Glenbow Archives, Martin W. Holdom letters (M 9004 ... · Glenbow Archives, Martin W. Holdom...

Glenbow Archives, Martin W. Holdom letters (M 9004), January-June 1911

Jan. 8th 11 Castor P.O.Alta

Dear MaterYou will be expecting a letter. I was very busy last Monday and couldn't possibly write, the

beginning of the New Year is always a busy time. I hope you had an enjoyable Xmas We are in themidst of spell of bad weather, usually January is a bad month, it is just one continual making up ofstoves.Xmas Day Dec: 25thA very unpleasant cold morning but not with standing there were 15 Communicants at the 8.0celebration, we had put up texts and spruce boughs, one misses holly very much, I have only seenone small branch in one of the stores and they wanted $4.00 for that; it was almost dark when westarted the candles on the altar throwing a dim religious light, as the service advanced the sun rose,after the Eucharist we wished each other the same old wish, we had 14 at the midday service, asXmas this was on a weekday the services were not so badly attended Dickson had not gone out intothe country, we had dinner composed of sardines and plumb pudding, the latter Mrs. Willis gave us,Evensong was at 4.0 p.m. We now got ready to spend the evening with Mr. & Mrs. Murphy Mr.Murphy is one of the lawyers in town. We certainly had a beautiful dinner, we started in withoyster soup, turkey cranberry sauce, all kinds of pickles sauces & salads. When you have beeneating scrap meals for over two years, it certainly is a treat to eat a well served dinner occasionallyIt must have been a great business to prepare for we hardly know what maids are out here. Wewere only a small party Mr. & Mrs. Murphy, Dr. McPhearson, Dickson, myself and a young fellowin Illsey's [?] hardware store; after dinner we sat & talked for some time and then went home to bed.Tuesday Dec: 26th S Stephen's Day.Up before daylight and caught the 7.0 train for Gadsby. The prairie looks cold & desolate this timeof year, the few creatures which stay round are white; occasionally one will see a rabbit the coyotesstay and the prairie chicken, all the little birds go farther south except the American variety of thecoal tit, very often a flock of these lively little birds will be seen in the brush by my barn, they arealmost identical in appearance to the kind you see at Marston; we see flocks of Snowbirds on thetrails, in England this bird is very rare & is called the Snow bunting they must breed well withinthe Arctic Circle for they do not stay with us in the summer, they are far more numerous before asnow storm. The House Sparrow is not very common, we have only a dozen or so here in town andthey are not the perky little fellows you see in England, they seem to be trying to force theirexistence in very unfavourable environment, they must have come in on the train for they do notlive on the prairie. Gadsby was still asleep when the train pulled up, in these little out of the wayprairie towns, nobody moves around much before 10.0 a.m., there is no business & it is muchwarmer in bed, as I walked up the village I watched for smoke to rise out of the Long's chimney,smoke always shews up well in this clear air & it is the way we know when our neighbours get up,just before I got there up it rushed in a black cloud and Mr. Long in his night shirt & trousers camedown & let me in The whole family seemed pleased to see me, I spent a fairly slack day readingmagazines, I called on the few Church people in the place. Mr. Long who is an old countryDruggist from Dover does a very nice little business in town; Mrs. Long is very good to us, everymonth she makes us a fine large English cake and they are more then kind whenever I visit them.The are a very amusing family, Mr. & Mrs. Long are typical English people but their children are


thorough Canadians; the poor parents cannot understand it at all, it is really quite funny to see theirperplexity.Wednesday Dec: 27th S. John the EvangelistHoly communion in the Long's sitting room at 8.0 a.m. five communicants it was a beautiful littleservice and very helpful. Mrs. Long & Ruth came down to Castor with me on the train to spend afew days with Mr. & Mrs. Lambert. Dickson was giving the Sunday School children a treat in theOdd Fellows Hall I went up and gave him a hand, the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves.Thursday Dec: 28th Holy InnocentsBusy all morning getting the hall straightened up, Dickson went down to Daisy Bank in theafternoon to give the children there a treat I spent the day visiting round town, I am just readingMissionary Travels by Livingstone, and find the book intensely interesting.Friday Dec: 29thThe telephone went just as I got up & I had to go straight up town to try and settle a disputebetween husband & wife a very difficult task requiring a considerable amount of tact. In theevening there was a Board of Trade meeting in the Town Hall to elect delegates to wait on theProvincial Government & to try & get them to put a high level bridge over the Beaver Dam, thelocal member Bob Shaw from Stettler was down to give advice. The Board of Trade is a semiofficial organization in all the towns of the west, it is made up of all the leading men of the town; itbrings matters of importance to the notice of the Council, uses it's influence with the Governmentfor district improvements & also does all the advertising & publicity for the town, the councilgenerally votes it so much money to use in this way. I consider it an extremely useful organization.A great discovery was made last week which may be of the utmost benefit; when some welldiggers were sinking a well behind Halls boarding house they struck natural gas at a depth of 270 ft.when a pipe had been inserted a flame shot up several feet into the air and continued to burn forseveral hours until it was turned off. If this is a big supply as all the experts think it is then we aremade [?] cheap fuel would bring in manufacturers; as you probably know Medicine Hat is entirelyheated & lighted with natural gas. The big question for the Council is this whether to sink a gaswell themselves or give a company the franchise; they are keen for municipal ownership, but tosink 1000 ft: as they would have to do to get the required pressure the cost would be $12000.00. Asit is there is enough to light both the hotels, all the Alberta papers had the news in big letters, if it isas good as we hope there will be a small city here in the space of a few years. Our old church site isclose by this find so you can understand that we are interested I am so thankful we did not sell it.Saturday Dec: 30thSpent the day preparing for Sunday, the weather was too bad for Dickson to attempt taking servicedown at Endiang [?]. By the way Garden Plains store has been burnt to the ground, poor HarryLong has had bad luck, first of all his wheat was nearly completely spoilt by the frost, then a hiredteam he was driving ran away and got tangled up in a fence, one horse had to be killed; and now thefire, troubles never come singly.Sunday Dec: 31stMorning service at 11.0, I went over and read to the old Broughtons in the afternoon, Mr.Broughton was born in Adderbury near Bloxham he has been out here over 40 years, he likes to talkover the days of his boyhood, I know the country where he comes from so well. There was not avery large congregation in the evening but the weather was against it.Monday Jan: 1st 1912 [sic] Feast of the Circumcision


We had a celebration in Church at 8.0 a.m. in spite of the cold there was quite a good congregation.I started in directly after breakfast to get my accounts straight for the annual meeting, all daynothing but figures I hate the job, however it has to be done.Tuesday Jan 2ndDickson went off to Edmonton by the morning train he is spending a ten day holiday with Boyd atS. Faith's Mission. I have just had a long letter from Aldah, she tells me there is an article in theCanadian Churchman on Castor and the work of the mission, I expect that will be the doing of theBishop. Another day spent with my books. In the evening I walked down to Traverses and stayedthe night, Mr. Travers has just come into an estate in the south of Ireland, he has given us another$50.00 for the Church, he has given us about $250.00 to the Church this year.Wednesday Jan: 3rdWhen I got up from Traverses [sic] and got the chores down, I spent the rest of the day at the books.You will be interested to hear that for Church purposes we raised close on $1800.00 in town aloneduring 1911 [sic] I think that is simply splendid there are only about 50 communicants and about125 Church people altogether including children. I think we have much to be thankful for. OurChurch debt has been reduced to $550.00 we shall wipe that right out this next yearThursday Jan: 4thIn the evening in spite of the cold (it was 25 below zero) there were about 30 persons at the annualChurch meeting held in the Church. It was unanimously decided to become self supporting, onlyasking the executive committee to set aside $300.00 in case of emergency, I don't know how it isbut we never have Church rows, Mr. Harrison asked me to become their rector, the Churchwardenswere directed to write to the Bishop and ask him to come down for the induction It is not two yearssince the Church has been built and we are becoming self supporting, I think we can be justly proudthere are only about a dozen rectories in the Diocese. A splendid vestry was elected, we certainlyhave most of the influential men in town.

Mr. Willis Rector's WardenDr. Lyon People's Warden Medical instector [?inspector] J.P. and Coronor [sic] Mr.

Harrison Manager of Trader's bank President of the Board of TradeMr. Brown J.P. Town Commissioner Sec. to Board of TradeMr. Webb late member of the School boardMr. Travers large landowner & Town councellor [sic]Mr. McBrine [?] member of the Board of TradeMr. LambertMr. FieldingMr. Asquith

Mr. Willis who was a Methodist only a few years ago will be confirmed when the Bishop comesdown, he is quite an old man, he told me the other evening that the Church appeals to him in everyway especially it's antiquity, he very rarely misses [*] a service, like all nonconformists he has agreat idea of Church support, he is a decided gain to the Church & I am very thankful that myteaching on strictly Catholic lines has been the means of deepening his Christianity. It is thesacraments combined with simple Evangelical teaching that the people need Protestantism cannever give them these two things combined nor Roman Catholicism.Friday Jan 5thUp in good time although the cold was bad I decided to go down to Sullivan Lake and take the


Sunday School supplies, it was the coldest trip I have ever made in this country, although I had onfelt boots I thought my feet would freeze, the thermometer must have been below 20 below andthere was a wind blowing, was agony to face it, I had to keep rubbing my nose to prevent it fromfreezing up. I had a good hot dinner when I got in, coming home the wind was at my back but thethermometer must have been falling, I hear it was 30 below zero, my horse was covered with frostand a long icicle hanging from his nose when the frost becomes so intense, everything appears to bealive it was with the greatest difficulty that I kept up circulation I crossed Lane's Lake and severalmiles of uninhabited country, it was light as it was about full moon, you cannot [*] how thankful Iwas to get in, the cold had made me sleepy and I rolled into bed about 9.0 p.m.Saturday Jan 6thI sent word down to Coronation that I couldn't possibly come down for Sunday, this is practicallythe first time I have been prevented from going on a trip for [?] the weather, but I didn't dare face a25 miles ride in a temperature 30 below zero, besides my blood is much thiner [sic] than it was, Ifeel the cold far worse than my first year. Though I think you would hardly know me I have got somuch stronger, there are few men in town [*] who could endure as much physical fatigue, themanual work of drawing water cutting wood & pitching hay every day takes the place of calliletics[? calisthenics]Sunday Jan: 7thI was thankful that I didn't go down to Coronation for it blew a blizzard all day nearly as bad as thestorm we had on the 31st of December 1909, yet some people turned to Church sometimes youcould only see a few yards for the driving snow Well I must close, give my best love to all

I remainYours affectionatelyMartin W. Holdom

Jan: 9th 11 Castor P.O.Alta

Dear Mater

At last I can sit down and write to you, my last letter told you about our Xmas services; itcertainly was a most inspiring day, I did not get up until pretty late on the Monday morning.Monday Dec: 26th S. Stephen's DayField went up & spent the day with Webbs & I went round to the Willis family, I and Cyril Moorefrom the Bank were the only people there outside of the family; we certainly had a great time. Itwas a Canadian Xmas & so we had Canadian dishes. The Turkey was served up with Cranberrysauce instead of sausages; a Canadian plum pudding is quite different to the English make. In theafternoon the boys went out & played tennis, the weather simply lovely quite warm and very littlesnow on the ground, I was feeling pretty tired so didn't take any violent exercise myself, it was niceto sit in a decent chair & have things a little civilized. Field did not get back from Webbs untilpretty lateTuesday Dec: 17thFeeling very fit after having such good meals for two days Started in to write your letter which took


a greater part of the morning. Please thank Father for the cheque he so kindly sent, I have now over$150.00 in the Bank, I shall pay the last payment on my lot $50.00 and then buy another lot eitherhere or in some new town farther East. Cartwright did not get a very good Xmas as a woman &child brought into the hospital suffering with typhoid, it seems strange that people should get thiscomplaint in the winter but no doubt it lies dormant in the system for months.Wed: Dec: 28thBusy all day getting ready for the Children's Xmas Tree the Odd Fellows very kindly let me havetheir Hall for nothing The weather unfortunately started in to be unfavourable the thermometer wasfalling all day and it began to snow.Thursday Dec: 29thBusy all morning getting the yearly balance sheet out, it certainly is interesting. I took an inventoryof Church property, at the lowest computation we place it at $1860.00. The people have raised$300.00 towards my stipend, I hope we shall be self supporting by 1912, they seem very pleasedwith us at head quarters, I hope we shall merit it by the end of this year. The $240.00 has certainlycome in extremely useful, it will place us practically out of debt. Unfortunately the weather wasvery bad, we put up a stage in the afternoon for the treat A fine turn out, the children were veryexcited dressing & getting ready for the play; Miss Hume had certainly taken a great deal of trouble.The little shew was entitled Red-Riding Hood, the children certainly acted splendidly, after [*] thiswe had a Christmas Tree & I acted as Father Xmas, every child had a preasant [sic], they all wenthome highly delighted with themselves, I am going to tell you story which may seem tall but all thesame it is true. The Castor Trading Co has a large cellar under their business building, in the cellaris a furnace for heating the store the bottom of the cellar was just above a seam of coal, a few hotashes fell from the furnace set fire to the coal and it was burning for days before they found it, theydrew out about a wagon load of burnt coal another near go for the town being burnt down.Friday Dec: 30thThe thermometer well under 30 below zero, snowing hard all day, I was going to pull out East butthought it better to wait until the following day, in consequence I took the day getting my annualreturns fixed upSaturday Dec: 31stEarly in the morning the wind got up & blew the chimley [sic] down, you can understand howdelightful it was creeping out of bed with the thermometer somewhere 30 below to fix it up again,the room filled with smoke, and the fire nearly out. Well it was a terrible day, you remember metelling you about the blizzard on the same day last year, it was not quite as bad, but it was a prettyfierce day all right. I put so much on that Field had to help me on to my horse, I was just like abear, furs from head to feet. Fortunately the horse was in fine condition & we went off at a goodpace, the snow was being driven across the prairie like small dust, fortunately for the first 12 miles Iwas not riding against the wind, and until we turned north I kept pretty warm, but when I did turnmy thumbs [*] were frozen solid with two pairs of thick mitts on before I had gone 200 yds: youcan well understand how thankful [*] I was to roll off my horse at Bruce's and get a good warm up,everyone was surprised to see me, the Belcher boys had not been outside for two days, not evenwatered their cattle for fear of freezing. Begent [?] a huge Yankee sitting in their shack said well Iguess you must be pretty tough, it is'nt every man who would ride 15 miles when it is 35 below anda half blizzard blowing"; but still it was my duty to do it & I know the moral influence is good; wesat and talked the old year out, we talked about the old land and our old friends & then rolled up in


