Recently noted in the obituaries of paNOW was the following: “The family of Dr. Frederick William Baker announces his death in Canmore, Alberta on May 11, 2022 at the age of 90.” When I noticed it, I wondered how many people would make the connection to the history of Prince Albert and area, dating back to the 1885 Resistance and beyond.
Dr. Frederick William Baker was the grandson of Frederick Charles Baker, an early merchant whose business included a store across the South Saskatchewan River from Batoche, as well as a second store on River Street West near where the Diefenbaker Bridge connects to 2nd Avenue West. Dr. Baker was born in Prince Albert, and did much of his elementary and high schooling in the city before graduating from Prince Albert Collegiate Institute and heading off to university in Saskatoon, where he attained a Bachelor of Arts before attending the University of Alberta, from which he graduated with a doctorate in medicine. Although he never again resided in Prince Albert, it was always his home, his Saskatchewan family roots extending from the early 1880s when his grandfather, Frederick Charles Baker, opened a store near the Metis community of Batoche .
Frederick Charles Baker was born in Belleville, Upper Canada (now Ontario) on February 14, 1858. Fred did his schooling in that community, and worked with his father in the family business, a carriage factory. On April 11, 1880, Fred received a diploma in Commercial Education from the Ontario Business College after successfully completed a course there. His diploma read, in part, that he had “a full and thorough Course of Study in the different Branches pertaining to a Commercial Education and that he has sustained his Examinations in all the Departments and Graduates with Honor.”
Late in the autumn of 1880, Fred left Belleville for Chicago, where he worked for a very short time, and then proceeded to Winnipeg where he lived and worked for two years. As a result of the land boom which was occurring in Winnipeg while Fred was there, he learned to buy and sell land. This knowledge was to stand him in good stead in future years.
But Winnipeg was not to be Fred Baker’s permanent home. He had met a fellow Ontarian there who had also gained some business knowledge and experience. Fred Baker and Harry Walters agreed to form a partnership with Harry, who was one year older than Fred, assuming the role of the senior partner.
It was on the west side of the South Saskatchewan River, across from Batoche, at the junction where the Carlton Trail branched off to Prince Albert, known as Fisher’s Crossing, where Walters and Baker established their first store. The pair were obviously successful businessmen, because by December of that year Fred Baker had moved on to Prince Albert to open a branch store in a building recently occupied by J.O. Davis and Company. By February of 1883, they were advertising themselves as Walters and Baker, General Merchants, Prince Albert, N.W.T. Their advertising subsequently would read Walters and Baker, General Merchants, Prince Albert – Batoche.
Three years after leaving home, Fred Baker was well established in “the West” and was financially independent.
Part of the reason that Walters and Baker were so successful stemmed from their ability to supply the needs of the federal government’s treaty obligations to the First Nations people. However, the community of Prince Albert and the surrounding area was receiving increasing numbers of immigrants, many of them who were turning to farming, and Walters and Baker became adept at supplying their needs in addition to the requirements of the First Nations and Metis who already populated the area of the Saskatchewan River basin. Both Walters and Baker made trips east for supplies, and to visit friends. Harry Walters continued to run the store at Batoche, and Fred Baker ran the Prince Albert store.
Even the events of the 1885 Resistance did not cause the set back which could have affected the business greatly. At the beginning of the conflict, their store at Batoche was raided by the supporters of Louis Riel, and Walters was taken prisoner, held first in the basement of the store, and then in the Batoche church. Three days after being moved to the church, Walters was released, and travelled to Prince Albert where he and Baker joined the Volunteers.
In the meantime, the Riel forces utilised the store as their headquarters. This led to heavy damage caused by the barrage fired at the building by the Canadian forces. As a result, after the Resistance was quelled, the store was closed and the partnership continued to do business from its Prince Albert branch only.
By 1889, possibly due to varying business ideas, Baker had bought out Harry Walters, becoming the sole owner of the business. He retained ownership until 1907 when he sold it to his friend, George Russell. It is widely believed that Fred was involved in so many other business and personal matters that he no longer felt capable of running the business at a level with which he was comfortable.
Also in 1889, on September 2nd, Fred Baker married Katherine Cunningham in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Katherine was the sister of Mary (Cunningham) McGuire, whose husband sat on the bench in Prince Albert. Although the marriage occurred in a Roman Catholic church, Baker had indicated that he intended to remain committed to his Presbyterian roots. Family history suggests that Mary’s husband, Judge Thomas H. McGuire, had intervened with the bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese to smooth the waters so that the marriage would be allowed.
Fred and Katherine eventually had six children, five of whom lived into their adult years.
By 1892, Baker had accumulated sufficient financial resources that he was able to begin using the real estate skills which he had learned during his two years in Winnipeg. This interest in real estate lasted for the remainder of his life, although after the La Colle Falls debacle, his own real estate portfolio was greatly reduced.
Fred had been elected as a manager of St. Paul’s Presbyterian church in February, 1885 and had, as previously noted, enlisted as a member of the Prince Albert Volunteers during the Resistance. Another community activity in which he participated was on a panel of judges for the poultry competition at the fourth annual exhibition of the Lorne Agricultural Society.
In 1891, Baker was elected to Town Council, a position he held for five years. In 1896, he ran for mayor, but was defeated by Samuel McLeod. Two years later, he was successful in winning the mayor’s chair, and continued to serve on Council until 1906.
Fred also continued to serve as a volunteer within the community. Prior to the family’s move to Vancouver in 1907, he was feted for his services to the board of the Victoria General Hospital for his involvement as a director and the board’s chief officer. The Board of Trade, on which he was serving as vice president, also noted his involvement.
Shortly after his arrival in Vancouver, it was noted in the Vancouver Province that two “millionaires”, recent arrivals from Prince Albert, had purchased a hotel on Cordova Street. The New Fountain Hotel had been bought from its previous owners by J.H. Sanderson and F.C. Baker. How long these two former Prince Albertans owned this hotel, and when and to whom they eventually sold it, is unknown.
Baker and his family stayed in Vancouver for a mere six months before returning to Prince Albert, and to the house which they had left behind. It is unknown why they returned, but it is interesting to note that their family home had never been put on the market before or after their move to the west coast.
Fred transferred his house and property to his wife in August 1914 which likely protected the family from the disaster which could have occurred given the money which he lost in the La Colle Falls debacle. Whether luck or astute business practice, this allowed the Baker family to remain living in Prince Albert for the remainder of both Katherine’s and Fred’s lives.
Katherine began suffering ill health that same year, and never really recovered. She died in July, 1927, and her body was interred in the old Roman Catholic cemetery.
Fred remarried in Calgary in December 1929. His second wife, Margaret Pettigrew, was a former resident of Belleville, Ontario, but she had resided in Calgary for several years before the marriage. She died May 1st, 1935 at the age of 74.
Fred remained resident in Prince Albert until his death, likely from stomach cancer, on August 27th, 1940. He was buried from St. Paul’s Presbyterian church, and interred next to his second wife in the oldest section of the South Hill cemetery.
The father of Frederick William Baker, Victor Harold Baker, was the fifth born (and fourth of the surviving adults) of the marriage between Frederick Charles Baker and Katherine Cunningham. He was educated in Prince Albert, and attended one year of law school at the University of Saskatchewan before returning to the city where he was employed at the Prince Albert Creamery. After moving to Victoria, Victor returned to Prince Albert in 1941, establishing a real estate business which was later purchased by R.J. “Bob” Casey. He died in Saskatoon on September 6th, 1974, buried from Sacred Heart Cathedral, and interred in the South Hill cemetery.
Victor had married Muriel Soole on August 29th, 1929, a teacher from Carman, Manitoba. Muriel had also taken some nurses’ training at Winnipeg General Hospital, but never practised as she married before graduating. Frederick William was the elder of two children born to them. He married Yvette Sylvestre of Willow Bunch in 1957, who predeceased him in 2015. The second child born to Victor and Muriel, a daughter named Catherine, was born in Prince Albert in 1933, and married Harold Tomiak in Edmonton in 1957. She was widowed in August, 1978, and died herself in Kelowna in December, 1989.

Prince Albert Historical Society

An article in the Fall 2021 issue of Prairie History: The Journal of the West stirred some discussion within the local Historical Society.  The article, detailing restoration carried out on Calgary’s original city hall, indicated that “It is the only surviving city hall from its time in western Canada”.

What definition the author used for “western Canada”, and what “from its time” was meant to suggest may make invalid our assertion that Prince Albert’s original city hall is older.  But I cannot feel that the article was somewhat misleading, especially as Prairie History is published in Manitoba, suggesting to me that “the West” is inclusive of the three Prairie provinces, as well as the province of British Columbia.

It is fairly common knowledge that what is now known as the Prince Albert Arts Centre was originally constructed in the early 1890s as our town hall and opera house.  Prior to the completion of the facility, the town council had been meeting in the long since demolished Royal Hotel (the same building in which Lucy Maud Montgomery attended school in 1890 and 1891). Incorporated as a town in 1885, and finding there was a need for a town hall owned by the Corporation, the town council hired the Hamilton architectural firm F. J. Rastrick and Son to design a building which they could call their own.  The architect, adhering to the trend of the day in which buildings housing local councils were designed as multi-use buildings, designed Prince Albert’s town hall in a manner to enhance the status of the local government and the community’s pride as an important territorial centre.

Although there were definitely some operas performed in the new building, to suggest that the town hall was also an opera house may be a bit of a stretch.  It really fulfilled a role similar to the current day E.A. Rawlinson Centre for the Arts, which hosts a variety of artistic performances, and where meetings and gatherings are held.

To strengthen my position regarding the age of Prince Albert’s town hall, I delved into the remarkable holdings of the Bill Smiley Archives.  Here I found two very interesting pieces of information.  The first was a nine-page contract, dated January 16^th, 1892, between the Town of Prince Albert and the contractors chosen to build the town hall.  The 8 ½ x 14-inch pages, in neat copper-plate writing, outline the expectations which the town fathers had regarding the construction of the building.  The signatures appended to the contract were, on behalf of the town, H.J. (Hugh) Montgomery (father of the aforementioned Lucy Maud Montgomery) as the chairman of the Board of Works, and A. (Andrew) Goodfellow and W.B. (Willard) Goodfellow, contractors.

The contract covered all aspects of the building’s construction, from the excavation and foundations, to the trim on the architrave.  Examples of the town’s expectations include the requirement for the timber to be of “sawed dry pine” and the bricks of “first quality in uniform cherry red”.  The mortar was to be composed of “wet-screened clear grit sand, well slaked lime with sufficient quantity of cow’s hair thoroughly mixed within”.  Perhaps it is no wonder that the building has now stood for almost 130 years!

The second document which I uncovered in my research was contained in the Saskatchewan Times, dated June 2^nd, 1893.  “Work on the Town Hall is progressing satisfactorily.  Plasterers are engaged putting up the second coat while the carpenters are keeping their share of the work up well.  Contractor Goodfellow expects to have everything completed for Dominion Day.”

The total cost of construction for this picturesque building, which gained status as a City Hall in 1908 when Prince Albert achieved city status, was $13,178. 

Upon completion, the Town Hall was an impressive site.  The lot on which it sat was raised from the street, a common practice at the time to enhance the building’s perceived size, and was situated within a yard planted in trees and shrubs. The building’s grand scale and formal detailing offset the restrained design of the exterior with its two-storey rectangular massing including the side bell-tower. The wood-frame construction had brick facing, and the building’s three-bay front façade used classically inspired motifs including a bracketed portico surmounted by a wrought-iron railing, pedimented front entry flanked by evenly spaced segmentally headed windows, the side bell tower, and the opera-house façade which included high round-headed windows with a porte-cochere, as well as a bracketed cornice, and pediment which provided evidence of its interior layout and finishes.

Inside was a soaring space two stories high, with three windows (about twenty feet high) in each of the north and south walls.  The east and west walls had arched openings, one being the proscenium and stage, while the opposite one had the balcony.  Quite truly, it was later noted, the building clearly displayed itself as an outpost of the British empire and the culture of its most prominent settlers.

Inside the building, on the main floor, the two front offices served as office space for the mayor and city commissioner, as well as their staff.  In the basement, the town constable had his office, as well as a couple of holding cells.  The constable was required not only to enforce the law, but also to stoke the furnace and provide any maintenance that the building may require. 

