Family Stories as Told by Leslie and Prepared by Wayne and May Rutherford

   John Harrison Rutherford and Eva May Hollenbeck were married in 1894 at Pocahontas County, Iowa.  John and Eva were one of the many settler couples from the USA who have done so much to develop Western Canada.
   When John and Eva were married, they rented land and farmed near Des Moines, Iowa.  In 1899 they moved to Minnesota where John purchased a mule team and worked on the construction of the railway.
   In 1900 they moved the family (Leslie, Lowell and Lilah) via train to Edmonton, Alberta where John worked as a coal miner and delivered coal mined from the North Saskatchewan River banks in Edmonton.  Edmonton was a typical pioneer town then with muddy streets and wooden sidewalks.  Leslie remembers in 1901 the construction of the High Level Bridge over the North Saskatchewan River and the arrival of the first railroad into Edmonton.
   John took up a homestead in 1904 in Vegreville, 50 miles east of Edmonton.  Logs were cut and a house was built.  While cutting logs, John cut his leg with the ax.  He rode horseback to Edmonton for stitches and medical treatment.  Twenty acres of land were cleared.  Oats were grown and the vegetable garden was excellent.  John dug a water well.
   A prairie fire burned through the area in 1906 resulting in a loss of all the hay and animal feed.  John hauled hay 9 miles that winter.  A larger log house was built and the original house was converted into a barn.  The house had a sod roof with gunny sacks sown together to make a carpet on the dirt floor.  The second house had a board roof and floor in it.
   The school  board was given a few acres of land on the homestead for the first school in the area.
   The winter of 1906-07 was long and very cold.  The family found it difficult to survive.  In the spring of 1907, John sold the land to Dr. Whitlaw of Edmonton.  Dr. Whitlaw was the first Edmontonian to own a car.  All of the farm animals were sold including 4 horses, 22 head of cattle, chickens and pigs.  The family (including Leslie, Lowell, Basil, Eugene and Ralph) traveled by train to Vancouver and Seattle, and by boat to Port Orchard.  There they met the Corlis family who were friends from Minnesota.  John purchased 20 acres of treed land.
   In 1907, Leslie’s grandfather (Raffield) sold his farm in Iowa and moved to Regent, North Dakota where he took up a homestead.  Land was very expensive in Iowa and so to expand into larger tracks of land, the move to North Dakota was made.
   In late 1907, John took up a homestead (1/4 section of land) in Dickinson County, North Dakota.  He built his own house out of lumber.  John worked up sod and grew flax and corn in 1908.  The flax was cut with a binder and loaded with a pitch fork - no twine was used.  Threshing was done using a steam powered machine.  Hay was put up using a bucking pole and slide.  Leslie raked hay for his grandfather.  Granddad paid Leslie and Lowell 50 cents a day to pull wild mustard in the grain fields.  Granddad Rutherford had trouble getting enough water on the farm.  The well was dug 55 feet deep.  When the well was being dug, Granddad picked the dirt and Leslie shoveled it into a pail for lifting it to the surface.  When water was struck, Granddad  and Leslie both had to jump into the bucket as the water came in fast.  The pick and shovel are probable still in the bottom of the well!
   Leslie, Lowell, Lilah and Basil went to a school south of Granddad’s farm.  Lon Grey owned the post office north of the farm.
   Leslie remembers the bad winter storms in North Dakota.  Their farm house was southeast of Granddad Rutherford’s house.  The walls were built of sod.  Leslie and Lowell picked up buffalo chips with a team of horses and wagon.  The chips were used for cooking and heating fuel.
   In 1909, John and his family left North Dakota and moved a 40 acre orchard in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.  Leslie remembers the family cutting wood and selling it in Coeur d’Alene for $2.95 per rick (1/3 cord), dynamiting out large tree stumps on the land, and the wonderful fruit from the orchard.  Leslie worked in the field in 1910 harvesting grain, and driving 18 head of horses on a Bluit combine for 18 days.
   John moved the family to Cottonwood, Idaho in 1910 where they lived  in town.  John had a team of mules that he used to haul 100 lb. sacks of flour from mills for export to China through the Loon Yik Co. of Cottonwood.  John and Leslie also hauled water to steam threshing machines and operated horse powered balers for farmers.  Florence as born in Cottonwood on February 19, 1912.