our blankets round the stove & slept.New Year's Day Jan: 1st 1911The weather had cleared up but it was still pretty cold I went down to Mrs. Bruce's and took acelebration for them at 11.0 a.m. this made it possible for the poor old lame Aunt to receive & I wasvery glad of it. We held the service in the little parlour; looking out of the window one could seethe white carpet of snow glistening in the sun, rolling away into the distance where the Nose Hillsstood out clear & well defined, it certainly was a beautiful little service. They made me stay &have dinner with them, afterwards I rode 6 miles north to take service at Knob Hill School Housewe had a splendid turn out of about 25, this was a new centre, supposing I had not done the trip theday before, a great many people would have been disappointed of their Sunday service. After a cupof tea with Mrs. Jefferies I started out on my ride home, it was terribly cold as the sun set, I urgedon my horse as fast as he could go as I had to cross a large tract of open country, & wanted to getover it before it became too dark A night on the prarie [sic] this time of year would mean death Itgot darker & darker, I could just make out the trail in front of me, poor little horse he was doing hisbest, but I kept him on the go until he played out & I could not get him to go faster than a walk.Then one saw one of the strange instincts of animals, cyotes [sic] started to follow us, they seem toknow perfectly well when a horse is about all in, my horse would go a few yards stop dead and starttrembling go on a little way and do the same thing, there is something rather uncanny in beingfollowed by animals you cannot see, though of course they would not attack one. There was not avery good turn out owing to the cold, I had a good supper after Church with Mr. & Mrs. Sewell.Monday Jan: 2ndSpent the day with Mr. & Mrs. Sewell. Field Miss Hume & Mrs. Clarke were there, we spent amost enjoyable day, we had a lot of music as Miss Hume plays the piano splendidly.Tuesday Jan: 3rdGot everything straightened up for the Parish meeting on the Wednesday night. Went round andcalled on a few people during the afternoon. Installation of officers at the I.O.O.F. Dr. Lyon wasmade Noble Grand & I was put on as chaplain for another term, I was also elected as one of theTrustees & also placed on the Finance CommitteeWednesday Jan 4thA strong shinook [sic] started in to blow in the early morning and blew all day, the air was quitethick with the driving snow, you can have no idea of the power of these shinook [sic] winds,fortunately they are warm. The Parish meeting took place in Spencer's office at 8.0 p.m. I madeDr. Lyon my warden in place of Mr. Webb. Mr. Brown the manager of the Goulay lumber yardwas elected People's Warden Harold Fielding, Mr. Willis, Harry Long, Mr. Spencer and Mr.Harrison were place [sic] on the Vestry. Messrs. Webb & Travers auditors. Messrs. McBrine,Webb, Lyon & Brown on the Finance Committee. So you see there has been a good deal of changewhich after all is not a bad thing:Thursday Jan 5thWe got up at 5.30 a.m. that is Field & myself to catch the train for Calgary. The Bishop hadpromised to give Field his license as Lay reader, we caught the train all right the weather being mildowing to the shinooks [sic]. It was a great joy to get a view of the Rockeys [sic] once more; fromLacombe south you can see them nearly all the way; although they are about 80 miles distant, theydo not look more than about 12.The Mare [mayor] and Mrs. Smith were going down to Calgary they would have Field & myself


have lunch with them on the train, this was really very kind of them. At Lacombe they have had abad fire, one large Hotel burnt to the ground & a number of residences. We arrived at Calgary atabout 4.30. The river Bow was a solid block of ice, this seems strange when you consider that theriver is too swift for navigation; absolutely no snow at Calgary, but then they have shinooks [sic]about every other day, the Dean gave us a royal welcome, he is such a charming man the authoritiesare highly delighted with Field & they probably will make Castor a mission centre. It was very jollyto get into a large city once more, Field & I spent the evening walking up & down Main Streetwatching the people and the tram cars. Calgary is booming; 35000 when I came out 15 months agotoday 50000, huge buildings going up all the time, I should think that the trade of the town wouldequal Leicester pretty well And then the town is far more up to date, than any English town, thestreets are very wide, they are all lighted with electric light. Although the stores close at 6.0 p.m.the windows are all kept lighted up until midnight Another very good law is that no woman isallowed unattended on the streets after 8.0 p.m. One only realizes [*] the wisdom of this law whenone compares the orderly behaviour of the people on the streets after dark with the unseemly sightsone sees on the streets in any large factory town at home. But I am quite sure the moral standard ismuch higher here owing to a great extent to there being no class distinctionFriday Jan: 6th The EpiphanyThere was a Celebration in the morning at the Pro Cathedral Field & I attended it. We went up andinterviewed the Bishop at 2.0 He gave Field his license, he is looking tremendously fit, the amountof work He has got through during the year is very great, the notes I enclose will give you somesmall idea of the work accomplished. The staff of clergy of the Diocese now stands at 60 [*] wehope to get 20 more in the Spring. After an hour talk we left his Lordship and walking four mileswest got on to a ridge of hills above the town & had a glorious view of the Mountains, they lookedjust about 10 miles away, one cannot believe it is close on 100. An amusing story is told of Patwho one day decided he would take a stroll to the Mountains from Calgary The following day hisfriends followed him up & found him at the side of a little stream about two feet wide; Pat wasundressing, his friends asked him why he was doing that. Sure said Pat when I get in it will be a bigriver and I shall have to swim, appearances are very deceiving. The Dean certainly gave us asplendid time, he cooks beautifully, it was such a treat to get a good bath; the Dean is alwayssurrounded by young men, there are generally four or five staying in the house We saw a good dealof skating people flood their lawns & have private rinks during the winter. I should be ashamed toput on skates out here, mere babies can do the outside edgeSat: Jan: 7thWe left Calgary by the 8.0 train, had lunch at Lacombe and arrived at Stettler at 3.0 p.m. Fieldwent on with Harris to Castor & I stayed at Stettler. The Church looks very nice since it has beenfinished made [?].Sunday Jan: 8th20 at the midday Eucharist, Harris & myself are working on the same lines with regard to services.Dutton the new Vicar's Warden drove me over to Erskine & back in the afternoon in a cutter &team, the snow quite deep. We had choral Evensong at night the first I have taken since comingout. With best love to all



Jan: 17th 1911 Castor Alta

Dear FatherI am afraid this won't be a very interesting letter as most of the week we spent our time trying to

keep warm, we have had the coldest snap that I have experienced in Canada, the thermometerhardly rose above 40 below zero during the whole week and on Thursday morning it touched 53below, and you bet it's cold when it gets between 50 & 60.Monday Jan: 9thI had to thaw everything out in the Rectory at Stettler before I could get breakfast even the breadwas frozen solid, eggs, milk etc were just lumps of ice. There is one thing the stoves soon heat upthe houses though they are only wood. I got back to Castor at 6.0 p.m. I had not been in the shackmore than a few minutes when there was a call on the phone I asked "Who is it!" the answer came"a stranger", "What do you want?" "I want to be married" "When?!!" "At once." A thing like thiswould startle an English parson but things are a little different out here, after a hurried tea I went upto interview the man at the Hotel. It turned out to be a German fellow from Haneyville his fianceehas just arrived on the train from North Dakota, and so of course for the sake of propriety they hadto be married. They were Lutherans the man had his license, so I did not refuse to take thewedding. It being 40 below and quite impossible to warm the Church, in fact it was not fit for awoman to be out; Brown the Druggist came to the rescue and let us have a room at the back of hisstore. So at 8.30 p.m. Mr. William Kroske and Miss Beatrice Blum were bound together in Holywedlock according to the rites of the Church of England, in the presence of two witnesses; the feefor the clergyman $5.00. One gets a great deal of influence by marring people, & I never refuse ifthey are baptizedTuesday Jan 10thWe just sat round in the shack & tried to keep warm, even the atmosphere was frozen & looked likesmoke, a noise a miles away would appear to be a few yards off, water thrown from the door wouldpractically turn to ice before reaching the ground The windows were covered with a half inch ofice, and every now & then a nail would shoot out of the compressed lumber making a crack like arifle, the amount of fuel which must have been consumed during the week must have beentremendous, I went & had supper with the Webbs at 6.0, I found them busy building up their fires,even their well had frozen over 25 ft below the surface. The heavens are a wonderful thing in a lowtemperature like this; you don't know what a clear sky is in England, the sky was nearly blackoverhead and practically white low down in the horizon, the moon & stars shining with a brightnessof which you have no conception. Those glittering Xmas cards which to us in England appear alittle exaggerated give a very fair idea of the brilliance of a Canadian winter sceneWednesday Jan: 11thAt 6.30 a.m. the thermometer touched 48 and it never rose above 40 all day, I exercised the horse inthe middle ['of the day' crossed out] about noon, but did not care about riding for more than half anhour, an English horse would be dead if it had to stand in a single Board stable in such cold withouta blanket, but these Canadian horses will stand anything except draughts; Pat was very fresh, nothaving been used for some days & we had a great gallop all round town, hardly a soul about, mostof the stores did ['have done' written above] no trade for days. The train service is entirelydisorganized, owing to the boilers of the engines freezing, the train gets out any hour in the day &gets back any hour of the night, I walked down to the Travers' Ranch in the evening, they did not


know me at first when I got in I was so covered with frost, I stayed the night with them, & we spenta very jolly evening.Thursday Jan 12thThe thermometer touched 53 below at 6.30 a.m. the lowest for two years, I had a terrible walk backto town after breakfast, my legs nearly froze under me, we had to spend another day practically indoors. My nose has been frozen two or three times and the skin has all pealed [sic] off the end;which makes it very sensitive to the cold. Mr. McBrine arrived in town from the Hand Hills wherehe & Matthias have a store, his nose was frozen solid & he had to go to the Doctor & have itbandaged. We never hear of such a thing as chill blains [chilblains] I suppose it is owing to thedryness of the climateFriday Jan: 13thOnly 48 below in the morning, another day spent in keeping the stove going, I began to be afraid Ishould not be able to keep my Sunday appointment In the evening Field & myself went round andspent a few hours with the Sewells. Fild [sic] had been busy all week getting his sermon preparedfor SundaySaturday Jan 14thOnly 42 below, I did not know what to do about riding to Sullivan Lake. We got up at 5.30 a.m.and Field went off to Halkirk by the morning train, which managed to get out on time. In the end Idecided to go, I put on all the clothing I could taking special care in wrapping up my wrists &ankles, if the main arteries & veins are kept warm, one has far more chance of not getting one'shands & feet frozen. I set out at 11.0 the warmest part of the day the thermometer standing at 35below I obtained a flask of brandy from Brown in case of accidents Brown said he would not havegone out for $10.00 [?], but then these town fellows are terrible cowards. Well like many otherthings it was not half so bad as it looked, and we got through in about three hours, considering thatfor a great part of the distance I had to break my trail through the snow it was'nt at all bad, it was'ntexactly a comfortable ride but I was'nt frozen. The children at Hodgkinsons were delighted to seeme as I took them down a few toysSunday Jan: 15thAbout 10 at morning service, if I had not turned up some people would have been disappointedComparatively a warm day only about 20 below I was thankful not to have to go to Halkirk Agreat congregation at Castor in the evening about 40 and a collection of $14.50

Your affec: sonMartin W. Holdom

Jan 23rd 11 Castor P.O.Alta

Dear MaterYou will be glad to hear that the weather has moderated somewhat we certainly had a terrible

spell of weather while it lasted, during the past week the thermometer has stood at about 10 - 15below, which seems quite warm after what we have hadMonday Jan: 16thI did not get up very early as I was tired. We held a Vestry meeting in the afternoon and got matters


more or less ship shape. Field arrived back from Halkirk by the evening train like the 7.0. he wasrejoicing, he had held a very satisfactory service there in the afternoon I thought as a small treat toboth of us we would go to Frank McDonald's concert in the evening, so chancing going on therocks I bought two tickets 1.00 a piece. After a hurried supper we went and saw the hockey matchagainst Lacombe; We have a splendid rink with covered galleries all round lighted by electric light,at one end a heated pavillion [sic] for ladies, admission 25 cents. The ice was just like a sheet ofglass, the game commenced at 7.30 p.m. It certainly was the fastest game I have ever seen in mylife, the skating to one who comes from a temperate climate appeared bordering on the miraculous,it took one all one's time to fix one's eyes on the "puck" as it passed from one end of the ice to theother, there must have been two hundred people watching, the excitement was tremendous, partlyowing to the cold, we had to keep jumping up and down to keep warm. Lacombe were the betterteam and beat us to the tune of 5 -2. After the match was over we hurried to the theater where wecertainly got our money's worth, it was a first class concert Miss May Crawford a Toronto star &who has sung in London & New York gave us a treat which it will take a long time to forget. Thehouse was crowded they must have cleared $200.00 no seats were under 50 cents; men in overallsand sheep skin coates [sic] sat spell bound. In this little town not much larger than an EnglishVillage we have two Moving Picture Shews.

['Shews' is last word on the page. At the top of thenext page are the words 'every night' on a line belowwhich starts an apparent new sentence 'A second ....'Context makes me think 'every night' applies to themoving picture shows]

every nightA second class Opera Company weekly with an occasional first class company. A skating rink & ACurling Club; people need never say that the time hangs heavy in the evenings; we did not get homeuntil midnight.Tuesday Jan 17thDrowned three of Fanny's puppies. We both settled down to reading & preparing for Sunday, I sentField out to call on a few people in the afternoon At 7.30 I baptized a little baby over in theWalter's Addition, some young married people called Thompson, they came out last year fromNothingham England; just think they were living all last week in a single board shack with paperinside, I could see daylight through the cracks and the paper moving backwards & forwards in thewind; it is the dearest little baby, they will bring it to Church when the weather gets a little warmer.Afterwards I hurried off to Lodge.Wednesday Jan 18thAfter an early dinner I set off North to Mr. Adams' place to bring in the grey mare, it was a prettycold day again, I found him busy drawing hay [?]. He went and caught the mare, poor old girl shewas looking kind of rough, we were just talking about the price of the foal which he wanted to buy,the silly little thing went & jumped a wire fence while we were talking & got terribly mixed up, wehad to cut the wires to get it out, the blood then started to pour out it's legs, evidently an artery wascut, I ran up to the house & got some flour to stop the bleeding, but in the end the frost did it for us,the wounds froze over in no time, barbed wire is an absolute curse, hundreds of horses must bekilled every year in Alberta alone It was a terribly cold business leading the mare home, I left thecolt with Adams, his little girl will look after it I think it will get all right again


Thursday Jan 19thWe got up at 6.0 and spent the morning getting things straight, after a hurried lunch we saddled up,I rode the grey mare, although she hadn't [note: Holdom's contractions are always interesting. Thisone has no break and the apostrophe is directly over the "n"] had a saddle on her for 9 months shelet me get on her quite easily We rode out East to the Witherbies. the wind was blowing the snowin a very nasty manner fortunately it was at our backs, we arrived at our destination about sunset,having covered something like 20 miles, Field seemed none the worse for his ride; the boys werevery pleased to see us and after a great supper off sausages, we lay round in bunks & listened to thegramaphone [sic], the long winter evenings in these little log shacks are very enjoyable, the wallscovered with coyote & badger skins, dogs & cats lying round the stove, the smoke curling up fromfive or six pipes, the conversation mostly about farming & hunting, generally working round to theOld Country, what everyone is going to do when he gets back. About 10.0 p.m. Field & myselfrolled ourselves up in horse blankets & our furs & lay down on the floor, sleeping as we never sleptin feather beds, the sleep of men accustomed to out door exercise I am just as hard & tough asleather, I feel the cold far worse this winter than last owing to my blood being so much thiner [sic],but that is the case with all EnglishmenFriday Jan: 20thAfter calling on Mr. Witherby in his little shack over the hill we rode north calling on the Linds &Bruces' arriving at Belchers for supper, I could see poor old Field was pretty tired, we slept until 8.0a.m.Saturday Jan 21stAfter breakfast we rode north and called upon Haynes & Jeffries we had a great welcome, they arethat English family who I told you turned up a [sic] Castor station looking utterly lost last August.They hav'nt [sic] settled down so badly considering but they still talk about colonies and how it isdone in England, we had dinner & then I left Field to rest while I went round and called on theCarters & Shudowns [?]. Got back to Belchers for supperSunday Jan: 22ndNot many turned up for service at Glencoe. After service Field rode on to Knob Hill & I went backto Castor, a good congregation of about 40. With best love to all


Feb: 13th 11

Dear MaterI received the stocks from Castell safely, thank you very much. I also received the Churchman's

