ANDREW DALGARNO - by the Dalgarno family
Andrew Dalgarno was born in 1856 to Andrew and Christina Dalgarno in Arthur, Ontario, near Kitchener in the County of Wellington. He was a British subject by birth. (Edgar Dalgarno, his grandson, said Andrew was adopted by the family of Christian Gordon Calder and Andrew Dalgarno. It was said that they found him on their doorstep.)
Andrew left Ontario in 1881. He and Alec Wilson travelled on the railway until it ended at Brandon. They then loaded their few possessions, including a plough, into a creaky ox-cart and headed west in 1882. Enroute, they had run into Moose Jaw's earliest settler, Jud Battell, who told them the best soil was west of Moose Jaw. When he arrived in Moose Jaw he applied for a homestead outside of the town in 1884, in what is now known as the Pioneer District. He hauled ammunition during the North-west Rebellion in 1885. In 1886 he built his first house, a 12' x 26' sod house which was worth $150.00. Later that year he rented out his farm and went to work in the Rocky Mountains constructing the Canadian Pacific Railroad. During this year he also made frequent trips back to Ontario.
In 1890, Benjamin Smith and his old friend from Ontario, Andy Dalgarno, had gone into business together. Although born in Wellington County, Dalgarno, a tall, thin, hawk-nosed man, never forgot his Scottish ancestors; a picture taken at the turn of the century shows him proudly attired in an authentic kilt and tam. He had a quick temper - "He had big feet and he used them," his son Ken Dalgarno remembers - "but he got over his anger just as quickly."
Although he was Presbyterian and a loyal Liberal and Ben Smith, his childhood friend, was Methodist and a staunch Conservative, the two men could still agree on everything related to farming. They took every cent they had, borrowed some money from the Hitchcock & McCulloch Bank, secured by their land, and bought a L. D. Sawyer, 16-horsepower, straw-burning steam engine for $400. The engine itself was not tractable; it had to be pulled into the fields by horses. But what it did do was run the Reliance Separator, the threshing machine that more than anything else turned the Canadian prairies into the breadbox of the world. Looking like a great puffing dinosaur, it ate up the sheaves as fast as the men could feed it, and then blew the straw, chaff, and dust into barn-sized piles.
Dalgarno and Smith were among the first in the Moose Jaw district to own a steam-threshing outfit, and families from all over came to admire it. Although it was a rather primitive machine, with no blower attached, Smith loved its shiny red, black, and green body. When he could get it running smoothly, it hummed like a cat whose belly was being rubbed. Sitting atop the beast he could feel its strength rumbling, a power that, by his own mastery, he himself could harness.
Harvesting the wheat on Dalgarno's and Smith's own farms was only a small part of the steam-thresher's job; such was the financial investment, that custom jobs for neighbouring farmers, at three cents per bushel threshed from the stack, five cents from the stook, were essential if bankruptcy was to be avoided. (Once, after the steam engine had overheated and been shut down for the second time in a morning, Andy Dalgarno called out to Ben Smith, "I heard there's a special ward in the mental hospital for chaps like us who crack up under the strain of coddlin' these damn brutes.")
The harvesting was done during the day, the travelling by night. As the owners of the outfit, Smith and Dalgarno had to arrange everything: purchasing and delivering fuel, locating good water - if it was too full of minerals it clogged up the machine's plumbing - performing endless, complicated repairs, and, most important, keeping happy their crew of short-tempered, complaining men. Since Ben Smith was something of a mechanical genius, he often acted as engineer, but another half-dozen hired hands were needed: the firemen, the tankers, the hands to haul the water and the straw, the men to feed the sheaves into the machine, others to haul the grain away. There was a shortage of skilled workers around Moose Jaw. Many Easterners who used working on harvest gangs as a way of looking around for some good land at the same time, had given up on the West as a place of prosperity. Smith and Dalgarno had to be as persuasive and patient as diplomats to keep one or another of the hired hands from blowing high stack and quitting. This wasn't such a problem for quiet, even-tempered Smith; but for someone with a short a fuse as Dalgarno - well, his tongue was raw from biting it.
They were, of course, under pressure to complete all their jobs before the first frost. The farmers who anxiously awaited their arrival were all friends, so that the fate of their harvest, and consequently their future prosperity, rested heavily on the two men's shoulders.
The case of Mrs. Maria Latham, who owned the half-section adjoining the Smith property to the west, was an example. One of the few women in the area who farmed alone, she was an attractive and rather alluring widow called Queen Lady Farmer by her neighbours. So anxious was Ben Smith to help Mrs. Latham, that "he'd thrash her wheat first even if Queen Victoria herself was in need," as Sarah Smith caustically pointed out. In November of 1891, the Moose Jaw Times praised Dalgarno and Smith for their diligence in harvesting Mrs. Latham's crop, pointing out that they had thrashed 8,500 bushels of wheat and 2,000 of oats. Mrs. Latham made $420, Smith and Dalgarno $315.
Despite such satisfactions, the threshing operation was exhausting, nerve-wracking work. From late August to December, the two men often wouldn't sleep for days on end. They'd go without meals, and a bath was a rarity. Ben Smith, who had always been thin to begin with, "Could have sat in for the scarecrow out in Mother's garden," according to his daughter. But neither he nor Andy Dalgarno would let up until the frost settled in. They were making money, and in a country where "cash was in as short a supply as udders on a bull," what else mattered?
Later they dissolved their partnership.
When Ben demonstrated his latest invention, a machine to do away with gophers, Andy said, "The real reason these contraptions aren't terribly popular is not only can't the little beasties stand the stink, neither can any human being within ten mile."
