Frequently the Brooks name has been in the local news over the past few weeks. Having been active in pursuing the history of Prince Albert and area, I was familiar with another Brooks who was often in the news beginning a century ago. At that time, were you to hear someone speak of R.D., you automatically knew that they were referring to R.D. Brooks. Brooks being a fairly common name, it was not until a recent conversation with Donna that I connected the two Brooks families.
Ruggles D. Brooks came to Prince Albert from a small northern Ontario settlement called Tashota, where he had operated a freighting business. Once in Prince Albert, Brooks became active in freighting and road building. In the 1925 edition of the Henderson’s Directory, a listing appeared for Brooks Construction and Transport at 1601 – 2nd Avenue West. Kenneth Brooks was listed as the assistant manager. The 1929 edition of the Henderson’s also listed Brooks Construction, which had its yards at the corner of 16th Street and 2nd Avenue West.
Brooks Construction was active in road building throughout the province, as well as building “grade” for the railway tracks. This involved moving dirt to, or from, the potential railway line. Tracks between Lloydminster and Unity, in Alberta (Vegreville and Two Hills areas), and in the area of Dawson Creek, British Columbia, rode across tracks which were laid on “grade” established by Brooks Construction.
It was, however, for the development of northern Saskatchewan that R.D. Brooks was best known. He contracted to freight for the Hudson’s Bay Company and for Revillon at La Ronge and Stanley Mission, and he agreed to deliver the Lac Du Brochet trade goods at the south end of Reindeer Lake.
This was deemed to be a tremendous undertaking as Southend was ninety miles (145 kilometres) beyond the Churchill River. It would entail a round trip from Prince Albert of 700 miles (1125 kilometres), which would take well over a month to complete. R.D. was told that it couldn’t be done. Even if he could haul the payloads, the men and the horses would be unable to stand the trip.
Brooks was not deterred. He built stables large enough to hold thirty horses at a distance which could reasonably be covered by a days’ travel. A heated tent was supplied for the men’s sleeping accommodation, and a cook and cook-car was provided. Contracts were let for hay to be cut and stored along the way to provide for the horses.
Brooks Construction even built a road between Stanley Mission and Southend, with the rocks of the Pre-Cambrian Shield blasted out of the way, or corduroy roads being built over them. To provide for snow removal, R.D. improved on the existing system of clearance by using a series of push-poles from one sleigh to the next, so that the lead sleigh with the plough would receive support from the horse teams following behind. (This seems very similar to the “tush-push” used by the Philadelphia Eagles!).
Although the first attempt to haul into and back from Southend was not successful, owing to insufficient hay having been cut and the weather being more severe than usual, R.D. was known for his tenacity and did not give up. He once again faced extremely severe weather conditions, but with twice the hay laid up for the horses and flexibility in scheduling, the return shipment, employees, and horses all returned.
Another of R.D.’s businesses was his fish business. He ran a string of fishing camps in the north and would haul fresh, frozen fish from La Ronge into Prince Albert on his return trips from La Ronge .This business improved considerably after R.D. began using air freight, first by forwarding cargo through Canada Western Airways and then Cherry Red Airlines. Eventually, in 1930, he bought his own Buhl Standard Airsedan. He began air freighting during the 1930 Christmas season and by March of 1931 more than 54 tonnes of freight were lifted into northern Saskatchewan. This over a period of 80 days. In addition, he sent the plane to Tashota, where he flew an additional 36 tonnes into northern Ontario and Manitoba.
R.D. used the plane to fly fresh fish into Prince Albert and Saskatoon, allowing the residents of those communities the opportunity to eat fish caught in northern Saskatchewan in the morning to be eaten for dinner that night. He also flew fish from northern Saskatchewan into the United States, where it was sold as Brooks Flying Fish.
Brooks also used the plane for scenic tours over the Prince Albert National Park and the area around LA Ronge. Tourists, prospectors and others were carried into the far north by Brooks Airways Limited.
After his son, Hiram, his pilot and another employee were killed in a crash at Emma Lake on June 21, 1933. R.D. appeared to have abandoned the airline business after that. Brooks Airways eventually passed out of northern Saskatchewan aviation on May 14th, 1935 when Wings Limited from Winnipeg leased the company’s remaining aircraft and transferred them to use in Manitoba.
During the 1940s, Brooks pioneered the change from horses to gas caterpillar tractors on the northern freight haul. This was the final innovation implemented by R.D. Brooks before his retirement. But what a career for which he can be remembered. A strong personality, a tenacious individual, and so very capable of overcoming what seemed to be overwhelming odds.
fgpayton@sasktel.net