   John met Joe Munson in Cottonwood and decided to return to Alberta, so John sold the mules and purchased 4 head of horses for the covered wagon trip to Alberta.  The route of the trip included passing through Kingsgate, Fernie, Coleman and Calgary.  Crossing the Kootenay River was accomplished by using Spokane International Railway Bridge.  The families waited for the train to cross, then followed behind with the wagons to be sure they would not meet an oncoming train.  The children had a fun time through the trip.  There were 5 Rutherford and 3 Munson kids.  The boys slept in tents at night, swam in the creeks and rivers, fished and hunted prairie chickens for supper.
   Joe Munson rented a threshing machine and paid for it by doing custom work that fall in the Vulcan area.  He later became a grain farmer in the Vulcan area.
   John traveled north and rented the Woods Ranch east of Innisfail in the Elnora district.  John and Leslie cut bush for road right of way and Lowell trapped muskrats in the many lakes in the area.  George Woods had 40 head of Percheron mares.  John received 1/2 of the colts for managing the ranch and breaking horses.  The ranch was excellent for hay and John grew Marquis wheat as well.
   Troy Collins owned a ranch close by and Leslie broke horses for him.  The Collins, Cheek and Hampton families were from Virginia and became good friends with the Rutherfords.  In later years (1914), Lilah Rutherford married Prather Hampton who farmed in the Rowley district.  Also in later years, Lowell and Ralph Rutherford purchased the Woods Ranch from Troy Collins who had purchased it from George Woods.
   In 1915, Leslie and Lowell sold their cattle and went to Paloose County in Washington.  They worked for a State Senator on a large irrigation farm in Pasco, where they grew hay, corn and strawberries.  Seventy people picked the berries.  Leslie, who had learnt carpentry for John, built wooden irrigation systems on the farm.  In 1917, the Senator offered Leslie the chance manage the farm for him, but Leslie had already decided to join the Navy as the war was on.
   John moved the family from Elnora to Pasco in 1917, bought some land and built a house.  When Leslie joined the Navy, John and Lowell moved to Port Orchard and went to work in the Navy yards.  Lowell became a certified foundry man.  He could not join the Navy because of deformed thumb.  Leslie was the ship carpenter in the Navy.  His ship passed through the Panama Canal and went to Europe, Trieste Austria and Brest France.  Leslie had many interesting experiences serving on the USS Willimatic and Prince Frederick Willhelm.  He also had the opportunity to visit Paris and the battlefield.  Leslie also survived the flu epidemic in a camp of 10,000 sailors.  When Leslie got out of the Navy in 1919, he and John did carpentry work in the Pasco area.
   In 1920, Lowell moved to Rowley Alberta where Lilah and Prather Hampton were now married and established farming.  Leslie joined Lowell in Rowley in the spring of 1920, where they became partners in farming.  They did some land breaking for Prather and he helped them to get established farming.  The Rutherford and Hampton families who lived at Rowley became very good friends over the years and had many great times together.
   Later in 1920, John moved the family (with 7 children) to Rowley, rented land and started farming.  John, Eva and the family farmed in the Rowley district until his passing in 1932.
   Lowell married Pearl White in 1924 and shortly after that Leslie and Lowell terminated their partnership and farmed independently in the area.
   In 1924, Lowell and Leslie visited the family in North Dakota.  Their cousin Jay Rutherford returned with them.  Jay was working south of Drumheller barbering when he became ill and died with a ruptured appendix.  He was a very well thought of young man.
   In 1928, Leslie married Kitty Tolman of Rumsey.  Leslie purchased a Minneapolis Moline tractor and straight combine outfit and did custom work with it for farmers between Rowley and Munson.  Basil Rutherford and brother-in-law Bert Tolman worked with Leslie running the machine straight combining.
   Leslie and Kitty’s farm was hailed out three years in a row, so they moved to a farm west of Rumsey.  In the mid 1930’s, grain crops were very short in the Rumsey district.  To salvage what wheat Leslie could, he built a barge and connected it to the combine header.  The wheat was cut and made into large bunches that were later threshed.  It was used until the very dry years passed.