The opera house/theatre, beyond the front offices, was two stories high, with balconies on each side of the upper level.  During daylight hours, the light which filled both levels as a result of the windows on both the north and south sides was enhanced by a skylight.  It is unknown what the evening lighting was like, although around the end of the 19^th century or early into the 20^th century the town attained a fairly reliable source of electricity, and the Town Hall was provided with electric light.  Wood stoves were replaced by a steam heating plant at about the same time.  When the police office was moved to its new headquarters across Avenue B, to the south and east of the then City Hall, a steam pipe was run from that building under the road to the City Hall, and it received its heat from a furnace in that building.

The bell tower, part of the Italianate style predominate in the building, was primarily used in its early years for curfew purposes, to call fire fighters, but also to advise the citizens of special events and council meetings.  Bell towers on public buildings derived from the Italian campaniles which began to assert the ascendancy of secular governments over ecclesiastical authority.

As the city expanded, it became obvious that additional space would be required for the additional staff required to service the city.  Around 1920, a floor was added between the open space in the theatre area and the main floor.  This destroyed much of the internal architectural detail of the building, but provided a larger council chamber and more office space.  Although the problem may have been resolved for the time being, this was a temporary solution, not a permanent one.

In addition to welcoming three Canadian prime ministers to Prince Albert at this building, it has been the location of the community’s welcome for four Governors-General (the Duke of Connaught, the Earl Tweedsmuir, Lord Alexander of Tunis, and Lord Byng of Vimy.  It was also to be the site of a banquet for the Governor-General, Lord Minto, in September 1900, but he was unable to attend.  Other events which have been hosted in the building include a Citizens Band Concert in July 1896, a reception in 1906 for the members of the first Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, a Masonic concert in 1907, as well as numerous conventions.  World famous guest artists, including the peripatetic soprano Madame Albani, performed in the theatre in its early years.

The Town Hall, later the City Hall, has also housed the Board of Trade and the Lorne Agricultural Society, as well as the city’s public library from 1919 until 1937.  Suitably, the library was situated in what is now the John V. Hicks Gallery.

Several influential Prince Albertans have polished their political skills while debating in the Council Chamber of the original City Hall.  These include T.C. Davis, mayor of Prince Albert for four years before becoming a Member of the Legislative Assembly, and later became a Canadian Ambassador.  Dave Steuart served as an alderman and mayor before becoming a Member of the Legislative Assembly where he served in the ministries of Health, Finance and as Deputy Premier.  He was later appointed to the Senate of Canada.  Former mayor John Cuelenaere served in the Legislative Assembly as Minister of Natural Resources, while other members of Council, including J.H. Lamont, J.E. Bradshaw, H.J. Fraser, and L.F. McIntosh were also elected to the provincial legislature.  Charles McDonald was a Member of the Legislative Assembly, was elected to Parliament (a seat he resigned to allow MacKenzie King to run in Prince Albert) and was later appointed to the Senate.  McDonald is the only Canadian to be elected to Parliament and appointed to the Senate without having taken his seat in either House.

On Tuesday, February 20^th, 1990, the old Town Hall, designed by F.J. Rastrick and Son, and built by the Goodfellow brothers, was officially designated a National Historic site.  Today, it continues its service to the city’s residents as a community oriented centre.

Fred Payton is president of the Prince Albert Historical Society

She stood five foot three inches tall, spoke fluent French with a Parisian accent, and loved silk and lace.
You likely wouldn’t expect an early Prince Albert settler to be described in this manner. And yet we have some of her belongings in the Historical Museum including her Bible, her portable organ, as well as an oil painting of the lady in question. We also have some fine examples of beadwork presented to her by the residents of the Wahpeton Dakota Nation. This beadwork represented the high esteem in which they held her.
Lucy Margaret Baker was born in Osnabruck Township, Stormont County, Upper Canada (now Ontario), in 1835. Her parents were Benjamin Baker and Barbara Ann Warner Baker. Lucy was baptised in Trinity Anglican Church, Cornwall. As happened all too frequently in those days, Lucy’s mother died when Lucy was still very young. Arrangements were made for her to be raised by an aunt (her father’s sister, Lucy Baker Buchanan) in Dundee, Lower Canada (Quebec), a community very near Montreal. It was there she received her initial education, prior to receiving higher education in Fort Covington, New York.
From her early years, Lucy had always shown a desire to learn and to impart knowledge. So it was that she became a teacher, and when she arrived in Prince Albert in late October 1879, she already had considerable experience as an educator. Her career to that point had involved teaching at a school in Dundee, at a school for young ladies in New Jersey, and along with a cousin being co-proprietor of a similar ladies’ school in New Orleans. With the onset of the American Civil War, Lucy determined to return to Canada, experiencing considerable difficulty getting through the blockade established by the warring parties. When she managed to make it back “home”, she found employment at a private school in Lancaster, Glengarry County.
By this time in her life, Lucy Baker was attending the Presbyterian Church, and the minister in Lancaster was the Reverend Donald Ross. When the Foreign Missions Committee appointed Ross to succeed the Reverend Peter Straith at the mission in Prince Albert, aware of Miss Baker’s capabilities and her adventurous spirit, Ross asked the Foreign Missions Committee (with her agreement) to appoint her as the mission’s teacher. Unfortunately, although Ross, his wife, and Miss Baker set out together to travel together to Prince Albert, they got only as far as Winnipeg before the ill health of both Mr. and Mrs. Ross resulted in him having to give up his appointment. Miss Baker, however, was determined to continue on and, after joining a party of people bound for Edmonton via Prince Albert, she proceeded onward, travelling in a Red River cart. Miss Baker wrote of the journey, describing the wooden conveyance as being made “entirely of wood which kept up a continual screeching. But they were good in a way, as they served double purpose. On coming to a stream which could not be forded, they were taken apart and formed into rafts.”
Miss Baker wrote in her letters of the barrenness of the land, largely uninhabited except by the occasional gopher or coyote. The air was cold, so she appreciated the buffalo coat with which she had been provided, as the collar covered her head, and it was sufficiently long to cover her feet when she slept at night. After six weeks of travel, the group arrived in Prince Albert on October 28th, 1879. The temperature which greeted them was minus 28 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 33.3 degrees Celsius).
As there were no available boarding houses in Prince Albert, Lucy Baker ended up living on her own in the mission building until a small house which had been the home of Nisbet’s interpreter could be renovated for her. This took seven weeks, but Miss Baker spent them without complaint, although she was very thankful when she could move into the house and once again enjoy “a warm corner”.
Initially, the student population was comprised of children of mixed parentage who spoke Cree. It was anticipated that these children would eventually become the teachers and workers in the government’s Indian Department. However, the settler community in Prince Albert also chose to send their children to the school, so that the classroom numbers increased. The proportion of Indigenous students was further reduced when the local Cree community withdrew to the land reserved for them 75 miles away (Mistawasis First Nation). Although Lucy Baker’s work at the school was well received, and the Foreign Missions Committee had made her position permanent in 1880, by 1882 there were only fourteen First Nations students on the register of seventy students.
In 1884/85, when the settler community established a high school as part of the mission school, the Foreign Missions Committee extracted a guarantee that Indigenous children would be educated for free. Still, very few attended and, upon her return from furlough in 1887, Lucy Baker became a regular staff member of the Nisbet Academy, the building on the crest of the hill just west of the Territorial Gaol. This school was destroyed by fire on New Year’s Day, 1890, resulting in the end of education in the first high school in the North-West Territories.
Although it is not clearly spelled out, it is a possibility that the furlough which Miss Baker took resulted from the efforts she expended during the Resistance of 1885. At that time, she had turned her house over to the government authorities for use as a hospital, and Lucy herself provided nursing aid and care for the sick and wounded. Although offered compensation by the government, she refused to accept any compensation. Like much else in her life, she saw it as being simply her Christian duty.
It was at about the same time as she assumed teaching duties in the public high school that Miss Baker decided the old mission house was becoming dilapidated, and so determined that she would have a new house built, one which would be her own. Once she had her own home, she began taking in pupils as boarders, adding to her many other duties. In addition to being matron, teacher, and cook, she was a steady influence of a Christian example, displaying patience, sympathy, cheerfulness, and selflessness.
More than anything, Lucy Baker displayed a sense of refinement. Always careful about her dress, she never forgot the niceties that her own tastes and training demanded. With only her young female boarders, untutored as they were in ladylike ways, she was always particular about the setting of the table, the serving of the meal, and the manners of all in the party as though company of the greatest importance were present. It is said that she changed for dinner every night at 8:00 p.m.
Everything which Lucy Baker did and accomplished in the first ten years of her residency in Prince Albert was notable. But her greatest achievement occurred in 1890 and thereafter.
In the 1870s, several groups of Sioux had arrived in the Prince Albert area. Refugees from what was termed at the time as the American-Indian wars, they were not allowed homesteads in Canada because they were Indigenous people. Some of the men had taken heavy labour jobs in the town, on farms, or in the forests, and the women were willing to accept work of the rougher kind in the town’s households. But they were not accepted as other than violent savages.
Lucy Baker took it upon herself to work in their community, located north of the river at a site near where the former sanitorium stood. Initially, she was seen to be unacceptable by the “medicine men and women”, and shunned by the other members of the community. But she persevered, making an effort to cross the river most days to speak to the people, and to earn their trust. Eventually, she was able to have a small school built within their community, and to gather the younger members around her to be educated. Her willingness to teach, to educate, and to nurse the sick and injured resulted in increasing numbers of the community showing acceptance towards her.
Miss Baker taught the band members, made clothes for the children, nursed the people when they were sick, and taught the women and young girls how to knit, sew, make quilts, and so many other home-maker activities.
Baker worked with the band to encourage the federal government to provide them with a reserve, and finally in 1894 gained a place for them about thirteen miles northwest of their camp on the north side of the river. At the time it was called MaKoce Waste, which meant “good land”, and Round Plain Reserve, but we know it today as the Wahpeton Dakota Nation (Wahpeton having a meaning similar to “camping in the leaves”).
Eventually a mission house and log school house were built in the new community, and Miss Baker lived and worked among the people, who would come to her for advice with all sorts of problems at all hours of the day and night. No matter the object of their visit, they never left her home without hearing the Christian gospel. If they were old, she spoke to them in Sioux. The school children would hear advice in English, and the French Metis would receive their advice and guidance in French.
Sadly, in 1905, ill health forced Lucy Baker to retire. She lived in the town of Prince Albert for the next two years, but eventually moved back east to Quebec where she died in the Royal Victoria Hospital on May 30th, 1909. Lucy Margaret Baker was buried in the church yard of Zion Church, Dundee.

by Fred Payton
Prince Albert Historical Society

Over the summer, I was researching the history of Prince Albert’s river lots.  I chanced on an article which mentioned the sale of one such property to the federal government as part of its land acquisition on which to build the Saskatchewan Penitentiary.  Here, I thought, was a lead which might help me to determine what prompted the decision to build the federal prison in Prince Albert, as well as providing me with further evidence to disprove that long held misconception that Prince Albert had chosen the penitentiary over the university.

As there is considerable documentation available about the selection of the site for the university, I chose to begin there.

The British North America Act granted the provinces power over education, so upon the creation of Saskatchewan in 1905 it was up to the new government in Regina to determine the location of the provincial university.  Regina, as the capitol, Saskatoon, Indian Head, Moose Jaw, and several other communities all indicated interest, as did Prince Albert.

This city’s claim to its right as the university city stemmed primarily from the existence of a federal charter, passed by the Dominion Parliament in 1883, establishing the University of Saskatchewan at Prince Albert.  Emmanuel College had immediately become a part of the federally chartered university.  However, as a result of the powers granted by the BNA Act, the provincial government would not admit Prince Albert’s claims wich were based on a Dominion charter.

It was not until 1907 that the University Act came into effect in the province.  It empowered the university’s Board of Governors to determine the institution’s location, with the expectation that its decision would be ratified by the provincial government.

After the decision was made that the College of Agriculture would be a part of, rather than separate, from the university, Indian Head removed itself from consideration. That community was only interested in having the Agriculture college.

Late in the evening of April 07, 1909, the Board of Governors were to make their decision.  The Board consisted of nine members – four from northern Saskatchewan, four from the south, and the President of the University, Walter Murray.

It was determined that the vote would be by ballot, with the community receiving the fewest number of votes being removed from the list after each ballot.  Fort Qu’Appelle, Lloydminster, and North Battleford were given consideration, but did not receive sufficient support.

