Broadway Street was known as the center for departmental store shopping, with both the Hudson s Bay Company store and the Dunlop Department store located just adjacent to one another.
Dunlop became Mayor in 1905 serving for one term. He was a life-long member of the Conservative party, a member of the Board of Trade, the Masonic Lodge and had been a strong promoter for the development of the Hudson Bay Railway. A quote from an article on Local Celebrities Dec. 3, 1903 of The Yorkton Enterprise, says this about Dunlop: "W.D. Dunlop is a great believer in the Hudson's Bay route, and believes that the great thing necessary to develop the West is a railway to Hudson Bay." Dunlop also had a large farming operation in the district, which he maintained until his death.
Mr. and Mrs. Dunlop had a son and two daughters. Catherine Dunlop died in 1937, and William on June 24, 1943.
Contact:
Terri Lefebvre Prince,
Heritage Researcher
City of Yorkton Archives,
City of Yorkton,
Box 400,
37 Third Avenue North,
Yorkton, Sask. S3N 2W3
306-786-1722
[email protected]
