Big Time Farm Operations

Original Chudleigh Farm - Millicent

In 1915, Norman, along with Perce and Edward bought a dryland farm on a hill, eight miles north of Millicent, Alberta. The purchase was made one year after the CPR was advertising the success of the Sutherland Colony settlement near Brooks using irrigation and also after the start of WW I. The business venture could not have been possible without Edward as the silent partner. It was Edward and his wife Bess who gave Norman and later his family financial backing for opportunities pursued. 

Looking at a surveyor's map, the farm size appears to have been at least five quarters or 800 acres and was on the south bank of the Red Deer River, beside the Anchor P Ranch (formerly John Ware). The rail line from Bassano to Empress was built in 1914, making the Chudleigh purchase timely since this new line passed through Millicent. Edward would have been well aware of the opportunity since he was responsible for the CPR line through that area. George Earnest would not have been too far away since he settled around Bindloss as the CPR station agent, and therefore only needed a passenger coach to come for a visit if going in the right direction.

The farm purchase was an ambitious undertaking that was prone to a high degree of risk since dependent on friendly climate, conducive to crop success. They had no ability to irrigate since the farm's elevation was too high to tap into the irrigation district established by the CPR. Water cannot flow uphill. You have to give them credit for having the guts to proceed! All places north of the Red Deer River were dryland too and so the Chudleigh purchase was perhaps not that big of a stretch, except they were into farming for the most part, not so much into ranching. I always wondered why my father's birth certificate showed the location as Millicent, but the farm was just across the line into Millicent's jurisdiction as opposed to Duchess. 

The Norman – Perce partnership was a good one as each had their own set of strengths to complement one another. Norman was the farmer who was very conscientious and worked very hard, while Perce did the lighter chores, such as gardening, some cooking, and machinery repairs. He did go into the field though and help with stooking at harvest time. When the farm was bought, he opted for the rural lifestyle and came to be with Norman, and stay with Norman he did for the rest of his life. Each knew the strengths and weaknesses of each other.

If you are going to tackle a big farm operation, you might as well have a gargantuan gas powered tractor with huge metal wheels (known as the Big 4) that could pull 12 mow board plows while taking out anything in its path, but only at a speed of 2.5 mph. My father was awestruck as a little boy to see a farmhand walk inside the wheel spokes while the tractor was rambling along the road, like a hamster spinning a wheel in a cage. You can see the size of the wheel compared to the harvesters. 

I was told that all Chudleigh brothers came to help with the harvest, and so with the passing of Rupert, Maxwell Rufus, and Walter Starks, there could have been five: Norman, Perce, Edward, George, and Frederick. It is possible Walter Starks was there for the first harvest since he passed away in June, 1916 and was only in action for one month even though he joined the army in 1915. It was noted on Frederick's military records that he had a harvest leave in 1918.

Norman made extensive use of mules and horses, and manual labor since a lot of tasks were not being done by machines yet. He drove 'mule trains' to Millicent to deliver grain to an elevator on the CPR rail line, similar to this picture:

Some of Norman's mules here are pulling his threshing machine:

In the late 19th century, farmers in Western Canada came to rely on a type of windmill featuring a trestle / lattice tower topped by wooden or steel paddle-type blades. The primary use was water pumping and the main applications were stock watering and farm home water needs. In areas like Alberta with its semi arid climate, but with underground water aquifers, settlement was made easier and more productive through the use of such wind pumps that worked during all hours and was cheap to construct and operate. The wind pump was a uniquely North American innovation, as it took existing technology that had been used for centuries in Europe and modified it to meet the particular demands of western settlement. It was commonly known as a "weathercock" because it behaved much like a traditional weather vane, moving with the direction of the wind. The multi-bladed wind pump became a fixture of the landscape throughout the prairies for many years.

As the Chudleigh farm was 'on the hill', the question is whether there was enough water supply to give farm animals what they needed. Assuming well water was available supported by windmill technology to pump water out, this still may not have been enough. The John Ware creek contained more water than normal a mile or so south of the farm since it caught the runoff from those lands that were getting flood irrigated from river water as part of the new irrigation district formed. Any memory of this is hazy, but both aunts agreed that their father, Norman based on agreement with Sam Howe, the land owner in that area, took his mules at set times of the day down to the creek to get a drink.