In the 1890's, Andrew left his brother-in-law on his farm while he went ranching on the north-east corner of Old Wives Lake, where he raised cattle and horses.
Andrew married Hannah Yates, who was from Listowel, Ontario, about the year 1890. They were married in Wesley United Church, in the Pioneer District. In 1892 their first child, Tena, was born.
They went for a few years thinking they would have no more children so they adopted a boy, Sandy. In 1900, George Kenneth was born. In this year they built a brick house on the farm. George is still living in it on the old homestead. In 1902 the last child, La Vina was born.
In 1907, the Dalgarno family rented out the farm again and moved to Victoria for the sake of Hannah's health. Ben was distressed when Andy announced he was auctioning off everything on his farm. He would miss the old sod, even his ridiculous practical jokes. They were only in Victoria for three years when Tina came down with polio.
In 1912 Andrew set up Sandy on the farm while they were in Victoria. In the summer of 1912, Sandy had put in the crop and then came down with typhoid fever and passed away at the age of eighteen. Andrew and Kenneth were home at the time, but they had to send for Hannah in Victoria.
In 1913, the family moved to Toronto for the sake of Tina's health. They remained there for two years and then came back to the farm.
In 1918, Kenneth Dalgarno married Lily Smail and Andrew gave up his farm to his son and daughter-in-law. He then retired to Moose Jaw. After he retired he often came out to the farm to help, but led a very quiet life.
Taken from Rolling Hills Review, 1840-1980. Crestwynd Community Club, 1980 and from Revenge of the Land by Siggins.
DINNER PARTY IS GIVEN IN HONOR
OF DALGARNOS
Forty-Fifth Annivery of Wedding Celebrated By Boharm Couple.
(Special to the Times-Herald.)
Boharm, Nov. 2. - A delightful dinner party was given in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Dalgarno, by Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Dalgarno, on Thursday evening, at 6:00 o'clock, the occasion being the forty-fifth anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Dalgarno's wedding.
Andrew Dalgarno and Hannah Yates were united in marriage on October 28, 1891, in the present city of Moose Jaw. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dalgarno came from Listowel, Ont., Mr. Dalgarno being one of the old-timers of 1881, who later was engaged in hauling supplies for the troops, in 1885.
Mr. and Mrs. Dalgarno have three children, Mrs. James Justason, of White Bear, Sask.; Mr. George Kenneth Dalgarno, of the Pioneer district, and Mrs. W. Henry Smith, of Moose Jaw, Sask., and eight grandchildren, one granddaughter and seven grandsons. The greater part of their wedded life has been spent in Saskatchewan, but seven years were spent in Victoria, B. C., and two years in Toronto, Ont., prior to 1915, when they returned to this district.
Among the invited guests were: Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ledingham and Bert; Mr. and Mrs. McKinley and Dorothy; Mr. and Mrs. Earl Berry; Mrs. Yates; Mr. Blair McPherson; Lloyd, Sandy and Edgar Dalgarno; Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Smith, Andrew and Kenneth; Mr. George Yates and Mr. and Mrs. Alex Zess; Mrs. A. Dalgarno Dunkirk; Mr. and Mrs. W. Yates and Gordon; and Mr. and Mrs. Ted Heath, Moose Jaw.
Mr. and Mrs. James Justason and family of White Bear, Sask., visited the district a few weeks ago and were unable to be present.
The table was centred by a three-tiered bride's cake, decorated in white and silver. After dinner a jolly evening was spent in the singing of favorite songs, with Miss Dorothy McKinley at the piano. Miss McKinley also favored with piano selections.
Paper of Nov. 2, 1936
Andrew's wife, Hannah, passed away on the farm at the age of 74. Andrew passed away at the age of 89 in 1945; after leading a full and useful life.
In an article, Pioneers Recall Early Moose Jaw the following appeared.
Andrew Dalgarno, a pioneer of the Moose Jaw district in the early 80's who passed away about 20 years ago, at the great age of 89 years, was a native son of Ontario of Scottish parentage.
Brought up in an Irish settlement of which his father was one of the founders, Andrew's natural Scottish pride was often given a severe jolt when he was taken for an Irishman.
In his memoirs, which were loaned to The Times-Herald in the '40's by Andy Dalgarno's daughter, Mrs. H. W. Smith, he painted vivid pictures of pioneering life in rural Ontario in the far-away '70's, sketched his settlement in the Moose Jaw district and gave a fleeting glance of work that helped to crush the Riel Rebellion in 1885.
In the story he told of life in the early days Andy Dalgarno said, "My father was a pioneer. He owned a yoke of oxen, an axe, logging chains, a hammer and a draw knife. You made your own jumper, or drag, or harrow, with wooden pins. No Nails.
"Next thing a shanty, no nails, all wooden hinges and wooden door latches with string to lift the latch. No roads, just blazed trails through the bush. Clear away a patch of ground big enough to build a shanty so that trees would not fall on it. Roof it with boughs, chink it and either stuff it with moss or plaster it with mud. Get a few panes of glass, make your own window sash or get a joiner to do it.
Father was a "jack-of-all-trades', making furniture and furnishings, shanties to live in and coffins to lie in when you died. Many farmers started in that way and became prosperous in a short time.
We raised horses, sheep and cattle. Took the wool off the backs of the sheep and hand carded it. Mother spun the yarn, reeled it into hanks, colored it and got it woven into cloth.
On one occasion he started off with six shirts on all of different colors every few hours he threw off a shirt and was a different man.