Prince Albert’s board members made strong representation for the university to be established in our city.

However, when it came down to the final ballot, the two remaining locations were Regina and Saskatoon.  If Prince Albert had a choice, it was a choice between a nearer and a further destination.

The President and the governors from Regina and Moose Jaw voted for the southern city.  The governors from Saskatoon, Prince Albert, as well as those from Wolseley and Maple Creek all voted for Saskatoon.

The decision with respect to the location of the university, as you will see, was made in April 1909.  Yet the federal land acquisition for construction of the federal penitentiary was reported to have been made in 1906.

Further research was obviously worth pursuing.

The first public indication that Prince Albert was to be home to the penitentiary can be found in the Saturday, September 8^th, 1906 edition of the Winnipeg Tribune.  That newspaper reported that “Prince Albert is going to have the Saskatchewan penitentiary.  Options are being secured on land a mile west of the city.  About 1,200 acres is wanted and options have been secured on 790 acres.  What the land was wanted for has leaked out and the property in the vicinity has gone up in price.”

I have been able to obtain three documents from 1907 and two from 1908 which I believe are of interest.

A copy of an order in council from March 1907 signed by W.E. Gladstone approved the purchase of 183.5 acres of land from an individual named R.S. Cook, the land in question being required in connection with the proposed establishment of a penitentiary for the province.  This land included the fractional south east quarter of Section 7 in Township 48, Range 26 west of the 2^nd meridian (about 75 acres), as well as all that part of River Lot 57 of Prince Albert settlement lying east and southeast of the Regina, Long Lake and Saskatchewan Railway (about 42 acres) and the west southerly 66.5 acres of River Lot 58, Prince Albert settlement.  The purchase price of $30.00 per acre was considered fair and reasonable, and Mr. Cook received $5,500.00.  It is unknown at what price he had purchased this land.

However, R.S. Cook subsequently filed a “Quit Claim” deed in favour of His Majesty King Edward VII of all his interest in the property on River Lot 58.  Further documentation suggests that Mr. Cook was, at the time he purchased the property, an employee of the federal Department of the Interior, a position which debarred him from purchasing Dominion lands under Section 14 of the Revised Statutes of Canada.  It would seem that, with inside knowledge, he had made the purchase in the expectation that he would be able to make a good profit when he came to sell the land to the government.  The order-in-council rescinding the sale of the land was signed by no less than Wilfrid Laurier.

It would appear that the Department of the Interior and Mr. Cook had come to an agreement which allowed him to keep a portion of the land he had bought, even though at the time debarred from such purchase, provided he give up to the Crown land which was of most importance for the construction of the federal institution.

An order-in-council, also signed by Laurier but in 1908, approved the sale of land from Mrs. J. Eliza Drever for that piece of land situated on the south side of the Carlton, Saskatchewan, Forks Trail, being that portion of River Lot 57 and containing one acre, which was land to be located within the penitentiary reserve at Prince Albert.  The Minister indicated that it would be most objectionable to have a plot in the heart of the reserve and in the immediate vicinity of the prison buildings which would be owned and occupied by persons not in any way connected with the penitentiary.  Mrs. Drever received $1,000, which was deemed by the “Inspectors of Penitentiaries and the clerk of works of the Department in Regina to be a fair and reasonable price”.

The second order-in-council signed by Wilfrid Laurier in 1908 approved the of purchase of land owned by the Anglican Diocese of Saskatchewan.  Lots 55 and 56 were necessary to complete the site for the proposed penitentiary.  The Diocese had offered to sell them, less about ten acres which were reserved for the church yard, at the rate of $55.00 per acres.  They also agreed to sell buildings on the land for $5,000.00.  These buildings included those structures which were no longer in use as residences for the bishop, clergy and others, including the residential school which had been closed in June of that year when the federal government failed to agree to provide the appropriate monies necessary to allow the level of education which the church wanted for their indigenous students.  One of these buildings still survives today, after being moved in the mid-1920s to the 700 block of 15^th Street West.

These documents make it clear that the decision to establish the penitentiary in Prince Albert preceded the decision to place the provincial university in Saskatoon, and that Prince Albert did not choose the penitentiary over the university.  But no documentation has been found to indicate why the federal government chose to build the prison here.

It is possible that the decision resulted from the previous existence of the territorial gaol in Prince Albert from the 1880s until it became a provincial facility in 1905.  But that is simply speculation on my part.

One other newspaper report which has come my way might suggest why people have been willing to accept the story that Prince Albert chose the penitentiary over the university.  The April 26, 1909 edition of the Saskatoon Daily Phoenix carried a story from the Calgary News.  It read that “The Dominion penitentiary for Saskatchewan is to be built at Prince Albert.  We know that Senator Tom Davis would see to it that some educative institution would be located there, even if the university had to go to Saskatoon.”

“Knock, knock.  Who’s there?  It’s the Happy Gang!”

Those of us of a certain age and who are life-long residents of Prince Albert and area may recall listening to the syndicated “Happy Gang Show” on CKBI radio.  Other syndicated shows included Mos and Andy, Lux Radio Theatre, and Fibber McGee and Molly.

In the 1960s, you may have listened to Larry Christie broadcasting from his hospital bed in the old Victoria Hospital during ratings week, or Canada’s “oldest living teenager”, Harold Mallwitz, and newscaster Merv Samborski.  Or, if you are older, how about the comedic Bob Hildebrandt who used to do the evening show until sign-off?

You may also recall listening to George Prosser’s “Mixing Bowl” on morning radio.  His Saturday morning children’s show was popular with the youngsters, especially those who were asked to join him in the studio to read their favourite short story.

Bud Dallin eventually took over that show, at about the same time that he used to do the “Saturday Night Barn Dance”.  I wonder if you might be one of the frustrated individuals who drove east of Prince Albert looking for that non-existent big red barn?

Radio has, since the early twentieth century, been an important form of communication.  Listening to your transistor radio, or perhaps your car radio, helped keep you informed during power outages.  Remember Helga Reydon and Harold Reid on Northern News?  The programme would seem quirky in these days of social media, but northerners relied on that programme to pass on messages to their families about important matters, such as the health of hospitalised individuals or when and where to meet them when they returned home.

I had never really considered the history of Prince Albert radio until recently when I came across a newspaper clipping dropped off by a friend who now lives in Saskatoon.  The clipping told the story of Bill Hart, an early member of the CKBI family, and his work raising money for charities on the ACT Amateur Hour.  Although not old enough to have known Bill Hart, I do recall J.J. Cennon hosting the show on Saturday nights when I was a youngster.

The clipping provided some background about the history of the radio station, but not enough to satisfy me.  What it did do, however, was encourage me to search for more information.  I admit that what I found surprised me.

The birth of radio in Prince Albert occurred just prior to the first World War.  Spark transmitters broadcast dots and dashes, and young men with names such as Taylor, Agnew, Pickering, and White would sit listening through earphones attached securely to their ears.  But with the advent of the war, the government found it necessary to confiscate those few sets which existed in Prince Albert.

Although during the war radio communication was eliminated in the local community, advances in technology brought on by the war made it increasingly accessible after the war.  Radio tubes – audions – facilitated the transmission and reception of radio signals, and the improved technology and, as well the reduced prices for it, resulting in more people at greater distances being able to send and receive the sound of voices through the air.

Individuals such as Ralph Leadbetter, Ted Grimes, Bill Hart and Harry Davys grouped together to form a local radio club with a 15-watt transmitter in W.A. Johnson’s store at 907 Central Avenue where a DeForest broadcasting set was installed.  The Prince Albert Radio Club received its licence in 1925, and officially went on the air.  Bill Pickering sat at the microphone for their first broadcast which was heard as far away as Minnesota.  This handful of radio enthusiasts provided hours of entertainment each week to Prince Albert listeners.

Canadian 4BC, initially located in the old Legion club rooms, eventually moved to the Burns plant, and then to a studio in the Empress Hotel at the corner of 11^th Street and 1^st Avenue West.  The transmitter was relocated to the Leadbetter residence on the 300 block of 20^th Street West.  By this time, the station was known as 10BI.  Its power had increased, the quality of its tone had improved, and its signal was being heard even further away.

Eventually the excitement and the commitment of the radio club members dissipated, and the club went out of existence.  But the equipment was still available, and its management was taken over by public spirited citizens such as Milt Lundlie, a farm implement dealer, a feed and seed dealer named J.A. Klein, and Ralph Leadbetter, a farmer.  Unable to sustain it, these individuals sold the equipment and licence to Lloyd Moffat and Bob Price in 1929 for $500.  Moffat, who had been an operator at the Orpheum Theatre, was to be the chief engineer.  Price, who had been the janitor in the Canada Building, became the business manager. They made an application for a commercial licence which, when granted in 1933, led to the change in the call letters to CKBI.  New equipment was purchased from Northern Electric and installed under the direction of Pete and Walter Dales.  At the same time, the transmitter was increased to 100 watts with a new operating frequency of 1210 kilohertz.

Initially, Moffat and Price established their studio in the Canada Building, but in 1937 moved it to the Sanderson Block.  At the same time, the transmitter was boosted to 250 watts.  Further changes occurred in March,1941 when CKBI was moved to 900 kilohertz, and in July of that year power was increased to 1,000 watts.  At the same time as the transmission site was moved from the corner of what is now 2^nd Avenue and Marquis Road to a site south of the city.  A new technician, Tom van Nes, arrived in August of that year, the start of nearly 35 years of dedicated service to CKBI and the Prince Albert community.  Van Nes would be responsible for the ongoing maintenance and development of the radio transmitter and equipment, as well as establishing the television transmitter and control room facilities.

Lloyd Moffat had become the station manager when, in 1942, it was chosen as Canada’s top station by Billboard magazine.

By the time that Central Broadcasting Company bought the station in 1946, the transmission power had increased to 5,000 watts.  Hugh Sibbald, the city’s former mayor, was president and Ed Rawlinson, a local chartered accountant, became managing director. Rawlinson moved the station out of the Sanderson Block to the new $75,000 studios on 10^th Street West in 1955, and in 1957 the station had yet again increased its power to 10,000 watts, becoming Saskatchewan’s most powerful private station.

By 1957, Ed Rawlinson owned 51% of the company and became president.  Sibbald owned 33.4%, and Ed’s brother, Frank owned 15.6% and was named manager of the station.  The following year, a survey group found that the station was heard by 93,344 people every day.

The Rawlinson family continued their ownership and management of CKBI through the 1960s into the new century.  In 2002 ownership came firmly into the hands of Ed’s son, Gordon, through Rawlco Radio  Ltd. and Lobstick Investments Inc.

The Rawlinson connection to CKBI, begun in 1946, ended when approval was given in December 2014 for the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group to purchase the station along with Rawlco Radio stations in four other communities and associated transmitters throughout Saskatchewan and Alberta.

As recent municipal and provincial government announcements have suggested, Saskatchewan’s forests are one of our most valuable resources.  This renewable natural resource, properly managed, can provide economic benefits for individuals working in tourism, logging, and manufacturing.

During its first term in office, the CCF government recognised the need to ensure our forestry resources were being properly managed.  As a result, they called for a Royal Commission on Forestry which, when it reported in 1946, raised concerns indicating that drastic measures were required to preserve those valuable provincial forest reserves, including especially protecting the northern and remote forests from the ravages of fire. One of the suggestions for providing such protection included the use of smoke jumpers, similar to those being used in the United States.

As a result of this recommendation, the Fire Control Supervisor, E.J. Marshall, and Ansgar Aschim, assistant supervisor, both with the provincial Forestry Services, visited the U.S. National Forest Service in Missoula, Montana. Their report to the Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable J.L. Phelps, resulted in a decision by the provincial government to establish the Saskatchewan Smoke Jumpers, Canada’s first aerially deployed fire suppression team.

 Having arrived at the decision, it was incumbent upon the Department of Natural Resources to implement a plan to hire and train a team of men to combat the problem.  One individual, already employed by the department, stood out as being the person to lead this innovative team.

Dennis Kelly, the son of Forrest and Elise Kelly, was born in Prince Albert on November 20^th, 1926.  Growing up on the east hill, he attended King George School and Prince Albert Collegiate Institute, and early on in life displayed a love for physical activity and the great outdoors.

