Homesteading Memories Lizard Lake 1906

by Delta Fay Cruickshank for the Biggar Museum and Gallery

Can you imagine coming all the way from England to see your father whom you had not seen in over a year, and he not there waiting for you!

I have been reading the story, written by Olive L. Johnston, about her family, the Francis Pinchings. The story is in Volume II of the “A Harvest of Memories”, available at the museum.

Francis had to leave England because of his health. Back in those days, one “cure” for tuberculosis was moving to a drier climate. And that is one thing we can boast about our weather here in Saskatchewan.

In the spring of 1906, Francis left his comfortable life in Gloucestershire, England and set up homesteading on the NE 6-30-13, the north end of Lizard Lake.

It was a stark contrast to Gloucestershire! He moved into what the previous owner abandoned, a four-room log cabin with a caved in roof! If you have the Harvest of Memories, check this story out on page 670 Volume II.

In 1907 the rest of the family and grandmother set out on the Empress of Ireland to join father. They did write to inform them of their travel plans arrival times et cetera. But he never received that letter!

When they arrived and no one was there to greet them, they got help from an Anglican minister, Reverend Goode. They have had to sleep on the platform for who knows how long! It was Fair Days in Saskatoon and the town was full, but the Reverend was able to find them cots in unfinished house.

Eventually they heard that father had been in Saskatoon a few days previously, but there was no way to get hold of him - no phones back then! We should all be so thankful for the technology advancements since then!

The Reverend heard after asking around that the postmaster from Baljennie was in the town to pick up the weekly mail. Mr. Megaffin agreed to take the family to his home, and then on to father’s homestead. After a terrifying trip on rowboat and very fast buckboard they were fed well and given comfortable beds for the night by Mrs. Megaffin. The next day the postmaster dumped them in the yard of the hopefully which was father’s! It was terrifying for poor Granny; she was sure there were all kinds of threats to their lives in the bush surrounding the homestead! Eventually, father returned and was so surprised thinking his family had been “dropped from heaven”!

The Olive’s memories go on through the pages. One stood out for me. We have been talking about the lakes in our area, and

Lizard Lake and Ranger Lake have been mentioned. Did you know that the Indigenous in the are of those lakes referred to Lizard Lake as the “lake of the evil spirit”? They would not cross it in the winter because of this. Trapped air under the ice would make very awful noises on a very cold night, enough to scare anyone off!

The stories go on, and I recommend you have a read just so one can grasp the hardships and the generosity of the people who homesteaded these lands.

Water Security Agency supporting farmers and ranchers through drought

Today, the Water Security Agency (WSA) announced it will make water and vacant land available to support farmers and ranchers experiencing drought conditions.

“With the well below normal amounts of moisture in many areas across Saskatchewan our government is working hard to support our farmers and ranchers,” Minister Responsible for the Water Security Agency Jeremy Cockrill said. “WSA is looking to make water available to producers in areas experiencing drought conditions or allow ranchers to utilize vacant WSA owned lands for feed supplies.”

WSA owns and manages agricultural lands across Saskatchewan for water management purposes. Farmers and ranchers near WSA lands are encouraged to contact the agency to see if there are any underutilized or vacant lands that could be made available.

Farmers and ranchers are also not required to obtain a water rights license when hauling water from a municipal