Almanacks [sic] which will be very useful.Monday Jan: 30thIt turned out a beautiful morning, after the terribly cold weather we had been having it was a treat toget out in the sun, I went round Gadsby during the morning & interviewed a few people, had dinnerwith the Longs and left Gadsby by the 3.30 train. During the afternoon, we had an instance of howsuddenly the weather can change, it was beautiful up to about 3.0, as I walked down to the station I


noticed it was beginning to cloud up a little; before I had been in the station more than ten minutesit was snowing quite fast & when we had got a few miles in the train it was blowing a blizzard, readthe first part of "Snow shoes & Canoes" by Kingston and he gives you a good idea of what itmeans. We on the train were thinking of those poor fellows caught out on the prairies, the nice daywould have brought many people out. Field was at the station to meet me, we could only see a fewfeet in front of us for the driving snow, we had great difficulty in making the shack one could notpossibly keep one's face to the storm for more than a couple of minutes, it was very nice to get in tothe warm, the storm raged all nightTuesday Jan: 31stclearing up somewhat in the morning. Field was wanting to pull out north but the weather was toobad, we just had to stay at home and read, in the afternoon I rode down to call on Mrs. Travers, shehad been shut up in the house for weeks, they were very pleased to see me, I had to get back tolodge, not many turned up owing to the weather.Wednesday Feb: 1stThe weather still terribly cold, a young fellow came into town during the day on a trip from Lake LeBich you will find it on the map north of Edmonton close to Athabasca Landing; he had beenworking for some months on the government survey party up there, he told us that the weekprevious the thermometer went down to 72 below zero; a little cold you might say. He told me thewolves were terribly bad this winter only a week before two trappers pulled into their camp, theircompanion having been killed by Timber wolves the day before, the three men had gone out to lookat their traps only one carrying a gun, on their way back to camp they were followed by 15 wolves,which kept on getting closer & closer they expected to be attacked every minute at last they gotwithin a short distance from their camp, they decided the best thing to do was for the man with thegun to stay and keep them back while the other two on their snowshoes ran to camp & got theirguns, they were only gone 5 minutes but unfortunately the poor fellow's gun froze up & he waspulled down & killed before his companions could get to his aid. Peppercow [?] had also somegood Moose stories, during the Fall they killed quite a number of these animals, he had a beautifulMoose skin coat which I coveted very much, the Indians made it for him out of an animal he shot,an old Bull Moose of 17 points; the head was sold a short time ago for $90.00, the bead work on itwas simply equisite [sic. Holdom seems to have added an "x" above the "eq"], the Indians certainlyhave very good taste, one story he told was very amusing, they were camped at a certain place; theTransit man went out in front of them to start measuring distances before the day's work; very soonthey heard him shouting, they thought he must have lost his way so they started calling back to lethim know where the camp was; but as he did not turn up they went out to look for him; they foundthe poor fellow up a tree and a huge Bull moose at the bottom, which would not allow him to comedown, when they came up he trotted off with the tripod of the transit fixed round his legs, theinstrument itself was smashed to little bits; $300.00 gone in a few minutes; but it is these things thatmake life worth living out here, we all take big chances sometimes but it makes life charming, wehave left conventionalism at home.Thursday Feb: 2nd "Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary"After Matins Field pulled out for Tinchebray, I stayed round & visited the people, the wind was stillblowing and continued blowing to the end of the week.Friday Feb: 3rdPreparing for Sunday


Saturday Feb: 4thStill bad weather; you don't know how we are longing for the spring, when ever [sic] one goes out itis a continual fight with the cold. During that Monday night two men got lost from Castor & wereout all night fortunately they were not frozen, two men lost their lives of [sic] the way to the HandHills; drink is often at the bottom of it; homesteaders come into town & get full up, they drive homefall to sleep & are frozen to deathSunday Feb: 5thTerribly cold getting up at 5.30 to go up to Church & light the fire for 8.0 celebration, seven turnedup to service; twenty odd at the midday Eucharist. About 30 children at Sunday School, I had aBible class for young men in my shack at 5.0 Field turned up from Tinchebray, on the Friday hehad been out got lost & was wandering round the prairie until midnight. The boys stayed & had tea,we had great fun, coal oil cans & boxes formed our seats, we managed to give them a good blowout. A very large congregation (about 50) at Evensong.Monday Feb: 6thGot up rather late, had rather an interesting meeting during the afternoon. The four representitives[sic] of Christianity met at the house of the Presbyterian Minister to discuss the general welfare ofthe town. There was Father Leconte representing the Romans (breaking the law of his Churchwhich does not allow him to enter the house of a heretic) the Presbyterian Minister Archibald &Wiggins the Methodist man, we were all a little shy at first but settled down & got through somereally good work. This will shew you the spirit of the country such a thing would not be possible inEurope. The Bishop of Chicago the other day made a statement which appeals to me, he said whenwe talk of unity we talk of what we ought to give up, it is not right to talk of giving anything upwhich has received the Diving sanction the question is what can we give.Tuesday Feb: 7thIt being a nice morning Field & I saddled up & set out to call on Mr. & Mrs. Adams, it was a treatof a day, we took Fanny along with us, it was the first time she had left her puppy, she rushedaround rolled in the snow & had a great time, it was very amusing to watch her chase a Cottontailrabbit that she put up out of some bushes, these rabbits are very pretty this time of year for they aresnow white, we found Mr. & Mrs. Adams just getting ready to drive to Castor for an Agriculturalmeeting; I was glad to hear that the colt was nearly all right again; we then rode North & called onthe Walsh family, afterwards on to Norman Jaques' new house, he has dissolved partnership withhis brother, he certainly has put up a fine place, it was a treat to see open fire places again of coursehe has stoves as well he lighted them for our benefit, we just sat down and looked at them; we rodehome as the sun was setting about 18 miles altogether.Wednesday Feb 8thIt being a nice morning I decided to take Field down south we got off about 10.0 a.m. and rode until2.30 p.m. going straight south, the trails were very bad owing to the small amount of trafick [sic],the country looked utterly desolate, owing to the terrible spell of cold weather people had shutthemselves up in their houses and gone to sleep; we had hoped to make Hildreth's for dinner butunfortunately the trail had altered since I was down in the spring and we did not go near his place,poor Field's spirits fell below zero when he realized he would have to ride another 15 miles beforehe could get anything to eat, it is pretty hard to go without dinner this time of year, unexpectedly wecame upon a farm house in a hollow, we rode up and found it was a stopping house so we were notdone out of our dinner after all. The peoples' names were Hunt, they came from Nothingham two


years ago. I noticed the oldest boy limping quite a bit, he told me that he was lost in the blizzard theMonday week before; he and his younger brother; it being such a fine day, had gone down toGarden Plains for a load of coal, on their return journey the storm came on they lost their way andwandered about for hours, at last their horses took them to a hay stack, they dug their way into themiddle of the stack & slept there; in the morning the elder boy had his feet frozen solid above theankles, just blocks of ice, the younger boy was all right when he got out he found they were closefor home so he rode & got help, the other fellow was very nearly dead, his feet turned black & itlooked as if he would lose them, when I saw him they were gradually getting better, but he said thepain in them was simply terrible. Two men who stopped with them on the Sunday night werefrozen to death on their way to the Hand Hills, they told us of another case a few miles south, wherea homesteader was frozen to death, some one found him dead outside took him in & leaned him upagainst the wall, he was found in this position; the story got round that [?he] died standing up. Youwill probably say all this sounds very gastly [sic], but you must remember that life does not stand atsuch a high valuation as in Europe After resting our horses for an hour we got off again the last fewmiles seemed very long, we got to Garden Plains as the sun was setting, and to Taylors just as itwas getting dark, they were very pleased to see us; we certainly slept good that night.Thursday Feb: 9thTaylor said he thought they could get a good congregation together for Sunday so I left Field there& set off for home reaching Castor about 5.30. 70 miles on horseback in three days, not too badconsidering the condition of the trails which were covered with loose snow, I went over & spent theevening with SpencerFriday Feb: 10thRemained quietly at home, resting most of the timeSaturday Feb: 11thUp at 5.30 and caught the 7.0 train for Erskine arrived there about 9.0, Harris arrived in his cutterfrom Stettler shortly afterwards we; [?] had a celebration at 9.30 a dozen people turned up, theMethodists can make nothing out of Erskine & so they have offered to sell us their Church we shallnot be slow to take this opportunity, I drove back to Stettler with Harris after the service; we had tomake time as Harris had to take a wedding at noon. Harris got off for Stettler at 3.0, I had supperwith the people's warden.Sunday Feb: 12th20 at the Holy Eucharist at 11.0 17 received I then drove with Birt Knight to Erskine we had acongregation of 25 back to Stettler for Evensong a full Church. The Vestry had a special meetingafter Church to ask my advice about certain things, there being a little trouble with Harris over oneor two matters, I did what I could to throw oil on the troubled waters, they had a perfect right to dothis as Harris is licensed in my charge, it is very difficult to arrange matters with a man ten yearsone's senior it needs a good deal of tact.Well good night I am tired. God bless you all

I remainyours affectionatelyMartin W. Holdom


Feb: 27th 11 Castor P.O.AlbertaN.W. Canada

Dear FatherIt is very nice to see the days getting longer once more we are all heartily tired of the winter, we

have seen nothing but snow for months, the first thing I have to do in the morning is to take thehorses quarter of a mile to water them this takes up quite a little time; the grey mare is not gettinginto condition as quickly as I should like, it seems to take a long time for them to pick up afterrunning on the prairie during the winterMonday Feb: 20thSpent the morning getting letters written; in the evening walked over to see the Travers' foundMcVeghie the Rancher there, he is a slendid [?splendid] type of the old timer, a tall spare manturning grey, his cheeks bronzed & furrowed, with that inate [sic] instinct of a gentleman which somany of the men who have spent their lives on the prairie seem to have; there is something of thedignity of the Indian brave about him, his youth and early manhood was spent as a backwoodsman,having saved a little money he bought a small bunch of cattle and came out to Alberta; squattingdown on the Beaver Dam Creek about a mile from where my shack now stands 14 years ago. Howdifferent it must have been then when wire fences were almost unheard of, he can tell the story ofhis fight with a Canadian Linx [sic] in the creek bottom when only armed with a stick; farmersthere were none in those days, a very quiet peaceful life it must have been. The great events of theyear being the Spring & Fall round ups and the half yearly mail, Like many of the old timers in thisdistrict he never married, never hardly saw a woman until Mrs. Travers turned up on the scene. hisonly form of enjoyment was to saddle up his horse and ride to old Pete Nelson's a few miles north,and there over a bottle of whisky these two old fellows would drink themselves to sleep and thenprobably not touch another drop for 6 months. Without any idea of revealed religion, yet filled tothe brim with that natural faith which is always to be found in men so much in contact with nature,he has never told a lie in his life, his love for dumb animals is beautiful to see, no man evermaltreats a horse on his ranch, his house is open day & night there is always a hearty welcome; theonly people he has an antipathy for are homesteaders & farms, an antipathy which is shared by allranchers. They look upon the settlers as money grubbers & mean, and after all one can understandit for they have spoilt the prairie from the ranchers point of view; he seemed to take to me, whichTravers told me afterwards was very surprising as he generally retires into his shell when strangersare about, we had a great talk, I pride myself that I know the country round here better than any manin town, so we had a good deal in common as his range extended all over my district. I stayed thenight at the ranch, the bed was so nice & warm covered with a beautiful coyote skin robeTuesday Feb: 21stWe had breakfast about 8.30 & I then walked up town with Mr. Travers; Field had arrived fromGadsby the night before he had only just had breakfast as he was pretty tired after a 25 miles ride. Ispent the day reading "History of Religion" by Allan Menyies [?]. Have you read Sir Nigel byConan Doyle? It is excellent I have just finished the book; after supper I went over to see Mr.Spencer, and we arranged the programme for the Thursday night, I enclose one of the billsWednesday Feb: 22ndPrepared my sermon during the morning; we are living on eggs again, Mr. Hodgkinson brought us


in two doz they are a very welcome change after beef stake [sic], I exercised the mare during theafternoon riding round the town bareback, I have got so accustomed to it now, that I can do as wellwithout a saddle as with one for a short distance. Busy getting ready for the Concert & Dance; Mr.Spencer sold about 85 tickets at 75 cents apiece so we knew we should do well.Thursday Feb: 23rdI forgot to tell you last week that the Express agent down at the Station embezzeled [sic] $1400.00out of the C.P.R. when he was found out by the auditor he ran away down south & hid under somepotatoes in a homesteader's cellar, where he was found & arrested by Coventry; he has gone up toFort Saskatchewan & will be tried next month, he is a Scotchman his wife only came out to him afew months ago, it is very hard luck on her; for she knew nothing about it poor woman. Busy allday getting ready for our entertainment in the Evening. I was just dressing in the evening when,when [sic] a message came over the phone that I was urgently needed at the hospital, I called upSpencer and asked him to open the Concert & I hastened up town to the hospital. I found that poorMrs. Charlie Wadstein who I had married just about a year ago, had given birth to twins out on thehomestead, her husband had just brought her in 22 miles in a wagon, in a dying condition; thedoctor said she could not last the night possibly. I went upstairs poor woman she was gasping forbreath, poor Charlies was in a terrible state, I asked those in the room to remember that prayer wasthe greatest power in the world & we must not give up hope, we then all knelt down and offered upan ernest [sic] prayer that she might recover, at 12 midnight I went in again, the doctor said thatthere was absolutely no hope of her lasting until morning & that I had better administer the lastrites, I was of a different opinion, her breathing seemed to me easier, at 2.30 I went in again she wasdecidedly better and sleeping quietly, I was perfectly certain from the first that she would recover.Our concert went off splendidly over 200 people came, everyone voted it the best Castor had everhad, The Sunday School Children acted Red-Riding Hood again & they were splendid; we kept itup until 2.0 a.m. I spent my night between the Hospital and the Opera House, the contrasts of thescenes of life are very strange sometimes. Just think we shall clear well over $100.00 by ourentertainment is'nt [sic] that splendid. About 150 tickets were sold, and $30.00 in cash was takenat the door. You would hardly take &30.0.0 at a concert in Bedford, we certainly ought to be verythankful.Friday Feb: 24th S. Matthias' DayThere was supposed to be a Celebration at 7.30, but unfortunately I was so tired that I slept throughthe alarum [sic] and never woke up until 9.30 a.m. fortunately only one person turned up and Imade it right with her. I went round to the hospital and found Mrs. Wadstein much better she knewme. Field pulled out East I was going too, but thought it better to stay with Mrs. Wadstein until shewas out of dangerSaturday Feb: 25thMrs. Wadstein continuing to progress favourably I pulled out of town & rode to Knob Hill SchoolHouse, the Jefferies & Haynes were very pleased to see me, they are an awfully nice family, I took agun & Fannie & tried to get a Jack-rabbit she turned one out of some bushes, but it ran behind a bigsnow drift and I didn't get a chance at it; we spent a very jolly evening.Sunday Feb: 26thWe had celebration at 8.30; the whole family received I rode back to Castor in the afternoon. Wehad a splendid full Church at Evensong, the collection amounted to about $10.00. We have ordereda bell it will weight about 700 lbs: and the cost is $90.00 Dr. Lyon & Mr. Spencer are giving it


between themI remainYour affec: sonMartin W. Holdom

Stettler AltaMarch 13th 11

Dear FatherI was very interested in the last home letters, May Mills is just the girl to make a splendid wife

for a man in this country, I should think that it is an extremely good match, Sorry to hear that MrsLinnell had betaken herself off, but then one could never tell what she was going to do, I am alsovery sorry to hear about Mrs Bates, it will certainly make it very trying for poor Bates as I am afraidshe wont [sic] take things very patiently. I didn't think I should be able to write today as I have beensuffering from a bad attack of snow blindness, one is always apt to get it in the spring when thesnow is soft on the top and the sun powerful.Monday March 6thSpent the day as usual pretty quietly, Field turned up during the morning, we had Mr. Quilter downto dinner, a very nice young Englishman who is mix farming on the Battle River, he used to be adraper in Manchester, he has been out here 5 years. Went out visiting in the afternoon; had anothermeeting of the representatives of the denominations; all four turned up at the Manse, I was able totell them that the R.N.W.M.P. would back us up if we prosecuted the people running the "BadHouses" it was a great thing to have Coventry behind us The Government out here winks at theseplaces as a necessary evil, they are also a source of revenue, we do not need places of this kind in alittle town like Castor and we are going right after them, it will be a difficult matter as we havesome really bad men in town, we shall try to get a couple of secret service men down. The TownCouncil is useless as they are terribly afraid of getting unpopular, I believe we shall be able to doquite a little as a united body. We had one of the young fellows from the Bank down to teaTuesday Mar 7thSpent the morning getting accounts cleared up, Mr. L.B. Brown the people's warden has beenappointed Town commissioner with a salary of $1500.00 per annum, there were 70 applications forthe job, this will give Mr. Brown quite a large influence in town, Miss Clarke an English girl who isengaged to a Frenchman, has refused to be rebaptized by the Romans on the grounds that she is aCatholic and refuses to be married by anyone except her own Priest this has put the little Father upagainst it; we can meet the Romans every time by straight Catholic teaching not by disloyalprotistantism [sic] a word it would be good to see lost. In the evening I went to lodgeWednesday Mar: 8thA number of the boys want me to start the Boys [sic] Scouts I have written to the Dean for allparticulars, what I should do without the Dean I don't know, he has been such a very kind friend tome, Had a very interesting letter from a Methodist wishing to come back to the fold of the CatholicChurch and saying that she had been baptized twice by a couple of protistant [sic] sects she hopedshe would not have to submit to baptism again, I was able to explain to her that there is only onebaptism, and that the Church recognises all valid baptism as the entrance into Christ's kingdom, I