Shirley Tort
Andrew Dalgarno was born in 1856 to Andrew and Christina Dalgarno in Arthur, Ontario, near Kitchener in the County of Wellington. He was a British subject by birth. (Edgar Dalgarno, his grandson, said Andrew was adopted by the family of Christian Gordon Calder and Andrew Dalgarno. It was said that they found him on their doorstep.)
Andrew left Ontario in 1881. He and Alec Wilson travelled on the railway until it ended at Brandon. They then loaded their few possessions, including a plough, into a creaky ox-cart and headed west in 1882. Enroute, they had run into Moose Jaw's earliest settler, Jud Battell, who told them the best soil was west of Moose Jaw. When he arrived in Moose Jaw he applied for a homestead outside of the town in 1884, in what is now known as the Pioneer District. He hauled ammunition during the North-west Rebellion in 1885. In 1886 he built his first house, a 12' x 26' sod house which was worth $150.00. Later that year he rented out his farm and went to work in the Rocky Mountains constructing the Canadian Pacific Railroad. During this year he also made frequent trips back to Ontario.
In 1890, Benjamin Smith and his old friend from Ontario, Andy Dalgarno, had gone into business together. Although born in Wellington County, Dalgarno, a tall, thin, hawk-nosed man, never forgot his Scottish ancestors; a picture taken at the turn of the century shows him proudly attired in an authentic kilt and tam. He had a quick temper - "He had big feet and he used them," his son Ken Dalgarno remembers - "but he got over his anger just as quickly."
Although he was Presbyterian and a loyal Liberal and Ben Smith, his childhood friend, was Methodist and a staunch Conservative, the two men could still agree on everything related to farming. They took every cent they had, borrowed some money from the Hitchcock & McCulloch Bank, secured by their land, and bought a L. D. Sawyer, 16-horsepower, straw-burning steam engine for $400. The engine itself was not tractable; it had to be pulled into the fields by horses. But what it did do was run the Reliance Separator, the threshing machine that more than anything else turned the Canadian prairies into the breadbox of the world. Looking like a great puffing dinosaur, it ate up the sheaves as fast as the men could feed it, and then blew the straw, chaff, and dust into barn-sized piles.
Dalgarno and Smith were among the first in the Moose Jaw district to own a steam-threshing outfit, and families from all over came to admire it. Although it was a rather primitive machine, with no blower attached, Smith loved its shiny red, black, and green body. When he could get it running smoothly, it hummed like a cat whose belly was being rubbed. Sitting atop the beast he could feel its strength rumbling, a power that, by his own mastery, he himself could harness.
Harvesting the wheat on Dalgarno's and Smith's own farms was only a small part of the steam-thresher's job; such was the financial investment, that custom jobs for neighbouring farmers, at three cents per bushel threshed from the stack, five cents from the stook, were essential if bankruptcy was to be avoided. (Once, after the steam engine had overheated and been shut down for the second time in a morning, Andy Dalgarno called out to Ben Smith, "I heard there's a special ward in the mental hospital for chaps like us who crack up under the strain of coddlin' these damn brutes.")
The harvesting was done during the day, the travelling by night. As the owners of the outfit, Smith and Dalgarno had to arrange everything: purchasing and delivering fuel, locating good water - if it was too full of minerals it clogged up the machine's plumbing - performing endless, complicated repairs, and, most important, keeping happy their crew of short-tempered, complaining men. Since Ben Smith was something of a mechanical genius, he often acted as engineer, but another half-dozen hired hands were needed: the firemen, the tankers, the hands to haul the water and the straw, the men to feed the sheaves into the machine, others to haul the grain away. There was a shortage of skilled workers around Moose Jaw. Many Easterners who used working on harvest gangs as a way of looking around for some good land at the same time, had given up on the West as a place of prosperity. Smith and Dalgarno had to be as persuasive and patient as diplomats to keep one or another of the hired hands from blowing high stack and quitting. This wasn't such a problem for quiet, even-tempered Smith; but for someone with a short a fuse as Dalgarno - well, his tongue was raw from biting it.
They were, of course, under pressure to complete all their jobs before the first frost. The farmers who anxiously awaited their arrival were all friends, so that the fate of their harvest, and consequently their future prosperity, rested heavily on the two men's shoulders.
The case of Mrs. Maria Latham, who owned the half-section adjoining the Smith property to the west, was an example. One of the few women in the area who farmed alone, she was an attractive and rather alluring widow called Queen Lady Farmer by her neighbours. So anxious was Ben Smith to help Mrs. Latham, that "he'd thrash her wheat first even if Queen Victoria herself was in need," as Sarah Smith caustically pointed out. In November of 1891, the Moose Jaw Times praised Dalgarno and Smith for their diligence in harvesting Mrs. Latham's crop, pointing out that they had thrashed 8,500 bushels of wheat and 2,000 of oats. Mrs. Latham made $420, Smith and Dalgarno $315.
Despite such satisfactions, the threshing operation was exhausting, nerve-wracking work. From late August to December, the two men often wouldn't sleep for days on end. They'd go without meals, and a bath was a rarity. Ben Smith, who had always been thin to begin with, "Could have sat in for the scarecrow out in Mother's garden," according to his daughter. But neither he nor Andy Dalgarno would let up until the frost settled in. They were making money, and in a country where "cash was in as short a supply as udders on a bull," what else mattered?
Later they dissolved their partnership.
When Ben demonstrated his latest invention, a machine to do away with gophers, Andy said, "The real reason these contraptions aren't terribly popular is not only can't the little beasties stand the stink, neither can any human being within ten mile."
