Over the last few weeks I have spent some time going through my “to photograph” binder. This binder is what I’ve been told is old school and have been teased about numerous times. If you reading this, you know who you are!!!
Anyways, I finally got out after searching maps and satelittes and I have, suprisingly, found three houses in locations I thought may have bando on them. And all three were close by. So I spoke to my bando buddy and he said, yes, go, I think you’ve got something there. I did.
Now I can’t find any history on this small house so I’m just going to just post the photos I took with my iPhone. I do beleive that one of the families that owned this land built this small home and lived in it during the farming season and then moved back to their home in the Fall. It would make sense as it is quite small.
After retreating back to my vehicle, I pulled off 6 woodticks! That time of year is here and I supposed 6 is far better than the 50 some I picked off on another excursion where I just stopped counting. Good thing they don’t freak me out.
On my way out I did notice that there was a lot of moose droppings in the area around the house, I was watching fro them on my way back to the car but didn’t see any. I would assume that they are all safely tucked away awaiting for the arrival of ilittle ones.
My first find was far more exciting. Stay tuned and I’ll post that when I have a chance.
Mr., whose parents emigrated from the Island of Islay in the Herides was born and education near Collingwood, Ontario on May 26, 1874, came to Manitoba in 1902. A teacher at one of the schools in the Melita area, Mr. bought a half section of land, had it broken and built a home and with time, improved it. In 1910 he married Edith and on that farm they raised a family of four girls. 
As time went on, Mr. added to his land holdings. I don’t know if Mr. and Edith built and lived in this particular house or if the next landowners did but this is the home that still stands on this section of land.
When Mr. was elected to the Manitoba Legislature he had acquired one thousand, one hundred and twenty acres. Mr. served as a school trustee, secretary-treasurer of Albert Rural Credit Society, counsellor and Reeve before entering politics. 
There were a couple dozen cows on this land. This cow in particular was quite intriqued with me, standing up against its fence. I’m sure it thought I stopped to take its picture. Photogetic cow if I say so myself.
The next landowners came to this section of land when they married. Mr. was born on this land but in a different 1/4 section. They lived here for 15 years.
Cade has been telling me about this all white heron down at the beach and the bay that he has seen on his travels. He thought maybe it was a young bird that had not yet developed its blue/grey coloring. Intrigued, I made my way to the beach this past Saturday to see if I could find it. You may know that the heron and I don’t get along. It doesn’t understand that I just want one good photo of it and I’ll stop stalking it. Heading down to the beach, I wasn’t hopeful.
I stopped and to take some photos of the pelicans on the shore. There are young ones there now but they having already reached their adult size but they have grey beaks and mostly white feathers. When I was done with them I looked North and there along the weeds was a tall white bird standing alone on the shore. I walked over expecting it to fly away as I got closer but it didn’t appear to be bothered by me at all so I sat down at the picnic table and got some photos of it.
It just wandered around, ocassionally catching what I assume were minnows or small bullheads in the shallow water. At one point it started walking towards me.
I watched it for some time hoping I might get a shot of it eating a fish but it just wandered around shore and just carried on like I wasn’t even there.
Some of the photos I found of the Great Egret showed it having bright orange feet. I am not sure if that comes at a certain age or if it is an identifying trait. This bird wasn’t at all threatened by my presence and just carried on like I wasn’t there, preening itself and wandering back and forth on the shoreline, in the water and back out again.
I did not notice a mate around but didn’t really look either. I must say that the Great White Egret, cousin of the blue heron, who has been teasing me for a photo for years is a much more cooperative bird.
Summer is definitely turning into Fall in Killarney. While there are no ducks and geese back yet, the trees have certainly started to change colors although I am sure a lot of that has to do with the dry summer we had.
You might also notice that I also caught our local crop duster guy in this photo as well. He sure was busy yesterday.
Long before the first registered homesteader came to this property, many indigenous people lived off this land. Many studies have been conducted and many different artifacts from different periods of time have been recovered in different layers of the land here but there is still not a lot know about the very first settlers, the Blackduck people who are recorded to have lived on this land between A.D. 700 and A.D. 1300.