   Leslie and Kitty farmed in the Rumsey district until 1948, raising five children:  Wayne, Jean, Audrey, Leola, and Lila.  In 1948, Leslie relocated the farm to Innisfall, Alberta.  During the 1930’s and 1940’s, Leslie supplemented the farm income by doing carpenter and mechanical work.  In 1942, Leslie spent two winters working as a machinist in the Ogden Shops in Calgary making guns for the war.  Kitty and the children managed the livestock and the farm while Leslie was away in the winter.
   Lowell and Ralph left the Rowley district and purchased the Woods Ranch at Elnora in the late 1930’s.
   Leslie continued to farm in the Innisfail area with his wife Kitty (until her passing on March 30, 1973), son Wayne and grandson John.  In 1981, Leslie moved into Innisfail, but he continued to help operate tractors and combines for a few hours a day until 1989.  He eventually moved into the Rosefield Care Centre until his passing on March 2, 1992 at the age of 96.
   It is unfortunate that due to the long distance and transportation available at the time, more direct contact with the relatives in North Dakota was not possible.  The cards and letters exchanged between families were always looked forward to by Leslie and the others in Alberta.  Leslie always enjoyed the Christmas cards and letters, especially from cousin Mae Newby, as they were both born in 1895.  The visits for Kelly, Avis and Aunt Pet in the 1950’s and 1960’s were greatly enjoyed by all of the Albertans.  It was the rare opportunity to visit and remember past stories and memories of family.
   It is very evident that Leslie’s parents, John and Eva, did not find life easy.  It was always a struggle to get along.  John though, had many talents including a farmer, horseman, carpenter, miner and was a very hard worker.  Eva was a very patient, hard working and loving mother.  In the midst of the difficult struggle to raise a family and prosper, Leslie’s parents still found time to be good neighbors.

The following was written to me by Vee Mckee, November 1996 with a note at the end saying:  Your Grandma Opal was a Special person to me and much like my dear Mother, Lilah.

Stories told to Dawn Hampton and Vee McKee by mother Lilah Hampton and Grandmother, Eva Rutherford.
   They led a mild cow and built a cage under the wagon for a few chickens and were so delighted when there was an egg laid.  Grandma mixed a batch of bread every morning and baked it when they stopped in the evening.
   If there were berries available, Lowell, Leslie and Lilah were given pails and told to pick as fast as they could and catch up with the wagon.  Mom, Lilah, said it was always frightening thinking they might get lost.
   There was a dry hot spell and when they came to a lake they stopped and all went swimming, what a treat!  They came to an abandoned homestead and there were 15 frying size chickens, they caught them and enjoyed fried chicken milk gravy and fresh bread!
   They carried dried buffalo chips for fuel.  They came to a river and there was only a railroad bridge to get across, Grandpa (John) Rutherford, Leslie and Lowell climbed to a high spot to see if a train was coming while Grandma drove the team and wagon over the bridge - how frightening!
   It was while they were in the Vegerville, Alberta, Canada, area when a prairie fire was sited, Grandpa was away working so Grandma and the small boys hitched the oxen to a plow and worked enough furrows to save the buildings, the smoke was so thick they wet towels to cover their faces.  Grandpa and the man he was working for came as fast as they could on horseback and were so happy to see the family safe in the burned black prairie.

 "Gray/Rutherford/Crow 1804-1993 Family Reunion Book"
RALPH RUTHERFORD   written by Donalda Rutherford
   John H. Rutherford was married to Eva Mae Hollenbeck in 1894 in Pocahontas County, Iowa, USA.  They lived there until 1900 when they came by train to Edmonton.  Then in 1903 they moved to Vegerville in 1906 and returned to Cottonwood, Idaho with six children.
  In 1912 they came back to Canada in a covered wagon with eight children.  It took them six weeks to get back to Canada.  Times were very hard.  Work was hard to get.  They stayed at Elnora, a small town in Central Alberta.  Then in 1917 they had a sale and moved back to Pasco, Washington.  In the spring of 1920 they moved back to the Rowley district, another small town in Central Alberta, where they took up farming.  In 1932 Ralph's dad passed away.  Ralph stayed on the farm with his mother.
  Then in 1936, Ralph and his brother Lowell bought the old farm they used to live on that was owned by Troy Collins in the Elnora district.  Then in 1939, Ralph married Donalda Weatherby.  They lived on this farm until 1947 when we sold it and bought a service station and farm combination.
  This kept us very busy doing two jobs but was interesting.   I sold the service station and farm.  I now live in Red Deer.