In his sixteenth year, Dennis followed his older brother Raymond into the Canadian army.  He became one of the first group of individuals willing to volunteer for the 1^st Paratroop Battalion.  As a result, Kelly was required to travel to Fort Benning, Georgia to take special training at the paratroop training base there.

This training prepared Kelly for his role in World War II, parachuting into enemy territory.  He was soon promoted to sergeant, and became the battalion jump master, as well as taking on the role of physical training instructor.  Like another Prince Albertan, Tommy Settee, during his military career Kelly was an active and proficient boxer, participating in and winning many in-service fights.

After the war, Kelly returned to Prince Albert and joined the Department of Natural Resources, where he was working at the time of the establishment of the Smoke Jumpers in 1947.  His war time experience made him the ideal candidate for the position as the team’s first Jump Master.  Not only did Kelly train the recruits, but he also helped to establish the procedures for fighting fires in areas where there were no roads to provide access.

Kelly was known as a precise and demanding instructor, but was highly regarded as he would not expect any trainee to do anything which he himself was not willing and able to do.  The recruits were required to become physically very fit before being considered ready to serve.  Kelly’s instruction, a six week course, included the packing of parachutes, and the theory of jumping (including avoidance of tall trees and escaping them if one failed to do so).  As well, the recruits were taught how to fight fires, and the basics of first aid.  Rolls when landing were practised at the Prince Albert air port, both from the back of moving trucks and from a 9 metre tower.  Later, after the team relocated to La Ronge for their summer duties, they continued their training and practice in the muskeg north of the town site.  Rolls of toilet paper were often used in their training in order to measure wind direction, a matter of vital importance for the safety of the jumpers.

Kelly’s tuition was so successful, as was his supervision of their actual jumps, that the Saskatchewan Smoke Jumpers became known world-wide for their safety record.  They recorded no deaths and only a few broken bones, of which only one was considered to be serious.

In 1958, after successfully training up dozens of men as smoke jumpers, and expanding the crew from four teams of four men to eight teams of four men, Kelly chose to resign his position as Jump Master.  His love of the north and its outdoor life style led him into ownership of two fishing camps, North of La Ronge Camp and Reindeer Lake Trout Camp.  He later owned Reindeer Airways with a fleet of two Cessna 180s.

Unfortunately for Kelly, his wife Gladys, and their seven children, Kelly’s life came to a sudden and sad end on Saturday, June 24^th, 1961.  The fit and active man, who so enjoyed the outdoor life in the north country, died as a result of an airplane accident.

Reports indicate that, while flying to a newly opened camp on Great Bear Lake, Kelly misjudged the height of his air craft on a glassily smooth lake and crashed the plane into its icy cold waters.  In an attempt to obtain assistance, Kelly chose to swim to shore.  Although a strong swimmer, he was overcome and drowned.  His body was never recovered.  As a result, no funeral was held but a memorial service was conducted at Prince Albert’s St. George’s Anglican church on October 21^st, 1961.

Great Bear Lake is approximately 1,370 kilometres north of Edmonton, and is the largest lake fully contained within Canada.  It has a maximum depth of 446 metres, and its average depth is nearly 72 metres.  Temperatures in June have an average range between lows of 4 degrees and highs of 11 degrees.  It is not unusual for the lake to be covered with ice into the month of June.

For further information on the Saskatchewan Smoke Jumpers, you might wish to visit the local Historical Museum to view our exhibit about them.  We also have copies of Hope Pederson’s book on the Smoke Jumpers for sale in the Museum’s Gift Shop.  The Museum is open Monday through Friday (except holidays) from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.  Access is through the east door.  Just ring the door bell.

by Fred Payton

Well, that’s done and dusted.  Canada’s 44^th General election is in the rear-view mirror.  Not that Prince Albert and area has had the option to vote in all 44 elections; nor was this election conducted under the same terms as the first Canadian General election.

An act conferring on women the right to vote on the same basis as men was passed in 1918, and the Dominion Elections Act was passed in 1920.  This Act of Parliament consolidated the elections process which previously had allowed for elections to be conducted in each province according to the regulations applicable in the individual provinces.  Not only did the Act of 1920 result in an assurance that elections would be conducted in the same manner everywhere across the country, under the newly created position of a Chief Electoral Officer, but it also allowed for advance voting in each constituency.  As a result, the election of 1921 was conducted under the same rules in each electoral district, and women were able to vote in every constituency.

Although women had the right to vote, it was not until 1953 when a woman would allow her name to be on the ballot in Prince Albert.  In that year, Phyllis Clarke ran for the Labor-Progressive Party, garnering 1.3% of the total vote, as opposed to the 44.1% obtained by the victorious candidate.  She later ran in Toronto-Davenport, losing to Liberal Walter Gordon in 1962, as well as unsuccessfully for the Toronto Board of Control.  Clarke was described in her 1988 obituary as a devoted socialist, trade unionist, feminist, community activist, and teacher.

Although people in Prince Albert are quick to point out that it was John Diefenbaker, the Man from Prince Albert, who ensured in 1960 that all registered First Nations persons had the right to vote, that right had been conferred on the Inuit in 1950.

Teens were able to vote for the first time in 1972, after the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1970, and inmates serving less than two years were allowed to vote beginning in 1993.  As of 2002, all inmates were allowed to vote.  As a constituency with so many correctional facilities, it likely came as a relief to some to realise that inmates’ ballots would be counted in their home community rather than in the Prince Albert electoral district.

When Canadians first voted, the people of Prince Albert and area were not even Canadian citizens.  Local people did not become Canadians until July 15^th, 1871, when the country of Canada officially purchased Rupert’s Land, including Prince Albert and area, from the Hudson Bay Company.  Even then, they did not become electors of Canada. It was not until 1881 when our citizens had elected representation.  It was that year when they were able to vote in the Lorne District for a representative on the North-West Council.  Our first elected representative was Lawrence Clarke who, in the election held on March 23^rd 1881, defeated Captain Henry S. Moore by a count of 250 to 143. 

Clarke was well known, having been a Chief Factor with the Hudson Bay Company and a strong supporter of development for the Prince Albert settlement.  Moore, who had opened the first steam grist and sawmill in Prince Albert in 1877, was also a strong community supporter, and was later responsible for the establishment of the ranching industry in this area when he imported over 200 cattle from the Bow River.  He was also later responsible for the leadership of one of Prince Albert’s volunteer cavalry units which were established as protection in response to the 1885 Resistance.

In 1883, Day Hort MacDowall was elected locally to the North-West Council, serving until 1885. Interestingly, although a business partner of Captain Moore (who had run as a Liberal), MacDowall ran as a Conservative. Owen E. Hughes, a general trader, was elected in 1885 and served until 1888.

The Legislative Assembly of the North-West Territories was established in 1888, and Prince Albert was represented in that Assembly by several well-known individuals, including J. F. Betts, William Plaxton, Thomas McKay, J. Lestock Reid, T. J. Agnew, and Sam McLeod.

In 1887, Prince Albertans had their first opportunity to vote for a member of the House of Commons.  D. H. MacDowall served from that first election until 1896.  In the election that year, Wilfrid Laurier ran in Prince Albert in an effort to establish a western Canadian Liberal presence, but although he won the local seat by a margin of 44 votes, he chose to represent the Quebec-East seat which he had also won. Electoral rules in those days allowed individuals to run in more than one electoral district.  The by-election which resulted due to Laurier’s decision resulted in the election of Thomas Osborn Davis, who served from 1896 until 1904.  Prince Albert returned another Liberal, J. M. Lamont in 1904, who served until 1905.  Lamont was followed by G. E. McCraney (1905 – 1908), and W. W. Rutan 1908 -1911, both Liberals.  In 1911, James McKay was elected, and he sat in the Commons until 1914.

Sam Donaldson, who had served as mayor of Prince Albert. replaced McKay as the Conservative candidate in the 1915 election and was victorious. In 1917, he was defeated by the Unionist candidate, Andrew Knox, who was again elected in the 1921 election when he ran as the Progressive candidate.  Knox, a popular farmer from the Colleston district, had been a district director of the Saskatchewan Grain Growers Association, although he displayed his greatest strength in the city, while Liberal candidate, Samuel McLeod, was strongly supported in the French-speaking settlements and the culturally mixed towns such as Wakaw, strength that continued for them until the election in 1945.

The next General Election, which was held in 1925, led to a major change in Prince Albert’s influence nationally, although the impact was not seen until the following year.  Charles McDonald, who had served as Prince Albert’s member of the provincial legislature, had chosen not to seek re-election provincially, but rather to seek the local federal seat for the Liberal party.  He won a clear majority in the 1925 election, gaining more votes than Knox and John Diefenbaker combined.

But the Liberal leader, William Lyon MacKenzie King, was defeated in his riding of York-North.  McDonald agreed to forego his seat in the House of Commons in order for MacKenzie King to run in Prince Albert.  The Liberal leader made several promises to accommodate this decision.  This first of these was the establishment of a national park in the vicinity, while the second was to ensure McDonald be given some preferment for his withdrawal.  The first promise was met when Prince Albert National Park was opened in August, 1928.  The second promise took some time to fulfill, but in 1935 McDonald was appointed to the Senate for the province of British Columbia.  Unfortunately for McDonald, by this time his health was poor and he died before he could be sworn in as a member of the Red Chamber.  He is the only Canadian elected to the House of Commons, appointed to the Senate, while never having taken his seat in either.

MacKenzie King served Prince Albert as its Member of Parliament from 1926 until 1945.   His re-election in the General Election held in June of that year was expected to a certainty.  But the local people had become impatient with the low wages and poor working conditions brought on by the war time controls of the Second World War.  The local C.C.F. candidate, a Shellbrook farmer by the name of E. L. Bowerman, touted the promises of his party which promised social security, medical care, and a national housing plan.  Although King led the polls on election night, when the ballots of the servicemen serving overseas were counted, Bowerman had won by 129 votes.

Four years later, in the next General Election, the Liberals were able to re-take Prince Albert once again.  Francis “Frank” Helme, an implement dealer, defeated Bowerman in the Liberal landslide victory of that year.  It would not be for another fifty years that the Liberals would win a Prince Albert and area riding.

In 1953, a coalition of party supporters encouraged John Diefenbaker to seek the Progressive Conservative nomination in Prince Albert.  His success in that election was the first of a string of ten electoral victories for Diefenbaker in Prince Albert.  Diefenbaker served as Prime Minister of Canada from 1957 until 1963, and was still the sitting member for the constituency when he died in his suburban Ottawa home in Rockcliffe on August 16^th, 1979.

The by-election required as a result of Diefenbaker’s death was won by the New Democratic candidate, Stan Hovdebo, a local educator.  He went on to two successive General Election victories in Prince Albert, from 1979 to 1988.  When the riding was re-distributed prior to the 1988 General Election, Hovdebo chose to run in the Saskatoon-Humboldt riding where he was again victorious.  He retired from active politics prior to the 1993 General Election.

As a result of a change in electoral boundaries prior to the 1988 General Election, the Prince Albert constituency became known as the Prince Albert-Churchill River constituency.  Rather than its boundaries running east and west, the constituency ran north and south.  Five candidates contested the riding, with the New Democrat candidate, Ray Funk, winning the seat by a margin of over 9,600 votes over the second place Progressive Conservative candidate.

In the 1993 election, the Liberals managed to win the seat in a contest which featured eight candidates, including two independent candidates.  Gordon Kirkby, who had been the mayor of Prince Albert, received slightly more than 2,500 more votes than the incumbent, Ray Funk.

The Prince Albert riding was re-created from the Saskatoon-Humboldt and Prince Albert-Churchill River ridings in time for the 1997 General Election.  Derek Konrad represented the constituency for the Reform and Alliance Parties from 1997 until 2000.  Brian Kirkpatrick won the nomination for the Alliance Party prior to the General Election in 2000, and held the seat until 2008.  From the 2008 election until the 43^rd Parliament was prorogued, Prince Albert was represented by Randy Hoback of the Conservative Party.

I have met all of our Members of Parliament from John Diefenbaker on, although I knew some of them better than others.  Although I did not agree with each of them on everything they stood for, I recognise that they all had a desire to make Canada a better country.  They all felt that they could make the lives of Canadians better.  For that, I can respect them.

We recently hosted a focus group at the Historical Museum to look at the progress which the City has made over the five years since the Municipal Cultural Action Plan was established.   We were asked to consider our understanding of Prince Albert’s culture, how it has changed through the years, and how we could assist in moving it forward.