What we do know is that Mr. William Thomas Brockinton, a graduate of Oxford University in England, and his wife and two children who were 5 and 3 years old left England and William’s job as an auditor for The Birmington Railway and arrived in Woodstock, Ontario in the fall of 1881 with zero farming experience.
They remained in Woodstock that first winter and met a group of young men who were on their way to Manitoba. The men picked their homesteads from a Homestead Map and headed to Brandon in the Spring of 1882. Brandon was a far as they could travel by train as that was where the track ended at that time. The group organized their supplies and William bought himself what was said to be the best team of oxen ever seen. The cart was loaded with lumber which would build the Brockinton’s house. Mrs. drove a pony, hitched to a buggy with the children inside and a cow attached behind. Remember, the Brockinton’s had zero farm experience and it is said they relied heavily on the young men they travelled to Manitoba with.
On their first night, the cow got loose and William spent a good part of the night trying to get it back. This resulted in William missing the ferry at Plum Creek. The young men were not happy as they had already gotten their supplies across and were annoyed that William was likely going to delay things trying to get his oxen and load of lumber across the creek. This didn’t stop William. He came down the bank, oxen pulling his lumber and entered the water. It wasn’t long before the oxen were completely submerged underwater for about 10 feet or so. The force of the load was so heavy that the oxen were able to get their footing on the bottom of the creek and carry on across the creek bottom and up the other side of the bank. It is said that all the while, William stood on the top of the load, smoking his pipe like this was a normal thing.
That first winter, the Brockinton’s lived in their small, cold, wood house. The young men decided to head back to Woodstock for the winter leaving William all alone to figure out his first winter on the prairies. A Manitoba winter was not something William and his family was used to. In February, the family started to get short on food so William set out for food and nearly froze to death on his way back with a bag of potatoes which were also frozen by the time he barely made it back to his family.
During the second summer in Manitoba, William acquired a second homestead on the river flats where there was plenty of wood. That first winter William built a soddy to live in. William now spent his time between his two homesteads and in 1895 he built this beautiful stone home which still stands today.
After moving to Manitoba, the Brockinton family had two more children. As there were no schools nearby, William home schooled his children until a school was built nearby in 1901.
William was an exceptional violinist and was more than willing to teach anyone who was willing to learn.
Mr. and Mrs. Brockinton continued to live on their farm until their deaths. Mrs. Brockinton died in November of 1924 and Mr. Brockinton died in September of 1933 at 83 years of age.
It is said that William continued to purchase land in the area and at one point paid $4.80 an acre. I cannot tell you exactly where this couple retired.
This land is also recognized as a Manitoba Grassland Birding Trail.
This old homestead is recognized as a National Historical Site. One day I hope to find out more about the Blackduck People who inhabited this land many, many moons ago.
Of course, this is one of those ones where I cannot find anything for the first recorded landowner of this property. Recorded to have acquired the land in 1885 and sell the next year, clearly nothing was done with this land and they carried on.
Then in 1898, WGM from Otter Lake, Quebec decided to homestead here. Born on August 6, 1874 he married Mary who was born in Scotland in 1884 and immigrated to the Virden area with her parents as a girl. We visited this house on August 9th.
Christian told me about this house with an old car in front. This got me pretty excited until I realized that the car wasn’t really that old but was old looking to him. I appreciate he knows what I like though. He’s a great bando seeking friend.
Mr. & Mrs. were married in 1904 and together they had 4 children. Their youngest was only 8 years old when Mrs. passed away in 1922. Mr. lived until 1958.
In approximately 1947 this homestead changed ownership. The yard was surrounded by fruit trees and our fellow explorers identified them as plums.
This house has been on my radar for a very long time. The day we finally went to see it, which was the first time for both Christian and I, my anxiety was through the roof. In my mind I was thinking of reasons why we shouldn’t go. Long walk in, getting stuck, tall grass, uncovered well. All ridiculous.
More often than not, we go to a house because we’ve seen it photographed by someone else and decide we must see it too. More often than not, I know nothing about the house, that always comes afterwards. While I knew a couple things, what I found out after was a story of a man who changed farming in the early 1900’s. Those practices carried on into today’s time. I had no idea when I started to dig into it how significant this man would be to this area and to Manitoba.