Meanwhile, W.T. Pierson and family, including 10 children, were ranching and farming on a homestead in the Cessford area, just a few miles away north of the river. Access was incredibly convenient due to the location of the Gregory Ferry once in operation in 1911. The original location of the John Ware cabin from 1900 was only a half mile downstream from the Ferry. The Piersons no doubt learned of the Chudleigh purchase since they were just on the other side of the river. As it turned out, the Piersons really got to know the Chudleighs very well in short order as Carl Sisson, husband of Lydia (nee Pierson) and daughter of W.T. worked for Norman as a hired hand and they lived on the farm in a small house. Picture is of the Gregory Ferry:

Neighbour to the Piersons was a Swede, Fred Alnander, who had his own homestead quarter (160 acres) and I was told he lived in a clay brick home with a sod roof, but this must have been before he built the following cute little hut, most appropriate for a bachelor:

Fred lived a frugal existence compared to the Piersons, who had the whole family to help out with the farm and ranch. Inside Fred's home, there would have been a coal/ wood burning stove, a wooden table and a chair or two, a cot to sleep on with wool blankets. Life must have been dull back then in the middle of winter with no radio or TV, no electricity, no trees outside for firewood, no autos, just a horse or two, or maybe a mule. 

For social life, there was the odd dance on the weekend at some community hall miles away. Fred had no one to snuggle up to at night when there was freezing temperatures and a cold north wind blowing through the drafty wooden hut. Fred probably took a horse and wagon to the river to gather up some dead wood for the winter. Cow pies from the prairie also ignited very well to get the fire started, and there was no shortage of this with cattle in the area. Going to the store for supplies must have been a major operation. He had to have money to get started because how can you possibly make a living unless you have invested in your farm or ranch operation. 

It was a Pierson daughter, Emma, who got into trouble with Fred. Due to her pregnancy as a 17 year old, she needed a home to raise her family. Fred and Emma were in love and wanted to marry and make a start with their life, but much to their dismay, Emma's father, W.T. Pierson said no! I am sure Mr. Pierson was very upset, since he thought he held a firm grip on family matters as the father of the household. He no doubt passed judgement on Fred to have caused a problem. I know he loved his daughter Emma, but W.T. probably took a more practical look at the situation because there was no way that Fred was going to make it on his homestead as he did not have enough financial clout to get going. Therefore Emma and Fred would have been a long term liability for the whole Pierson family. A dejected and frustrated Fred did not want to stay around any longer and thus left his homestead to have a life elsewhere.

Emma chose to get away from the dark cloud hanging over the family and live with sister Lydia and Carl on the Chudleigh farm. Emma could have been several weeks if not months pregnant before she really knew for sure that she was. She certainly would have been suspicious of changes in her womanhood, but it is not like she could do a pregnancy test to confirm. (The drano test with a toilet was not available yet!) She probably did not tell her father right away, procrastinating the inevitable, figuring out what was the best way to handle this situation, and so her actual waiting time after the news 'hit the fan' would have been much shorter than nine months. 

When staying on the Chudleigh farm, Emma always came over to help Lydia with breakfast for everyone at Norman's house, but one morning she did not come as usual. When Lydia went to check on her, Emma was in labour! Lydia quickly took her to a home by the Gregory Ferry where Grandma Pierson was staying (Emma's mother). Rufus (my father) was born by the river with Grandma acting as the midwife. 

Now as for a home, Mr. Pierson did not have to search far for who would make a suitable husband, someone with an established reputation and who had a bigger farming operation. With some rather forceful coaxing for Emma's cooperation, Norman married Emma on December 6, 1916, 11 days after Rufus was born. The wedding took place most appropriately at the Gregory Ferry, with the registration taking place in Bassano. Emma was 17 and Norman 37, over twice her age and so could have been her father! It was normal for the new mother to lay flat on her bed for the first two weeks after giving birth, and so it is quite possible that Emma got married to Norman from her bedside. Pansy and Elizabeth were always curious about Emma's wedding, but they did not get much information back. Emma did say she was dressed in white, but she could have been saying what they wanted to hear.