had 16 at my confirmation class in the evening she was there & three other Methodists. You willsee from my letters how much we are brought into contact with other creeds & how necessary it isto know the title deeds of one's own faith; after Church I spent the evening with the Sewells.Thursday Mar: 9thUp at daybreak and preparing for a long trip, Mr. Forman of Endiang having written a most patheticletter to me asking that I would come down to see him and try to arrange services, I knew it wouldbe a bad trip but felt that I must make a real effort to get down to themKnowing that during the winter there is generally a trail across Sullivan Lake I determined to gostraight south to Hunt's and then cross the lake to the west side this would save 20 miles. It was abeautiful day we rode out of town about 10.0 we got down to Hunt's at 1.0 15 miles, they told usthat nobody had crossed the lake for long enough & we should find no trail, however I wasdetermined to try and cross, after giving our horses a good rest we set off, certainly there can bevery few more desolate places than this lake & the country surrounding it, you will see on the mapthat it is a pretty big piece of water about 20 miles long & 10 broad this was covered with a thickcovering of snow about 18 ins deep, the surface was broken with hummocks of rounded ice like anthills, away in the distance we could just see a line of hills on the western shore, the atmosphericconditions are very peculiar in this piece of country making it very difficult to judge distances,when we got on to the ice we found it quite impossible to ride there not being a strong enough cruston the snow, so we dismounted I then took my bearings, after scanning the horizon carefully I madeout a little black dot finding it was in the right direction I determined to make towards it and so setoff on a long tramp It is very trying plunging through the deep snow, we seemed to have walkedmiles & yet the little black spot seemed to get no nearer, it took us two hours & a half to cross thelake, for a long time we thought the black spot was a rock but when we did get to it we found it wasan empty house, we now struck into the hills, the snow was very deep often in drifts 5 or 6 ft:through, at last we found an inhabited house and they told us we were 3 miles from Foreman's, youcan understand how glad we were, the sun setting behind the hills was very beautiful Endiangcertainly looked different from what it had done 10 months before, Foreman had put up a fine store,he was very glad to see us, it was delightful to get into the snug sod house; Mr. McLeod from RedWillow turned up during the evening an old lumber man, sitting round the stove we heard somegreat yarns. Old Foremen is 65 he looks 50 he has been in Canada 40 years, born in Kent in hisyoung days a sailor he then came out and settled in Canada on Lake Huron, he lived partly byfarming & partly by fishing, he told us thrilling stories of storms on the Great Lakes, Mr. McLeodone of the most experienced lumber men of the west had just been in the country 50 miles, west ofRed Deer & bought a large claim of virgin lumber, this is a country which I very much want to gothrough you can well understand that we boys were able to pick up quite a lot of really usefulinformation. And then bed and didn't we just sleep until the sun blinked through the blinds at us.Friday March 10th Ember DayArranged for Field to stay & look round & then make for Garden Plains on the Saturday & I set outon my 60 miles trip to Stettler, there was hardly any trail but I tried to follow Mr. McLeod's tracks,after riding for 6 miles, I came to the old Leafhead Ranch, there it was tucked away in the hills, theold ranch house stood windowless, and the corals & stock yards were broken down, there was atouch of sadness about it, the passing of the old days, here was the little spring of limpid waterwhere thousands of cattle used to be watered, one seemed to see it in full animation, the roughcowboys in shaps and Stetson hats, their ropes coiled on the horns of their saddles the wild eyed


steers & the great Coyote hounds, and there it is now desolate & forlorn, after leaving the ranch Istruck out west and after another 10 miles came to Leo a store run by a French family and stayed fordinner, they looked rather askance at an Anglican priest & I did my Friday penance off [of?] garlick[sic], they would not give me oates for my horse, finding there was no trail for Stettler I went northtowards Gadsby which was 18 miles away, after going about nine miles I noticed large grey cloudsblowing up from the north they were almost terrible in appearance, & then I saw a grey misthanging over the prairie I could not make it out at first but then I realized it was snow, a terriblestorm was coming, in a minute the sun was blotted out, it was perfectly calm, and then it came witha rush, I threw myself off my horse & squatted down on the trail in 5 seconds I could not see 5 ft infront of me my mouth eyes and ears were filled with snow I could not turn my head, the mind wasfearful it seemed as if it would lift me off my feet, fortunately it was not cold, directly I could Istruggled back to a shack I had just passed, almost blind, the sun shining through the clouds ofsnow was dizzying I had to cover my face in my hands & struggled along as best I could, I stayedwith an old German for over an hour & then set out for Gadsby, my eyes were in a terrible state & Icould hardly bear the light, I stayed with the Longs at Gadsby and phoned Harris that I could not getto Stettler until the next daySaturday March 11th Ember DayMy eyes very bad bought a pair of goggles from Mr. Long which protected me somewhat, set outfor Stettler 10.0 reaching that town about 1.0; Harris went off to Castor as usual by the 3.30 train,my eyes were too bad to do any reading & I just had to sit & rest themSunday March 12thWith the aid of green glasses & a shade I was able to take the services but my eyes were verypainful, there were over 30 at the 11.0 Eucharist, Dutton very kindly drove me over to Erskine inthe afternoon a ronded [?] church at Stettler in the evening, I was glad to get to bed & rest my eyes.Sunday was the first day of spring it thawed steadily all day thank goodness, how we have longedfor it. I hope Mater will get me some nice Easter cards with best love

I remainYour affec sonMartin W. Holdom

March 20th 1911 Castor P.O.Alta

Dear WinifredI am writing to wish you many happy returns of your birthday, I am afraid this letter will be a

little late but I have been extremely busy, I am always very glad to get your letters as they give me abetter account of home matters than any letters I get. You will be glad to hear that spring has come,this morning I have my door open and can look out at the brown prairie once more, perhaps a shadegreener than last fall, there are large pools of water in every direction, the snow drifts are still quitedeep but they are sinking all the while, a few gophers were seen out yesterday, and a sentenal [sic]goose flew south during the day with the glad tidings to his companions that soon the creeks andlakes will be water once again, the odd geese always come up first to see how things are gettingalong & then go back & tell the others; I must get my rifle cleaned up for them


Monday March 13thI stayed in Stettler all day & had a good rest, Harris came in by the morning train & had to drivestraight down south as a little boy had died during the night 14 miles away I spent the day goinground to see old friends, I know Stettler people almost as well as I do my own. Dutton & Dr.Niblitt are going up north to ranch some where on Onion Lake, the longing for the wilds seems tobe in their blood, the Dr. has given up his government appointment, they want to get away frompeople, I envy them I wish I could pack up my traps and set off to the glorious north, but I shall oneof these fine days, those glorious unconquered forests along the Peace and Athabasca rivers still fullof adventures, there is quite a lot of building going on in Stettler, they have just finished a splendidschool at the cost of $40-000.00. Harris returned with the funeral but unfortunately they could notbury as the men were not able to finish the grave owing to the depth the frost was in the groundTuesday March 14thAfter an early lunch I set out for Gadsby, the snow was beginning to get soft on the top, whichmade it bad going as my horse kept on breaking through, twice my horse fell right down and I hadto throw myself clear in the wet snow, just as I was riding into Gadsby I met Mr. McLeod who Icame across down south, he made me go in to see his wife, poor woman she has been sick allwinter with typhoid Mrs. Lutard was staying with the Longs, her husband was killed last year up onthe Battle River she has just returned from the old country, one would have thought that she wouldhave stayed with her friends in England, but the longing for the prairie was too strong, what awonderful fascination it has for one. One day last Fall Mr. Lutard went out to look for his cattle, hedid not return to supper night came on and still he did not return, Mrs. Lutard put her little baby tobed and sat up terribly anxious, their house was very lovely right in the bed [?bend] of the river, theonly neighbours near at hand a few halfbreeds, people you cannot trust very much, in the morningshe went out & saw her husband's horse at the gate, exhausted and almost dead with fright shemanaged to crawl with her few months old baby up the steep banks of the river and got to aneighbour's a few miles distant, she says she hardly knows how she got there. Immediately searchparties were organized they were out all day but could find no traces, Mrs. Lutard examined thepasture & all round the house but no trace could be found, at night fall the seekers came in tired &wearied with their fruitless efforts, in the morning one of the men said he would have a good lookthrough the pasture again it seemed useless but still he would go, he had not gone far along the trailwhen he thought he noticed a piece of overall in the long grass, stepping off the trail he found Mr.Lutard lying unconscious, he had been lying there 40 yds from his own house for 38 hoursEvidently the horse had taken fright & thrown it's rider, he had lain there hidden by the long grass,he was in a terrible state for it was right in the middle of the fly season, they sent for Dr. Lyon atonce, but he only lingered on for a day & then died. Mrs. Lutard looks like a woman with a history& she certainly has got one, women in this country of many accidents often have to pass throughterrible suffering. She is going to open a small lodging house in Gadsby, she told me all her plans& asked my advice, I have so many people come to me for advice these days, I must be beginningto look a good deal older. I slept on the sofa at the Longs it certainly was most comfortable. Mrs.Long had made me a splendid large cake to take home with me, she is always most kind.Wed: March 15thI made Halkirk for dinner, found Mr. Arnsworth [?] just recovering from a bad illness, left againabout 2.0, it was so hot in the sun, that I hardly knew what to do with my fur coat so quickly doesthe weather change, I arrived in Castor in time for supper At 8.0 there was a Confirmation Class, I


talked to them upon the Holy Eucharist, Miss Clarke who is engaged to a French Roman Catholicwas there, it certainly has made her take an interest in her own faith which is a good thingThursday March 16thYou will be interested to hear that I have put in my name for a Free Mason, it costs most people$50.00 but it is going to cost me nothing, they are certainly kind to parsons in this country, I evendon't pay taxes on my private property; we found during the morning that the mare was coveredwith lice not a very nice thing, she had evidently caught them in some dirty barn, it is a funny thingthat lice always go for white animals, white cows, white hens, etc: All the people in town arelaughing at me & Field we have got so brown the sun on the snow seems to tan more quickly thananything, the water is beginning to pour down the streets in places they are almost impassible [sic],I went into Webbs and bought a pair of high cowboy boots they are a fine rig, I got them prettycheap for $5.00, Hunters [?] are getting off the train now. The Church Emigration Society aresending me out a man by the name of Ward, a carpenter by trade from West Ealing, he will get hereabout the 28th, so I expect we shall be three in a shack for a time, Cartwright's son is also comingout, we are expecting a very large number of emigrants this year, far in excess of anything previous(Must close for a short time while I cook my dinner, a piece of smoked salmon)Friday March 17thSpent the morning reading, I made a boilded [sic] custard for dinner, we are knocking off fleshmeat almost entirely for Lent. My people are keeping Lent very well, nearly all have taken Selfdenial boxes; some are giving up smoking, others reading magazines, others such luxuries as sugar& butter, all have practically given up going to the theater & opera house, one is glad to feel thatChurch teaching is being found of some little good & that people are really trying to discipline theirlives, Mr. Kenway from Brown's drug store came down to supperSaturday March 18thField set off for Sullivan Lake, I could not get out as my mare was still suffering with lice, so hehad Sullivan Lake, Halkirk & Gadsby in front of himSunday March 19thLitany & Holy Eucharist at 11.0 a.m. All my people have entirely fallen in with the primitivecustom of the Church to make the Lord's Supper the central service of the day My boys Bible classwent off well in the afternoon

With love to allI remainYour affec: brotherMartin W. Holdom

April 3rd 11 Castor P.O.Alta

Dear FatherThank you for you letter, I was very sorry to hear that Mrs. Bates is dead, it will certainly be a

hard blow to Bates I am writing to him, I think you are doing very wisely with regard to the farms,I hope you can get good tenantsMonday March 20th


Had a terrible job getting rid of the lice on the mare, washed her all over with creoline [?],unfortunately it discoloured her quite a bit but that cannot be helped, borrowed some clippers &took off her mane. Called at the hospital during the afternoon, found poor old Thompson dyingfrom rapid consumption, you will remember he was a poor old Fin I met goose shooting last Spring,he was very glad to see me & I was able to give him some comfort a Seventh Day Adventist byreligion. Thawing hard all day.Tuesday March 21stSpent the day reading & visiting, went down & had supper with Mrs. Travers, Mr. Stocken told mehis experiences in England, he said he was very glad to get back to Castor I don't know when he &Miss Bagnell will be married but sometime soon, I walked up in the dark, splashing in water nearlyup to my knees, but still it was nice to hear it once more. Field had got back from Gadsby he hadhad a pretty bad tripWednesday March 22ndI set off directly after dinner to go and see the Knights 8 miles north of town, the snow was nearlyall gone except in the coulees where it had drifted, the little sketch I enclose gives you some smallidea of the country I rode through, in the foreground is a slough, the country is covered with thesefrom the melting snow they dry up in the summer, behind is a piece of rough breaking, the pasturewith the well, a lumber house with poplar bluff behind it; on the right one gets a glimpse of theprairie beyond. The place struck me directly from its picturesque position, you will notice that thebanking of manure round the house has not been removed yet. I soon struck the Beaver Dam Creekat the place I & the Doctor crossed last winter to go & see Harry I could not make the mare face thestream it was just a roaring torrent now, owing to the melting snow in consequence I had to makemy way back & ride five miles round to the bridge, Fanny was having a great time chasing gophersat last she managed to catch one and was very plased [sic] with herself, I found that Harry had gonedown East for the Winter his mother & Fred were very pleased to see me however, I got back homein time for tea.Thursday March 23rdA terrible murder case just outside Stettler, Coventry was off by the early train as the murderer wasstill at large, the evening before a man & two friends were sitting in a house just outside town twoshots suddenly crashed through the window & he fell dead, his companions rushed out of the doorin time to see a figure disappearing in the darkness, found a young Englishman by the name ofPrancard [?] round town he came down & stayed with us the nightFriday March 24thThe whole country a swamp it looks as if there is much more moisture in the ground than lastspring it will give a good starter to the crops. people are busy preparing to get out on theirhomesteads, there is a bustle and stir as we wake up from our long sleep.Poor old Thompson gradually sinking, I read to him some of those beautiful passages from Isaiah. Ifind that people who are dying seem to grasp Isaiah & S. John's gospel better than the other parts ofthe Bible I suppose because they are so deeply spiritual, he was sensible but could hardly speak, hewispered [sic] to his wife, priest, shewing that he recognized me, on his account I did not pull oftownSaturday March 25th The Annunciation of Our LadyHoly Communion in Church at 7.30 a.m. after service I went round to the Hospital, poor old Maxsinking fast, I feared he would die before I got back but I was forced to pull out of town. Field & I