There is a lot of history here and I’m not sure where to start or how much to write about so lets start with the house in its prime.
When I look at this photo its very hard for me to picture the house like this given the state it is in now. To get to this property, which is located about 1/4 mile off the municipal road, we drove up a long drive, ruts visible and large maple trees which enclose the laneway. I can imagine that this was a beautiful drive in its time. Likely not so good in a Manitoba winter but I would imagine these trees would be a pretty good shelterbelt.
Until 1954 the CPR had a line which was ran to the Rocanville Substation. I do not know if station still exists today and if it is, what it is called or if it is operational and for what. I do know that this railway is what makes this landowner and this house as popular as it is.
James William Scallion born February 14, 1847 in Wexford, Ireland immigrated to Canada and in particular Thorold, Upper Canada which is known today as Hamilton, Ontario. Arriving in Canada with his parents, brother and two sisters at the age of 10, James did all his schooling there and later became a teacher at the Toronto Normal School for a few years. Then himself and his brother Thomas, ran a store in Thorold. It is said that they became intrigued by the possibilities in Western Canada and in 1882 moved to Stonewall, Manitoba. The foll0wing year they headed to the Virden area and purchased 640 of land and chose this spot as the homestead.
Dubbed “The Grange”, the brothers built the house and granary from field stone found on the land. One of the first homesteaders in the area, the brothers built a lavish field stone home which even had electricity in the house and the barn. In a short time they upgraded their acreage to 960 and included livestock to their farm. This required the brothers to hire two farmhands.
The granary which is in great shape was above standard for its time. Not only did they have electricity but it held 12,000 bushels and had electricity to run the machinery to help load and unload the grain. That railway I was telling you about, was within 500 yards of this granary and because of this the Scallion brothers were able to load their grain onto the passing boxcars, therefore eliminating the commercial elevator in the area. This put more money into the pockets of the Scallions and not the elevators and railways.
Back to the family. I really wasn’t sure what I was expecting when I got here. For a while I just stood here and looked around. In the NE section there were combines going. It was peaceful and the sky was amazing but starting to set so I knew I didn’t have a lot of time because I did not have my tripod with me. Behind me were multiple bee hives but of course they were not at all interested in what I was doing.
It is said that after the death of their parents in Ontario, James’ two sisters Hannah and Catherine joined their two brothers in approximately 1887. The four of them lived unmarried and happy in this house. Said to be known for their hospitality, the Scallions had plenty of visitors to their farm. People wanted to see how they prospered.
James Scallion was known as a successful farmer in the area but he should be better known as the man who pursued and was successful in assuring that the farmers who worked hard for their crops got a fair price for their grain. James believed that all farmers should be able to ship their grain directly to the market and not be undercut by the middle man. James believed that farmers should be able to sell their grain to whomever they wanted be it in Canada or the United States.
In 1903 James formed the Virden Grain Growers’ Association and then travelled around the province to encourage other communities to do the same. James told them that the money they received for their grain should go to them and not to the grain dealers and railway promoters. James was named the President of the VGGA but stepped down within the year due to health issues.
MGGA chapters formed all over the province. In an unprecedented move, in 1912 James also allowed women to be associate members and in 1914 women were recognized as full voting members.
James was also a founding member of the Grain Grower Grain Company which later became the United Grain Growers. It was later one of the biggest grain companies in Canada with hundreds of elevators in prairie towns whose profits were shared by its members. James was a very successful man with a big history in this province. He had many more accomplishments in his life.
1n 1918 after dealing with years of illness, James and his sister travelled to California. Upon their returned they settled into a house in Virden where he lived until James passed away on April 24, 1926. Upon James retirement from farming he sold the farm to a young man from Scotland who then sold the farm to a member of the family that currently owns the land. That man died at the farm in 1948 in a farming accident.
The railway was removed in 1954.
James improved the lives of many farmers, ensuring that they, like himself were paid fairly for their hard work. In one final contribution James donated $10,000 (said to be valued into today’s currency at more than $140,000) toward Virden town development and $5,000 towards the Virden Hospital.
Believe it or not, it is said that James is barely remembered in the Virden area.