Long before this area became aware of European culture, the Indigenous peoples were sharing their culture on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River.  In fact, not only was it known to the Cree as kistipananick (a meeting place), but also soomawin (a dancing place). It was not until recently, however, that we settlers have begun to feel comfortable allowing the First people to publicly perform and share their culture with everyone.  It is well worth experiencing, and I am thankful that I have been a part of this enlightened approach.

Also within my lifetime, Prince Albert and area has seen the arrival of many more cultures, including African and Asian culture.  I recall once being asked by Marj Nainaar, founder of the Prince Albert Multicultural Council, what I most liked about multiculturalism.  My immediate response was “the food”, although I must admit that upon reflection, I should have said the music.  Yet how can one talk about the music without thinking of the cultural dances and clothing?

Since attending the aforementioned meeting my mind has been revolving around my experience of Prince Albert culture.  I have already admitted that I find the food culture very attractive and, although I am not talented in the visual arts, I do enjoy and own the work of several local artists including Myles McDonald and Andree Martinson.  What really intrigues me, however, is Prince Albert’s contribution to dramatic arts.

Those of you who have been visitors to the Historical Museum in the past will likely be familiar with our community’s claim to cinematic actor Boris Karloff.  Our claim of Karloff being from Prince Albert may be somewhat tenuous, but I think that this community does deserve some credit for his successful career.

Like Archie Belaney, the Englishman who came to this area and established himself as Grey Owl, the man known to us as Boris Karloff came to Canada from England in 1909.  His real name was William Henry Pratt.  He worked his way across the continent, doing whatever odd jobs he could find in order to scrape together his livelihood.  In 1912, he saw an advertisement in Billboard magazine for a theatrical agent in Seattle.  Pratt introduced himself to the agent, Walter Kelly, and intimated that he had acted in numerous plays – in fact suggesting that he had acted in every play which he had ever seen.  He told Kelly that he had suffered ill health, forcing him to move to Canada, but that now his health had improved so that he could resume his acting career.  A few months later, while employed cutting trees in British Columbia, Pratt received an offer through his agent for employment with the Jeanne Russell Stock Company in Kamloops.  He felt fortunate to be taken on as an apprentice, and was soon traveling with the company across western Canada.

When the company arrived in Saskatchewan, poor attendance at its plays in Saskatoon and Regina resulted in the company going bankrupt.  Pratt was left unemployed and virtually penniless.  His fortune changed, however, when Regina was hit within days by a tornado.  Pratt found work with a company which was cleaning up the tornado’s aftermath, and during that time he met Henry St. Clair, whose company was touring the Queen City from the Empress Theatre in Prince Albert. Pratt managed to gain an offer of an apprenticeship with the company provided he was willing to come to Prince Albert.  He was soon doing what every good apprentice of the day had to do, like sweeping the floors of the theatre and working the ticket booth, and in a matter of months he was a permanent member of the troupe.

It was in Prince Albert that Pratt was able to use his stage name – Boris from the cold weather, and his mother’s surname Karloff – for the first time on a theatre billing.  In later years, Karloff would credit his work with the Henry St. Clair Players in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, as giving him his basic training as an actor.

Another famous Prince Albert son, a man who was born and raised here, was operatic tenor Jon Vickers. The sixth son of eight children, Vickers was born on October 29^th, 1926 to William and Myrle (Mossop) Vickers. Vickers sang in his church choir and, although he had planned to study medicine at university, his leading lady in a semi-professional opera taped him and submitted the tape to The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto where he was awarded a scholarship. After studying there, he sang professionally across Canada from the early 1950s until his first international performance at Covent Garden in London, England in 1957. Other performances followed, not only at Coven Garden but at the Metropolitan Opera and the Paris Opera, among other notable opera houses.

Vickers died in Ontario from Alzheimer’s disease at age 88 on July 10^th, 2015.

It has not been only men who have gone on from Prince Albert to fame on the stage and screen.  In the late 1960s, representatives of the Provincial Youth Drama came to Prince Albert to conduct auditions for their drama school.  Two of my classmates asked me to assist them in their auditions by playing opposite them when it was their turn to audition.  One of these young women went on to an active career in drama in Vancouver, while the other, Janet-Laine Green, went on to a highly successful career in the performing arts.  This should not have been a surprise as her grandfather, Bill Halsey, had managed a theatre troupe in Weyburn back in the early part of the 20^th century prior to moving to Prince Albert.  His acting genes were obviously passed on to his grand-daughter!   

Many of you will remember Janet-Laine in television shows such as She’s the Mayor, This is Wonderland, The Beachcombers, Seeing Things, and Chautauqua Girl.  You may not know that she has also voiced such animated shows as Jacob-Two-Two, Franklin, Little Bear (as the mother), and The Care Bears (the voice of Wish Bear).  She has also been a director, producer and teacher.

One other local product who is not as well known was Rick Ducommun.  Born in Prince Albert in 1952, as Rick Dukeman he hosted the television video show Rockin’ America, was Tom Hanks’ next door neighbour in The ‘Burbs, played the villainous monster Snik in Fred Savage’s Little Monsters, and was the barfly in Bill Murray’s comedy Groundhog Day.  His list of credits included many more movies such as Spaceballs, Die Hard, The Last Boy Scout, and The Hunt for Red October.

Beating out Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas for the part in The ‘Burbs, Ducommun was considered by its director, Joe Dante. to have “knocked it out of the park.  “Lots of the funniest stuff he says was totally ad-libbed” according to Dante.

As well as being an actor, Rick was a stand-up comic, a writer, and a director.

Ducommun died due to serious complications from diabetes in Vancouver on June 12^th, 2015 at the age of 62.

Our local museums have information about so many Prince Albertans who have made their mark in so many different fields of endeavour.  Why not stop by to find out more about them?

by Fred Payton
Prince Albert Historical Society

Earlier this spring, I listened to a conversation with a visitor to the Historical Museum about the arrival and settlement of the community which we call Prince Albert.

James Nisbet, it was explained, arrived here 155 years ago on July 23^rd.  He negotiated with the First Nations leaders who were camped in the area, won their acceptance, and established his mission.

Thinking that I could be helpful in furthering the discussion, I said, “Don’t forget George Flett.”  In return, I was asked, “Who was George Flett?”  Although he played a significant role in the location of the Nisbet mission, Flett and his importance appears to have been forgotten.

George Flett was the son of an Orkneyman, also George Flett, who was a fur trader with the Hudson Bay Company.  His mother, Peggy (Cardinal) Whitford, was a Metis woman and the sister of Michael Cardinal, a man who fathered six remarkable chiefs, all of whom played significant roles in Canadian history, with at least three of them signators to major treaties.  This parentage resulted in Flett being fluent in Cree, and very knowledgeable about First Nations characteristics and customs, which greatly increased his influence with the First Nations people.

Flett was a brother-in-law to the Reverend John Black and, prior to joining Nisbet’s mission, worked as an interpreter for the Hudson Bay Company and farmed near the Isbister Settlement in what is now the west end of Prince Albert.

In 1866, as the Nisbet party began its trek from the Red River Settlement, Flett left his employment with the Hudson Bay Company at Victoria (near Fort Edmonton).  The expectation was that he would meet Nisbet on the trail prior to their arrival at Fort Carlton.  It is unknown how or why Flett was persuaded to leave his lucrative job with the Hudson Bay Company to become an integral member of the mission party.  We know that in 1854, when he had previously been asked to join a mission, he had been very forthright in his refusal.  On that occasion, he was adamant that missionaries would have to forego competing with each other for First Nations souls before he could bring himself to participate in missionary work. 

It may have been Flett’s experience working as a translator for a Methodist missionary at Victoria which prompted his change of mind.  Flett, in a letter to Nisbet sometime after 1854, had expressed his admiration for that missionary and the work that he was doing with the First Nations people.  Regardless of the reason for his decision, he decided to join Nisbet and rode to meet him.

Flett, with his wife Mary and accompanied by two others (likely Adam Isbister and Oliph Olson), eventually met up with Nisbet’s party about a day’s drive from Carlton House, just as the Nisbet party was crossing the South Saskatchewan River.  The two men accompanying Flett were from the Isbister Settlement and they invited Nisbet to settle near them on the North Saskatchewan River, near that settlement.

Flett and Nisbet appeared to be in agreement with each other about the function of a mission.  It would be a secure base from which to travel to the First Nation camps, which tended to be quite mobile.  The mission should be a training place for the First Nation youth where they could learn farming and how to live a settled existence.  Both Flett and Nisbet were aware that the bison were becoming scarce, and felt that there was a need to assist the First Nations people to look toward a future with such scarcity.  

Nisbet had identified five prospective locations where he might establish his mission.  The site that he most favoured was near Fort Pitt on the North Saskatchewan River.  Flett considered each of the sites, and eventually suggested just two locations, neither of which included Fort Pitt

As they traveled to Fort Carlton, Flett advised Nisbet of his suggestion that they consider these two specific locations.   Personnel at Fort Carlton, especially the Chief Factor Lawrence Clarke, agreed with Flett regarding his suggestions.  Flett took Nisbet to see one of the two sites, a place identified as Whitefish Lake.  It offered a number of advantages, but had one very serious disadvantage.  Prior to settling the site, a road would have to be cut through the forest.

The second site, about fifty miles down river from Fort Carlton, was considered to be equally suitable. Nisbet and Flett went to inspect the proposed site and found it highly suitable to their needs.  But the First Nations people camped nearby were unwilling to support their plans, fearing that a mission would attract settlers and drive away the bison.  Flett, after two days of negotiation, was able to convince the leaders to let the mission have the site.  He did so by speaking to them in their native language, telling them that he was born near the site (at Moose Lake, near Cumberland House on the Saskatchewan River), that some of the prairie chiefs were his cousins, and that his mother had important native relatives.  In claiming a share in the land, Flett used the same arguments that the First Nations people themselves used, and he therefore was able to win the argument.

Nisbet had brought the necessary supplies with him for the establishment of their settlement, including livestock.  Once the decision had been made to settle in the recommended location, Flett started to drive the stock overland from Fort Carlton, arriving at the Isbister settlement shortly before the rest of the Nisbet party, who were traveling by river.  According to a letter written by Nisbet, it was 8:00 o’clock on the morning of July 23^rd when they met together at the chosen site.

After the mission was partially organised, Nisbet and Flett traveled further up river to visit Hudson Bay Company forts and other First Nations camps.  Flett was the ideal companion for Nisbet on this trip since he could speak the language and knew the country well.  It was obvious, as they traveled, that he was familiar with the way of life which the locals lived.  His willingness to spend the time talking with them allowed Flett and Nisbet to receive respect and support from the First Nations people. 

Flett stayed only a short time at the Prince Albert mission.  Publicly, it was suggested that he left because his wife needed medical treatment which could only be acquired at the Red River.  However, a review of private correspondence between the two made it clear that Flett and Nisbet were not as much in agreement regarding the running of the mission as it had initially appeared.  Flett wanted to spend his time talking to and educating the First Nations people, making connections with them.  Nisbet wanted him to labour towards establishing the mission as a farming enterprise and a model farm.

Flett wrote to Nisbet that his chief reason for not returning to Prince Albert was that Nisbet “wanted me to work all day at something or other”.  He went on to say, “I thought I would be a useful man for the mission as long as I could speak or at least as long as I had health; but you are so determined to make me work that I am obliged to leave the work of God that I was so delighted with.”

A few years after returning to the Red River, Flett was ordained as a missionary.  He began his work at Fort Pelly, eventually supplying six pastorates.  At the time of his death in 1897 at the age of 80, he had spent 31 years of his life in the North West Territories, 21 of those years as a missionary to the First Nations people. So, who was George Flett?  In reality, he was responsible for the establishment of this community in its current location.  Had Nisbet had his way, it is possible that Prince Albert would have been established further north and west, closer to Fort Pitt.

by Fred Payton
Prince Albert Historical Society

Many local groups and organizations have adopted the tradition of prefacing their agendas, minutes, and meetings by making reference to the fact that we are resident on Treaty 6 land. This is a way for them to honour the Indigenous peoples who have lived here since time immemorial.

