Taylorton Stories 1955

Various people were asked to submit stories about the year they came to Taylorton, for the 1955 Taylorton History Book.
These were all titled, The Year I Came to Taylorton:

“I left Manchester, England, early in 1928 for Canada. At first I found the miles and miles of bare prairies strane after being used to cities. Where there were houses, they were scattered far apart. I worked on a farm for a year, dawn to dusk, for $20 per month then I came to work at the Briquette plant. The depression years followed and I loaded coal in the deep-seam; when there was no work in the summer, I got a few days work wherever I could, even on the roads at 25 cents an hour. I played football for the miners, and softball too. My job now is operating the 5W drag-line.”
Albert Hitchen

“I was born on a farm near Woodend. In 1940, my house, which was the last one to be moved from Old Taylorton, was brought up to the present site. I had been used to living on a farm and I like the community life of the mine at Taylorton. I was employed on a caterpillar with a bulldozer attachment - a “cat-skinner”, earning 55 cents per hour. During that year I did a good deal of gardening and built myself a garage. We made our own amusement in the camp and had regular dances but it was easy to get into Estevan to a show. I liked my job but decided to train myself in welding which was better paid. That is what I still do in the machine shop.”
Casper Fiest

“I lived along the valley but knew Taylorton; I should do, going twice a day to work there. The mines were below the Stone House and they were hauling coal to the Soo Line. I remember the shooting matches, hockey on the river, grouse and rabbit shoots. I used to hire out to farmers for seasonal work in summer; often I rode over the Line, horse-trading. There was no school then and I remember Coalfields Post Office in the wide bend of the river. There were many cave-dwellings in the hillsides at that time. I have seen Indian tribes coming over from the U.S.A. to powwow with their fellows in Canadian reserves; these feasts would last a month, and man, woman and child would be with the party - perhaps 3 to 4 hundred of them in 30 or 40 wagons. I also remember the toughest R.C.M. Policeman ever - Larry Lett!”
Charles Knight

“Although I came to Taylorton in 1904, it was not until 1919 that I started work at the Mine. My people came from Oldham, Lancashire and settled in the west valley. Weather and climate were much the same as they are now. Five hundred or more people lived in the area. I thought it was a swell place to live. There was a strike 1919-1920. I attended school in old Taylorton in the old days. We used to fish in the summer and often helped nearby farmers. Quite a lot of the workers in the early times did not speak English and many of them went to our School in the evenings to learn. The miners worked long, hard hours with very few machines to help them and rates of pay were low.”
Ellis Lees

“I was born in Old Taylorton, I started work in the deep seam in 1942, went in to the Navy in 1944 and came back to work, now on open pit methods, in 1946. I remember that (while I was motorman in '42), we had one of the biggest gas explosions two men received burns. That same year, the large deep seam coal bin burned down. This seems to have been a bad year for accidents because our pit-boss was struck by a car and died a few hours later. When I came back, I worked with the 320B, as oiler groundman and part time operator.”
John Pryznyk

“I was driven to Taylorton by democratic over prarie trails deep in snow in the Spring of 1912. The journey from Liverpool, England to Lampman took 20 days. My first impression was of the wide, open spaces. Setlements built in a square formation brought my mind the stories I had read of Indian attacks. Soccer or football were summer sports; in winter we would clear the snow off the Souris River and skate in the light of carbide lamps hung from trees. Sometimes, on clear, moonlit nights, we would have toboggan and sleigh ride parties. I attended the school which then stood midway between Taylorton and M & S; sometimes at dinner-break we would run all the way to the river and back for a swim.”
John Smart

“I came to the Mine at first on a temporary job but have remained ever since. Wages were good - $1.16 per hour. I first worked in the tool-shed and later moved as storeman into the Warehouse. The 500 drag-line, largest in Canada, was purchased in that year. Upon the arrival at North Portal there was a railroad strike which held up delivery. The Mine authorities were beginnning to consider assembling the machine there and bringing it up under its own power when the strike ended.”