set out East directly after breakfast it was jolly to feel the hot sun on one's face again, to watch thelittle gophers scurrying around, before we got to Lindville we separated, Field went North & Iangled away S.E. to call on the Linds, they were very pleased to see me, though Canadians are notvery demonstrative I just walked into the little store & sat down, perhaps no one spoke for a fewminutes and then one or another would start into ask for the news, I stayed dinner & then rode southto call on Jim & his wife found them out & being without a pencil I cut a message on a piece ofwood with a knife & fastened it to the door. Rode north to the Belchers for the night, the frost wasso much out of the ground that they had been disking [sic] during the afternoon. They shewed me asplendid photo of the myself & horse taken last Fall I must send you a print. The snow has gonemuch more quickly here than round Castor.Sunday March 26thHoly Communion at Glencoe School House, 14 came to service stayed and had dinner with Mrs.Bruce & then the usual ride home in the afternoon, I had tea with the Webbs. The last service onthe old Church site.Monday March 27thThey began preparing for moving the Church, they used a large 70 horse power engine for the job,it was far more difficult than we expected owing to the soft nature of the ground from the frost.The murderer who was at large round Stettler has been caught, his horse left peculiar tracks thisclue helped them to trace the man, he ought to swing for it.Tuesday March 28thForgot to say that poor old Thompson died before I got back on the Sunday he was conscious to thelast one of his last sayings was "I believe I die a Christian". I took the funeral, his poor widow isleft without a friend or relation, she will have to work very hard for her living. Had a lot ofbusiness at lodge, I am one of the trustees, we are just taking a new lodge room at $25.00 permonth. My application with regard to the Freemasons has gone in, I shall not know the result yet.TuesdayMarch 29thAt 6.0 a.m. Mr. Tweed & Marian Willis were united in Holy wedlock by the Rev: Gordon Mathewsof Macklin Sask: I assisted, we had to have the wedding at the Willis' residence, the Church beingon the trail, Mr. Tweed gave me $10.00 for assisting which was very handsome of him, the happycouple left for New York by the 7.0 train. No Wednesday evening service owing to the removal.Thursday March 30th5 slept in the shack two English farmers just out, Harry Haynes, Field & myself we laid them out onthe floor when I woke in the morning I had to laugh at the row of heads, we certainly do see life.Mr. Ward the West Ealing carpenter arrived by the evening train, I am keeping him for a monthuntil he saves enough to build a shack of his own, he is such a nice fellow so anxious to get on & agreat Church man I have got him a job right away at 40 [cents] an hour, twice as much as he hasever earned in his life before. Cartwright has a good settled job at $60.00 per month, he has boughta lot and put up a shack, so you see I get them off my hands pretty well.Friday March 31stI made Ward stay in bed & rest well after his long journey, it seems so funny to be called "Sir"again, in fact it seems horrible, he seems so surprised at my treating him as a friend, for my ownpart I could never settle in England again where society is on such a false foundation, well anywaythe centre of the empire will soon be this side of the water. What is England doing when she turns


out of doors to starve first class workmen like Ward, surely she must be on the downward path; weall think so this side.Saturday April 1stWinter once more a heavy fall of snow & the thermometer going down, the Church fixed on hernew site and very little damage done we have now got to get busy and build the addition, Gerlach'splans are most imposing I hope we shall not be in terrible debt.Sunday April 2nd9 turned up for 8.0 Communion the weather terribly cold, unfortunately a brick or two had fall [sic]down the chimney in the moving & we were smoked out I had to stop the service, the same thinghappened at 11.0. We got the fire going for the evening service and had a full Church

Love to allYour affec: sonMartin W. Holdom

Castor P.O. April 11th 11Alberta

Dear MaterHow are you all keeping I hope well and happy, Are the farms let yet? Why don't you all pack

up your goods and come and live in Calgary or Edmonton, they are both fine cities, living would bemuch cheaper on account of no servants, the girls could do the housework, there are a lot of verynice people, the climate is far better than you have in England. When Father had got on to the waysof the country he would soon be able to fill in his time profitably, the girls would find plenty ofinteresting work. The old Country as she is run now by a narrow minded government is no fit placefor sensible people to live in, here there is room for all. Ward has got a good job as a carpenter 40[cents] an hour ten hours a day $4.00 per day & he might have starved in West Ealing, I havebought a half acre for him from Stocken, he will pay me the money when he has made it. I am onlytoo ready to help a man who will help himself. Directly I can save $100 I am going to invest it inproperty in Calgary, Mr. Brockbank a real estate man there who I know very well will advise me,Father could more than double his capital in a year by judicious investment in lots in Calgary. Mr.Hugh Smith our mare [mayor] has cleared in the last 9 months $9000.00, three years ago he wasworking for Lane & Climie at $30.00 a month haying. I know this is right as Harrison the bankmanager told me in confidence. Cartwright's son has got work, between them they are earningabout $100.00 per month, not too bad when you think it costs them about $20.00 a month to live,they can at least put by $70.00 a month; and yet people will rather sit at home & starve and letYankees snop [?sop] up everything. When Canada is annexed to the States then the Old Countrywill begin to wake up, why is it that English people are so blind, all the papers, all the magazines, infact all the literature that comes into the country crosses the line, this must influence the minds ofthe people. All the shows in the theaters deal will Yankee subjects, seeing nearly all the companiesare American. We often see the Yankee flag flying on the houses, no one takes any notice.Annexation is considered seriously all through Alberta & no wonder when two thirds of the peoplehave lived under the stars & stripes. If the old country will not give her sister nations of the empireany preference she cannot expect but that they will do the best they think for themselves, many of


the farmers tell me they think if we joined with the States it would be a good thing, they talk aboutit quite openly. The home government spends it's whole time trying to break up the homeconstitution instead of try [sic] to consolidate the empire, England is over crowded, the surpluspopulation must be moved, and moved quickly or there will be ruin; free meals and charity is notstriking at the root of the evil, it is only pauperising the people before the men are spoilt for work byinane charity get them out here that they may work for their living and where each man must do thebest he can for himself according to his abilities.Monday April 3rdDeep snow on the ground again, people busy up town getting their wheels off their wagons, theweather very cold, freezing hard, glad to get into furs again. DeSoucy a French real estate man whohas been in France for the winter brought back four French men with him, two of them went backto France next morning without waiting for their luggage, scared at the snow.Tuesday April 4th6 below zero and snow falling, Ward could not work I visited quite a number of people during theafternoon, everybody was at home owing to the weather. The lodge met in the new room we haveleased for two years it is a much more comfortable hall than the old one & far more convenient.Wednesday April 5thField turned up from Endiang during the morning, he had had a very bad trip owing to the return ofwinter, he reported good services down South, he was lost for two or three hours on the Saturdaynight; the plans for the extension of the Church are out, they certainly are very imposing, we shalllet the contract directly after EasterThursday April 6thThe weather a good deal warmer I rode over & called on Mrs. Mercer, she has been at Vancouverand Seattle all winter, from her description they must be very beautiful places, on my way back Icalled on Mrs. Travers & stayed to tea, they have been papering & painting their house inside, itcertainly looks fine.Friday April 7thField pulled out for Tinchbray. In the afternoon I rode out to call on Percy Jaques I found him busylambing, he has a flock of Suffolk yews, the only flock in the district, it was very nice to see littlelambs again, I stayed & had tea with them, Percy very busy as he has no hired man and there are 16horses in the stables & a flock of about 80 yews; our men would faint at the thought of it; but outhere you have to make the best of it if labour is scarce. The trails all mud & water again, I saw afew larks which shews that Spring is here.Saturday April 8thStarted off for Stettler by the 7.0 train; every one talking about the murder case which has just takenplace there & weather [?whether] Soderburg the man they have arrested is guilty or not. I foundStettler almost under water, it stands very low.Sunday April 9th Palm SundayAbout 30 at the midday Eucharist. Dutton & Dr. Niblitt are preparing for their expedition into thenorth country, unsurveyed land near lake Labich, they have bought wagons guns saddles etc: theyhope to locate about 250 miles north I am going for a shooting expedition with them in the Fall, Iam looking forward to it already, there is plenty of bears & Moose all through the country 200 milesnorth; it would only take me 5 days on horseback to make the trip, I am looking forward to October.Rode Dick to Erskine in the afternoon, saw a small bunch of Mallard the first I have seen this


spring; the trails terrible, in some places mud & water up to the girths. A good congregation atStettler I went round and had a long talk again with Dutton & Niblitt, we talked of adventures andwhat we would do in the Fall round lake Labich it is a country which makes a sportsman's hearttingle an unsettled country.

Love to allYours affectionatelyMartin W. Holdom

April 24th 1911 Castor P.O.Alberta

The enclosed photos are notdeveloped I will send more

Dear MaterI am afraid I have been a little long in writing but we have been very busy, I was glad to hear that

the farms are letting all rightMonday April 10thI forgot all about it being my birthday until nearly midday, 27 years old, one is getting on in life, Ireturned to Castor by the evening train quite a nice new turned up to service, we had daily serviceall through Holy WeekTuesday April 11thSpent a quiet day reading, a nice few at service in the eveningWednesday April 12thSet off for Stettler by the 7.0 train, Harris was down to meet me, he was expecting the Bishop bythe evening train His Lordship got in all right, looking just as hearty [sic] & fit as ever, he was verypleased to see me. At 7.30 we had Confirmation, Harris presented three men & two women, onebeing a Roman Catholic from my district We sat up and talked until 12.30 the Bishop giving usmany experiences of his early daysThursday April 13th Holy ThursdayHoly Communion at 7.0 a.m. the Bishop celebrated assisted by Harris & myself over 20communicated including the newly confirmed. Mrs. Clarke one of the Churchwardens wives gaveus breakfast, the Bp: caught the 8.45 train for Clive we went down to see him off, it was when wewere waiting for the train that one of those accidents so common in the West occureed [sic], a manwas driving a bunch of horses across the track just as the train came in; taking fright they ran alongbeside the steel in front of the engine, a wagon & team unloading from a fraight [sic] on a sidetrack, also took fright & dashed along, as the train came into the station the engineer slowed down,the horses got ahead of the engine & tried to cross, & then for a few minutes there was a terriblemix up horses piled up one on top of the other in front of the engine, fortunately the train was goingslowly or it would have been thrown from the metals, one poor horse came close by me with it's leghanging by a bit of skin, let us draw a veil, I got back to Castor by the evening trainGood Friday April 14thSpent the morning in Church, Matins & Anticommunion at 11.0. Meditation on the Cross at 2.0p.m. I then had my first meal of the day, it was a holiday in town so Field Ward & myself went for a


quiet walk along the creek, Evensong & address at 8.0.Saturday March [sic] April 15thBusy getting ready for Easter, went & called on a few people in the hospital; the Matron promisedme some of their flowers for EasterEaster Sunday April 16thIt was a glorious morning we were up befor [sic] 6.0 We went round & collected the flowers, wewere not able to keep them in Church during the night on account of the frost, how lovely thoseEaster Lilies seemed to us you can imagine, who had not seen any flowers for months. There were20 at the 8.0 celebration. About 40 attended the midday Eucharist, lighted candles and musick [sic]it was a most impressive service, I went & had dinner with the Sewells. Children's service at 3.0 Igave each of them one of those beautiful cards you so kindly sent, unfortunately they did not gethere soon enough to send them round to all the parishoners [sic]. A full Church at night, Field tookthe services at Sullivan Lake, Halkirk & Gadsby.Easter Monday April 17thA full Vestry meeting in the morning most enthusiastic the tender of Harrison & Lambert acceptedfor building the addition to the Church, it will cost about $1000.00 it was decided to open asubscription list at once, The Church will certainly look very imposing, a good solid stonefoundation with space for furnace a large square tower at the S.W. corner with vestry In every waythe meeting was satisfactory. After making a few calls I rode down to Lane's Lake to see if therewere any geese, It was a glorious evening, I tied my horse to a small tree in a poplar bluff & takingmy rifle lay down behind some stones close to the lake, the setting sun shining [sic] on the waterwas beautiful, there were large flocks of Waveys right out in the middle, their white feathersshewed up clearly against the dark weeds. I waited until night fall and then rode slowly home.Tuesday April 18thSpent the morning reading, they got busy right away with the foundation of the Church, Field camein from his trip with good reports of his services in the country. I went to lodge at 8.0Wednesday April 19thMr. Stocken was married to Miss Bagnell Mr. Travers drove them up in his car, after the ceremonyI drove down with them to the ranch and we had a very jolly evening, Mr. Stocken drove his bridehome to their large house on the other side of the creek, the rest of us walked home at about 11.0p.m.Thursday April 20thAfter dinner I and Field rode out East. We took the dogs with us I forgot to tell you I now have abeautiful Bobtail sheep dog, it is great fun watching them catch gophers these days, it was nice tosee mallard feeding on the pools of water once more & to hear the monotinous [sic] croaking of thefrogs, the horses were in great shape & we had some fine gallops over the rolling prairie; when wegot near Lindville we separated Field went S.E. & I went N.E. arriving at the Belcher boys justbefore supper; they were just getting busy on the land & were starting seeding on the following dayFriday April 21stUp at sunrise & after an early breakfast set off north to call on the Haynes & Jefferies, then East tocall on a Methodist minister who had arranged his service on the Sunday at the same hour as ours, Ifound him quite ready to give way on the matter, although our people had said all kinds of thingsabout him, what with Roman Priests and Methodists ministers I have my hands full, I stayed thenight with Parker Bros: the best cattle men in the country, they hope to make $2400.00 out of their


50 fat steers this year; they were clerking in the "City" six years ago & now they can rope a steerbetter than any old timer. In the few hours I was with them I picked up no end of information withregard to horses, I had never been to see them before, they were exceptionally kind they are verytired of batching poor fellows but they have a sister coming to live with them this year I don't knowwhat she will think of it as they have got very tough from living alone over six yearsSunday April 22ndA red letter day as I had my first experience of Prairie fire We got up at sunrise, the Parkers mademe promise I would come and see them next time I was though, I called at Mrs. [copy illegible] onmy way back West, crossing the Frenchman's Coulee I saw where they had had a small prairie firethe day before, they were trying to burn off stubble and the fire got away from them & burnt as faras the creek bottom, I stayed & had dinner with Haynes & Jefferies, they were very tired as they hadbeen working with the fire up to 11.0 the night before; it would have ruined them if it had got awayacross the creek, as it would probably have burnt out three homesteads & they would have had topay as they lighted the stubble, they kept on looking out to see that it had not started up again, it wasblowing a regular hurricane