Years ago I found this house while visiting something else in the area. I put it on my to-do list but never went back. The front was overgrown with caragana and I don’t like tall grass when I can’t see where my feet are going!
Christian and I were cruising around this area a few weeks ago and he spotted it from the road. I had forgotten about it but was glad he seen it and pulled in for a couple shots of it.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to find anything about the first homesteaders or anyone who has come after that.
I wonder if they planned to come back for this boat.
Mr. arrived in Manitoba from Ontario in 1881 and was one of the earliest pioneers in this area. He was set to acquire the SW corner of this section but settled on the SE corner instead. He later purchased more land. The home became a halfway house for travelers in the area where they were sure to find rest, a cup of tea, a bite to eat and a place to sleep if need be.
Mr. & Mrs. were devout members of the Protestant Church. They raised 4 boys and one girl on this farmstead until Mr. passed at the age of 68 in 1915. Mrs. passed away in 1925 at the age of 83 years old. After Mr.’s passing, Mrs. went on to live with one of her sons.
After the death of Mr. one of the sons returned to the homestead and took over. The family had always owned a steam threshing outfit which serviced the areas. It was a huge operation and farmers waited weeks for the service. The operation took the help of several employees and so the new housewife was very busy feeding the men who helped her husband run the threshing machines.
This barn was built in 1916. Many dances were held in the loft and in particular, a masquerade dance was had when the barn was new. The new homesteaders were very active in their community, very hospitable and loved company. They had their 25th wedding anniversary in this barn and the wedding dance of their daughter when she married.
We visited this house as the sun was setting. We had to walk in, fast, because we were running out of light and I didn’t have my tripod with me. This property has been on my list for a very long time as there was a car parked near a small barn by the house and it make for some very cool photos.
As luck would have it, the car is gone. I would have taken a photo of the car and the house from right around this location. This is what happens when you procrastinate. Regardless, the sunset on my way out of the property did not disappoint and so it wasn’t a total loss.
While taking photos of a house where there were several hives, I came across this swarm of bees on the ground a ways from their hive.
I have read that there are several reasons that this could have happened one as simple as resting. Regardless, I have contacted the landowner to let him know.
Not the band. On my last trip to BC, after years and years of hearing about the crows that fly over my parents house, I went to see them for myself. She would tell me that every night, hundreds of crows fly over her house. I truly was starting to question her sanity a little.
So last Spring when Colton was out visiting they took him to see where all the crows go when they fly over at dusk. It was disgusting. You could hear the crap hitting the ground like big drops of rain there were so many of them.
Well it truly is a thing. First stop, the Costco. This is a just a stop off down the road from where they actually roost for the night. I am convinced that this is where they go to clean up the parking lot because people don’t know where to put their garbage. This lot is full of them.
This picture does not come close to telling you how many crows are in this lot. I have a video of Colton shaking a tree and the crows scattering. But they don’t stay here. This is just a layover to where they actually sleep. And again, this lot is so full of garbage, why not some for a quick meal.
I have renamed this particular Costco to Costcrow. They were in the carts, on the buildings, in the trees, walking along the ground eating people’s garbage. They lined the top of the store by the entrance. It was like The Bird’s.
We then headed back to the actual roosting spot. Now, I didn’t know this but crows are communal sleepers, so they gather in massive groups to roost together at night. As the sun begins to set, crows will fly in from long distances to a central location where they can share warmth, safety from predators, and even exchange information relevant for survival. I have also read that crows don’t see well at night so they will pick a location where there is light so that they can see what is going on.
This is only the beginning. By the time we left they were sitting on the lines, side by side from one pole to the next. Some guy was coming up to the intersection and noticed them and almost ran the light.
Now it really hard to see how many crows in these photos how many crows there really are coming in but there are A LOT.
If you are interested in seeing this for yourself, search where the crows roost in your city and
In case you didn’t know, my second favorite animal is a polar bear. Orca’s first but polar bears right behind. Every time we go to the zoo, I take a polar bear selfie. This is from July 15th when Colton and I went to see the seals. This sleepyhead didn’t wake up while I sat here and stalked it.
