I don’t recall how many photos I took, I should count.
Years ago I remember stopping at an old car lot in Saskatchewan along the number one highway. Not nearly as many cars and most were somewhat intact. And I do not recall seeing an area with parts like this lot.
I love this old car and what is was used for.
Imagine firefighters hauling ass down the highway in this?
This one reminds me of one of those old ice cream trucks. They would circle around the residential streets on the nice evenings in the summer.
Well, today I finally finished up the car folder from the photos I took back in October, 2023.
I will certainly go back this Spring/Summer. I did not have enough time to walk the entire lot when I went the first time.
Like I said before, I have never seen anything like this. You see areas on properties littered with cars but this man has a system. Everything is marked and parts are organized.
If you are an old car enthusiast, he likely has what you need.
Loading these photos made me think of my neighbour. He has an old truck that he restored and if my memory serves me correctly, his dad had a truck just like it. I took his son’s grad photos with. I’m going to have to ask him if he knows about this place.
The next time I go, I’ll take Christian along. He isn’t as enthusiast about the old cars but I know he will take some amazing shots here.
I don’t recall if I mentioned the little dog that lives here. He did explore with me for a little bit.
You can see him in the photo above. He wasn’t interested in me for very long and if my memory serves me correctly, he was deaf.
These photos are all taken on the house section of the land. There are still two quarters to discover. I certainly did not give myself enough time when I planned this trip. I had no idea how many cars were really here.
I give the old car guys a lot of credit. To take an old car, restore it, hunt for parts. The time and dedication and money it would take to make it va-va-voom again!
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.
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.
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.
Here is another house I photographed back in the late summer of 2020. It is another one that I cannot find any concrete history on so, I’m just going to leave it here and if that ever changes, I’ll re-write my post and share its story.
This home is well hidden. It was rented out for a time but once the last tenants moved it was quickly taken over by Mother Nature. I did not get close as the vegetation was quite high and I was alone. Better to be safe than sorry. I know that Cade’s aunt worries about me alone on these excurisons and the possibility of there being a well, so I err on the side of caution.
A couple weeks ago, no more like a month ago, Makenna and I took the side by side down the highway to a little spot where I spotted some cars and stuff.
We found some trucks and cars and cars and lots and lots of lady slippers. Lady slippers make me think of my Grandpa.
We found this beauty and texted Grandpa to see if he could fix this up for Makenna. We figured 4 years notice would be lots of time for him to get it going. He said it was a stretch.
Anyways, here is a collection of some of the photos I took that day. You many not notice but the clouds were glorious that day!
I actually find myself looking for roofs and vehicles now.
I can’t tell you anything about this house. I would love to know more but I cannot find anything. Seems to be the story of my life with my current outings.
This home is over 100 years old and the current owner told me they moved out of it because it was very hard to heat in the winter and was always cold.
The home was purchased by the Brander Family in 1958 and has had some upgrades to windows. The first time I stopped for a roadside shot in the winter time, the pigeons took off very quickly and hovered around.
This big old barn is currently occupied by a family of turkey vultures who were very unhappy about my visit. I swear one thought about swooping me. I didn’t get to close to the barn because the closer I got, the more active the vultures became. Typically my experience with them is that they fly away and watch. These ones hoovered above the barn and driveway the entire time I was at the house.
There are some white pillars around the front and side of the house where I’ll assume walkways led to the home. In the yard we found an area that I will assume was once a large flower bed. The only thing left in the tall grass were some white and pink peony’s.
The Bluevale School District was established formally in July 1901. It was replaced by a new structure and opened officially in November, 1960.
The school closed in 1967 and the building stood empty until being sold and moved to the Lake Max area to be renovated into a private residence. A metal sign commemorates the school at its earlier site.
The school seen many teachers over the years. The building I photographed is likely the second school house built in the 60’s and it is not in the Lake Max area.
I have a friend I’ve never met. She’s on online friend, a text friend, an abandoned friend. We have the same interests and we connected through a mutual friend that was my friend when I was in kindergarten through grade 4. Then I moved schools and we didn’t see each other much after that.
Anyways, LM lives in Winnipeg but often travels out this way to find and photograph abandoned stuff. When we see something on each others Instagram we ask each other where or who. We share our finds and contacts. Last winter LM found this house that she was totally in love with. She went and went back again. Well I had forgotten about it but spotted it a couple weeks ago off the highway and of course she got me in touch with the owner.
