Month: August 2023

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SCALLION HOUSE AND GRANARY

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.

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WHO KNOWS

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.

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DRY RIVER

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.

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BEE SWARM

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.

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COUNTING CROWS

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