In early June, Colton booked himself in to the Behind the Scenes at the zoo to see the seals. I tried to get myself in to see the polar bears that day but it wasn’t running that day or it was booked, I can’t remember. So I started looking for days that I knew I had to be in Winnipeg and low and behold, July 19th had an opening. I immediately registered myself. At that time I figured this was going to be my summer adventure. At the time I didn’t know that I was finally going to fulfill something from my bucket list and finally go whale watching.
So we meet at the Tundra Grill that morning and head over to the smaller building where the penguins were when the Journey to Churchill first opened. It is now office space. So we cut through there which led us outside behind the old bear exhibit. The plan was to spend an hour with Star.
This is Star. Star loves this sort of thing and she knows what’s coming because there are buckets full of romaine lettuce by her enclosure. Yes, romaine lettuce. And carrots. They also feed the bears watermelons and pineapples. Star ate about 8 heads of romaine in the hour that we were together. I lost track of how many carrots she ate.
Star and Blizzard (who died in 2019) came to our zoo in September 2014 at approximately one year of age. Suspected to be orphans after being spotted by a helicopter patrolling for bears near the Hudson’s Bay Coastline, Star and Blizzard were observed alone. Searches were made for their mother but they could not find her. At that time researches deemed Star and Blizzard to young to defend themselves without their mother due to their lack of maternal protection and lack of survival skills.
So, here we are situated in front of Star’s current home. Of course the first thing I want to know about this situation is why Star isn’t in the big exhibit with the big pool and all the other bears and not back here alone. So I asked. Apparently Star has been a part of the big enclosure and while she does okay there, she is not happiest there. Polar Bears are typically solitary animals and while the other bears have adjusted to communal living, Star hasn’t. The main exhibit is home to 9 other bears. Storm being the #1 who keeps harmony over there. Its busy and there are more male bears over there than females. So right now, Star is back here in what they call the Cub Care Centre. Down the way is Aggie, the movie bear from BC. But I’ll talk more about that later.
I also asked if our bears would be used in a breeding program and they will not be. Not at this time and likley never.
So we talk about bears, we ask questions about bears and finally they asked, would you like to interact with the bear. Hell, yes. So we get a target and the instructions about how to use the target. I’m ready cause I’ve done this with a seal already. Now I don’t say anything while we are getting the instructions but my target has a defect. My target end as a plastic end protruding out of it but I figure, they must know, they are the polar bear care professionals. So I approach Star, give her my command and she bites the end of my target. Not once, but three or four times. But this works for me because this means I get to spend more time interacting with her. Finally I tell them what I think the issue is and get a new target. And guess what, Star follows my command and does what she is supposed to do. She put her booper right on the target.
If I was fighting the urge to touch the bear before this whole thing started, I’m really fighting it now. I understand at this point that I risk the chance of never, ever being allowed at the zoo again. But I control myself. In this picture you can see her teeth on the end of my target.
So why is target training important? Well, this helps the trainers get the bear where they need them to be to examine them without having to put them out. So they can check eyes, ears ,etc. It is also used to vaccinate them.
Moving on, she now asks who wants to feed Star? Well that was a really stupid question!
She I get myself a pair of tongs and a piece of romaine and I feed Star. Why I am hanging on to my purse strap I do not know because I am not scared. I think I’m actually vibrating at this point and trying to ground myself. I feed her about 3 or 4 times during my hour with her.
So at this point we are getting close to the one hour mark and this is when I try to get over to Agee. Agee has never been on display at the zoo. Aggie will never be on display at the zoo. Agee is a 26 year old female who lived a majority of her life with a private owner in British Columbia. Her previous owners got Agee as a cub and of course she imprinted on him. Moving to the zoo and never having had contact with other polar bears, Agee will live out her life at the other end of the Cub Care Centre. She is not fond of attention and humans and was off limits to us. I will share with you a story they told us about Agee. A while back the bears were each given a pineapple. Agee was so pleased with hers that she made herself a bed and slept with it. If you want to see Agee, she has stared in movies such as Alaska (1996), The Journey Home (2014) and Operation Alaska (2014).