In the 1890's, Andrew left his brother-in-law on his farm while he went ranching on the north-east corner of Old Wives Lake, where he raised cattle and horses.
Andrew married Hannah Yates, who was from Listowel, Ontario, about the year 1890. They were married in Wesley United Church, in the Pioneer District. In 1892 their first child, Tena, was born.
They went for a few years thinking they would have no more children so they adopted a boy, Sandy. In 1900, George Kenneth was born. In this year they built a brick house on the farm. George is still living in it on the old homestead. In 1902 the last child, La Vina was born.
In 1907, the Dalgarno family rented out the farm again and moved to Victoria for the sake of Hannah's health. Ben was distressed when Andy announced he was auctioning off everything on his farm. He would miss the old sod, even his ridiculous practical jokes. They were only in Victoria for three years when Tina came down with polio.
In 1912 Andrew set up Sandy on the farm while they were in Victoria. In the summer of 1912, Sandy had put in the crop and then came down with typhoid fever and passed away at the age of eighteen. Andrew and Kenneth were home at the time, but they had to send for Hannah in Victoria.
In 1913, the family moved to Toronto for the sake of Tina's health. They remained there for two years and then came back to the farm.
In 1918, Kenneth Dalgarno married Lily Smail and Andrew gave up his farm to his son and daughter-in-law. He then retired to Moose Jaw. After he retired he often came out to the farm to help, but led a very quiet life.
Taken from Rolling Hills Review, 1840-1980. Crestwynd Community Club, 1980 and from Revenge of the Land by Siggins.
DINNER PARTY IS GIVEN IN HONOR
OF DALGARNOS
Forty-Fifth Annivery of Wedding Celebrated By Boharm Couple.
(Special to the Times-Herald.)
Boharm, Nov. 2. - A delightful dinner party was given in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Dalgarno, by Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Dalgarno, on Thursday evening, at 6:00 o'clock, the occasion being the forty-fifth anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Dalgarno's wedding.
Andrew Dalgarno and Hannah Yates were united in marriage on October 28, 1891, in the present city of Moose Jaw. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dalgarno came from Listowel, Ont., Mr. Dalgarno being one of the old-timers of 1881, who later was engaged in hauling supplies for the troops, in 1885.
Mr. and Mrs. Dalgarno have three children, Mrs. James Justason, of White Bear, Sask.; Mr. George Kenneth Dalgarno, of the Pioneer district, and Mrs. W. Henry Smith, of Moose Jaw, Sask., and eight grandchildren, one granddaughter and seven grandsons. The greater part of their wedded life has been spent in Saskatchewan, but seven years were spent in Victoria, B. C., and two years in Toronto, Ont., prior to 1915, when they returned to this district.
Among the invited guests were: Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ledingham and Bert; Mr. and Mrs. McKinley and Dorothy; Mr. and Mrs. Earl Berry; Mrs. Yates; Mr. Blair McPherson; Lloyd, Sandy and Edgar Dalgarno; Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Smith, Andrew and Kenneth; Mr. George Yates and Mr. and Mrs. Alex Zess; Mrs. A. Dalgarno Dunkirk; Mr. and Mrs. W. Yates and Gordon; and Mr. and Mrs. Ted Heath, Moose Jaw.
Mr. and Mrs. James Justason and family of White Bear, Sask., visited the district a few weeks ago and were unable to be present.
The table was centred by a three-tiered bride's cake, decorated in white and silver. After dinner a jolly evening was spent in the singing of favorite songs, with Miss Dorothy McKinley at the piano. Miss McKinley also favored with piano selections.
Paper of Nov. 2, 1936
Andrew's wife, Hannah, passed away on the farm at the age of 74. Andrew passed away at the age of 89 in 1945; after leading a full and useful life.
In an article, Pioneers Recall Early Moose Jaw the following appeared.
Andrew Dalgarno, a pioneer of the Moose Jaw district in the early 80's who passed away about 20 years ago, at the great age of 89 years, was a native son of Ontario of Scottish parentage.
Brought up in an Irish settlement of which his father was one of the founders, Andrew's natural Scottish pride was often given a severe jolt when he was taken for an Irishman.
In his memoirs, which were loaned to The Times-Herald in the '40's by Andy Dalgarno's daughter, Mrs. H. W. Smith, he painted vivid pictures of pioneering life in rural Ontario in the far-away '70's, sketched his settlement in the Moose Jaw district and gave a fleeting glance of work that helped to crush the Riel Rebellion in 1885.
In the story he told of life in the early days Andy Dalgarno said, "My father was a pioneer. He owned a yoke of oxen, an axe, logging chains, a hammer and a draw knife. You made your own jumper, or drag, or harrow, with wooden pins. No Nails.
"Next thing a shanty, no nails, all wooden hinges and wooden door latches with string to lift the latch. No roads, just blazed trails through the bush. Clear away a patch of ground big enough to build a shanty so that trees would not fall on it. Roof it with boughs, chink it and either stuff it with moss or plaster it with mud. Get a few panes of glass, make your own window sash or get a joiner to do it.
Father was a "jack-of-all-trades', making furniture and furnishings, shanties to live in and coffins to lie in when you died. Many farmers started in that way and became prosperous in a short time.
We raised horses, sheep and cattle. Took the wool off the backs of the sheep and hand carded it. Mother spun the yarn, reeled it into hanks, colored it and got it woven into cloth.
On one occasion he started off with six shirts on all of different colors every few hours he threw off a shirt and was a different man.