[drawing enclosed]We had just finished dinner and I had gone out to saddle up when we noticed the western heavenscovered with black smoke we knew it must be fire, drawing the sinches [sic] tight I rode at a handgallop to the top of a low range of hills on the south of the farm, then the spectacle which I havetried [sic] reproduce in the enclosed sketch met my gaze, in the foreground is the deep gauge of theFrenchman's coulee with a homestead on the bank away into the distance stretches park like prairiewith small poplar bluffs dotted about, across this country a most terrible fire was sweeping with afierce gale behind it, the flames were shooting 50 ft into the air, it was racing over the dry grass andbrush like an express train, the sky was covered with black smoke, behind the line of flames layblack desolation, as the wind was it would probably pass our right front but if it changed what thenit was not a couple of miles away; putting spurs to my horse I rode back with the news, we rushedthe horses into the wagon threw all the sacks we could find into the bottom, a large tub of water & aplough, giving strict injunctions to the women to get into the middle of the breaking if the windchanged, we set off for the scene of action, we were not the only ones, every man in the district washitching up his horses, as he is bound to do by law when fire comes We collected together in a littlehill just out of reach of the flames, I have never seen anything so terrible in my life and yet thegrandness of the scene held one spell bound, these hardy farmers were consulting what was best tobe done, nothing could be done with the head fire, no man could live in front of it, all we could dowas to narrow the area by stopping the back fire and the sides, it seemed that a steam ploughingoutfit had started it, turning to me they asked me to ride round the fire and tell the plouging [sic]people, to plough down the south side of the fire area to form a fire guard from the back fire (firewith work slowly up against the wind) Now the old mare had a race, as hard as she could lay feet tothe ground through water over badger hills, black smoke rolling over our heads, it was the first timeI had known that thrill which tingles in the blood in face of danger if the wind changed for amoment it meant a race for life, the little mare knew, she had been brought up on the prairie sheneeded no urging, I found the outfit trying to do what we wanted already, poor fellows they lookedabsolutely played out black as nigars [sic] yet through that terrible smoke they ploughed, cool &collected like all Anglo Saxons no hurry or excitement. It is these times of common danger whichdraw men closer together, Yankees Scotchmen Englishmen & Irish were thrown together & learnt


to respect one another I rode back to the others, on came the plough as hard as the engineer couldpush it along, turning up those long brown sods which meant safety, suddenly the wind changed &we we [sic] were nearly suffocated the engine faded from view, back to the wagons the horsescould hardly be held [? copy illegible] my mare was prancing on her hind legs but thank God it wasonly a eddy & on it went once more, the fire was in the coulee the dead wood was burning fiercly[sic], but then it was out of the wind and now was our chance come on boys fight, snatching upsacks horse blankets anything we could lay hands on wetting them in the tubs of water we rushedinto the coulee in a line we worked beating out those flames sometimes the heat was too much &we had to fall back, our feet tender from walking on hot ground our limbs weary yet we worked on,it meant the saving of property & perhaps lives there were about 20 of us, men would fall out &thrust their heads into the cool water of the creek, there is nothing more tiring than fighting fire, Iwas glad to see the Englishmen not last in the bunch, old Haynes himself a man of 60 who taughtschool in Bristol only a year ago, the father of that respectable middle class family I told you that Isaw on the train last summer was in the front, what a change; old Yankee farmers learnt to respectthis smooth mannered Englishman that day, in fact we were all brothers in the same ship [?] Forfive solid hours we worked until all was safe, a funny bunch we must have looked at night, blackfrom tip to toe, Did I sleep that night well rather, The worst fire they have had through the countryfor seven years but very little damage done. Weeks lost all his hay & so did White, thousands ofacres were burnt out both of small timber & grass, if it had not been for the coulee it might havegone [copy illegible] & done all kinds of damageSunday April 23rdHoly Eucharist at Knob Hill at 11.0 when we offered up our thanks to God for our safe deliverance.About 30 at the afternoon service. A packed out Church at Castor in the evening, we certainlywant a larger Church.Good bye

Yours affectionatelyMartin W. Holdom

April 30th 11 Castor P.O.Alta

Mr. Davis' shack 34.32.12

Dear MaterI am writing in a little shack about 60 miles S.E. of Castor, in the middle of a long trip, I have

been on the trail for a week and am giving my horse a day's rest, she has stood it splendidly so far,but I have the bigest [sic] half to do yet.Monday April 24thBusy all day getting ready for an early start on my big trip, giving Field instructions etc. Theystarted the wood work on the Church, it certainly will look a most imposing building when it isfinishedTuesday April 25th S. Mark's DayUp at 5.30 a.m. Took about three hours to get everthing [sic] ready for starting, the mare waslooking in fine condition, on the saddle I fastened a sack filled with prayer books, cassock, surplice


etc, I also tied on a slicker in case of rain, I put on high riding boots, shaps stetson hat in fact Ilooked much as you see me in the photo I enclosed last week, I rode through town just before 9.0a.m. many people waved their hands wished me good luck as they knew I was going out on a longtrip, I rode out along the main south trail, the weather looking very cloudy, passed numbers ofwagons drawn by either oxen or horses, loaded to the utmost with settlers effects, the men, &women too going out to their claims perhaps 100 miles The Spring has come with all its' rush andbustle, I was soon out on the rolling prairies which was to be my home for a couple of weeks, awayon the S.W. Sullivan Lake shewed up in mirage, I got to Hunt's Stopping House at noon havingcovered about 18 miles, had a very hearty welcome two of their girls have just come out fromWinnipeg, I pulled out again soon after 1.0 p.m. Caught up a man with a team & entered intoconversation he said he once belonged to the English Church, he said he owned a share in a goldmine back in Ontario worth $35000.00 but yet he was homesteading, I got to Taylor's about 5.30.p.m. & decided to stay the night; very sleepy after my long ride of 35 miles, Mrs. Taylor made meup a bed on the sofa & I went to sleep at 9.30 a.m. [sic]Wednesday April 26thUp at 6.0 a.m. a glorious morning, the sun shining brightly and a cool breeze blowing off theprairie. Meadow larks singing, the prairie rolling away into the blue distance; after breakfast &Matins I pulled out S.E. calling at Watson's store, Watson himself is a true Scot, honest but close,the other day he sold some 5 ins nails to a homesteader to make the weight accurate he took out one5 ins and put in a 3 ins: the people out here cannot understand that kind of thing, I like Watson helet me put up a notice of service in his store, a follower of Knox but he comes to our service I lefthis store and rode along a faint trail S.E. I was now travelling through good Antelope country, Ikept my eyes well skinned I can tell you, this piece of Alberta is poor, nothing but stones & cactus, Itook hold of one of the latter which had stuck to my horse's legs, although I had gloves on I wishedI had'nt [sic], after riding some miles I saw a fellow breaking a little to the south of the trail, I wentup & had a chat, as all people do he thought I was out land seeking & asked me where I was goingto locate, he could not understand when I said I was the clergyman of the Church of England, heprobably had never heard the Lord's prayer in his life, we get many of these white heathen from theWestern States; many do not know what Easter means, one said the other day he thought it wasChrist's birthday. I found Cooper & Plackard located on Berry Creek a nice little stream which runsinto the Red Deer River, they were very pleased to see me, English gentlemen, Cooper has been allover the world, they made me stay the rest of the day with them, I went out with Cooper in theevening to bring home the cattle walking up the basin of the creek I came across an old Indianencampment there was the circle of stones to hold down the tepee & the place where the fire hadbeen, buffalo bones lay scattered around, it was in an ideal spot commanding the whole valley, heresome trible [sic] had come for the summer hunting, I stood & looked up and down the little stream,Indian & buffalo have gone but the country must look just the same as it did then. My mind wentback to "Snow shoes & Canoes" how I should like to have taken a step back [copy illegible] 40years.Thursday April 27thUp at 5.30 a.m. left Cooper's at about 8.0 a.m. a terrible cold wind blowing fortunately it was in theN.W. & so I had my back to it all day, I soon crossed the boundary of the diocese and was in thejurisdiction of Saskatchewan, country through which no parson has been before, very sparsly [sic]settled, a dry belt mostly sand, alkali & cactus, all the sloughs dry from 2 years drought, terrible


fires have swept the country for hundreds of sq: miles, not a bit of brush anywhere, at noon Ilunched behind a badger mound & let the mare try to forage around for a little grass. I struckYoung's Town in 24.29.9 having covered over 40 miles it is just a store & post office, from here Igot my directions to Harnblets [?] house about 4 miles north on Sounding Creek, Harnbles [?]himself was away but his wife was very pleased to see me they had no barn or hay so I had to letpoor Bib rustle for herself, this would kill an ordinary English horse but it takes more than this toput a Bronco out of action. After supper I went to bed in the roof & slept like a top.Friday April 28thBreakfast at 8.0 a.m. a terrible cold morning with a high wind blowing, Bib had been walking roundall night to try & keep warm, she was glad to get going again, I rode north right in the teeth of thewind, fingers were numbed with cold how I longed for my fur coat & mits [sic], the country terriblepoor, nothing but sod shacks, the people have to haul their wood 60 miles & coal 50 they had nocrop last year; if this summer is dry all this part will be wilderness once more. The Governmenttempted the people in here by making it a Preemption Belt, i.e. a man can take up half a section ofland 320 acres instead of a quarter section 160 acres; you bet the Government knows what it isabout. I stopped & spoke to many who told me they had nothing & had sunk all their capital, butyet they will fight & fight to the end. I called at a shack a few miles north, to get my location &found an Englishman by the name of Parke, the son of a Lancashire clergyman, he has been in thecountry 17 years, he came here two years ago, tempted by Preemption Belt, spent the whole of lastsummer digging wells he dug seven, I stayed & had dinner with him, poor fellow I felt so sorry forhim out here all alone, fighting always fighting against odds, he lives mostly on beans & bread; hetold me he only had $20.00 left had sunk $2000.00 in his land & nothing to shew for it. Offer up aprayer sometimes for the poor homesteaders their lot is by no means always a bed of roses, a hardhard life, they never see the face of a woman, this man is close on 100 miles from town, he says hethinks by a system of dry farming he will get back his $2000.00 in five years but all depends on therain, and think of the life, a man brought up in refinement. The wind went down after dinner and itwas warmer riding, my eyes roaming round lighted on three wooden crosses about two miles east ofthe trail, riding up to them I found three new graves side by side with a 20 ft cross at the head ofeach, it was a pathetic sight those three lone crosses of wood hewn out of small poplars with noname & inscription & nothing but prairie all round, probably no service said over them, it was sopathetic I offered up a prayer for them & their dear ones "In the midst of life we are in death". Irode on North, some how the other world seems very near sometimes in this great Lone Land; mileafter mile, we covered sometimes walking, sometimes trotting, the Nose Hills shewing up 60 milesaway in the north like clouds I was wanting to find Ensleigh Post Office which I knew could not befar away, but the country was unsettled, I was among a lot of sand hills, suddely [sic] on my righttwo animals sprang up and fled across the trail in front at about 50 yds distant I knew at once theywere North American antelope how I longed for my rifle, they are very inquisitive creatures and didnot go far but stopped & watched me, out of sight they are very pretty with spiral horns and bigwhite blotches on their rumps, you will see a picture of them in "Snow Shoes & Canoes" Aftergoing a long distance out of my way I found the post office a nice Scotch family run it, they directedme to Bonallo's [?] & Hadelon's [?] place six miles East, in all I had covered 50 miles, my poormare had to feed on straw there being nothing else. I found a number of English families in thisdistrict very anxious for services, I shall be able to send a good report to the Bishop ofSaskatchewan & the needs of a country which has not been thought of yet in high places (the needs


are great)Saturday April 29thUp in good time I set out to ride due West a beautiful morning, I said my prayers in a Buffalowallow, I am getting a dandy at guiding myself by the wind & sun never varied a mile north &south all day, had my dinner under a willow patch, only passed an occasional sod shack, but theywere either German or Russian & could not talk a word of English Struck Berry Creek about 6.0p.m. The country I had come through south of Kirkpatrick Lake is terrible simply white with alkili[sic], Cooper & Plackard were very pleased to see me back again I had done a round trip since I leftthem of about 130 miles not too bad, I think I have earned my Sunday rest, I am going to sleep nowfor an hour before tea by the little creek near the Indian encampment; thinking of you all in dear oldEngland. I am going 100 miles south to the Red Deer mext week so my next letter ought to beinteresting Please keep my letters they may be useful someday


May 8th 1911 Castor P.O.Alta

Dear DoraI am sending you and Winifred two little broaches I hope you will like them, the blue one is

yours & the ring of Maple leaves is for WinifredMonday May 8thI slept over Mr. Forman's store Sunday night in an old disused sleigh, it was bit hard but yet I sleptvery well, I get up about 5.30 I've had breakfast about 6.0 a.m. & I hit the trail about 7.30; rodenorth all morning skirting the west side of Sullivan Lake; passed a burning coal mine about 11.0 ithas probably been burning for hundreds of years, acres and acres of prairie have fallen in, the smokewas coming up out of cracks in the ground, the remains of buffalo were very plentiful all over theprairie, shewing the thousands that must have passed through the country a few years ago, I got toHodgkinson for dinner, they were full of the new school house which they have just built in thedistrict, the school mistress is proving a great attraction among the bachelors, I was glad to hear thatshe was Church of England, I stayed & rested for an hour or so, and then set out on the last stage ofthe journey, a tired man & a tired horse. I reached town at 6.30, this was the longest time I havebeen out of town. The Church was practically finished it looked very nice indeed, I will send aphoto as soon as I get on. There was quite a lot of bad news for me Mrs. Burkholder's little girlwas dead & buried, Mrs. Harding dead & buried, 6 other people dead, the hospital full of patients &when I went away there was hardly any sickness at all, a message had been left that Miss Hewittwas dying out at Lorrane, I was pretty tired after a 400 mile trip & then to be obliged to turn outagain the next day but there was no help for it; Harold Willis had arrived from Trinity CollegeToronto, wanting very much to help me during the summer months, another addition to the staff,we will make these Preachers hustle some. Field & Ward had got a nice little tent put up while Iwas away DeSousa a French Marquis who runs a real estate office in town gave it them, it isbeautiful & cool for sleeping in, Ward had put a nice floor in it so that we should not sleep on theground, I went to bed a pretty tired man.


Tuesday May 9thUp at 6.0 a.m. Ward got the breakfast ready while I fixed the horses, Harold decided that he wouldride out with me it was a beautiful morning but the last thing I intended doing was to get in a saddlethat day, but there was no help for it, Harold rode the sorrel & I the mare, the country was shroudedin smoke from some prairie fire away East. When we had ridden about 12 miles I turned to gonorth but the little sorrel refused to leave the mare, and he pretty nearly landed Harold on theprairie, he knew quite well he had not got me on his back. I had to take him & get him in hand sowe changed horses I gave Pat all that was coming to him, arrived at Belchers and stayed dinner andthen rode on to Hewitts' place, Tilley Hewitt was very pleased to see me poor girl she is very sick, Istayed sometime and read & prayed with her, the great proof of the truth of Christianity is thewonderful comfort it gives people when in extremis. Rode back to Belchers & stayed the night. Iwas very tired so did not pull next morning.Wednesday May 10thIt was jolly just to read & think for a whole day, the prairie was looking beautiful, the trees justbeginning to come out in bud and a few early spring flowers in bloom, the grass land looking fresh& green, the sun shining, a few large white clouds throwing long moving shadows across thelandscape, little gophers running around or sitting up on the top of their mounds, here & thereclouds of dust rising off some ploughing where a homesteader was finishing his seeding; there issomething wonderfully fascinating in this praire [sic] life.Thursday May 11thUp at 5.30 but not before the sun; rode over to see Miss Hewitt I found her still quite sick, but thedoctor had been, & gave [?] more hope. I rode towards Castor via Knob Hill School house, stayedto dinner with Marsh & Knight two English boys who have bought a farm close to the schoolhouse, I really bought them the farm, that is I told them how much to offer & they got it within adollar of the price I said. A Parson's life is pretty earned out here, you never know what will turn upnext. Their farm is pretty right in the brush, surrounded with clumps of poplar & willow. I gotback to Castor about tea time.Friday May 12thSpent the day in town preparing sermons and one thing and another; Went to a meeting of theJunior Auxiliary we have just started these girls in connexion [sic] with the senior branch, theywere very busy getting ready for a small sale of work & Garden fete to be held at Mrs. Webb's onVictoria Day May 24th, they like me to go in & see them.Saturday May 13thJust managed to catch the 7.0 train for Stettler, Found Mrs. Harris in charge of the rectory & hermother, they have just come up from the East, they certainly are very nice it really is a great comfortto Harris; a Parson needs a wife out here to help him, a man was'nt [sic] made to do cooking, so ifyou hear of a Mrs. Holdom one these fine days you must not be surprised. I went round & called onmy old friends. Harris got off by the afternoon train.Sunday May 14thLitany & Holy Eucharist at 11.0 Quite a nice congregation I rode Dick to Erskinein the afternoon,preached them my farewell sermon, Harris is going to be ordained priest on May 28th. The countrybetween Erskine & Stettler was looking splendid after the rain. Preached my farewell sermon atStettler in the evening to a full Church. I cannot help comparing things with what they were 18months ago. Then they were without a Parson, the Wardens could only tell me of one Church


person who they thought might care for a call, the Church & rectory were looking rack & ruin.Now the Church has been finished up inside & there is a large enthusiastic congregation, who havepractically come to the knowledge of the Catholic faith as taught in the P.B. for the first time, if theChurch attempts contrary to her teaching to consider herself among Protistant [sic] bodies her workin my humble opinion in Canada will be worth very little. The young fellows of the congregationtook me for a walk after Church & then we all went back to the rectory for coffeeMonday May 15thGot up in good time, drew water & lighted the kitchen fire for Mrs. Harris, a woman ought not to beobliged to do these things but they very often have to out here, I then fed & watered Dick; Harrisgot back for breakfast. We discussed the parishes and our work up to dinner time We went andlooked over the new School it is a beautiful building and cost the town about $60000.00; the caretaken is a regular Cockney [?]. Got back to Castor on the evening train.Tuesday May 16thA quiet day spent in town. Mr. Travers asked me to tell him what kind of pulpit I should like andhe would bear the expense, people are very good in this way, the lectern Ward has made is verynice, Mr. Sewell is giving the Church a hymn board.Wednesday May 17thSpent the morning reading, writing and getting things fixed about the paying of the Church, the newaddition & tower is costing about $1400.00 we shall have to get busy to try & pay this off.Thursday May 18thIt rained all day, nothing could be better for the crops it was impossible to go out, I got all myaccounts settled; it cost us about $10.00 apiece to live last month, I don't think anybody in town isdoing it at less.Friday May 19thAfter Matins I saddled up & rode down to Sullivan Lake, called on an English woman calledHanson on my way, she came out from Yorkshire last September; poor woman she has had a hardtime of it; her husband worked in Calgary all last winter, she was alone on open prairie with her twochildren, she has; [sic] now the snow has melted to carry her water over half a mile, she has no cow,pigs, chickens or garden, I asked her how she liked Canada, poor thing she turned to me & said"What is there to like" as far as her life is concerned she is quite right. I had dinner with theHodgkinsons & then rode round & called on everyone, they were all very pleased to see me; Fieldhas been taking this service for the last three months.Sunday May 21stWe had service in the School house at 11.0 a nice bunch of 20 turned up, the people received theirEaster Communion a very long time afterwards but what is one to do. The Church was packedright up full in the evening. In future the bell is to be rung everyday at 7.30 morning and eveningfor Matins & Evensong; it certainly is a beautiful bell, it is very nice to have a comfortable littleVestry.Thank Winifred for her nice letter, I will write to her next week. Keep this letter with the rest.