The trainers start to wrap things up and we are now given our time to pose with Star. The whole time that Star is behind me, she is really sniffing me. Little unnerving cause she’s not being discreet about it at all. Big, snotty inhales. I can only imagine what I smell like to her. Cats, dog, ferret. Like a buffet. Not to mention does days before, one of the seals soaked my shoes with water from their tank.
I highly suggest you check out these Behind the Scenes programs at the zoo. For $100.00 you get to spend an hour in close contact with the animals at the zoo and learn more about them. The money raised for these events is said to go back into their care. The trainers are very friendly and very knowledgeable. I will say, when they open up in the Spring, book right away because they fill up fast. The polar bear BTS only takes 4 people per session.
After I was done I met with Colton again. I told him we didn’t get to see Agee. He told me he did see her. So he took me over to the other side of the exhibit and through the fence we could see her pacing back and forth. I’m not going to give my opinion on this matter.
I am in my glory because the next day, I’m leaving for BC to whale watch.
Next thing to check off my bucket list, Churchill.
In case you didn’t know, the Assiniboine Park Zoo offers a Behind the Scenes program during the summer months. Off the top of my head, you can see seals, polar bears, snow leopards and tigers.
For around $100.00 (this includes an hour BTS and your zoo admission) you can choose to learn more about some of the animals at the zoo. On July 15th, Colton took me to see the seals, which is one of his favorite animals.
We entered into the usually unauthorized door at the Journey to Churchill Building and went upstairs to the area where the zoo employees train, feed and treat the seals. Inside this building, two male seals were waiting for us. This is Emil. His co-performer who we didn’t get a photo with is Gabbers. He is what they consider a dwarf seal because he didn’t develop properly. His flippers are smaller than they should be AND he didn’t develop a mouth full of teeth.
During our hour we asked the seals to perform some tasks for us which included touching his nose to the target, rolling over and splashing us. All with hand signals. We even got to feed them.
When it came to my turn to have Emil roll over, he wouldn’t. After a handful of tries, he finally did and then I got to feed him a fish for his efforts.
During our time inside, the seals did come out of the water and came right up to our feet. We were advised before the event began that if a seal did approach us, we were not permitted to touch it although they may touch us. That didn’t happen.
We were permitted to take photos but only when the trainers okayed it. We didn’t really need to though because one of the zoo employees was taking photos the entire time and then emailed them to us for free. She did a great job and was sure to make sure she got a shot of everyone.
We then moved outside to the top of the Journey to Churchill seal exhibit. This is where you see them swimming around before you go out the sliding doors and just outside the doors. Up there we got to meet Neptune who is considered to be the leader of the 7 male seals at the zoo. I will add that all of these seals are there because they were either injured (Neptune only has one eye) or were unable to care for themselves in the wild and would have otherwise died. 5 of the zoos seals are from British Columbia and two are from Germany.
I have to add that when we got outside, one of the bears was very curious about us being up there. This bear was identified as Willow.
At this point I could have turned my attention to the bears but I knew that I was going to be back here in a few days for the polar bear BTS. So we talked some more about the seal program, whether the zoo would take in anymore seals, which the ladies said they didn’t want to as they felt that the 7 was a good number. It is their opinion that at this time every seal was getting what they needed and there is currently harmony in the tank.
Willow was not giving up though. She kept getting closer and close to us to see what we were doing.
This is a great program. We were told a lot about the zoo, its seal program and we were able to ask a lot of questions. There wasn’t a question that they weren’t able to answer. I highly recommend it and, all of the proceeds go back to the animal program you attend.
My mother-in-law has been asking me about this place for years. I had never heard of it. So while my Mom was here and we were spending the day in Brandon, we drove over to check it out.
You are immediately greeted by the old store whose wrap around porch is full of antiques. We walked through twice and I’m sure we still missed a lot of stuff.
A lot of people were there for ice cream and then they headed out to the trails. We didn’t have proper footwear so we didn’t try it.
When I first saw this house posted online by another bando hunter, I immediately put it on my list to see. Back in May, a fellow bando hunter and I went there. One thing I did notice was the two lightning rods that were once attached to the house are now gone and the swinging door has one again closed itself, or maybe it had help.
