Krew Kuts: The Goose Lake Line – Part 1
By Bernie Krewski
Most people know the basic story of building the Canadian Pacific Railway – to connect eastern Canada with the west coast, firmly establishing the external boundaries of Canada. Stephen R. Bown describes the development of this major infrastructure, completed in 1885, in his recent book, “Dominion: The Railway and the Rise of Canada.” Less well known are the multiple reasons for building the railway known as the Goose Lake Line, 614 km of track from Saskatoon to Calgary leading to the creation of the town of Oyen.
The GLL has always been somewhat of a mystery to me despite my father spending twenty-five years maintaining those tracks so CNR trains could operate efficiently. No one has written a history of this railway. Most discourse in local history books is about the hardships of homesteading and proving that John Palliser was wrong – agriculture could thrive in this semi-arid geographical triangle.
My exploration of this subject begins with the voices of two children whose letters were published in two well-known newspapers.
The first letter was written by Anne E. Clemens, age nine, the daughter of Mrs. and Mr. M.B. Clemens living near Chinook. It was published July 8, 1911, in the “Playtime for Little People” section of The Globe in Toronto, the forerunner to the current Globe and Mail. Entitled “All About the West,” she addresses Playtime’s editor.
“Dear Rose Rambler: I got quite interested in the letters in Playtime in The Globe and thought I would write one and would be very pleased to see it in print.
We live on a farm of six hundred and forty acres, with a house on it twenty by twenty-four feet. There are a lot of bachelors in this country, so not many children; we have no school yet but may get one next year.
I have three brothers and two sisters, I being the second youngest. I have two big brothers and one who is twelve years old. My big brothers last fall went west to Didsbury to work. Didsbury is a little town about one hundred and fifty miles from here and they drove all the way with a wagon and a tent on it. They left in October and can’t come home this spring. I have one sister who is married and one five years old.
Last summer they built the railroad from Kindersley to Alsask and this summer will continue building the line to the Red Deer River where it will connect with the C.N.R. line from the north to Calgary.
We have lived in Alberta for ten years, having lived in western Canada until last spring when we came out here.
My brother who is twelve years old caught gophers with snares last summer. We also have a little black spaniel which catches gophers. I guess I will close now, wishing Playtime and all its readers some happy holidays. I remain, your friend.”
The second letter by Burns Peacock of Reist (a post office northwest of Youngstown established in 1911) was published in the Peter Pan Club section of the Calgary Daily Herald, on May 31,1913.
“Dear Peter Pan: This is my first letter to your club. I live on a farm near the Goose Lake Line of the Conrail (?) road ten miles west of Youngstown. We have ten horses, six cattle, and twenty-one pigs, four turkeys and thirty hens. I am going to school about eight miles away from home. My brother came for me on Friday night. He is taking me back tomorrow. My oldest brother is going to school in Okotoks about two hundred miles from here. We have all the wheat and oats in. We have some barley to put in yet. We take the Weekly Herald. Please send me a button.”
Jim Peacock provides a brief history of his family in “Youngstown Memories Across the Years, 1909 – 1983,” 386-387. Burns Peacock was the second of eight children born to Lavine and John Peacock, Jim being the youngest. Burns died in 1918 in a construction accident while working on water wells at the CN water tank at Scotfield. There are no news reports of this accident.
“Sense of place” is a term that characterizes relationships with our surroundings, giving us a feeling of attachment and belonging. For example, the common expression: “I was born in Oyen.” Anne Clemens and Burns Peacock made known to a wide range of readers that they lived in a special place - the Goose Lake Line!
I will have more to say about that in future issues of The Echo.