Shirley Tort
ANDREW DALGARNO - by the Dalgarno family
Andrew Dalgarno was born in 1856 to Andrew and Christina Dalgarno in Arthur, Ontario, near Kitchener in the County of Wellington. He was a British subject by birth. (Edgar Dalgarno, his grandson, said Andrew was adopted by the family of Christian Gordon Calder and Andrew Dalgarno. It was said that they found him on their doorstep.)
Andrew left Ontario in 1881. He and Alec Wilson travelled on the railway until it ended at Brandon. They then loaded their few possessions, including a plough, into a creaky ox-cart and headed west in 1882. Enroute, they had run into Moose Jaw's earliest settler, Jud Battell, who told them the best soil was west of Moose Jaw. When he arrived in Moose Jaw he applied for a homestead outside of the town in 1884, in what is now known as the Pioneer District. He hauled ammunition during the North-west Rebellion in 1885. In 1886 he built his first house, a 12' x 26' sod house which was worth $150.00. Later that year he rented out his farm and went to work in the Rocky Mountains constructing the Canadian Pacific Railroad. During this year he also made frequent trips back to Ontario.
In 1890, Benjamin Smith and his old friend from Ontario, Andy Dalgarno, had gone into business together. Although born in Wellington County, Dalgarno, a tall, thin, hawk-nosed man, never forgot his Scottish ancestors; a picture taken at the turn of the century shows him proudly attired in an authentic kilt and tam. He had a quick temper - "He had big feet and he used them," his son Ken Dalgarno remembers - "but he got over his anger just as quickly."
Although he was Presbyterian and a loyal Liberal and Ben Smith, his childhood friend, was Methodist and a staunch Conservative, the two men could still agree on everything related to farming. They took every cent they had, borrowed some money from the Hitchcock & McCulloch Bank, secured by their land, and bought a L. D. Sawyer, 16-horsepower, straw-burning steam engine for $400. The engine itself was not tractable; it had to be pulled into the fields by horses. But what it did do was run the Reliance Separator, the threshing machine that more than anything else turned the Canadian prairies into the breadbox of the world. Looking like a great puffing dinosaur, it ate up the sheaves as fast as the men could feed it, and then blew the straw, chaff, and dust into barn-sized piles.
Dalgarno and Smith were among the first in the Moose Jaw district to own a steam-threshing outfit, and families from all over came to admire it. Although it was a rather primitive machine, with no blower attached, Smith loved its shiny red, black, and green body. When he could get it running smoothly, it hummed like a cat whose belly was being rubbed. Sitting atop the beast he could feel its strength rumbling, a power that, by his own mastery, he himself could harness.
Harvesting the wheat on Dalgarno's and Smith's own farms was only a small part of the steam-thresher's job; such was the financial investment, that custom jobs for neighbouring farmers, at three cents per bushel threshed from the stack, five cents from the stook, were essential if bankruptcy was to be avoided. (Once, after the steam engine had overheated and been shut down for the second time in a morning, Andy Dalgarno called out to Ben Smith, "I heard there's a special ward in the mental hospital for chaps like us who crack up under the strain of coddlin' these damn brutes.")
The harvesting was done during the day, the travelling by night. As the owners of the outfit, Smith and Dalgarno had to arrange everything: purchasing and delivering fuel, locating good water - if it was too full of minerals it clogged up the machine's plumbing - performing endless, complicated repairs, and, most important, keeping happy their crew of short-tempered, complaining men. Since Ben Smith was something of a mechanical genius, he often acted as engineer, but another half-dozen hired hands were needed: the firemen, the tankers, the hands to haul the water and the straw, the men to feed the sheaves into the machine, others to haul the grain away. There was a shortage of skilled workers around Moose Jaw. Many Easterners who used working on harvest gangs as a way of looking around for some good land at the same time, had given up on the West as a place of prosperity. Smith and Dalgarno had to be as persuasive and patient as diplomats to keep one or another of the hired hands from blowing high stack and quitting. This wasn't such a problem for quiet, even-tempered Smith; but for someone with a short a fuse as Dalgarno - well, his tongue was raw from biting it.
They were, of course, under pressure to complete all their jobs before the first frost. The farmers who anxiously awaited their arrival were all friends, so that the fate of their harvest, and consequently their future prosperity, rested heavily on the two men's shoulders.
The case of Mrs. Maria Latham, who owned the half-section adjoining the Smith property to the west, was an example. One of the few women in the area who farmed alone, she was an attractive and rather alluring widow called Queen Lady Farmer by her neighbours. So anxious was Ben Smith to help Mrs. Latham, that "he'd thrash her wheat first even if Queen Victoria herself was in need," as Sarah Smith caustically pointed out. In November of 1891, the Moose Jaw Times praised Dalgarno and Smith for their diligence in harvesting Mrs. Latham's crop, pointing out that they had thrashed 8,500 bushels of wheat and 2,000 of oats. Mrs. Latham made $420, Smith and Dalgarno $315.
Despite such satisfactions, the threshing operation was exhausting, nerve-wracking work. From late August to December, the two men often wouldn't sleep for days on end. They'd go without meals, and a bath was a rarity. Ben Smith, who had always been thin to begin with, "Could have sat in for the scarecrow out in Mother's garden," according to his daughter. But neither he nor Andy Dalgarno would let up until the frost settled in. They were making money, and in a country where "cash was in as short a supply as udders on a bull," what else mattered?
Later they dissolved their partnership.
When Ben demonstrated his latest invention, a machine to do away with gophers, Andy said, "The real reason these contraptions aren't terribly popular is not only can't the little beasties stand the stink, neither can any human being within ten mile."