Mr., born in England, immigrated to the United States and then ended up here in 1894. Upon his arrival he purchased this section of land. He met his wife when he got to Manitoba and they married in Brandon. From this union 3 girls were born. In 1902 he sold the farm to his brother-in-law and moved to town and purchased shares within the local flour mill and worked for many years in the community.
The history of the brother-in-law’s family is far more in depth but doesn’t really confirm anything about this house. Their earliest recorded history is 1196. In 1756 the family changed the spelling of their name, which really wasn’t that uncommon back then. The family are said to be the equivalent of English Feudal Lords and were the Lords of Duersen and Lissel in the Province of Brabant which is in the Netherlands. The earliest record of an ancestor coming to America was 1630. The earliest record on one coming to Canada was 1756 when they immigrated to Ontario. It is said that one of the children, at a young age, was lost in the woods and never found.
Now this is where it gets tricky. This family farmed on the NW corner of this section which would explain how this family is connected and how the original landowner met and married his wife. When they moved from the land to town to operate the flour mill, he sold the land to his brother-in-law. It is recorded that a farm on this land burnt down in 1916 when the family was away in Ontario. They lost everything in that fire.
I cannot confirm if this is a rebuild of the original home or if the house that burnt down was on another quarter of this section. Regardless this is quite the house. Unfortunately, it was not easy to photograph from the front given the tree line. And honestly, I didn’t even look at it from the back.
This is a neat old house which I thought would have been quite fancy for its time with its porch and upstairs deck. It certainly wasn’t your typical style home. The floors were caving in so we just peeked through the windows but inside there was plenty of old things to see.
It definitely goes up there on one of the neatest houses I’ve been to.
This sign is one of the coolest things I’ve seen given that it actually states when the homestead came to be. I have removed some of the information from this sign which gives away its location. I love that this sign confirms when this homestead came to be.
John & Mary, both born in Scotland in 1847 and 1845 immigrated to Ayr, Ontario in 1868 where they lived for 9 years. In 1877 they made their way to Manitoba by Red River cart and arrived in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba where they remained for 4 years.
In 1880 Mr. filed for this homestead and was one of the homesteaders in this district. That summer he built a soddy and the following year he moved his family here. Mr. & Mrs. raised 9 children on this land. For several years that soddy was a stop-over or half-way house for other farmers moving grained from Deloraine to Brandon. It was here that they would replenish their supplies and rest.
This house was built in 1885 and was last recorded to be owned by Mr. & Mrs. grandson, W. Jack.
Mr. & Mrs. retired to Victoria, B.C. in 1912.
All 9 of their children attended Millerway School which was built in 1884.
The couple had a happy life together and celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1919 (50 years) and their diamond wedding anniversary in 1929 (60 years).
Mr. passed away in March of 1931.
Mrs. passed away in August, 1935.
The best thing about a bando house hunt is when I find old cars there.
The original homesteaders of this property came to this land at the turn of the 19th century. The first official recording that they were the landowners is dated 1901. Owned originally by one of the brothers of this family, the first brother to own this land, William, turned the sod making it ready for farming and construction of a forever home.
In 1904 William sold the land to his brother James who lived here until he retired. At that time he son, namesake of his uncle and his dad, took over.
This property has a long drive and is beautifully treed. This is also the spot where Christian and I got most of our wood ticks that day. I’m sure that we picked off at least 50 at the end of this driveway before we got back in the vehicle.
In 1920 this land was sold Mr. Taylor but then repurchased it. James later sold the land again, this time moving to a different district to farm, but again bought the land back. It does not state why the land was sold but it does say it was purchased back due to adverse conditions.
James and his wife Bessie raised three children, mostly on this homestead. In 1930 they retired from active farming and moved to the closest town. Mr. died in September, 1953 and Mrs. not long after in April, 1954.
This was not the first house we went to on this day that was suffering from the same sort of decay. I am going to make the assumption that at one time, these were brick homes. In an effort to modernize them, stucco was applied over the brick. With time, the roof began to leak and the water ran between the two layers causing this deterioration to happen.
Inside the house we could see the remains of furniture and a bookshelf with puzzles and games.
Back to that day when Christian and I went out, one of the first houses we stopped at on our venture was this one.
Visible from the road, this was an easy stop. After fiddling around with my camera for a bit we got ourselves on the other side of the trees.
