Pioneers are from left to right, Delbert Ball, of Ball Transport Co., William Bell, had been a bartender at the Balmoral Hotel and Fred Langstaff, a freighter and rancher. This reunion generated enough interest for local editor Ken Mayhew to write an article for the local paper. They talked of Yorkton's "wild days" - big time poker games and bar fights being a common occurrence. One memorable fight that took place at the Royal Hotel involved the three pioneers, on a June day of 1904, the conflict starting first at the Balmoral Hotel. An argument over an unknown topic began following the arrival from the Dakotas of a bunch of Irishmen, who had sought out the bar for refreshments. Bell tells that some of the guys involved were Billy Yeo, bartender at the Balmoral; John Carson, an Irishman who had come from Toronto in 1890 and ranched near Ebenezer; Pat O'Brian, and the newly arrived with names like Reagans, Durhams, Heaneys, Maddens and others. When the police broke up the fight, not one was left standing. It does not appear that any charges were laid.
So much for any images we may have today of a 1904 conservative, staid, Victorian Yorkton!
Photo from Mike Keaschuk Collection.
Contact Terri Lefebvre Prince,
Heritage Researcher,
City of Yorkton, Box 400
37 Third Avenue North
Yorkton, Sask. S3N 2W3
306-786-1722
historian@yorkton.ca