According to the Aunts, Rufus was named after Maxwell Rufus Chudleigh, but we have asked this question so many times that the Aunts could now be saying yes. Max Chudleigh (Edward's son) was also named after his Uncle Max. It seems too logical for Max to get the first name as he was eight years older and since this name was already taken, Dad became Rufus. As mentioned before, it was custom for the Chudleighs though to name the next generation after a relative, as George Earnest's son became George Starks, named after Walter Starks who died in WW I. Rufus was named by Emma with no middle name before she married Norman because I was told she liked the name, and Norman may not have been 'in the cards' yet. My Dad and my Aunts commented on a few occasions that Emma used to have a private crying spell in their earlier years for no apparent reason to them, and could have been the result of past events and her ultimate fate.

In the early days of motherhood Emma had baby Rufus all snuggled and cozy in his buggy in order to get him some fresh air outside and take a little nap.  Emma's father, W.T. Pierson came by to check up on how things were going and saw Rufus in the buggy in the rather chilly weather with his mother inside the house.  He went inside to scold Emma for leaving her baby out in the cold to 'freeze to death'.  Emma disagreed and argued quite vehemently and told him how dare he think she would neglect her own baby.  Emma then took W. T. outside to prove that Rufus was warm.  She put his father's hand under Rufus's wool blanket to feel his skin, which proved that he was as 'warm as toast' and in a peaceful state of slumber.  Emma's father never doubted her again for how she took care of her baby.   He learned rather quickly that Emma was a natural when it came to being a mother and she proved to be so passionate and protective of her children.

Over the years to follow and with growing family, Emma and Norman no doubt developed a love and strong bond for one another. Their relationship was always very serious as they had critical strategic decisions to make in order to survive. They maintained an established reputation of integrity going forward with high ethical standards, practicing proper etiquette around the table and with greeting visitors which their kids chose to adopt for future generations. Emma had to grow up quickly under Norman's guidance.

As for the farm yard, I am concluding there were no trees since there was no irrigation, but as per Dad, a carragana hedge for wind shelter was the practice in dryland areas just across the river, and a bigger version of Dad's picture suggests that a carragana hedge was starting. The farm house here shows a barren existence, with nothing to protect the wood from decaying as it was vulnerable to the weather elements.  Note the Model T Car with a soft roof and open on the sides:

Norman made sure Emma knew how to drive and start their car, even though it came with a crank start. Emma did drive, but often chose to ride a horse into town. She probably had a smoother ride with a horse than she would with the car on bumpy roads!

Pansy and Blanche were born later in the farm house with Grandma Pierson again helping with the deliveries, Pansy in 1918 and Blanche in 1920. Not only Emma was having babies as Lydia Sisson had Hazel a few weeks before Rufus was born, then she had Chester before Pansy was born and so there was more than just Chudleigh kids in the yard. Here is a very early picture of Rufus and Pansy, with Rufus rightly taking good care of his younger sister:

Following are two little stories about Pansy's early days as an energetic, mischievous young lady from her time on this farm. If in a playful mind, Pansy could get into trouble if the parents took their eyes off her for a few seconds:

One day a mule became loose and was roaming around the farm yard. I was outside and the mule started to come towards me. I got scared and bolted and the mule followed and so the chase was on! I ran into the hen house with the mule in pursuit. When the door was slammed shut, I was with the cackling hens, straw, and nesting cages, with floating feathers and dust, where I thought it was safe. The mule having arrived became curious and so poked his head through the open window to see me. As I was screaming, Rufus ran into the house to get his mother to take care of the mule and get things back in order!

There was a metal granary that was open to the elements and over the course of the winter, snow had drifted into the bin, which had melted and turned to ice water. The water was quite deep. I had climbed up a ladder leaning against the granary and then started to walk along a plank that laid across the open bin. Rufus, being such a good honorable young boy, yelled out for me to get off, but for fun I started jumping on the plank to make Rufus a little more excited! Rufus ran into the house to get his parents. There were some tense moments for my parents to coax me off that plank as I felt safe but could have slipped off the board and potentially drowned in the icy water below.

As per a history book in 1923, when Rufus was six years old: Grandma and Grandpa Pierson took him to a sports day event in a horse and buggy, east of Cessford. At this event, Dad saw his very first airplane flown by a flying doctor named Scott. Dad was so fascinated by what he saw, but the Piersons did not know what to expect from the plane and what it would do next and so chose to protect Rufus by keeping him hidden behind the seat in the buggy, much to his dismay! The Piersons never knew that Rufus would one day fly just for fun and even build his own plane from a kit. 