This big old two story house with the missing door upstairs wouldn’t want to be something I came across at night time. I wasn’t at all freaked out here but with the dead trees in the front, I could see how one would be.
The history I found on this homestead is not of the original homesteaders. That is of course somewhat disappointing to me but its better than nothing. That being said, here we go. The second homesteader of this land immigrated to Canada in 1903. Born in 1881 in Country Cork, Ireland, he moved to the area and married in 1908. Having worked for many farmers in the area and renting land to farm, he moved from the land he originally lived on and in 1921 eventually moved to Neepawa. In 1927, Mrs. passed away and he came back to the area.
In April, 1928 to be exact, the family moved back to Elgin, Manitoba but he again rented land. It wasn’t until 1942 that him and his children moved to this homestead.
Mr. retired from farming in 1951 at the age of 70 and moved to Brandon where he lived until he passed away in 1964. Mr. and his wife raised 6 children on various farms in the area as well as in Neepawa. Upon Mr.’s retirement, his youngest son and his wife took over this farm and raised their family here.
Last week I was out with a student taking her graduation photos. We were making our rounds and stopped at an old church. Well, the upkeep at the church isn’t what it used to be but we got her up there on the step and took a couple photos.
There was a nice rose bush by the door and she decided that she would like to lie down on the step with the bush beside her. So we started cleaning off the step and she looked at one of the big roses and inside was this BIG whitish/pink spider.
Of course our first reaction is to gross out and then flick it away. I wanted to try and get a couple of photos of the spider too because I had never seen one like it before and then proceed with the photography shoot. So we did that.
Tonight I posted these photos on Instagram and my nephew commented that he had seen these spiders before out at the cottage and wondered what they were so, I searched it.
This is the goldenrod crab spider or the flower spider. They are called crab spiders because of their unique ability to walk sideways as well as forwards and backwards. They have the ability to change between these colors based on their surroundings through the molting process or depending on the color of flower they are eating from. on that color.
These spiders do not spin webs but they do use silk to catch their prey. Once the female lays her eggs and the eggs hatch, the female dies.
The first recorded landowner recorded for this section of land is 1889 but there is no family history. So, I don’t know who built this house. Regardless, she’s a beauty.
In 1906 Mr. quit his job at the chair factory in Orangeville, Ontario to move to the area. He boarded a freight train with the machinery, furniture and household effects of the Anderson Family. Upon his arrival to the area he was hired as a farm hand on another farm. In 1911 he rented this land from the previous landowner.
In January, 1912 he married Helen, the daughter of the family whom he traveled with to the area with their belongings. They bought the land and lived there until 1954.
When they left the land they retired to Melita. During his active years Mr. was on the school board in the area and was a counsellor for 13 years. Their youngest son took over the farm and raised his family here.
Before marrying Mr., Helen was a school teacher at Brown’s School from 1909 to 1911. She began teaching at 16 years of age.
While walking up to this property we discovered that the Souris River runs through it. The water was full of ducks and small birds. In the distance I could hear an owl taunting me but I could not spot it.
There were two houses on this property . This newer house must have been what the family moved into when the original farm house was no longer livable. I love that the house was preserved to some extent.
Mr. & Helen raised 9 children on this farm, 4 boys and 5 girls. Mr. passed away in 1963 and the history that I found for this family was written on May 26, 1982 by Helen who was in her 90th year. I visited this house on May 13, 2023.
At the time that Helen wrote her family’s history, there were 25 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great-grandchildren.
Then the 30’s rolled around and the family faced the depression, the dust bowl and the grasshoppers. At the time the family had a car, a piano and a telephone. Mr. sat down with his family and said something had to go. Helen said that the telephone had to stay, in case of an emergency. The children all wanted to piano for entertainment. So, Mr. put the car up on blocks and parked it. The family relied on a Bennett Buggy for transportation.
I did find this one strange piece of equipment in the yard. I took a photo of it with the hopes that my husband could identify what it might be but he wasn’t sure.
Now I’m wondering if the old car is somewhere on this property. Maybe the owl was trying to lure me further into the yard in the tall grass and treed area so I would see it!
CRUMBLING MEMORIES 