Turns out there was a movie filmed at this house, its on Netflix and its called Devil’s Gate. Within the first 4 to 5 minutes of the movie you will see the house and likely want to turn the movie off cause you’ll see about as much as you’d like. Its gory and not my type of movie.
So last week I tried and tried and tried to reach the land owner and couldn’t. So I drove down the road on my way home anyways because if you can get a good road shot, well, you don’t need permission. So I drove down the road and came upon a truck stopped at the house. I stop behind him, get out my camera and take a couple shots. I have no idea if the person in the truck knows I’m there or not. There is nothing around this house, some bush and field. That’s all. Well I look ahead to take a photo and there’s a barrel of a gun hanging out the driver’s side window. So I tell Colton and I put the car in reverse and the truck drives away.
I take a couple shots and drive away. The next morning the land owner returns my call and proceeds to tell me that he cannot allow people to photograph the house cause he can’t be there to charge them a fee and that the house is not safe and either is the property because the movie people didn’t remove the props and the traps are still set all over the yard. I call BULLSHIT. So does LM cause she was on the property, with his permission and everything is gone. No traps. No chance of being impaled.
At this point I’m rather annoyed because one, you cannot charge people money to take photos of an old house from the road, because if I’m on a numbered road, I’m not trespassing and secondly, you’d think he had Buckingham Palace on his farm land. Goodness Mr., its a rotten old house that got a little attention from a low-budget film. I’m sure you are not going to be able to retire from the money you received for the crew to film there.
So I told Mr. that I had driven down the road the night before and I had taken a couple photos of the house from the inside of my car. I also advised him that he couldn’t stop people from doing that nor could you charge them a fee. I also told Mr. that it was highly illegal to shoot a firearm from a vehicle. He advised me it was his neighbor shooting coyotes that were getting into his chickens. There isn’t a farm within a mile, in any direction, of this abandoned property. Maybe more.
Earlier this week I went back. I did not get out of my car and unfortunately could not get a good shot of the front of the house where the young man in the movie, with the car trouble, goes and knocks on the door.
Regardless, its a pretty neat old house and that barn is very unique. The house does have a creepy vibe, even from the road. I likely shouldn’t have watched the beginning of the movie and its a good thing I didn’t finish watching it.
This is one of the first houses I photographed and one of the first houses I actually went inside of.
I love this house. So at least once a year I go back to visit it and see what’s changed. I can’t believe how much its grown over since my last visit.
When I started taking photos of the old houses, I didn’t really focus much on the barns and other out buildings so because the skies were amazing that day, I did.
This yard is still used for storage and there is a path leading out to a field. The current landowner frequents this location often.
According to my research, this yard that was known for its stunning flower gardens. On our way out, we spotted a lone pink peony growing in the tall grass. I had put all of my stuff away as we were traveling by side by side down the dirt roads so I didn’t want anything getting dusty.
My daughter was very interested in this van and what happened to it. I’ll have to do some asking around and find out for her. I wonder if she would believe me if I told her that the accident was a result of texting and driving.
And you may recall this little blue truck, from previous posts, although Mother Nature is really taking it over.
I would LOVE to see a photograph of this house when it was in its prime.
During the early stages of COVID, we were all eager for a day out of the house so we went house hunting. I have to admit that I had plans to go a lot further than we did but it was so worth it and I have all summer to get to the edge of Manitoba to see what I need to see.
Along the way we made numerous stops that were not on my to do list. My eagle-eyed husband just kept spotting things in the distance and so, we stopped I shot, we carried on.
This is one of them. I cannot find any history on it so this is all I’ve got. Honestly, I took two photos from the side of the road and carried on. I don’t think I even got out of the Jeep to take this photo.
James and his family originally immigrated to Canada to Cornwall, Ontario. The 2nd of 12 children, James came to Manitoba followed by his two brothers and two sisters. His sister married and from my understanding lived on this land with her husband. I do not know if it was them that built this house, or her great-nephew, Donald when he acquired the land upon his marriage. I can tell you that this family had five generations live and farm this land. It has been in their name since 1893 and in the family, by relative, since 1883.
The land, a well-wooded section of land was broken by steam engine and bush plow. Throughout the property, trails were made for travel, via wagon. In one of the wooded areas, on the way to the house, I did see what was left of an old wagon.
There is a barn on this particular section. I do know that the family built a barn that had a windmill built in the center, which supplied power to pump water. Outside the barn, at any given time, had hundreds of bags of grain from neighbors, waiting to be ground. Unfortunately, it was the same windmill that cause a fire in 1917. A second barn was rebuilt in the same location. From what I see, it makes perfect sense that the barn still standing there today, could be from the early 1900’s.