Although I grew up in Prince Albert, and have travelled and visited extensively throughout the northern part of our province, I was never really educated with respect to Treaty 6. As many of you have, I have gathered some understanding of the contents of the Treaty through discussions with First Nations friends and acquaintances and by following media reports. My knowledge and understanding were basically, well, very basic.

On a trip to Ottawa last October, I visited a second-hand bookstore where I found a three volume publication containing all the treaties (and adhesions) negotiated between the Crown and the First Nations between 1680 and 1902. Included in the seconded volume is a copy of Treaty 6. Much of what I thought that I knew of the Treaty was reinforced, but there were a few surprises along the way.

I had always thought that Treaty 6 had been signed at Fort Carlton, with representatives of the Crown and the chiefs of the various First Nations gathered around a camp fire, smoking a pipe, and exchanging gifts prior to settling on the terms of the treaty. It therefore came as a surprise to find out that two separate gatherings occurred, the first at and near Fort Carlton between August 23rd and August 28th 1876, and the second near Fort Pitt on September 9th 1876. These meetings laid out the basics of the treaty, while further signings occurred on August 9th 1877 at Fort Pitt, at Edmonton on August 21st 1877, on September 25th 1877 at Blackfoot Crossing on the Bow River, and August 29th 1878 at Battleford. Additional signings occurred on September 3rd 1878 at Fort Carlton, at an unknown location on September 18th 1878, and finally at Fort Walsh on July 2nd 1879.

I was intrigued to see who had participated in each of these signings. The initial signing at Fort Carlton was led by Alexander Morris, the Lieutenant-Governor of the North West Territories, accompanied by W.J. Christie, a Metis who had served as a commissioner at the Treaty 4 negotiations at Fort Qu’Appelle, and James McKay, a lawyer and member of the prominent Prince Albert Metis family. Seventeen additional witnesses to this event included such notable individuals as Isadore Dumond (Dumont) and Peter Hourie. Amongst the chiefs negotiating were chiefs Mis-ti-wa-sis, Ah-tuk-uk-koop, John Smith, and James Smith. They were supported by councillors including Sah-sah-koo-moos, Benjamin, Pee-ay-chew, William and John Badger, James Bear, and Bernard Constant. In total, there were 36 councillors present.

A secondary signing occurring near Fort Carlton included the Willow chiefs and headmen. The document was first read and explained to them by James McKay and Peter Erasmus, and then signed by Chiefs Meh-cha-aw-asis, See-see-quan-ish, and Wee-tee-koo-wee-kah-maw-oo who were supported by nine of their councillors.

Alexander Morris and James McKay also attended the first Fort Pitt signing, with sixteen witnesses including Bishop J. Vital, Peter Pambrun, and Peter Erasmus. Eleven chiefs signed the Treaty on this occasion, with 18 councillors supporting them. The chiefs included James Seenum, See-kahs-kootch, Kee-ye-win, and Kin-oosay-oo.

Subsequent signings were read and explained to the chiefs and their councillors by either Peter Erasmus or Peter Ballendine, with the exception of the final signing which was read to them by Edgar Dewdney, who was the Indian commissioner.

Treaty 6 was negotiated primarily as a result of the Dominion Government’s desire to open up to settlement the lands occupied by the First Nations peoples. The intention was that “there may be peace and good will” between the First Nations and the settlers, and that the First Nations “could be assured of what allowance they are to count upon and receive from Her Majesty’s bounty and benevolence.”

“The Plains and Wood Cree tribes” and all others inhabiting the district described would “hereby cede, release, surrender and yield up to the Government of the Dominion of Canada for Her Majesty the Queen and Her successors forever, all their rights, titles and privileges, whatsoever, to the lands included…”

The lands are clearly defined and delineated in the treaty, and rather than include the detail at this time I would encourage those interested to review the treaty. Suffice to say, it runs west in Saskatchewan from Cumberland Lake to the Beaver River, and then into Alberta to Red Deer Lake and to Jaspar House and the main source of the Red Deer River and on to the south branch of the Saskatchewan River. Its southern boundary is the northern boundary of the lands identified in Treaties 4 and 5. All rights, titles, and privileges situated in the North-West Territories, or in any other Province or portion of Her Majesty’s Dominions situated within the Dominion of Canada were also included. The total area comprised within Treaty 6 territory amounted to approximately 121,000 square miles (or roughly 313,400 square metres).

In return, the First Nations peoples were to receive reserves for farming lands, with due respect being given to such lands which were currently cultivated, and other lands for their benefit which would be administered and dealt with by Her Majesty’s Government of the Dominion of Canada. This land was not to exceed one square mile per family of five, proportionately provided for larger or smaller families. The location of these lands was to be determined in consultation with the First Nations so as to ensure its suitability. A provision was included, however, to allow Her Majesty’s representatives to deal with any settlers within the bounds of reserve lands as deemed appropriate, and that they may sell or otherwise dispose of such land for the benefit of the First Nations after consultation with them.

As they located to the lands reserved for them, each man, woman and child was to receive a payment of $12. As well, schools for instruction were to be maintained on the reserves of land if desired by its members.

No liquor was to be allowed within the confines of the reserves, and all laws currently in force, or thereafter enacted to protect the residents from “the evil influences of intoxicating liquors” were to be strictly enforced.

Rights to pursue the First Nations’ avocation of hunting and fishing throughout the surrendered tract were to be protected, although this was subject to such regulations as may be promulgated by the Dominion Government, or on such tracts of land as may be taken up for settlement, mining, lumbering or other purposes duly authorized by the Dominion Government.

by Fred Payton

In my last column, I discussed the initial instability which plagued the establishment of the Prince Albert Police Service.  The citizens of the community and the individuals who filled the position of town constable often had very different expectations of the duties which should be performed, and the lack of a formal job description exacerbated the situation.  Also, initially, each member of the town’s council felt entitled to provide direction to the constable, often resulting in that person receiving mixed messages.  By 1900, appropriate bylaws and the establishment of a three person police committee had helped to improve the overall situation.

By the time that Robert Jones was appointed Chief of Police at the beginning of the 20^th century, in addition to the Chief the town was being policed by four constables, a special constable, and a scavenger.  The latter person was responsible for the removal of manure from the streets, filling potholes, and other duties which were assigned to the police simply because the bylaws which had been passed by Council made them their responsibility.

Although improvement in the overall direction of the police force was evident, the citizens of Prince Albert were not always impressed.  There were still enough citizens who did not appreciate the laws of the town being enforced where they were concerned.  As these people were voters, the members of the police committee could be swayed by the citizens’ concerns.  After a particular decision made by the committee, with which Chief Jones disagreed, he resigned.  The committee managed to persuade him to remain in his position until his replacement could be hired in order to provide some stability to the police service.  They then chose not to advertise for a new chief.  As a result, Jones’ resignation was eventually determined to be null and void and he remained in his position until his retirement in 1906.

When Jones retired, the new chief, Alex Forsythe, made it quite clear that the existent police accommodation was far from acceptable.  He led a tour of inspection by the police committee, which led to the Town Council expending some money to make improvements.  Forsythe also worked to obtain uniforms and other necessities for his constables, which led to improved working conditions.

Citizen concerns were also addressed during his term as chief, including reducing theft within the community, and working with the North West Mounted Police to control prostitution.

Forsythe was eventually appointed Crown Prosecutor in the Police Magistrate’s Court, and resigned from his position as Chief of Police in May, 1909.  He was succeeded in that position by B.J. McDermott.

McDermott also found the condition of the police station to be unacceptable.  Like Forsythe, he led a tour of inspection by the police committee, who again reported to Council (now a City Council).  Again, money was made available to improve the conditions, but they still remained less than salubrious,

McDermott was considered to be a progressive leader of the police service.  He reorganised the force, reducing it in size and hiring new members. By 1910, the chief only had an assistant constable and two constables serving under him, along with a special constable.  He also established a Cooperative Police Commissary through which his staff could purchase certain equipment, including batons.  In addition, from his budget he was able to purchase new clothing and equipment for the constables, including four sets of summer uniforms, winter uniforms, overcoats, waterproofs, caps and fur hats, as well as summer and winter boots.  He also bought a cap and a fur hat for himself as chief, and two pairs of handcuffs.

Although a bylaw precluded the carrying of firearms within city limits, McDermott arranged for the sale of small revolvers through the commissary, and he allowed his staff to carry them while on duty.

The improvements which the chief managed to make for his constables did not, however, result in greater stability.  It would appear that the majority of the constables had been hired more for their physical abilities than for their mental capability.  Conflicts arose between the police and some citizens, and between the constables and their chief.  McDermott was also prone to cursing in public places, contrary to a city bylaw.  As a result of one particular public occasion, he was censured by the police committee.  McDermott resigned, and refused to rescind his resignation even though the committee attempted to convince him to retain his position.

McDermott’s replacement, Arthur Edward Danby, had been his assistant constable.  Born in England on October 11^th 1871, Danby had joined the Rotherham County borough police force at the age of 18.  He rose to the position of chief constable, Bedford borough, but resigned from that position in 1909 before moving to Canada.  Danby was a member of the CPR railway police in Montreal before joining the local police as the assistant constable, bringing with him training from Scotland Yard in the use of fingerprinting, as well as knowledge of criminal law and magisterial procedure.

Like his predecessors, Danby took the members of the police committee on a tour of the police facilities, pointing out how inappropriate they were.  Either he was far more persuasive than the previous chiefs, or the members of the police committee were more willing to listen.  Immediate plans were made for a new station, and by 1913 the police service was fully moved into the new building, a building for which the architect won a national award for its excellence of design.

It was a three-story building, with police offices and cells on the main floor.  Above was the magistrate’s court and an apartment for the police chief.  The upper floor was initially used as barracks for the constables, although in later years it too became apartments.

Danby must have considered himself fortunate to have been able to have managed to have a purpose-built police station constructed.  His timing could not have been better.  The council of the new city was in the midst of a boom period, and anxious to show the outside world just how progressive and modern a community Prince Albert had become.  But the expenditures entailed, including the construction of its new fire hall and police station, were soon to pale in light of the money poured into the construction of the La Colle Falls dam.  How unaware Danby was of the effect that that project would have on the stability of the police service.  But that would not be for a few years yet.

In the meantime, the usual complaints filed by those who felt the police were unfairly targeting them led to what was considered by the police and the police committee to be a smear campaign.  Ultimately, it led to the establishment of a judicial enquiry into the police service and its chief.  Although numerous allegations were brought forward, each was found by the appointed judge to be completely without foundation.  When the enquiry did not result in the action expected by the malcontents, a petition demanding the chief’s resignation was circulated.  However, a further petition supportive of the chief and the police service appeared to have considerably more backing.  The politicians of the day maintained the status quo.

It was not until 1917 that the fall-out from the city’s extravagance really impacted the police service.  City Council passed a motion on October 15^th of that year which would result in the dismissal of all members of the force effective December 31^st.  Based on support from the community, council rescinded the motion on December 28^th. 

The financial pressures facing the city did not, however, disappear.  As a result, by 1918 the force was reduced to six members, including the chief.  The manpower level was not increased until 1920, when two additional constables were approved.  Another constable was added in 1921, but in 1922 Danby was denied any further manpower.

By October of 1923 the force consisted of seven persons, including the chief.  The police committee, feeling the financial pressures of the city, decided that one constable would have to be released from employment, but transferred the licence inspector back to the force as a constable.  This resulted in Danby having to resume duties as the licence inspector.  Danby felt overwhelmed by the situation and submitted his resignation effective January 31^st, 1924.  The city could not afford to hire a new chief, and the police service was made the responsibility of the sergeant, who resigned his position on February 13^th.  A constable was then given the responsibility of managing the community’s policing, but this arrangement lasted only until February 28th.  Effective March 1^st, 1924, the Saskatchewan Police Force assumed responsibility for the policing of Prince Albert.

Two constables of the Prince Albert police service were transferred to the supervision of the Provincial Police, although they were still paid for by the city.  A third constable was transferred to the position of licence inspector, and returned to working out of City Hall.  The city’s police vehicle was rented to the provincial force.

The Saskatchewan Police Force was already headquartered in the former Prince Albert Club on 12^th Street West.  As a result, the purpose-built police station now housed the Prince Albert Board of Trade, the Agricultural Society, and the city’s Health Department.  Hugh Sibbald and F. Lawrence occupied the apartments on the upper floors.  By 1929, the building had become known as City Park Apartments, still home to Sibbald but also to Stanley Sinclair and W.L. Loomis.  By 1932, it had returned to use as the Prince Albert Police office, and the Juvenile Court, but still housed the Agricultural Society and the Board of Trade, as well as the Saskatchewan Motor Club, the Keewatin Club, and two apartments.  Even into the 1940s, long after the policing of Prince Albert had once again become the responsibility of the city force, the building retained the title City Park Apartments.