In the 1890's, Andrew left his brother-in-law on his farm while he went ranching on the north-east corner of Old Wives Lake, where he raised cattle and horses.
Andrew married Hannah Yates, who was from Listowel, Ontario, about the year 1890. They were married in Wesley United Church, in the Pioneer District. In 1892 their first child, Tena, was born.
They went for a few years thinking they would have no more children so they adopted a boy, Sandy. In 1900, George Kenneth was born. In this year they built a brick house on the farm. George is still living in it on the old homestead. In 1902 the last child, La Vina was born.
In 1907, the Dalgarno family rented out the farm again and moved to Victoria for the sake of Hannah's health. Ben was distressed when Andy announced he was auctioning off everything on his farm. He would miss the old sod, even his ridiculous practical jokes. They were only in Victoria for three years when Tina came down with polio.
In 1912 Andrew set up Sandy on the farm while they were in Victoria. In the summer of 1912, Sandy had put in the crop and then came down with typhoid fever and passed away at the age of eighteen. Andrew and Kenneth were home at the time, but they had to send for Hannah in Victoria.
In 1913, the family moved to Toronto for the sake of Tina's health. They remained there for two years and then came back to the farm.
In 1918, Kenneth Dalgarno married Lily Smail and Andrew gave up his farm to his son and daughter-in-law. He then retired to Moose Jaw. After he retired he often came out to the farm to help, but led a very quiet life.
Taken from Rolling Hills Review, 1840-1980. Crestwynd Community Club, 1980 and from Revenge of the Land by Siggins.
DINNER PARTY IS GIVEN IN HONOR
OF DALGARNOS
Forty-Fifth Annivery of Wedding Celebrated By Boharm Couple.
(Special to the Times-Herald.)
Boharm, Nov. 2. - A delightful dinner party was given in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Dalgarno, by Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Dalgarno, on Thursday evening, at 6:00 o'clock, the occasion being the forty-fifth anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Dalgarno's wedding.
Andrew Dalgarno and Hannah Yates were united in marriage on October 28, 1891, in the present city of Moose Jaw. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dalgarno came from Listowel, Ont., Mr. Dalgarno being one of the old-timers of 1881, who later was engaged in hauling supplies for the troops, in 1885.
Mr. and Mrs. Dalgarno have three children, Mrs. James Justason, of White Bear, Sask.; Mr. George Kenneth Dalgarno, of the Pioneer district, and Mrs. W. Henry Smith, of Moose Jaw, Sask., and eight grandchildren, one granddaughter and seven grandsons. The greater part of their wedded life has been spent in Saskatchewan, but seven years were spent in Victoria, B. C., and two years in Toronto, Ont., prior to 1915, when they returned to this district.
Among the invited guests were: Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ledingham and Bert; Mr. and Mrs. McKinley and Dorothy; Mr. and Mrs. Earl Berry; Mrs. Yates; Mr. Blair McPherson; Lloyd, Sandy and Edgar Dalgarno; Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Smith, Andrew and Kenneth; Mr. George Yates and Mr. and Mrs. Alex Zess; Mrs. A. Dalgarno Dunkirk; Mr. and Mrs. W. Yates and Gordon; and Mr. and Mrs. Ted Heath, Moose Jaw.
Mr. and Mrs. James Justason and family of White Bear, Sask., visited the district a few weeks ago and were unable to be present.
The table was centred by a three-tiered bride's cake, decorated in white and silver. After dinner a jolly evening was spent in the singing of favorite songs, with Miss Dorothy McKinley at the piano. Miss McKinley also favored with piano selections.
Paper of Nov. 2, 1936
Andrew's wife, Hannah, passed away on the farm at the age of 74. Andrew passed away at the age of 89 in 1945; after leading a full and useful life.
In an article, Pioneers Recall Early Moose Jaw the following appeared.
Andrew Dalgarno, a pioneer of the Moose Jaw district in the early 80's who passed away about 20 years ago, at the great age of 89 years, was a native son of Ontario of Scottish parentage.
Brought up in an Irish settlement of which his father was one of the founders, Andrew's natural Scottish pride was often given a severe jolt when he was taken for an Irishman.
In his memoirs, which were loaned to The Times-Herald in the '40's by Andy Dalgarno's daughter, Mrs. H. W. Smith, he painted vivid pictures of pioneering life in rural Ontario in the far-away '70's, sketched his settlement in the Moose Jaw district and gave a fleeting glance of work that helped to crush the Riel Rebellion in 1885.
In the story he told of life in the early days Andy Dalgarno said, "My father was a pioneer. He owned a yoke of oxen, an axe, logging chains, a hammer and a draw knife. You made your own jumper, or drag, or harrow, with wooden pins. No Nails.
"Next thing a shanty, no nails, all wooden hinges and wooden door latches with string to lift the latch. No roads, just blazed trails through the bush. Clear away a patch of ground big enough to build a shanty so that trees would not fall on it. Roof it with boughs, chink it and either stuff it with moss or plaster it with mud. Get a few panes of glass, make your own window sash or get a joiner to do it.
Father was a "jack-of-all-trades', making furniture and furnishings, shanties to live in and coffins to lie in when you died. Many farmers started in that way and became prosperous in a short time.
We raised horses, sheep and cattle. Took the wool off the backs of the sheep and hand carded it. Mother spun the yarn, reeled it into hanks, colored it and got it woven into cloth.
On one occasion he started off with six shirts on all of different colors every few hours he threw off a shirt and was a different man.
