The outfit had a Waterloo Steam Tractor. The manufacturer was Iowa based, founded in 1893 by John Froelich, whose first engine was successfully used in the 1892 threshing season in South Dakota. In 1895, the company was reorganized as the Waterloo Gas Engine Company. They built the first Waterloo Boy in 1911. The Western Development Museum in Yorkton has a 12-25 Model N Waterloo Boy Kerosene Tractor manufactured c. 1920 by Waterloo Gasoline Engine Co. of Waterloo, Iowa. It was restored by members of the Yorkton Threshermen’s Club. Tonkin is a community 8 miles or 13 kilometers due east of Yorkton. It still has a few dwellings, an old Sask. Pool elevator and a Curling rink built in 1948. It is heated, has artificial ice and used regularly for games and suppers. According to the book “What’s In A Name” Tonkin was named after a local soldier who died in World War l. The CN railway arrived in 1915, and two elevators were erected; Bawlf and Peaker-Gibson. In 1916, the United Church was built. The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool opened an elevator in 1928, and in 1954, the Co-op Store was established.
Photo Source: Norman Roebuck Fonds, City of Yorkton Archives.
This History Corner originally ran in the Oct. 14, 2009 edition of Yorkton This Week.
–Terri Lefebvre Prince