The Saskatchewan Provincial Police remained responsible for enforcing the law in the city until they were disbanded in 1929, at which time the RCMP assumed responsibility until such time as the city could reorganise and fund its police service.  This reorganisation was completed by mid-March of 1929 when Frank Leslie assumed the role of Chief of Police.

If you are interested in further information about the Prince Albert Police Service, I invite you to visit the Rotary Museum of Police and Corrections.  That museum, as well as the other local museums, are now open for the summer.  We have incorporated all of the requirements of the Saskatchewan Health Authority, so you can safely visit any of the museums between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. any day of the week between now and the end of August.  We look forward to seeing you!

by Fred Payton
Prince Albert Historical Society

After assuming control of the former Rupert’s Land in 1870, the Dominion government was not overly interested in encouraging the establishment of municipal governments within its new territory.  It was not until 1885 when communities such as the newly incorporated town of Prince Albert were able to elect a representative council.  Consequently, the first election of a town council did not occur in the Nisbet settlement until November 18^th, 1885.

It goes without saying that there was considerable business to be addressed by the new council, but many of the issues which concerned residents were not addressed effectively.  One of the major issues which the residents felt had been inadequately addressed included the need for effective policing of the new town.  There was still a small detachment of North West Mounted Police located in the community, but they were mostly concerned with enforcing liquor laws.  The people of Prince Albert were more concerned about controlling the animals which ran at large in their community.  Packs of dogs, pigs, and cows not only threatened the safety of citizens, but were responsible for damaging and even destroying the community’s gardens.  The newly elected council, determined to deal with the concerns of the electorate, chose to appoint a town constable who was expected to restrain the dogs, impound wandering pigs and cows, and remove manure from the streets.  William Dilworth was appointed as Prince Albert’s first constable on December 7^th, 1885.

There was, however, a small glitch in this response to the community’s expectations.  Well, actually, there were two.  First of all, there was no bylaw precluding those concerns which the constable was expected to address.  That left him trying to “sweet talk” the locals into abiding by a non-existent law.  Secondly, even had there been a bylaw to preclude dogs, pigs, and cows from wandering at large, there was no pound or pound-keeper where these miscreant animals could be enclosed.

Dilworth lasted two weeks, after which Prince Albert’s first constable resigned.

It did not take long for the town to replace Dilworth.  On December 14^th, 1885, the town hired another constable, a man named Scotty Westwood.  He gladly (and perhaps glibly) declared his willingness to assume the duties required by the town council, although he expected “a wee extra price” for restraining dogs and impounding cattle and pigs.  But he felt that his first priority should be to deal with the lawless and unsavoury characters who would pass through town, and to keep drunks off the street.  All these individuals, he declared, would be escorted to the North West Mounted Police guard room.

The locals were not, however, impressed with Westwood’s priorities.  Drunks and unsavory characters were not their concern.  What they wanted Westwood to do was to take the animals, dogs and pigs and cattle, off the street.  They also wanted the transient traders to be controlled.  These were the citizens’ priorities.  When Westwood was confronted by council regarding his previous promises, he responded in the same manner as William Dilworth.  He, too, resigned.

The council thought there would be no problem replacing Westwood, but soon discovered their error.  When no one took on the job, disturbances became common place, and more and more transient traders were coming to Prince Albert.

The council decided that the Dominion government should be called upon to step in to assist.  A request for 200 Mounties was therefore forwarded to Ottawa.  The quick response was that the small local detachment existent in the community should be capable of handling the town’s problems.  No additional Mounties would be sent.

In April 1886, a third man was appointed to the position of constable.  W.A. Giles assumed the role but, he too, resigned within a month.  His replacement was William Dixon, the caretaker of the newly constructed building in which the constable’s office was housed.

Given the instability which plagued the town and its attempt to provide a level of policing acceptable to its citizens, it must have been a relief when the newly elected council, under Mayor James McArter, passed a bylaw to restrain and regulate dogs.  The bylaw required dogs be licenced, and that they be muzzled and leashed when amongst the public.  A further bylaw authorised the construction of a pound and the hiring of a pound-keeper.  Now the constable had the right to impound dogs and, if they remained unclaimed, to destroy them.

The town council passed another bylaw more in keeping with the type of duties a constable might expect.  It allowed him to arrest individuals for maliciously breaking windows, shutters, or blinds, for defacing signboards or participating in acts of graffiti on buildings, walls, or fences.  Other offences for which the constable could arrest individuals included destroying bridges and sidewalks, throwing stones, being drunk in public, cursing, or causing a fight.  Trees planted for shade or ornament could not be destroyed; nor could a person cause a disturbance in or near a church.  Persons involved in prostitution could be locked up for a maximum of 90 days, unless willing to pay a fine.  Finally, the bylaw allowed the constable to detain any person seen to be indecently exposed, including bathing within town limits.  One presumes that this meant bathing (or swimming) in the river or any other body of water, but did not preclude a person taking a bath within the confines of his or her own home or other habitation.

In September 1886, with these bylaws in place, Prince Albert’s first constable, William Dilworth, applied for and was once again hired to fill the position. He also assumed the position of pound-keeper, officially became the licence inspector, and was assigned to report unsafe conditions in both private and business establishments.  He was also required to fill holes in the roads, and to remove manure from the streets.

In 1887, a further bylaw was passed, this time creating the positions of health, street, and fire inspectors.  A pound-keeper was hired, but Dilworth was still required to capture and transport animals to the pound, and he continued to destroy unruly dogs.  The constable was also expected to act in the position of the other inspectors when those positions were vacant.

Eventually Dilworth and the members of the town council became disenchanted with one another when he refused to explain his whereabouts one evening when several thefts occurred in the town.  Dilworth left the position, and he was replaced by yet another constable, this time David Williamson.  Williamson soon left the position over a disagreement regarding who was entitled to the licence fees which he collected.  Reluctantly, the North West Mounted Police took over policing the town, and displayed their displeasure by fining a number of the local saloon keepers for failure to hold the appropriate licences.

Again, the town hired a new constable, John Offord, but he soon resigned when he realised that his duties conflicted with those of the Mounted Police.

In June 1888, the town council finally attempted to properly define the constable’s duties, and in September of that year they hired Peter Robinson on a three-month probation.  He proved to be capable in providing the policing which the citizens expected of him, but the divide between the town constable and the Mounted Police grew wider.  Robertson was taken into custody by the Mounties one night when he was trying to break up a brawl outside the Queen’s Hotel.  Threats were made to sue the Mounties but, as the town realised that they would require the Mounties to provide policing should their constable’s position become vacant, no further action was taken after the town received a letter from the commanding officer promising the Mounties would no longer interfere in the town’s policing unless requested to do so.

In 1890, after the arrival of the railroad, there was a rise in criminal activity in the town.  This led to a period of cooperation between the Mounties and the local constable.  Things apparently ran smoothly, and Robertson made monthly reports to the town council.  However, in 1893, the council decided to place the constable under the direction of a committee controlled by a group of aldermen.  The committee was called Fire, Light, Water and Police.  The constable’s responsibilities were increased to include a number of duties, such as eradicating weeds, inspecting and repairing sidewalks, culverts and drains, overseeing the piggery, and removing dead horses and dogs from within the town’s limits.  Robertson saw this as a regressive step, and resigned.  Once again, the Mounties policed the town, this time until 1895.

In that year, a special police committee was established, removing the constable from the previous amalgamated committee.  Three men, a chief constable, an assistant constable, and a special constable were hired.  This ensured that policing would be stable, as when one man resigned, the next in line would step up.  A fourth man was hired, another special constable, who acted as the town’s scavenger, responsible for removing dead animals and clearing manure from the streets.  All four men were accountable to, and directed by, the police committee.

In 1900, Robert Jones became the first man to be hired in the position of Police Chief.  Although the Police Service had become more professional, the citizens were not happy.  They expected the police to enforce the bylaws against transient traders and crooks, but felt that they themselves should be left alone.  When two constables were asked for their resignation, Jones submitted his resignation.  Council accepted the resignation on the condition that Jones remain until he could be replaced.  He agreed, but the town never bothered to advertise for a replacement.  Eventually his resignation was withdrawn and he remained in the position until 1906, when he retired.

Alex Forsythe and B.J. McDermott followed Jones in the position of chief, and in 1910 A.E. Danby was hired and appointed chief of police.  He brought years of experience and considerable knowledge to the position, and during his leadership the Service’s first dedicated building was erected.

The earliest years of the Police Service were made unstable as a result of bureaucratic mis-steps.  In my next column, we will follow it through its most unstable period, a result of the poor state of Prince Albert’s finances.

by Fred Payton

Winter, like the pandemic, just doesn’t seem to want to let go of us.  So, I have been trying to take advantage of fine days when they come along.  On one particularly sunny, warm day with little wind, I went out to check on the location of some homes which I want to include in a new walking tour of the Central Hill area.

It is not always easy to be exact as to who lived where.  Until 1909, buildings in Prince Albert did not have a street address.  So, prior to that year, the house now known as 159-21^st Street West would have appeared in the Henderson Directory as “south side” 21^st Street between 1^st and 2^nd Avenue West.  Further complicating research is the decision by the city in the mid-1950s to re-number buildings to allow for the in-fill which was occurring on many city streets.  As a result, that same street address was, prior to 1955, 145-21^st Street West. 

That several large lots, particularly residential lots, were sub-divided through the years, complicates matters further.  For example, the Russell house at 235-18^th Street East became the Russell house at 236- 19^th Street East when the property was divided.  The front door became their back door, and their back door became their front door.  What had been an odd number house address became an even number street address.

As I approached the corner of Central Avenue and 18^th Street, I recognised a familiar face, camera in hand, obviously photographing the Queen’s Bench building.  As we exchanged greetings, he told me about a request he had received from a cousin who was putting together a photographic exhibit of court houses across Canada.  The cousin had planned to come to Saskatchewan to take his own photographs but, due to the pandemic, he had asked for assistance from his relative.

My acquaintance knows that I have a love of local history and asked me if I could provide any background information about our Queen’s Bench court building.  Never one to waste an opportunity to pass on local history, I was delighted to enlighten him.

In the infancy of our province, from 1905 to the early 1930s, Saskatchewan actually had an office of the provincial architect.  This position was held by an architect and engineer by the name of Maurice Sharon between the years 1916 and 1930.  Our Queen’s Bench court house, built in 1927, was one of ten such court buildings designed by Sharon, with other communities including Melfort, Weyburn and Estevan having similar structures.

These court houses were built in the Colonial Revival style.  The Prince Albert court house differed only slightly from those built in Yorkton and Kerrobert, being distinguished by its unique central cupola incorporating a clock.  I pointed this out to the photographer, as well as noting the dormer windows and the columned main entrance.  He ensured that all of these featured in his photographs.

We then talked about the Cenotaph which stands in the parking lot to the north of the court house.  It was also erected in 1927, originally as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the Great War although a plaque was added to commemorate our contribution to World War II.  Designed by Marguerite Judd Taylor, it is believed to be the first sculpture to personify Canada as a nation.  As a result, more pictures were taken, this time of the Coat of Arms and the maple leaf coronet. 

As we looked out across the downtown vista, mention was made of the viaduct, which my friend called a Dirty-thirties make work project.  Like many Prince Albertans, I had long thought that the viaduct had been such a project. I had been surprised when I discovered that it had actually been a Canadian National Railways project begun in 1929, and suspended when the depression hit.  It wasn’t until 1938 that construction was resumed, with the viaduct opening in 1939.

Talk of the viaduct led quite naturally to the house standing on property on the western edge of it.  Built in 1911, this was originally the home of Louis Valade, a local tailor and purveyor of fine men’s clothing.  Valade’s daughter, Topsy, was long considered one of Prince Albert’s most beautiful women.  She was runner-up in the Winter Festival Queen competition, and winner of the Miss Prince Albert competition in the mid-1920s.