Shirley Tort
Andrew Dalgarno was born in 1856 to Andrew and Christina Dalgarno in Arthur, Ontario, near Kitchener in the County of Wellington. He was a British subject by birth. (Edgar Dalgarno, his grandson, said Andrew was adopted by the family of Christian Gordon Calder and Andrew Dalgarno. It was said that they found him on their doorstep.)
Andrew left Ontario in 1881. He and Alec Wilson travelled on the railway until it ended at Brandon. They then loaded their few possessions, including a plough, into a creaky ox-cart and headed west in 1882. Enroute, they had run into Moose Jaw's earliest settler, Jud Battell, who told them the best soil was west of Moose Jaw. When he arrived in Moose Jaw he applied for a homestead outside of the town in 1884, in what is now known as the Pioneer District. He hauled ammunition during the North-west Rebellion in 1885. In 1886 he built his first house, a 12' x 26' sod house which was worth $150.00. Later that year he rented out his farm and went to work in the Rocky Mountains constructing the Canadian Pacific Railroad. During this year he also made frequent trips back to Ontario.
In 1890, Benjamin Smith and his old friend from Ontario, Andy Dalgarno, had gone into business together. Although born in Wellington County, Dalgarno, a tall, thin, hawk-nosed man, never forgot his Scottish ancestors; a picture taken at the turn of the century shows him proudly attired in an authentic kilt and tam. He had a quick temper - "He had big feet and he used them," his son Ken Dalgarno remembers - "but he got over his anger just as quickly."
Although he was Presbyterian and a loyal Liberal and Ben Smith, his childhood friend, was Methodist and a staunch Conservative, the two men could still agree on everything related to farming. They took every cent they had, borrowed some money from the Hitchcock & McCulloch Bank, secured by their land, and bought a L. D. Sawyer, 16-horsepower, straw-burning steam engine for $400. The engine itself was not tractable; it had to be pulled into the fields by horses. But what it did do was run the Reliance Separator, the threshing machine that more than anything else turned the Canadian prairies into the breadbox of the world. Looking like a great puffing dinosaur, it ate up the sheaves as fast as the men could feed it, and then blew the straw, chaff, and dust into barn-sized piles.
Dalgarno and Smith were among the first in the Moose Jaw district to own a steam-threshing outfit, and families from all over came to admire it. Although it was a rather primitive machine, with no blower attached, Smith loved its shiny red, black, and green body. When he could get it running smoothly, it hummed like a cat whose belly was being rubbed. Sitting atop the beast he could feel its strength rumbling, a power that, by his own mastery, he himself could harness.
Harvesting the wheat on Dalgarno's and Smith's own farms was only a small part of the steam-thresher's job; such was the financial investment, that custom jobs for neighbouring farmers, at three cents per bushel threshed from the stack, five cents from the stook, were essential if bankruptcy was to be avoided. (Once, after the steam engine had overheated and been shut down for the second time in a morning, Andy Dalgarno called out to Ben Smith, "I heard there's a special ward in the mental hospital for chaps like us who crack up under the strain of coddlin' these damn brutes.")
The harvesting was done during the day, the travelling by night. As the owners of the outfit, Smith and Dalgarno had to arrange everything: purchasing and delivering fuel, locating good water - if it was too full of minerals it clogged up the machine's plumbing - performing endless, complicated repairs, and, most important, keeping happy their crew of short-tempered, complaining men. Since Ben Smith was something of a mechanical genius, he often acted as engineer, but another half-dozen hired hands were needed: the firemen, the tankers, the hands to haul the water and the straw, the men to feed the sheaves into the machine, others to haul the grain away. There was a shortage of skilled workers around Moose Jaw. Many Easterners who used working on harvest gangs as a way of looking around for some good land at the same time, had given up on the West as a place of prosperity. Smith and Dalgarno had to be as persuasive and patient as diplomats to keep one or another of the hired hands from blowing high stack and quitting. This wasn't such a problem for quiet, even-tempered Smith; but for someone with a short a fuse as Dalgarno - well, his tongue was raw from biting it.
They were, of course, under pressure to complete all their jobs before the first frost. The farmers who anxiously awaited their arrival were all friends, so that the fate of their harvest, and consequently their future prosperity, rested heavily on the two men's shoulders.
The case of Mrs. Maria Latham, who owned the half-section adjoining the Smith property to the west, was an example. One of the few women in the area who farmed alone, she was an attractive and rather alluring widow called Queen Lady Farmer by her neighbours. So anxious was Ben Smith to help Mrs. Latham, that "he'd thrash her wheat first even if Queen Victoria herself was in need," as Sarah Smith caustically pointed out. In November of 1891, the Moose Jaw Times praised Dalgarno and Smith for their diligence in harvesting Mrs. Latham's crop, pointing out that they had thrashed 8,500 bushels of wheat and 2,000 of oats. Mrs. Latham made $420, Smith and Dalgarno $315.
Despite such satisfactions, the threshing operation was exhausting, nerve-wracking work. From late August to December, the two men often wouldn't sleep for days on end. They'd go without meals, and a bath was a rarity. Ben Smith, who had always been thin to begin with, "Could have sat in for the scarecrow out in Mother's garden," according to his daughter. But neither he nor Andy Dalgarno would let up until the frost settled in. They were making money, and in a country where "cash was in as short a supply as udders on a bull," what else mattered?
Later they dissolved their partnership.
When Ben demonstrated his latest invention, a machine to do away with gophers, Andy said, "The real reason these contraptions aren't terribly popular is not only can't the little beasties stand the stink, neither can any human being within ten mile."
