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going to that school. We had to walk about a mile and a half and we had
lots of fun. I remember we used to churn the butter before we'd leave in
the morning. Mother was baking and we were anxious to have fresh butter
with it when we came home from school. We'd run home to see who would
get there first. I was the youngest in the family. My little sister, Malthide
died when she was two years old. I was five then. I think my chum was Avilor.
I remember he used to take me all over. I'd follow him from morning to night.
He was a real good mechanic. I used to watch him all the time. When I
grew up to 13 and 14 I could handle almost any kind of machinery on the
farm because I watched him work and learned.
Marie Anne was next (Note: Our Grandma), then PHILIAS* (we called him
Bill). We used to go picking gooseberries on Shimburg's farm. It was a
section with the creek going through and there were lots of gooseberries.
We each had a pony and we'd ride there to pick them.
My older brothers got married and moved away. We drifted apart and we'd
only see them once in a while. I was very fond of horses. I used to break
them on the buggy and on horseback. I had a special one, a sorrel mare,
Polly. She was just a wonderful mare and we kept her a long time. When we
moved to Belcourt we built our house and an Indian came to build the frame.
He wanted that horse so we gave him the horse for the payment of his work.
About two years after I was going outside and I saw a team going by and it
looked like Polly. I thought it could be so I called and she stopped and looked.
My dad used to go to Turtle Mountain to get wood with a team of oxen. They
had to go about 19 miles away and with oxen you can't go very fast. They had
loaded up the wagon and it started to storm. It was an awful storm. On the way
the oxen took the road and were really going and my dad had a hard time
keeping up with them. He didn't know where he was at all, but the oxen knew
the way and he was glad to get back.
My dad used to haul freight for a man that had a little store about 2 miles from
our house. He used to take the team of oxen and go to Devil's Lake. It was
called "Creel" in those days. He used to get the groceries. He had a big
tarp to put over his wares so they wouldn't get wet. At first he was gone a
week and was very tired when he got back. While he was gone to Creel my
mother was left alone with the children. They had moved into a place near
their land. There was an old man nearby that had lived there for a year and
then took off. He didn't want to stay. He had too much trouble. My brothers
went in and looked in the basement and found a bunch of potatoes a little
bigger than marbles. They brought them to my mother and she said we'll
plant them. So they dug in the ground and planted them. In the fall there
were potatoes that weighed a pound, a pound and a half a piece.
It was the most fertile ground you ever saw.
I want to tell you about the flu and Marie, my oldest daughter was only 3
months old and we were all in bed sick, my dad and my husband and my
oldest son Alex who was three. My Granduncle was staying with us. We
couldn't make any meals so my uncle tried his best. He got out of bed
and made some biscuits. He didn't know where the baking powder was
so he just used flour and water and they were hard as a rock. My son was
hungry and uncle gave him a piece of biscuit and he heard a noise and
asked what it was. It was the biscuit bouncing off the door. Uncle Tel was
very sorry about it, but we laughed. Finally we got a boy to come over and
take care of the cattle. I sent him to get a fat hen and clean it so he got a
hen and fixed it up. It was boiling and smelled so good so I asked him to
bring me the gizzard, but he hadn't opened it, just thrown it in that way. So
we had to throw the whole chicken out. I made him get another one and
I showed him how to do it.
My husband (Note: Ed Roy) was working at the Belcourt Mercantile and
I was on the farm when he was courting me. He used to come every
Sunday and he'd drop by your mother's house and he'd bring the kids a
bag of candy. One time she saw him go by on foot and she started to
follow him. She was very small, just starting to talk. They looked all over
and couldn't find her. I jumped on horseback and saw her walking
through the fields in her little white dress. I picked her up and brought
her back.
I met my husband in Montreal. He was working for my uncle and from
then on we started to write to each other and he moved to North Dakota.
Mr. Charlabeau gave him a job.
- Philias - Another brother to Grandma and Aunt Minnie
the Rolette County area. He moved to Bowsman, Manitoba
and worked as a logger for many years. He and his wife,
Eglantina had 8 children.
More Excerpts from
Aunt Minnie's Memories