“I was born on a farm near Yorkton; in a one-roomed house there were ten of us, Mother, seven boys, and two girls. In 1939, my wife and I and our small son drove a horse and wagon from Yorkton to Estevan. The journey took us six days. I found work as a carpenters' mate at 90 cents per hour - it seemed a promising opportunity at the mine. I had a serious accident in 1942 when blasting frozen earth but I recovered from its effects. For years I lived in Estevan driving down to work each day but in 1950 we moved into the camp. When I first started I was not employed full-time so I worked on the farm and did some gardening. Now I operate the 500 drag-line.”

“It was March 1939, when I came to Taylorton from Truax-Traer, near Estevan. On the present site of Taylorton there were about 20 houses; weeds around the camp grew to a height of 12 feet. Two teams of horses hauled the coal from the 144 foot deep-seam mine. Taylorton looked good to us after N.D. - living conditions were better. If I got a wage cheque fro $20, I thought I was a millionaire! In my spare time I grew vegtables in my garden; I also dug a basement to my house. There was a strike in 1939. I remember that there seemed to be one house-fire almost every winter. My job was and still is that of a coal shovel operator.”
John Wetsch

“Although I lived in Taylorton from 1923, I did not work at the mine until 1935. I found the Company a good employer and my work interesting. It was in September, 1935, that the Tipple burned down; this put about 170 men out of work; some went to work at the M & S Mine, some at Prospect and some at Uhrich's Mine. The Tipple was re-built in the summer of 1936; the opportunity was taken to enlarge and remodel it. There had been a long depression but between 1935 and 1939 the Mine increased its output by 100%. In 1935 it was all underground mining in which there was the danger of flooding, gas, and cave-ins - dangers not experienced in stripping.”

“My father, (John Edwardson) who was a mining engineer in Lancashire, with my mother and four children, came out from Lancashire, England to Taylorton in the late summer of 1907. We dropped off the train at Bienfait (a good expression because there was no station then) 20 days after we left Liverpool. All around us was prarie and we seemed to be encircled by prairie fires which were bad that year. It was like a scene from the Inferno. I was 15 and both father and I worked at the mine. That Fall, many of the miners joined the United Mine Workers' Union, so the mine owners fired us all and closed down. We were hard pressed to save ourselves from starvation. Later I rode for farmers in the summer and worked in the Mine in the winter. My mother, Mrs. John Edwardson kept the Boarding House and was known throughout the Coalfields.”
Morell Edwardson

My husband and I came from Winnipeg to the Souris Valley in this year. Our house was down in the valley quite near to the Mine workings. It was a large house and we had an outside oven, a smokehouse and a large garden. We kept lots of animals - pigs, cows, horses, chickens, turkeys, ducks, and a cat and dog. I looked after all the animals. When we went to Estevan it was by horse and buggy. We bought much of our food in bulk - 3 or 4 boxes of apples at one time. We sold milk, cream and eggs to people in the Briquette plant. My eldest son hauled drinking water for neighbors in a wooden 45 gallon barrel on a stone-boat drawn by a horse. We raised and cured our own ham, bacon, etc.“
Mrs. Stanley Pryznyk

“I came from Yorkshire, England with my late husband to Taylorton. I have very happy memories of the years I spent there. I kept house for six years for the Taylor brothersd, the family after whom Taylorton was named. There were 18 houses and a boarding house which we called, “The Blue Goose”. McClike was one of the first men to operate the new electric coal cutters which came in 1907 or 1908. Wages were $2.50 per day and men had to work all day and on into the evening to support a family. My husband had work at the Mine only in the busy season. I remember that the winter of 1906-07 was terribly severe. I taught Sunday School then and still do now in Estevan. Often we had to melt snow for water in the = winter-time. I remember that the mine had a football team - every game seemed to end in a fight - particularly those with Frobisher.”

“When I came to Taylorton from a farm east of Estevan I thought it seemed a fine place for kids to grow up in. My job was cleaner in the Tipple. All the houses; two rows on the North Side of the railroad track, were painted green and white. Store, Post Office, and Boarding House were together in the building now called the “Klimax Club”. Louis Carlson ran the store, Mr. & Mrs. Bill Davies the Boarding House and the Postmaster was Mrs. Prescott. There was a severe blizzard in the winter 1943-44 in which over 18 inches of snow fell. There were huge snow-drifts and even the railroad was blocked that year. The Mine was operating both deep seam and strip at this time.”