It was while they were living on the Millicent farm that they were given a sewing machine by George Chidley/ Chudleigh's daughter, my Great Aunt Kate that was originally used by her mother, Grandma Chidley/ Chudleigh. Family are concluding that Kate was not into sewing. She never married and did not have children and so her lifestyle was different, but as per the Aunts, Kate did embroidery and mended clothes. Meanwhile, Emma used this machine extensively to make clothes for her kids. Rufus was small enough and the right age to help and so he used to push the peddle for his mother with his hands while on the floor in order to contribute to the process.

Aunt Kate got that machine to the farm by rail car somehow, probably through her brother, Edward, and now it has been handed down through the years so that this machine is in the hands of my sister Mary, as a souvenir of bygone days. Shoo cat! 

Despite a few near misadventures of family, farm life was good, but financially, they were not doing well at all. As per Carl Sisson from the history book:

Though they tried so hard, the first few years were plagued by drought and so there was little to harvest, and it seemed impossible to get ahead. The two years when the crops were good, they were taken by hail one season and grasshoppers the next. 

You needed a lot of luck with the weather, and there was no insurance policy for failure due to weather related events, but less risky for land that could be irrigated by way of water being diverted from the Bassano Dam. So the Chudleighs were not doing as well as some of their neighbours who had land on irrigation. Time to move on in 1924 and so  the farm eventually became owned by the Springside Hutterite Colony. Carl and Lydia and kids had already moved on from working for Norman in 1923 as they moved to Duchess when Carl bought the livery stable business.

There was one year on the farm in the early 60's when I was still in school that was extremely dry, and locusts even came calling looking for the crop.  Wind caused soil erosion in the dryland fields, including the hilltops of the Hutterite Colony.  Neighbors to us received permission from the Hutterites to look for artifacts since the wind had blown certain areas down to the subsoil level.  I was invited along and I believe I was walking on what was originally the Chudleigh Hill as part of the Millicent farm.  My focus however was searching for artifacts belonging to the indigenous people, or First Nations.  If I came across anything that probably was used with horses or mules, such as a bit of rope, or metal, like a bridal bit, I was not the least bit interested and threw away, but I did find the most perfect 'Indian' arrowhead, almost razor sharp and in mint condition that could have been used to stop a buffalo.  I made the 'big find' of the day and received kudos from the neighbors. I believe our findings were donated to the local outdoor museum found in the Dinosaur Provincial Park and came to be on display there.   If there ever is a next time to be searching, I guess I should also look for Chudleigh family artifacts! The Hutterites changed their farming methods from the lessons learned that year to minimize any soil erosion in future years.

It Started With a Letter

The problem when I was growing up was that Dad would tell me something, but I would only be partly interested and so what he said only partly registered in my mind.  Then I basically forgot the story behind the letter until now and so I can appreciate the fact that my Aunts can only remember so much from the past being a generation older than me.

Leonard Rasmussen was a neighbor of our new Duchess farm a mile east and south of our place.  He was renovating his farm house for a growing family in the 60's and came across a letter found in the wall frame that was written by Norman Paul Chudleigh.  He gave it to my father and I remember seeing a letter that was  brownish with age and had my grandfather's handwriting on it in ink.  The letter must have found its way into the wall through a  crack somehow and could not be retrieved.

NP's letter in the wall meant he used to live in that house!  Upon research, Leonard bought the farm from a Joseph Puciloski once he returned from the war in 1946.  In the early 20's Joseph needed a house for his family to live in as they were very poor and they confess that their living conditions were quite deplorable as per the Duchess History Book.   Joseph really needed a home and so he heard word of the Chudleigh house on the Millicent farm was for sale for $100 since they had moved to High River for their next adventure.  The only problem is they needed to move it. These words are from Joseph's son Frank who was the same age as Rufus and they used to have some fun time together as kids:

I never knew exactly where the house was located but I knew it was 10 miles north and on the other side of 'the swamp'.  They planned to move the house in the winter when the swamp was frozen over and snow was on the ground.  

The swamp must have been part of the John Ware creek at the bottom of the hill where the farm was located, the creek of which would normally not have much water in it, but it now caught the runoff from the flood irrigation.   