James wife died in 1895. With his young family in tow, he returned to Ontario. He was homesick for Manitoba and returned with his mother who helped him care for her grandchildren. In 1924 he drove his Model T to Victoria, BC and married his deceased brother’s wife. His son took over the farm.
James son, Angus (also known as Angie) married Alice on November 30, 1914 and purchased this piece of land, which was at one time was owned by Alice’s uncle.
Together Angie & Alice had 3 children.
They lived on the farm for 30 years and upon their move their only son, Donald, born in 1916, on this farm, took over the farm from Angie and Alice.
Donald’s son who was born in 1949, built a new house in 1974. At the time Grandpa Angie was 86 years old and helped work on it with his Grandson. The newer house and the original house shown above, remains standing on the property.
The trails and shaded areas where the family once had family picnics remain. Somewhere on this section of land there were even tennis courts.
The current owners of this property live in a third house on the property and run their own farming operation here. They have goats, sheep and cattle. It was hard for me to take photos as I did not want to invade their space. I am thankful for them allowing me to photograph parts of their farm that is their home.
One night last winter on my way home from exploring an abandoned town, I couldn’t help but notice the sunset. I was really close to a location that I thought would make a great photo. A spot that I have driven by many, many times. I wanted to get a photograph of this machinery up on the hill.
I couldn’t get a decent shot so I turned around to head home and found this!
I took a couple shots from the road and wrote down the location to investigate and find landowner information for.
A couple weeks ago I was speaking to a gentleman about another property and asked about this one and he gave me the information I needed. I thought I better get out there before the grass gets to long.
Unfortunately, I cannot confirm who lived here first (and any info I do have I cannot confirm with any written history that I have access to) nor can I confirm who built what buildings, when.
As you can see from this new photo, the caragana or peashrub have taken over and the bees were buzzing around like crazy.
Bill was born on a farm south of Cartwright on July 11, 1916. He never married but was said to be a dedicated family man who was always there for those in need.
Bill, an enthusiast with the Heritage Village in his community and served on the committee for many years.  Bill purchased this land in 1944 and proudly displayed the advertisement for the Heritage Park on his property where everyone that went by it could see it.
Bill began farming as a young boy with his father and his love for farming kept him busy until he was in his 70’s. When he wasn’t farming, Bill sang with the United Church choir and served on their committee for many years.
After a trek through the farm yard I headed out to the pasture and up the hill. I cam alone some old wagon wheels and then almost tripped on a piece of wire in the grass. I also picked up a lot of hitchhikers on my journey.
Being alone I also started to think about skunks, badgers and of course, well holes. I am a chicken shit. Not sure that exploring is really for me, lol.
I have passed by Bill’s old threshing machine (or separator) and Cockshutt tractor many, many times. I never did notice this little machine way up on the hill until I walked closer to it.
I do not know anything about tractors except that this is what they call McCormick Deering or a Cockshutt tractor. I believe this one is approximately built in 1924. At least that’s what a quick search on Google tells me.
On my way back to my car I again started to think about all the critters and as I was going through the ditch I found two lady slippers, all alone. Of course I searched for more but I couldn’t find any.
The family of Patrick & Mary is one of the first to settle into this municipality. To date, 6 generations have lived in the area. Patrick (1821) & Mary (1850) left Ireland in April, 1879 bound for Montreal on a ship called The Circassian. Upon their arrival in Montreal, they traveled by train to St. Paul (Minnesota?) in the USA and then to Winnipeg via Red River steamer. Together, Patrick and Mary had 10 children.
When the family arrived in Winnipeg, the women were settled in to their new home while the men carried on in search of suitable land to homestead on. After purchasing a wagon, a team of oxen and the necessary provisions, they set off. After several days of travel, in and out of sloughs, the men arrived at Badger Crossing. They then made their way to Morden to file land claims. They returned to the land and built a “sod shanty” and Patrick and his sons began working the land. The first two winters in Canada (1879 and 1880), the men would travel back to Winnipeg to stay with the women. The boys would work on the new railroad being built and in the spring they would head back to farm. By 1881, a 1 1/2 story home and outbuildings were built and the entire family was reunited and began their new life on their homestead in Manitoba, Canada. Mary passed away in 1889. She served as a Justice of the Peace for many years. Patrick passed away in 1902. He was a valued member of the community serving as a warden and the President of the local agricultural fair for many years.