“In Spring, 1911, when I came from Lancashire, England, there were about 30 houses on the Prairie and about the same number in the valley. Seventy men were employed all year round - double that number in the wintertime. There was store, butcher shop, and church; people enjoyed rare visits to Estevan. Carpenter and blacksmith got 30 cents per hour, surface workers 20 cents. I have been a blacksmith all my life; at first there were 20 horses to be shoe-ed, tools to sharpen and machinery to be repaired. The school in those days stood between Taylorton and M & S; a man named Treffery taught in the school - this man I later met in Folkestone, England when we were both in the Canadian Forces in World War I.”
Percy Prescott

“I came to Taylorton from a farm 3 1/2 miles NW of Frobisher. It seemed a typical mining camp to me at the time. Housing conditions were fair to poor; buildings and amenities were not very modern. A worker who was paid by the month received $100 per month. My job was to look after the Warehouse, order machinery that was needed and keep the time-books. Mr. P. J. Stevenson was the only teacher in that year; the school was attended by pupils from M & S as well as Taylorton. There were school, store, and post office and a population of approximately 250 people.”
Percy Taylor

“Only at the insistent request of the students have I been induced to add a page to this story of a community which I joined only one year ago. Since, however, I have taught them that history is always in the making, I could hardly refuse. I came out from Britain to a teaching post at Taylorton School in 1954 with my wife and three children. The history of Taylorton as reproduced in this book I have learned at second hand but I am able to testify from my own experience as to the helpfullness and hostpitality of Taylorton folk. I first saw the camp on a blazing August morning - by evening we had been supplied with stove, table, chairs, and beds by the Mine authorities while good people had brought us fruit, vegetables, sauce and pickles, milk, cream, bread, and even a Sunday roast. These qualities as much as the record of material progress are surely part of Taylorton - kindness, thoughtfullness, and generosity.”
R. Alpin- Teacher

I came from the M & S mine to Taylorton to work in the fall of 1937. There were still about 30 houses down in the valley. On top there were about 35 houses, store, post office, and hall. Approximately 300 people lived there at the time. To me, Taylorton seemed to have fine community spirit with its sports and Hall activities. Wages were 33 1/2 centers per hour - boys received 17 1/2 cents. I first started work helping the cage-man who was responsible for the machinery which hauled the cage from the deep seam. I used to handle the mine cars loaded with coal as they came up. 180 tons of coal per hour was loaded then.”

“I came to Taylorton from Medicine Hat shortly after I arrived there from England. When I came, the population of Taylorton was 200; some living in shacks in the valley. It was small and quiet like any other mining camp; first I worked as a boiler fireman, then as locomotive engineer - a job I have held ever since. Houses were 4 or 5 room cottage style, and not very warm in winter. Coal was hauled to Bienfait by railroad, but the Mine had only one engine which could handle no more than 8 full cars per journey. I worked 10 hours per day, 6 days per week, for 20 cents per hour. During the first winter I had to dig my way down through a snowdrift into my own front door. Our only transport was horse and buggy.”
Thomas Hitchen

“I attended school in Taylorton until 1937 starting work at the mine as a box-car cleaner at the age of 16. I liked my job but had to leave for health reasons. I joined the army and came back to Taylorton upon discharge. First employed as a greaser on the 320B bucket, I went as a brakeman on my fathers locomotive after 4 months, remaining on that job for 7 years and then took Fireman's Certificate for the same locomotive, a job I still hold. When I left Taylorton the Company was not stripping - When I returned output was very much greater because both strip and deep mining were in operation.”
William “Bill” G. Hitchen

“In the year 1929, my wife and I and our two children came across from Lancashire, England by boat, and arrived at old Taylorton. When we first saw the uneven rows of little houses in the little mining camp, we thought we had come to a wilderness. Although the grass in the valley was green, this was a drought year, and our new home compared very badly with our old one in Lancashire. Our house was small and everyone obtained water by hand-pump from a deep well. Working hard, I received only 55 cents per ton for underground work. My job was permanent except for an occasional holiday. There was nothing particularly exciting happened in that year.”
William M. Barton

©