It was a large two storey house and so they actually cut it in half to make the moving easier.  There were sixteen horses hooked up four abreast and they were steered using eight long lines from the second story stairwell of the home.  All went well until they came to the ice on the swamp.  One of the horses named Dick lost his footing and fell down.  They did not dare stop because the ice was so slippery that they would never be able to get the house moving again.  So they dragged Dick across the ice until they reached solid ground on the other side.  Once arrived on location, they fixed up the foundation, joined the two parts of the house together again, and made the home look 'as good as new'.

What all of this means is that a schoolmate of mine from grades one to twelve, Leona Rasmussen, grew up in the house that was owned previously by my grandfather!  I never knew this at the time and so it never came up in conversation.

Now as for the barn where Norman kept his horses, it was probably owned by Sam Howe if not Norman as it was down in the 'swamp' area by John Ware Creek. That barn did not get moved to the Hutterite Colony until 1956 when I was a young lad and so a lot of history had come and gone by then.  I remember Dad saying repeatedly that this was the 'Chudleigh barn', even though it had been used in more recent years by someone else.  This was an exciting event to see as it was so big and technology had advanced enough that the move was being done by truck.  I remember quite vividly the large crowd of Hutterites that were involved and I will never forget witnessing the barn start to move on wheels, once freed up from its foundation. 

(picture to be inserted)

High River Wheat and Cattle Company

Our family moved next to the High River area where Norman was hired to manage the High River Wheat and Cattle Company, owned by Rod Macleay, who just so happened to own the Anchor P Ranch, neighbour of the original Chudleigh farm. Therefore Norman made good use of his established business relationships. This was again an ambitious undertaking that was prone to a high degree of risk since dependent on friendly climate, conducive to crop success using manual labor...well, supplemented with some real horse power this time:

Just studying these pictures shows the horses to be huge, muscle bound, and powerful, not your everyday riding horse. The farm was a big operation requiring extra manpower since self powered machinery had not become a reality for some tasks. Norman inherited some farm hands, but he also brought in some of his own from Millicent, including one cowboy I am aware of named Ed Walker. He was married and Norah, his wife, was paid to help Emma. They worked for Chudleigh's for many years, and started with Norman in Millicent after Carl and Lydia had left to take on a new opportunity in Duchess.

You will note in the pictures that there were some utility poles, but inspecting more closely, there was no wire between the poles yet. This is a bit of a mystery as the telephone had not been invented yet and there was no electricity available in the 20's. My theory is the poles were going to be used for a telegraph system. Since this was a big farm operation owned by Rod MacLeay, who lived elsewhere, he no doubt wanted to be kept abreast on what was happening and whether any issues were being experienced. Pansy and Elizabeth were too young to remember if the family was capable of sending off a telegram from their house using this technology. 

The farm came with a large bunk house for the hired hands, including a dance hall on the second floor since dance was used as a means of social entertainment for the community and Rod MacLeay could afford to build as an employee benefit for the workers. The kids were told to not ever go into the bunk house or on the 2nd floor, as both were private for the hired hands and 'out of territory'. Emma arranged for a tour up front so the kids would no longer be curious for what it looked like. This strategy worked and Pansy still has her memory for the tour and what she saw. 

There was more family to come, as Elizabeth Alice was born in the High River hospital. Pansy was quite interested in that hospital since it was the first official one she had ever been to! Blanche was naturally quite jealous when Elizabeth was born since she no longer received as much attention. So Emma was 25 years of age, married and in a second major farm operation, and now had four children! There is no one on this planet that loved children more than Emma, even if it were not her own kids. There is no one who would disagree with me, none, and I am sure Norman recognized all of her good qualities.

Emma had a beautiful watch and some nice pieces of jewelry. Norman was also adamant that Emma always had nice clothes and hired help. Norman really looked after her and was very proud of her. Norman and Emma became quite the jolly couple. They both had very good senses of humour along with Perce and they used to laugh a lot and always had lots of conversation. Perce and Norman would have a social drink with others on occasion, but as for Emma, not at all. 

Emma came from a family where drinking was considered taboo. Emma needed help due to the size of the farm, and then there were the children to take care of, and so she had at least two helpers to put the meals together to give the men lots of nourishment and energy for their day of work in the field. Emma was very happy living on this farm as she was having the life she dreamed would become a reality.