In the 1890's, Andrew left his brother-in-law on his farm while he went ranching on the north-east corner of Old Wives Lake, where he raised cattle and horses.
Andrew married Hannah Yates, who was from Listowel, Ontario, about the year 1890. They were married in Wesley United Church, in the Pioneer District. In 1892 their first child, Tena, was born.
They went for a few years thinking they would have no more children so they adopted a boy, Sandy. In 1900, George Kenneth was born. In this year they built a brick house on the farm. George is still living in it on the old homestead. In 1902 the last child, La Vina was born.
In 1907, the Dalgarno family rented out the farm again and moved to Victoria for the sake of Hannah's health. Ben was distressed when Andy announced he was auctioning off everything on his farm. He would miss the old sod, even his ridiculous practical jokes. They were only in Victoria for three years when Tina came down with polio.
In 1912 Andrew set up Sandy on the farm while they were in Victoria. In the summer of 1912, Sandy had put in the crop and then came down with typhoid fever and passed away at the age of eighteen. Andrew and Kenneth were home at the time, but they had to send for Hannah in Victoria.
In 1913, the family moved to Toronto for the sake of Tina's health. They remained there for two years and then came back to the farm.
In 1918, Kenneth Dalgarno married Lily Smail and Andrew gave up his farm to his son and daughter-in-law. He then retired to Moose Jaw. After he retired he often came out to the farm to help, but led a very quiet life.
Taken from Rolling Hills Review, 1840-1980. Crestwynd Community Club, 1980 and from Revenge of the Land by Siggins.
DINNER PARTY IS GIVEN IN HONOR
OF DALGARNOS
Forty-Fifth Annivery of Wedding Celebrated By Boharm Couple.
(Special to the Times-Herald.)
Boharm, Nov. 2. - A delightful dinner party was given in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Dalgarno, by Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Dalgarno, on Thursday evening, at 6:00 o'clock, the occasion being the forty-fifth anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Dalgarno's wedding.
Andrew Dalgarno and Hannah Yates were united in marriage on October 28, 1891, in the present city of Moose Jaw. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dalgarno came from Listowel, Ont., Mr. Dalgarno being one of the old-timers of 1881, who later was engaged in hauling supplies for the troops, in 1885.
Mr. and Mrs. Dalgarno have three children, Mrs. James Justason, of White Bear, Sask.; Mr. George Kenneth Dalgarno, of the Pioneer district, and Mrs. W. Henry Smith, of Moose Jaw, Sask., and eight grandchildren, one granddaughter and seven grandsons. The greater part of their wedded life has been spent in Saskatchewan, but seven years were spent in Victoria, B. C., and two years in Toronto, Ont., prior to 1915, when they returned to this district.
Among the invited guests were: Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ledingham and Bert; Mr. and Mrs. McKinley and Dorothy; Mr. and Mrs. Earl Berry; Mrs. Yates; Mr. Blair McPherson; Lloyd, Sandy and Edgar Dalgarno; Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Smith, Andrew and Kenneth; Mr. George Yates and Mr. and Mrs. Alex Zess; Mrs. A. Dalgarno Dunkirk; Mr. and Mrs. W. Yates and Gordon; and Mr. and Mrs. Ted Heath, Moose Jaw.
Mr. and Mrs. James Justason and family of White Bear, Sask., visited the district a few weeks ago and were unable to be present.
The table was centred by a three-tiered bride's cake, decorated in white and silver. After dinner a jolly evening was spent in the singing of favorite songs, with Miss Dorothy McKinley at the piano. Miss McKinley also favored with piano selections.
Paper of Nov. 2, 1936
Andrew's wife, Hannah, passed away on the farm at the age of 74. Andrew passed away at the age of 89 in 1945; after leading a full and useful life.
In an article, Pioneers Recall Early Moose Jaw the following appeared.
Andrew Dalgarno, a pioneer of the Moose Jaw district in the early 80's who passed away about 20 years ago, at the great age of 89 years, was a native son of Ontario of Scottish parentage.
Brought up in an Irish settlement of which his father was one of the founders, Andrew's natural Scottish pride was often given a severe jolt when he was taken for an Irishman.
In his memoirs, which were loaned to The Times-Herald in the '40's by Andy Dalgarno's daughter, Mrs. H. W. Smith, he painted vivid pictures of pioneering life in rural Ontario in the far-away '70's, sketched his settlement in the Moose Jaw district and gave a fleeting glance of work that helped to crush the Riel Rebellion in 1885.
In the story he told of life in the early days Andy Dalgarno said, "My father was a pioneer. He owned a yoke of oxen, an axe, logging chains, a hammer and a draw knife. You made your own jumper, or drag, or harrow, with wooden pins. No Nails.
"Next thing a shanty, no nails, all wooden hinges and wooden door latches with string to lift the latch. No roads, just blazed trails through the bush. Clear away a patch of ground big enough to build a shanty so that trees would not fall on it. Roof it with boughs, chink it and either stuff it with moss or plaster it with mud. Get a few panes of glass, make your own window sash or get a joiner to do it.
Father was a "jack-of-all-trades', making furniture and furnishings, shanties to live in and coffins to lie in when you died. Many farmers started in that way and became prosperous in a short time.
We raised horses, sheep and cattle. Took the wool off the backs of the sheep and hand carded it. Mother spun the yarn, reeled it into hanks, colored it and got it woven into cloth.
On one occasion he started off with six shirts on all of different colors every few hours he threw off a shirt and was a different man.
Shirley Tort
Inscription
HANNAH E.
DALGARNO
1864 - 1957
HER HUSBAND
ANDREW
1856 - 1945
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