I must add that their oldest son Joseph served in the military in Ireland before coming to Canada with his family. Upon his arrival in Canada he was selected as an auditor for a new local school. He purchased his own land and farmed for a few year but was never married. He decided to move to Boston, Mass., and in 1917, while en route to deposit church funds, he was beaten to death.
Patrick and Mary’s son, John was a successful business man. In 1898 he purchased a section of land which was later farmed by his son and his grandson. His grandson just happens to be my neighbors Dad. When I stumbled upon this house on the way home from photographing another, I thought, I’m going to pull into this yard and see if they will let me take a couple photos so that I do not have to come back. When the young fellow came out I thought, he looks familiar. Well turns out, I had seen him before. He is the nephew of my neighbor.
This house was built in approximately 1906.
Great-Grandpa John started his own livery and feed business which he later sold. In 1902 he built the necessary building and started an implement business which he later sold in 1910. In 1915 he was appointed the Police Magistrate. He was also involved in the local agricultural society and served two terms as reeve. Great-Grandpa John was also actively involved in the church and educational affairs within the community. Great-Grandpa John and his wife Bessie had two children.
Great-Grandpa John left the farm to his son, John Jr. who married and had three children of his own. One of his children, Jack is the father of my neighbor. John Jr. and Mary raised two children of their own in this home. Jack’s son now lives in a new home on the land, where he can still see the home he grew up in. Â
There are still many outbuildings on the property but I didn’t want to stay to long and poke around to much. I could have photographed for some time on this property.
It was nice to see the windows and doors intact on this home. As you can see from the older photos, it was always well kept and at one time had a large porch. I guess this is the benefit of having someone living on the property with the old home.
The young man who answered the door asked me if I would like to go into the home but I declined as I didn’t want to be pushy and thought it was nice enough that he let me take photos as it was. My neighbor has offered to take me back to go inside if I would like. Â
Aside from making a connection to this property and knowing someone who actually lived inside the home, and my neighbor sharing the old photos with me, here is a photo of her inside the house. That’s pretty neat.
There are only two other times that I have met or have known a person who has lived inside an old house that I have photographed. One of those people is her husband. One of the very first homes I went to years ago was his home as a young boy/teen and then he lived in the home as a young man. Â
W.S.S was born in Tyner, North Dakota on December 22, 1881. He worked on various farms until 1910 when he decided to seek a “non-flooding area to farm” and moved to Canada.
He came to this area and purchased this land. He didn’t live there right away and lived in a rental or “boarded” across the road in a small village.  In 1922 he purchased a house that he purchased from the local blacksmith and moved it onto his property.
I do not know if this is the original house that was hauled onto the property but I do know from the current land owner that the house was small and as the family grew they added more and more on to it. It makes perfect sense to me that this could very well be the original house just from the layout of it.
W.S.S. eventually got married and together they raised 3 children on this farm, not to mention the grandchildren that would also be raised here. The family pasture was the site of many baseball games.
W.S.S. and his wife were community minded people and his efforts were instrumental in forming the local elevator, Co-Op and united church.
The family kept Percheron horses and they jointly owned a Case tractor and separator with another family.
In 1927 this barn was built and the family ran a dairy cow operation. The cows were milked in the morning and the children would deliver the fresh milk in little bottles to village members, by cart, on their way to school.
The boys farmed with their Dad for some years until the oldest left and moved to Oregon. Father and remaining son farmed together until Mr. & Mrs. retired and moved to town. Mr. passed away in 1968 and Mrs. in 1972. The son continued farming on the land and married and raised 4 children of his own on the family farm until he moved to town in 1990. The current landowner purchased the property in approximately 1996/97.
M & M were very active in their community, just like his parents. For many years the basement of their home was used to collect, sort and wrap gifts for the Christmas cheer. Upon moving to town Mr. was very active in establishing the recycling project.
Well, not really but this house would be right smack in the middle of a section of land and of course, I can’t confirm anything with the material that I have here.
I have had permission to photograph this house for some time. I went in the Fall and it was muddy.
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So Cade and the kids stopped with me on the way home from Brandon one day and Cade drove in part of the way and I hiked in the rest. I didn’t go into the house but I did wander around as far as the snow would permit to get this tractor and a couple different angles of the house.
While it was the house that got my attention and led me to this old homestead, once I was there it was this barn that I really liked. Its held its own in our harsh Manitoba weather.
When we were driving out, Cade spotted this little rodent in our tire tracks so I got out of the car to chase him away so that we wouldn’t drive over him. I truly think he was blind because I could literally reach out and grab him if I wanted to and I followed him down our tire tracks for some time.
CRUMBLING MEMORIES 