Pansy always had straight hair, Blanche had some wave to it, while baby Elizabeth had curly hair! Go figure! Note the plain, white dresses that Blanche and Pansy had on following. Uncle Ed used to box and ship out any old shirts he no longer wanted, then Emma took apart any shirt that Norman did not want, and convert the material to a dress for her girls to wear. Such creativity! Ed's shirts had a lot of material for Emma to use since he was a fairly big man (over six feet tall):

Pansy did not always get things right, having to learn the difference between right and wrong. She was the most mischievous despite being the oldest daughter and the one who was supposed to set an example. There was always lots of people at meal time requiring the dinner table to be large and strong enough to accommodate. The table even had a turntable for ease of transferring food around to the hungry. The first people at the table were kids if hungry and the turntable represents an opportunity to have some fun. 

One day the cooks nicely placed some food on the table with more to come while the farmhands were washing their grubby hands and faces Waiting for the rest to arrive, the young ones decided to spin the turntable a bit to test it out. It was Pansy who rotated the turn table fast enough to send all food onto the floor, creating a noise and mess, and a round of scolding and discipline to those who were present. Pansy never confessed and so all were in trouble, but was that fair? 

The truth came out eventually and we know who did it now, as per Elizabeth of 94 years: Pansy is as guilty as sin!

The Case of the Missing Mandolin

When I as a young lad climbed up the stairs of the old Duchess farm house, there was a storage room behind a wall with a door beckoning me to open, and being a little curious is all it took. It was cold, dark, and musty inside as the roof line angled down and so was not usable floor space, but ideal for attic storage. There were artifacts that I had never seen before: some ancient books that apparently belonged to Norman thought to be of value and probably would have been if only I kept them when passed down the line. What I became intrigued with the most was what looked like an old banjo. A banjo?! 

Kind of an odd shape I thought as I picked it up to observe. It was very light and I can remember it quite vividly since I had never seen anything like it before. Where on earth did this come from? What happened to that instrument and why did I not think that later in life I might be interested in having it still? Over the years, I always wondered who in the family used a banjo? Only my mother was musical with her piano and organ, and Emma could use a harmonica, but not a string instrument. My Aunts did not know when asked, but it finally came back to Pansy and she phoned me with her memory recall.

When living in High River and Norman took over managing the farm operation which already came with some hired hands, one of which was a young cowboy who liked to play his 'banjo'. Pansy does not recall his name, but knew that he was younger than the others and so took more interest in them as kids since he could relate to them more. He therefore became popular since he was fun to be around and took the time to be in a playful mood. 

Upon further research as to shape, what I saw however, was not a banjo at all, but it was indeed a bowl back mandolin:

Mandolins produced a sound different from a banjo or guitar, much sharper, and was most suitable for blue grass country type of music which was quite popular in the 1920's. It is often accompanied by a harmonica and so was used by a cowboy sitting around a campfire and easier to carry around with him. Song melodies were constructed to work best with this type of instrument. Upon further research there were as many mandolins produced and sold over a period of time as there were guitars a hundred years ago. 

The mandolin I saw was worn and weather beaten quite a bit and so it had seen better days, but if only I had that mandolin now for 'show and tell'. How could I have known over 60 years ago what my interest in this would have been like today. It was very much an artifact from the life of the cowboy on the wide open range. All I have is my memory and now education for what it was. That young cowboy and his mandolin will never be seen together again. As per Pansy:

One of the hired hands of the farm, a young cowboy, taught Rufus how to make a wooden bow and arrow, and so Rufus often played with his creation and setup a cardboard box in the yard to shoot at. One of his shots came at the same time that I went to the box to get a closer look at the arrows already in place. Rufus's arrow scraped some of my skin off just below my left eye! This was a close call and we got into some mighty fine trouble over this!

There was a corral with two cows and calves in it. As a 6 year old I decided to try to ride the calves and so I did this on several occasions, but not something that Rufus wanted to try; besides our parents would not have approved. One calf was fairly easy to ride, but the other objected quite violently. I hopped on the calves once they got close to the fence where I was waiting for them. I fell off the wilder calf a couple of times, but fortunately did not get hurt.