I then started to talk about some of the buildings which had once stood near that intersection.  Perhaps the most significant was the territorial gaol, built in the mid-1880s.  It housed the Superior Court of the Northwest Territories when it opened in 1886 and had cell blocks to house the men sentenced to custody.  It was not until 1895 that inmates were actually housed in the gaol, so the position of warden, variously held by Hugh Montgomery (Lucy Maud’s father) and the parents of his second wife (the John McTaggarts), must have been very easy to manage.

When Saskatchewan became a province in 1905, the territorial gaol became a provincial facility.  The first hanging to occur there was in 1911.  As there was no facility in the gaol in which hangings could occur, they were held out of doors on the west side of the building.  The timing of the hangings often coincided with recess at Central School, and eventually the principal of the school requested of the warden of the gaol that a change be made with respect to the timings so that the children were not subject to viewing the sight.

The provincial gaol was eventually demolished after the “new” gaol was opened on 28^th Street between Central Avenue and 1^st Avenue West.  It is noteworthy that an indoor room for executions was built into the new facility.

Two other buildings of note were discussed, the first of which was the two storey, red brick building which was named the Nisbet Academy.  Incorporated by an Act of Parliament in May, 1888, the cornerstone was laid in June of that year.  In December of that year, the school was opened.  Miss Lucy Baker taught subjects such as French, and Miss Hall taught music, art, and dramatics.  Unfortunately, a fire in the early hours of New Year’s Day, 1890, destroyed the building.  Included in the loss was a piano valued at $7,500 and a quantity of artefacts belonging to the fledgling Prince Albert Historical Society.

Later, the Victoria Hospital was built on the site of the Academy.  Opened in rented property on 12^th Street Westin 1899, and incorporated in 1900, the hospital eventually occupied a brick structure west of the territorial gaol in 1904.  Included on the property was an isolation ward, which was expanded in 1918 to accommodate cases suffering from the Spanish Influenza.  A further expansion, built in 1959, is currently an apartment block known as the Courtview Apartments.

Our conversation had lasted longer than I had anticipated, but we had covered a lot of ground.  My friend went on his way much more knowledgeable about this part of the city, and the role it has played in our history.  And I went off trying to determine who lived where and when in the Central Hill area.

by Fred Payton

My wife’s maternal grandmother used to reminisce about her early days in Prince Albert, when she was a student nurse at the Holy Family Hospital.  She would often tell the story about Sunday drives in a horse drawn carriage, checking progress on the construction of a big house on the west hill.

As a child attending elementary school at Queen Elizabeth School, I had at least one teacher who lived in that big house.  The grandeur of the house, which by that time had been converted from a single-family residence into apartments, has since those school days always fascinated me. 

Many of you will be familiar with the Colonial Apartments.  The house still stands on 20^th Street West near 6^th Avenue.  Based on the questions and comments directed our way at the Historical Society, I suspect that the house still holds a certain allure for local residents and for people visiting Prince Albert.

The late Phil West would occasionally lead walking tours of the west hill, and a number of years ago my wife and I joined Phil on one of those tours.  As luck would have it, the owner of the building allowed us to visit one of the suites during the tour, and we will never forget its beauty, character, and the height of the ceilings!

I recently had an opportunity to chat with a descendant of the man who built that big house on the west hill, and to my delight our conversation confirmed much of the information which I had discovered doing research on the house, and on the man who had built it.

As I talked with the descendant of the man who had had the house in question built, she recalled going on a bus tour of Prince Albert’s historical sites.  I wasn’t quite sure what her feelings were when she mentioned that as they passed her great-grandfather’s home the tour guide said “the man who built this house had more money than he knew what to do with”.

The man responsible for the construction of the house was George Will, a name not unfamiliar to those of us who have lived in Prince Albert and studied its history.

George Will was born a New Year’s baby in 1866, in Aberdeen, Scotland.  He came to Canada at the age of 19 years, and for two years farmed in the Peterborough, Ontario region.  Whether he found farming to be too difficult, or was attracted by the mystique of the North West Mounted Police, he joined up on April 9^th, 1888.  Will was posted to ‘F’ Division (now Saskatchewan), where he served for ten years, seven of which were as a sergeant.  He resigned from the force effective January 1^st, 1898, and settled in Prince Albert, where he opened a book and stationery store.

Will lasted in that business for two years, before selling out (likely to John Merritt, who eventually sold to L.S. Parrott, who in turn sold to Fred Adams).  After selling his book and stationery store, Will went into the real estate and insurance business, opening first in the Masonic Temple on 10^th Street West, and then moving to the Bank of Commerce building, the McDonald Block, and later to the Imperial Bank Building.  In later years he used his homes as his place of work, including the Carlton Apartments at 300 River Street West, 110-21^st Street West, and 109-20^th street West.

Around the turn of the century, from the 19^th to the 20^th, the Will family lived at 119-14^th Street West, across the street from the former Central School.  At that time, there was a lot of money to be made in real estate in Prince Albert and area.  Will advertised that his firm carried “Improved Farms and Wild Lands” as well as City Lots for sale.  Through the years, he was the agent for land companies from Winnipeg, Toronto, New York, Glasgow, and London, including such businesses as the Canadian National Railway and the Hudson’s Bay Company.  He handled insurance for the Great West Life Insurance Company, Car and General Insurance Company, and Confederation Life Insurance.  In later years, he was also the District Director for Empire Life, at which time his son Duncan was an agent and his daughter Emily was the stenographer.

Will had married Robena McGregor in 1894.  Robena had been born in Ontario, but obviously moved to Prince Albert with her family.  Prior to, and at the time of her marriage, Robena was a teacher.  Will and Robena had three children, George, Emily, and Duncan.  It has been suggested that Emily was courted by a young lawyer, John Diefenbaker, but he did not meet with the approval of the family as a suitor and the relationship was terminated.  Suffering from a debilitating illness, Emily never did marry, and died at a relatively young age. 

George Junior married, and later lived in Melfort with his wife and family.  Duncan married twice.  He had three children with his first wife (George, Agnes Robena, and Mary Lou) and a son with his second wife (Duncan).  Duncan Junior later followed his grandfather into the Mounted Police, enlisting on January 3^rd, 1964, and serving until June 1^st, 1993.  Duncan achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant, and was a well-known drill instructor at Depot.

Like many residents of Prince Albert, Will invested heavily in the La Colle Falls project.  Also like many others, he lost a considerable amount of money.  As a result, Will had to sell his house on the hill, and moved into a home at 25-11^th Street East.  Within a few years, he had recovered sufficiently so that he could move his residence to 2006-3^rd Avenue East.  This was later followed by a move to the Carlton Apartments on River Street West, and then back to homes on the central west hill.

Known as a motorcar enthusiast, Will was one of the first residents of Prince Albert to own a motor vehicle.  He was a strong supporter of education, and served several terms on the Public School Board.  A founding member of the Prince Albert Outing Club, he was the treasurer for that organisation for several years, owning property at Round Lake from 1913 and having a cottage built there in 1918.  Will also served as president of the NWMP Veteran’s Association.

Will retired from business in the mid-1940s, but continued living in Prince Albert.  In September of 1949, he travelled to Pine Falls, Manitoba, to visit his son Duncan, after which he joined his son George in Melfort.  He remained with his son and daughter-in-law until January 1^st, 1950, at which time he was taken ill and transferred to hospital in Saskatoon.  Predeceased by his wife in 1948, and his daughter, George Will died in hospital in Saskatoon on February 16^th, 1950.

Will had been a member of the Masonic Order (Knights Templar and Shriner), and he and his family were members of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church.  It was from that church that his funeral was conducted by Hart Caslor in February 1950.  The Masonic service was conducted by W.E. Bristow, Worshipful Master , Kinistino AF & AM.

by Fred Payton

With the coming of the Spring weather, a walk along the banks of the North Saskatchewan River can be very appealing. 

It had been a while since I had walked the Rotary Trail west of the Historical Museum, and when I came upon a bench I hadn’t seen before, I was glad that I had taken that direction.

Apparently the bench was placed there last October.  It is placed so that one can sit on it and look out towards the river.  When I was there, the ice was thinning, but still very much in place.  The bench itself, I realised, had been placed there in memory of someone who was dearly loved; in memory of someone who dearly loved the location, of someone who had for many years watched the river from that location, watched the ice thinning in the spring, the river flowing in the summer, and the water freezing over in the autumn so that it was solid ice throughout the winter.

Fanciful, perhaps.  But one of the pleasures which I get from my involvement in the Historical Society is making connections.  And this bench made me want to make connections; connections with the house, with its history, and with the people who had lived there.

If you are like me and have visited that bench, you will know that it is located on the site of the former house at 818 River Street West.  It memorialises the location as being the home of Charlie and Irene Dent.  Without searching any further, I knew that these people loved living in that house.  I could tell that once it was demolished, they would have missed living there.

The Dents bought the house in 1965.  They maintained it, a job which would not have been easy (nor inexpensive) as their home had been built in 1895.  In 1975, they added a garage, with a roof-top deck to allow them a better view of the river.  They planted a garden, grew flowers, and generally beautified the property.  And they cherished its history.

I mentioned that the house had been built in 1895.  A well-known Prince Albertan, James Sanderson built the house, immediately west of his business, the Sanderson sawmill.  The mill itself had been opened in the mid-1880s, when Sanderson and his partner, Sam McLeod, bought and salvaged the equipment which remained after a fire destroyed Thomas McKay’s mill slightly further up the river.

The Sanderson mill became known not only for the lumber it produced, but also for the stair treads, bannisters, and newel posts which were milled there.  The staircases in most of the early Prince Albert and area homes were likely to have come from the Sanderson mill, including the two staircases in the home at 818 River Street West.  I am told that the newel post for the front staircase was magnificent, and that of the back staircase wasn’t too shabby either!

Sanderson did not live in the house for more than ten years.  He found it advantageous to sell out to a competitor, the Prince Albert Lumber Mill, and his mill became their “B” yard.  Sanderson moved on to involvement in a lumber mill in British Columbia, before returning to Prince Albert at a later date. 

In the meantime, the house was either rented or sold.  By 1909, its occupant was George Exton Lloyd, an Anglican priest who was at the time best known for having completed the settlement of the Barr colonists in the community which became known as Lloydminster.  Lloyd later went on to become the fourth bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Saskatchewan, a position he held from 1922 until 1931.  Occupancy of 818 River Street West was assumed in 1913 by the Reverend James Taylor, who had come from Battleford to take on the role of secretary-treasurer of the Diocese.  It is unknown whether Lloyd had bought the house and then sold it to Taylor, or whether the Diocese had bought the house or, perhaps, was renting it from the Sanderson family.  All we can determine is that these two clergymen lived in the house.

What we do know is that by 1919 the Prince Albert Lumber Company had removed its business and assets to The Pas and, as a result, Robert Gilmore had bought the sawmill buildings and the house.  Gilmore was running his business, The Gilmore Ice Company, from the former mill buildings, and was living in the house.  The company would cut ice from the river in the winter time and sell it to families and businesses so that items could be kept cold.  Gilmore continued living there until his death in 1943, after which his wife lived in the house for two years.

In 1945, the manager for Gilmore Ice, William Gauk, became the resident of the house.  Gauk managed the company, and lived in the house, until the Company closed in 1964.  By that time, uses for ice cut from the river had become limited and the business was no longer a profitable one.  The Gilmore Ice Company was closed, and Gauk put the house up for sale.

So it was that in 1965 Charlie and Irene Dent bought the house, which was well situated for them as it was near the grocery store which they operated in the 800 block of 13^th Street West.  Later, when corner grocery stores began to go into decline, Charlie went into the real estate business, and Irene eventually opened a beauty salon within the house.  Although their employment changed, their love of the house was undiminished.

Shortly after the turn of the 21^st century, the Dents realised that it was time to move into a smaller, more manageable residence.  The house they loved so dearly, and in which they had raised their family, would have to be put up for sale.  But for reasons which are not particularly clear, they found that they were unable to sell the house.  It might have been connected to the establishment of a local river authority, similar to the Meewasin Valley Authority in Saskatoon, or it might have been as a result of the 1-in-500 years flood plain plan imposed by the provincial government.  Whatever the reason, the only viable alternative for the Dents was to sell the property to the City.  Once the sale was concluded in 2008, the City demolished the house, destroying a history which spanned over 110 years.

But although the house is gone, the memories remain.  One can still visit the site, sit on the bench, and watch the river.  Whatever the mood of the river at that time.