Your affec: brotherMartin W. Holdom


Wednesday May 10th 1911 Castor P.O.Alberta

Dear FatherYou must please excuse writing, as I am using a bit of stick as a pen holder tied with string to a

nib these are some of the shifts a homesteader is put to. We are rejoicing in a beautiful gentle rainthe first of the year, you cannot tell how thankful we all are; it means so much for the crops, I havecovered just about 400 miles in the last two weeks on horseback which is not at all bad considering;in fact I do not think there are many people who can say as much.Monday May 1stThe mare was much rested for her quiet Sunday at Coopers ranch, after breakfast at 6.30 a.m. Isaddled up & taking note of the wind & sun struck out in a southeasterly direction for Copeville,away on the left hand nothing but prairie on my right the Hand Hills began to take shape as I angledtowards them, soon I left the prairie and struck the rolling country a great grazing range for horses,since I have been out on this trip I have heard a good deal about the bunch of wild horses whichroam the open lands through which I have passed, they originate from domesticated stock, many ofthem are stray horses from the Klondyke rush, when large outfits passed through this country goingnorth. The Government sent up a bunch of Cowmen with 50 saddle ponies to round them up lastFall. The way they tried to do it was to keep them on the run for days both day & night, using freshsaddled horses from time to time, most of the stallions they shot, they got together about 200 anddrove them down to Medicine Hat, returning those with brands to their owners, but they lost mostof them on the trip, so there are still quite a number about, but it is very difficult to see them as theyare scared at man, the stallions round off so many stray animals belonging to farmers that they arequite a pest. I arrived at Copeville store about dinner time, I found Mr. Curtis managing it, he mademe go up & have dinner with Mrs. Curtis, Mr. Curtis is a South African veteran and is farming hisscrip (Scrip is a half section of land 320 acres given by the Government to all the men serving theCanadian contingents) Their house stands on the side of a hill at the foot of which is a large valleydrained by the Bullpound creek away on the other side rise the Hand Hills, it is the finest position Ihave seen for a house in Alberta. In the afternoon I rode round & [copy illegible] looked up people;returning to the house for the night.Tuesday May 2ndRode out directly after breakfast on my dash for the Red Deer River, no one round Copeville hadbeen through to the river so I could find out nothing about the trails or how the country was settled.I knew I ought to follow the East bank of the Bullpound Whenever I saw any one I would stop &have a chat the land seems in much better shape then last year & if there is anything like a rain fallthere ought to be good crops; about noon I struck a deep coulee at the bottom of which Idismounted and ate a frugal lunch off bread & cheese washed down with some milk I had in abottle, the mare enjoyed the young grass which was growing by the water. On again mile after milepassed through a homestead about 2.0 and soon after the trail disappeared I was very uncertain whatto do for some time but decided to strike south guiding myself by the sun, I soon after struck a largemarsh full of springs, I pushed my way through it for some distance, but finding the horse sinking atevery step I reluctantly retraced my steps, I wasted a couple of hours in this beastly marsh but at lastmade my way round it, unfortunately I had lost my bearings not allowing enough for the sun andkept too far west & began to mount the hills after riding up hill for some miles I struck a gauge with


steep cut banks on either side, at the end of it I found a little shack and a man digging coal, of whichmineral there was a 5 ft: pocket in the side of the cut bank. He shewed me where I had gone wrongI was much annoyed to find I had wasted so much time, my horse was now getting tired as it waslate in the afternoon and she had been travelling up hill the last few miles. I began to look out for aplace to stop, I made for a shack painted white which I saw about 6 miles away, my lucky star musthave been in good shape, as it turned out to be a married man & his wife was quite ready to put meup and most comfortably they did it too & would not charge me a cent. Such is the hospitality ofthe West no man will ever refuse on a night's lodging. Their name was Esler and they were raisedin Ontario, they told me the winter had been very severe and a man was frozen to death close bytheir place. Esler is terribly disfigured he had to ride through a prairie fire when they first came intoAlberta & he was terribly burnt, I was more tired that day than any on the tripWednesday May 3rdGot on to a good trail & followed it all day, the country much more thinly settled, at noon I couldnot find anywhere to have dinner so simply had to draw my belt a little tighter I rode down into thebed of the Bullpound & let my horse graze I saw a dead Porcupine it is much smaller than theAfrican species, some of the creeks are infested with them. These creeks down south are differentfrom the Battle River & Beaver Dam, there is no Poplar or Spruce but the bottoms are filled withCotton Wood. On the plateau above the creek I found a Curlew's nest with four eggs in it, this asmaller bird than the English species and has brown feathers, the parent birds made a terrible fuss Iwas now getting into the country of large ranches & no settlers, I saw one large ranch nestled awayin the banks of the creek, soon after I passed what must have been a most important Indian campingground, hundred of stones in rude circles were scattered about on some raised ground between twocreeks, some must have been there a hundred years they were so imbeded [sic] in the ground, therewere numbers of buffalo bones too, pointing to the time when Indians lived well. This was thecountry of the Blackfeet. We were now nearing our destination, I could see the banks of the river,at about 3.0 p.m. I rode into the little town of Fieldholine [?] situated on the Red Deer where theferry crosses, I put my horse up & then went to a Stopping House of sorts, run by an enormouswoman nearly 6 ft: called Mac something & weighing about 200 lbs: I found there were two townsites on the market, Fieldholine & Hutton within half a mile of one another, they consist of aboutfour houses, they get a full sheet advertisement in the Albertan, lots are held at $200.00; they are afew of the big swindles of the west; certain unreliable real estate men survey a site like this boom itin the papers; and as a resident said they always find some fool who will buy. The chances of theC.P.R. putting a line through is quite remote, the country round is very poor, I would not give 5.00for any lot in the place. The secretary of one of the companies was down, a strong minded womanfrom over the line, she was trying to make peace at the two stopping houses they are at deadlyenmity with one other. I had supper in the stopping house described as the "Cement Block" in theCalgary papers, it certainly is made of cement & that is all that can be said for it, a kind of cementmade in the river, no lining on the walls at all & the roof falling in. The strong minded secretarytook the head of the table & expatiated on the great advantages of Hutton to a very uninteresteddirty lot of homesteaders & fraighters [sic]; as they say out here she shot off an enormous amount ofhot air; high level bridge over the river; school; C.P.R. line to Castor; in fact the company would doanything for the sake of the people, if only the residents & settlers would buy lots; but you don'tcatch old birds with chaff. I at last escaped from her nasal twang & took a stroll down to the river,away over the other side the sun was setting, the river runs along the bottom of a deep coulee, the


banks covered with Cotton wood, I sat down on a cactus & got up in a hurry it was a beautifulevening, the ferry was hard at work below me, carrying over wagons loaded with fraight [sic] fromBassano which was about 30 miles south on the main C.P.R. line, as the dusk closed in I made myway back to the stopping house, supper was still going, dirty unshaven men kept on coming in fromthe trail, there were about 5 ladies going up to friends in the country, I began to wonder where wewere all going to sleep, the whole house about 20 x 24 ft: consisted of four rooms, after supper theybegan packing us away, the 5 women in one room 8 men in another, there was then one matress[sic] left for 10 men in the eating room, one by one they drop [sic] off & went to sleep in the hay inthe loft I just took my boots & coat off & lay down on the floor, the whole family of 9 slept in thekitchen, poor little children what a terrible time they must have of it, there must have been about 30people packed into that little house, in the night I woke up to hear part of the roof fall in, the snoringwas terrible, I rolled over & went to sleep once more, I don't think Dora would have liked thatplace. I have itched ever since.Thursday May 4thI got up at 5.0 a.m. & went out glad to get into the fresh air I think the men who slept in the loft hadthe best time of it, I gave my horse a gallon of oates & went back and ate a not very satisfactorybreakfast off [sic] fat bacon & dirty plates, I hit the trail home by 7.0 a.m. This was the bigest [sic]ride I have ever made about 30 miles by dinner time, it was terribly hot, a kind woman gave me &my horse dinner & refused to charge she said a clergyman would always be welcome at her house, Istayed & rested a couple of hours, I got on the trail again about 2.30 and plodded on determined toget to Copeville by night, coming over a small rise I jumped a bunch of four antilope [sic], twobucks, they were not at all frightened, just trotted off over the prairie I was terribly thirsty & tired,the last few miles seemed like a hundred I got to my destination just before sundown having been inthe saddle eleven hours & covered 55 milesFriday May 5thSpent a quiet day with Curtis & his wife, reading a good part of the time a splendid book by"Captain Denny" "The Riders of the Plains" a history of the R.N.W.M.P. a book you ought to get itcosts $1.00 I think you could get it in England, it gives you a splendid idea of the country we areliving in & what it was like in the early daysSaturday May 6thGot to Garden Plains all night [?right] & stayed with Taylor, bad prairie fire burning in the S.E. butit did not come our waySunday May 7thHoly Communion at Taylor's at 11.0 then a hard ride round the south end of the Lake to Endiang,we had a most hearty service at 3.30, the people here are very keen on the Church. Mr. Foremanput me up for the night. The sketch I enclose is of the three crosses I saw down south that Imentioned in my last letter, notice the badger mounds in the foreground covered with scrub someparts of the country are covered with these mounds, the prairie down south is quite devoid of brushin the distances are the Buttes Hills the bigest [sic] of these crosses must have been 20 ft high, theymark the graves of three Galesians.Love to all

I remainyour affec: sonMartin W. Holdom


May 31st 11 Castor P.O.Alberta

Dear WinifredThank you very much for your letter it was most interesting, I hope the farms have all let by this

time. We are having a very hot spell just now it is making the crops grow splendidly after all therain we have had.Monday May 22nd Rogation DayI spent the day writing and getting things generally fixed up. The town keeps on going ahead, newstores are being built, there are large C.P.R. outfits in town as they have started grading for the steelto continued east of Castor, we shall not be very much longer a terminus, this makes a pretty roughelement in town, Spencer has had what they call out here a burst up and is drinking terribly, it isvery sad when one thinks what a splendid fellow he really is, his wife has just got a little boy itcertainly seems very sadTuesday May 23rd Rogation DayWent round visiting people, they all seem glad to see me the work is certainly most enjoyablethough sometimes it is very difficult, I had an instance of that in the evening I was walking alongthe sidewalk when I noticed Spencer and a friend terribly drunk, turn into his office there was acrowd standing round, I hurried on but as I walked home it dawned upon me it was my duty to tryand straighten him up, well I had to do it for I knew my conscience would not let me sleep, he hadnever been home the night before & I knew what a state of mind Mrs. Spencer must be in; my feetfelt just like lead but they at last carried me into his office, & then somehow I was all right I was'nt[sic] a bit scared. I am so absolutely certain of the power the Holy Spirit gives one in time of need,poor old Spencer he started in on the high horse, but when his friend got ashamed & went out hebroke down & wept like a child. I stayed with him two hours until he was sober & he promised mehe would cut it out & go home; it was pretty late when I got back to the shack very tired for there isa good deal of strain in cases like these, but still I am so thankful that God gave me strength at thistime, it seems to me, that it is so utterly foolish of people to trust to their own strength to pull themthrough. We had decided on the day following to have a Garden Fete in aid of the church butowing to the spell of cold weather we were obliged to put it offWednesday May 24th Victoria Day Rogation DaySpencer stayed at home all day so I think I did some little good, most of the people in town went onan excursion to Alix for the races, it was too cold to do very much, I took more or less a day off.We are having daily service in Church now, Morning Prayer 7.30 a.m. Evensong 7.30 p.m. I veryrarely read the office alone, three or four generally drop in both men & women, the Catholic faithseems to come as a revelation to many of our people, I can see great good will come from our dailyservices, even the sound of the bell reminds people that religion is not a thing of one day in theweek. The Bishop has issued a book of special services for certain days in the year not printed inthe Prayer Book, for instance Rogation Days, The Transfiguration etc. We have been using theformer services the last three days on behalf of the crops. Everyone is very hopeful about thingsthis year, the farmers are all smiles there is much more moisture in the ground this year than last,the prospects are splendid all over Alberta. In the evening Field, Harold & myself went to theMoving Picture Shew it being a public holiday, some of the scenes depicted were very good, onefilm shewed the Oxford eight training on the Isis, there was the old river and Keble Cardge [?], not


changed one little bit. It filled one's heart with thought of bygone days, dear old Oxford; it is only afew months ago that I heard from Mrs. Thurlow that poor old Thurlow died on the day before I leftEngland for Canada, he had been doing splendid work for the Seamen's Mission, poor fellow hewas never very strong; how I came to hear was that I sent a Xmas card to them, & his Motheropened the letter.Thursday May 25th Ascension DayHoly Communion at 7.0 a.m. It seems a great pity that this great festival of the Church is so littleobserved, I spent the day round town. We had evensong and address at 7.30 p.m.Friday May 26thI saddled up early to ride out to see the Witherbies, Bill Belcher was going out to the farm so Idrove with him and let Pat run behind, it was quite a cold day I soon began to wish for a fur coat,when we came in sight of the Nose Hills they were covered with snow, we can expect snow in thiscountry any month of the year, I was glad when Belcher had to run from my trail & I had to ride,after galloping a few hundred yards I felt all right, I arrived at Witherbies just about tea time, theywere very pleased to see me as they were going to have a Surprise Party that night and they wantedme to help entertain. These Surprise Parties are very popular in the West though they may seem abit strange to you, all the people in the district make up parties and visit unsuspecting bachelorsespecially if they have built on an addition, very often they let it out so the bachelors may beprepared, they generally arrive at their destination about 10.0 and stay until the morning light; theladies make refreshments & bring them along, they will dance 20 or 30 at a time in a shack 12 ft by14 ft: As it happened not many turned up there being a farmers meeting at the School House.There are certain little points of etiquette which one must observe if one does not wish to be lookedupon as peculiar. Never give up your seat for a lady! Always use your teaspoon for your secondcourse. Use toothpick freely. Eat as much as ever you can without undue crowding. Talk nothingbut crops & the last sale. Run down everyone's method of farming except your own. Pass remarkson everything in the house, let me give an instance "Pretty nice shack this is now: wonder whenBob will get married" Call everybody by their Christian names, unless you want to be consideredstuck up. Never say thank you unless by mistake. Never think about going home until it is light.Fortunately for us so few turning up they did not stay very late. We were pretty glad to get to bed Ican tell you, these kind of affairs are a great means towards getting the people to know one anotherand let the women off once in a while from housework for some relaxation.Saturday May 27thI left the Bar B.W. Ranch at 10.0 and went and called on Norman Witherby, then north after dinnerto Belchers, visiting the Linds and Bruces on the way I noticed the first mosquitoes of the year, butthey were not very bad. A quiet evening telling the Belchers all the news.Sunday May 28thAbout 15 at Glencoe in the morning, a very hot ride home in the afternoon, a crowded Church atCastor for the evening service.With very best love. I hope you will come out to me someday but we will have talk about that nextyear. I may possibly be able to get home next summer.