There was a long standing agreement with the owner of the farm, prior to the Chudleigh's arrival, that members of the First Nations were allowed to give their horses a drink when riding through their property. Being more nomadic and riding a horse between reserves, their clothing was not that of a cowboy, but very much hand made native costume. The kids could see from afar when an 'Indian' was coming towards them. The horse trough was right beside the barn and it always had water in it, thanks to a windmill that pumped water up from a well. The kids had a secret place they could hide in the pump house portion of the barn behind a wall.  Keeping quiet as a mouse, they would peak through a small hole in a board to observe the stranger come by and give his horse a drink. They were certainly timid of the stranger since native and in full costume.

I became aware of Perce's favorite saying in the morning to get the family up: ”Daylight in the swamp, the Indians are coming!” Perce must have picked up this saying in High River. My father continued this tradition and used this saying on me all the time, and I too with my own children, even though I always wondered where this originated from until now! 

Rod McLeay gave the Chudleighs a horse for the kids to ride after his own kids were no longer needing one. Here is a picture of the four kids on that horse named Buttons, beside their farm house:

Along with the opportunity to ride horses came responsibility for Rufus and Pansy, and that was they had to ride horses to round up the milk cows and bring them home to the barn every late afternoon.  Blanche was too young for this still, but she had her own responsibility and that was to take care of baby Elizabeth when her mother was too busy getting the next meal ready, or doing some other daily chores, such as housekeeping.

Washing clothes for the family was a very big event for Emma since they had to be done manually with tubs, and it took all day, placing the clothes on lines to dry when the weather was cooperating. Emma 'drew a line' however when it came to Perce, as he had to wash his own clothes. Emma had a schedule that she pretty much kept to for her entire life: Monday – washing, Tuesday –ironing, Wednesday – mending, Thursday – baking, Friday – cleaning the house, Saturday – shopping in town. Sunday was not always a day of rest if there was other work to do.

The time came for Rufus and Pansy to go to school, but the distance of seven miles in winter by horseback, needing to open and close 10 gates along the way, and missing a lot of days due to inclement weather proved too hard to cope with. Would you want your kids starting grade one like this? It would have been insane! Norman knew the importance of education and they only hoped that it would work out moving to this area. The kids missing out on education was a very serious problem. So Rufus was sent to Millicent to stay with his Uncle and Aunt, Bill and Maggie Hosler so that he could start school there. This was not an acceptable scenario for either Emma or Norman, and Rufus did not want to be so far away from home. Pansy did not go back to school again with Rufus away as she was two years younger. Blanche was still too young anyways and so not a problem yet.

In 1927, a disastrous snow storm in August ruined the crops. This was the 'final straw' when it came to bad fortune. Norman decided to move again...back to the village of Duchess. Emma was quite upset as she did not want to go back, thinking she had started a new life in High River, but with Rufus away attending school and Pansy needing to restart, something had to be done! I am sure Norman was hurting inside from his two problematic experiences farming, and wanting to continue to gain success. But the love for his family made him realize he needed his family together, to take better care of them, to give them more time since he had to work from sunrise to sunset, to give his kids the best education he could, and to persuade Emma this was the best choice to make. 

Emma really liked the lifestyle they had while in High River, the challenges they were managing, the comradeship they had with their work staff. I think she also knew of the hardships they were about to face starting over again since each move took a toll on their resources. There was plenty of emotion in that talk, but there was comfort in coming back to Duchess for Norman with caring friends and relatives waiting and knowing what to expect. Norman must have been humbled by his experiences as he came back financially poor and just in a mode of survival. Never again did he undertake managing such a big farm operation as his focus shifted completely to family. 

Mary and I had one visit to the High River farm with Mom and Dad in 1963 and there was nothing left but marks as to where the foundation for the house and barn were located in barren country, with mountain peaks a few miles away. Being at higher elevation, I noticed the area was exposed to the elements. Dad took us a few hundred yards to a special cave in the side of a hill that sheltered one from the cold north wind where the kids used to play all the time. They did not have much to play with, or they had very crude toys, such as horse sticks. They had to use their imagination and live in a world of pretend and so the cave became their outdoor play centre. A corner became the area where the horses were to be and so they placed their horse sticks there. Another area was the farm house in their world of make believe.