Had it not been for the annual Spring Expo at Gallagher Centre, signs of spring might have been scarce over this past weekend, although, to be fair, April has been more or less seasonal. The winter we had may have spoiled us a tad.
Even in the worst of winters we have very little to complain about with our efficiently heated and insulated homes, our reliable vehicles, our boundless food supply and our plethora of entertainment options.
In fact, we are so spoiled, just in general terms, it is easy to forget that little more than 100 years ago, life on the prairie was a battle for survival. The subheading on the Spring Expo posters, “Home Garden & Leisure,” hints at how things have changed for the easier.
For homesteaders, leisure was limited. One pioneer describes in Barry Broadfoot’s book The pioneer years 1895–1914: Memories of settlers who opened the west how the big event of the year was a summer picnic.
“Everybody went to those picnics for miles around, and everybody wore their very best. Everybody had pride of appearance and it didn’t matter how poor you were, whether you only had a dirt floor in your house, you went to the picnics in your finer.
“This is where the young girls met the young men. The girls wore long white dresses and bows in their hair, and their hair was done up in the latest fashion. We had the magazines from the city, of course, and we knew the latest fashions. The boys all dressed up too.
“There were games, baseball, and a lot of tennis. More houses than you would think had a tennis court laid out. Tennis was a big thing in the early 1900’s. I was pretty good at hitting a tennis ball myself.
“There was always a big feed. Maybe they’d just spread everything out, the sandwiches and the pies, and the cookies, the lemonade and the iced tea, and everybody helped themselves. You all brought your own plates and cutlery.
“Then when the picnic was over, everybody would pack up and go home.
To the chores. Over those trails, over the hill and dale, back to our farms. We were slaves to our horses and cows. A farmer always is.”
At this time of year, as we contemplate the myriad leisure activities of spring and summer ahead, homesteaders would have been facing a very different reality.
From the diary of H.F. Copeland from the Maidstone area (Saskatchewan Archives):
“We had droughts and early frosts, until more land was taken up and broken. I had two oxen and a bull on a [14 foot] prairie breaker and I could break one acre [per day]. A day was 10 hours from 3 a.m. until 9 a.m. and 5-9 p.m. so the oxen rested in the heat of the day.
“If you broke for someone else you got $3 per acre and 75 cents for discing. I used to take these oxen threshing from daylight till dark for $2.50 per day. You had to load your own load and pitch it off yourself and keep your turn into the machine. This was how we made our winter stake.
“In those days it was up to you to get enough supplies for the winter, there was no one to help you, no welfare or [community] chests, we were on our own. Sometimes the eats got slim towards spring but we stuck it out. There were no radios or television, even a gramophone was only for the wealthy.
“We were a healthy bunch and the doctors that used to come, didn’t stay long. We had some cold winters and remember one 45-below for six weeks and a wind. The wind seemed to blow all the time.
“We had some good times in those days, even if we did only have oxen to travel to town with, we didn’t have to fill with gas before we started, they made their own.”
As spring takes hold, it is as good a time as any to count our many blessings and pay tribute to those forebears who came to a harsh land and conquered a hardscrabble existence so that we may enjoy our current luxurious lifestyle.