Your affec: brotherMartin W. Holdom

Put this letter with the rest


Castor P.O. June 12th 11Alberta

Dear FatherI was glad to hear that you are letting your farms as I think you will probably do better than

trying to run them yourself, but this is the country to invest money in; money is so scarce out here;you can get perfectly safe investment out here to pay 8 per cent, but you cannot make old countrypeople understand it, they cannot realize that there is any other country in the world except England.Monday May 29thI caught the early train for Stettler, they very much wanted me to go down and help them with thebazaar, I received such a hearty welcome from Mrs. Harris, the little Rectory looks so nice now,Harris had not arrived from Calgary he was ordained Priest on the Sunday. I helped them all daywe had the bazaar in the old School, the first day was a great success, I enjoyed myself thoroughlyTuesday May 30thI was obliged to leave by the afternoon train to get back to Castor, they cleared something like$160.00 in the two days, Harris is certainly getting hold of the people splendidly. The country islooking beautiful now very different to what it did last year, the glass [sic] is a deep green, and thefresh leaves on the trees are beyond discription [sic], beautiful butterflies flit about, one can hardlyrealize the transformation when one thinks of the dreary waste of snow only a few weeks backWednesday May 31stQuite a hot day, busy getting ready for our Garden Fete The boys of the town came down to see mein the afternoon with regard to starting the Boys [sic] Scouts, I said I would do so and we enrolled15 members right away, The Western boy is far ahead of the English boy in many respects, he hasideas of his own, has wonderful self possession, you would say perhaps he is grown up too young,but yet he is really & truly boyish when you get to know him, an English boy will sit down & giggle& keep his mouth shut, but these boys of Castor wanted to know all about the Boy's Scouts andwhat use it would be to them. After the meeting we all went off bathing together, only one wasfrightened of the water, poor boys they have never had anyone to take an interest in them beforeeveryone out here is too busy, the first thing for me to do will be to teach them to swim. It was jollydown at the creek and we had a great time.Thursday June 1stFortunately it was a beautiful day, the ladies of the congregation went up to decorate Mrs. Webb'splace. The Fete was given by the Junior branch of the Woman's Auxiliary, about 16 little girls ofthe congregation ages ranging from 10 to 15. There were three stalls fancy goods, refreshments &home made candy. Mrs. McCarthy made the latter and it was first class she is one of the mostdevoted Church workers I have ever seen, then there was a fortune telling tent museum etc. etc. Weopened the proceedings at 5.30 DeSousy a French R.C. would lend me his motor car for theafternoon to take people backwards & forwards to the ground. We had a great time nearly thewhole town turned out. All the men of the congregation came at night and spent money on allsides; we had races, married men's race, ladies race, rolling oranges down the banks of the creek forthe children to catch, we raised $113.00 not so bad on the whole. Daily Morning & Evening Prayeris a great success, it is nice to see people dropping into the little Church in the early hours of themorning before going to work, I always get a congregation. The children are keeping the altar wellsupplied with wild flowers and it looks so beautiful


Friday June 2ndSpent the morning getting things cleared up from the Fete, there was a terrible wind blowing allday, we were very thankful that we had such nice weather for our bazaar. The senior branch of theWoman's Auxiliary met in the afternoon the last meeting before closing down for the summerSaturday June 3rd King's BirthdayTried to get my sermon into shape during the morning In the afternoon the Boys Scouts had theirfirst Field Day. They met at my shack & then we marched down to the creek and I drilled them forhalf an hour, after that the two patrols did some scouting against each other it was most enjoyable,the boys were tremendously keen, it certainly is ideal country for this kind of thing. The creek is sovery pretty with the high sand stone cliffs covered with clumps of willow & poplar, after this wewere pretty hungry, so we made a fire & cooked some eggs & ate them with bits of stick, the boysvoted the whole affair first class. I gave the two patrol leaders subscription books, they very soonhad $10.00 in the bank so you see we shall be able to get a good outfit.Whit Sunday June 4thHoly Communion at 8.0 Semichoral celebration at 11.0 quite a large number of people at bothservices, our seats were packed out in the evening, the collections for the day came to about $18.00.Different to the old services up in Mathias HallMonday June 5thHarold Willis & myself caught the early train for Red Deer where the R.D. meeting was to be held,it was a treat to see the crops looking so fine, & the country so green, it certainly looks as if we shallhave a bumper year, an old old squaw travelled down to Lacombe from Stettler, poor old thing shejust sat and looked straight in front of her the whole time, at Lacombe we saw an old Indian in aHudson Bay 4 point blanket. Harold got out & tried to get a snap shot of him, but the Indian heldup one finger and said $1.00 & as the money was not not [sic] forth coming he hid his face in hishat; Mr. Indian knew the ropes, the people on the train were much amused. We got to Red Deerjust before noon; the whole town was talking about the shooting case of the night before. A certainuseless character was short of money so he went down on to the common with a mask on & held uptwo defenceless citizens and got their money it was about 10.30 p.m. The chief of Police was justgoing home across the common & came on the scene he immediately blew his whistle, the robberturned round and shot at him twice point bank [sic], the first shot just missed his head, the secondpassed through his abdomen & fell into his clothes behind, the desperado after committing the deeddived into the brush & could not be found, poor Bell was practically at death's door when pickedup. At 7.0 a.m. next morning the Boys Scouts were on the spot and taking up the man's trail theyfound him within an hour of starting the search & kept him in sight until help came when he wascaptured. The boys have covered themselves with glory, and a grateful town is sending them to theCoronation, this will help on the movement in Castor. We had our first meeting at 3.0 p.m. Mr.Helps the secretary for the Sunday School Commission addressed us he gave us a great deal of veryuseful information. We had another meeting at 8.0 in the evening when we had a generaldiscussion I stayed with Carswells for the night, Mr. Carswell is the editor of the Red Deer News,he told me that Bell was still alive but in a very precarious conditionTuesday June 6thThere was a celebration in the Church at 8.0 it was a most helpful little service. We had a meetingat 10.0 It was decided to try and get a summer camp for a few days on Gull Lake in the Fall, getArchdeacon Webb to come down & address us, we shall also get some good duck shooting. We


left Red Deer by the midday train, getting back to Castor in the evening. We had an initiation on inLodge so did not get to bed until 12.30 a.m.Wednesday June 7th Ember DaySpent a quiet time in town visiting. We have had a lot of beautiful things presented to the Church.Mr. Sewell has given a hymn board, Mr. Travers a pulpit (a beauty) Mrs. McCarthy carpet for theSanctuary. The Sunday School a Lectern, Harold Willis Reading Desk M.W. Holdom CredenceTable, things are beginning to look very nice but of course there is a debt of $1500.00 to be metThursday June 8th (Corpus Christie)Another quiet day, the Boys Scouts the talk of the town, the mayor says he will take the boys downto Calgary on July 1st if they buck up & get ship shape, DeSousy is going to give us a Union Jack.Harold Willis is acting as assistant Scoutmaster, We are able to do quite a bit now with the help ofHarold Willis & Field.Friday June 9th Ember DaySpent the day preparing sermons. The Boys Scouts met in the evening and had a great time, theyare picking up their drill pretty quickly.Saturday June 10th Ember DayWent up north and called on the Knights, the country was looking exquisite, I lay down for sometime under the shade of a poplar grove. It was arranged that the Scouts should try and ambush meas I came into town, it being Saturday afternoon, just as I was coming through McVetie's I saw anarm for an instant so I galloped round and getting into a small coulee made a dash for it, I thought Ihad rounded the ambush when I met an old woman leaning on a stick it never crossed my mind thatthey might disguise, I had just turned aside to let her pass when I was held up, We all marchedback to the shack and had a good tea, the boys were quite tired but game.Sunday June 11th Trinity Sunday.Up at 6.0 a.m. and rode out to Landerdale a new centre which Field has just opened, it was abeautiful ride in the early morning, Fanny & a little terrier followed me we were just getting to theBadlands when I noticed a bunch of coyotes just in front; they turned on the dogs which ran behindme, they then sat down on their haunches at about 50 paces in front & lifted up their heads &howled, they were very big ones larger than a good sized collie, I jumped off my horse & got threesnap shots of them, if they come out all right you shall have some We had an instance of what wesometimes get a failure, only 4 turned up in time for 11.0 service, I just had a few prayers, thepeople present not being Church people, and then preached, I had just finished my sermon whenthree more turned up so I had a few more prayers. Got back to Castor in time for Sunday School,Mrs. LaRose had her baby baptized. A full Church again at evening service. With best love to all, Iam glad Dora is happy

I remainYour affec sonMartin W. Holdom

June 19th 11 Castor P.O.Alberta

Dear Mater


I have some news that will interest you & may possibly surprise you and that is that I am in lovewith the dearest girl in the world. You can tell Father if he says anything that he never consultedme when he thought well to take a wife. The first thing I want you to understand is this that I am nolonger a boy, I was 27 last birthday, probably you would hardly know me now I have changed agood deal since being in this country I know I am much older than when I landed. Miss Bryans hasbeen teaching the government School in Stettler ever since I have been going there. In the firstplace she is a perfect lady, very refined, well educated, thoroughly domesticated & very sensible,her age is 25, but far above all this she is an out & out Christian & Church woman as Harris saysshe is one in a thousand. You know that I have given my life to the Canadian Church I could neverwork in England again, Aldah's people live 20 miles west of Edmonton so she understands perfectlythe hardships and difficulties of the frontier life, an English girl is so uncertain you never knowwhether she will take to the country or not. I never knew I cared about Miss Bryans until I came togive up the work in Stettler & then I found I wanted her very badly, although we were only slightlyacquainted. We met & found we had many things in common but neither of us thought it well tobecome engaged until we were quite certain that it was God's will and that we could further hiswork in the married state. I wrote to the Dean for his advice, I had a charming letter back (he knowMiss Bryans) very much in favour of it and saying that a good wife would double my usefulness.You must remember too that Castor is quite a big place now, there is no doubt the parish will beselfsupporting [sic] next year I have two lay workers with me, I need a little home badly; to day forinstance a cup of cocoa & piece of bread has formed my dinner because I have been too busy tocook well I might stand this hand to mouth living for two or three years longer but then it wouldbegin to tell, I know Father could not live two days as I have lived for nearly two years; to comeback to a frozen shack after a 30 mile ride in 20 below zero weather is not all bliss. But it is notthat with a little home I could do so much for the young people of Castor, the young men havenowhere to go except to the bar, and the pool hall, I am absolutely certain in my own mind that wehave met under God's guidance and that we are intended to give our lives to him as a unitedsacrifice, we have both prayed most ernestly [sic] that we might do what is right in His sight. Youare the first people to know anything about it except the Dean & Harris. We are not thinking ofgetting married for two years until we are in the position to do so. You don't know what the love ofthis pure good woman means to me how it has raised my ideals and what a comfort it is to me inmy work; she is so simple and unaffected, no rings or any trash of that kind, not beautiful from justthe critics point of view, but one of those good sweet refined faces of a healthy outdoor girl, canride well but thoroughly womanly. I enclose one of her earlier letters so you may form some idea ofher character please send it back to me & let no one see it except the family. Another piece of newsis that I hope to get three months holiday in about a year's time & then I shall come right home andsee you all, how quickly the time does go to be sure & what a lot has happened in the last two yearsWhat a splendid thing it will be for Winifred to have a little home to come to when she wants tocome out to Canada, it would be very wrong for a young girl to come out here unless she had ahome to go to. You people in England have no idea what women have to do out here, we don'thave maids, Aldah & another teacher keep their own little house in Stettler now, she has known [*]what house keeping is from a baby, we do not want to see women out here with white hands &rings on, but they are 10,000 times more womanly & natural than the average English girl, and canmix in any society for our High schools are first class.Monday June 12th


Caught the early train for Stettler had to go down to see Harris on important business; stayed for apicnic the Anglican Young People's Association gave in the evening Miss Bryans president. Mrs.Harris is a charming woman the people in Stettler like her very much, she asked Aldah Bryans totea, I shewed her the few views I had of Marston & she was most interested, she longs to gosomeday & see the land of her forefathers I hope I shall be able to bring her home someday.Tuesday June 13thBusy all the morning reading & writing letters, went down and saw Aldah in her dinner hour.Caught the 3.30 train for Gadsby. Mr. Long was very pleased to see me I went round & called onour peopleWednesday June 14thHad an early celebration at 7.30 a.m. in Mr. Long's dining room, there is something very beautifulin these simple private Celebrations early in the morning when everything is fresh and new. Castorcame down to play Gadsby at baseball in the afternoon, people go mad about the game though tome it does not seem a patch upon cricket or football, the whole object of the game seems to beshouting, Castor won by 7 to 0. It looks to us much like scientific rounders. I caught the 4.30 trainfor Castor.Thursday June 15thSpent the day reading & preparing sermons. We bathe every day now the Boys Scouts come round& take me down to the Creek.Friday June 16thSet out early in the morning to ride out West and baptize Lester Levers baby, it was terribly hot forriding but the country was looking beautiful, all kinds of wild flowers, some of them familiar to us,others we see in gardens at home, I got to Lester's about dinner time. Mrs. Lever was brought up aMethodist but she wished to be confirmed. After dinner I baptized their baby. Then set out for along ride south the heat was terrible, a heavy storm was brewing away in the West, got to Mr.Pickles' house about 5.0 baptized their baby & stayed & had tea with them. It was getting terriblyblack in the West when I started for home the lightening was very vivid, I kept the mare going agood pace the whole way home, I only just got back in time we had a most violent thunderstorm, Ihad to sleep in the shack it was not fit in the tent. I was very tired & sleepy. The daily services aretaking splendidly.Saturday June 17Busy getting my sermon finished, Field turned up after a week's tour through the north country, hisreport was most favourable, he stayed with Blacks a day or so. The Boys Scouts met at my shack at2.0 p.m. we had a great time scouting down in the creek bottom the boys certainly are keen. Wehad two bathes during the afternoon, water snakes are quite thick but they are perfectly harmless. Inthe evening I gave them a great dose of drill.Sunday June 18thHarold Willis got off first thing for Sullivan Lake, he has bought a little horse and the Bishop his[?has] licensed him under me, Field set off for Halkirk and Gadsby. I had Celebrations at 8.0 &11.0; the altar looked beautiful covered with wild flowers. Mrs. McCarthy has given a beautifulcarpet to the Church it is such an improvement to the [?Church] Well I guess I must close, I amgoing up to Edmonton sometime in July to stay with Aldah's people they seem to be very charming,it is quite a small family just two girls Aldah is the elder. Love to all I think of you often in myprayers God bless you



Harold Willis had a record congregation at Sullivan Lake 31.

P.S. Miss Bryans & myself are not engaged yet, we are going to wait some months until we arequite sure we are doing right.

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