Leaving the Buckwell farm was like leaving your family. Mrs. Buckwell, Leighton, and his sister Ruth had all been so warm and friendly to me. I had very little family life growing up. My mother's and father's separation, forced her to work long hour during the Depression, leaving little precious time to spend with my sister and I. Then the war started, my sister left for a job all the way in Washington, DC, Mother joined the war effort and it became time for my going to boarding school. It had not been easy to have a regular family life. I knew I was going to miss some of the great experiences I had enjoyed on the farm. Learning how to milk a cow, shear a sheep, round up cattle, and even tending the bee hives without being stung were sure eye opening and educating in so many ways. Also, being able to have my own horse as a teenager had been very exciting. Now I would have to decide what to do with my horse, as there was no place to keep it in town. I decided that the only thing I could do was sell it. I gave the saddle and bridle to Leighton and put the horse up for sale. Chief Big Swan had sold him to me for twenty five dollars. He was a great Indian pony, and I became quite attached to him.
Pictured above is Chief Big Swan
Eventually I sold my horse to Paddy for the sum of twenty dollars. This sale led to an interesting little story. Paddy was a handy man of sorts; local town folk hired him for odd jobs around town. He didn't have the cash at that moment, but he promised to pay me after his next job. After a few weeks, as I had not heard from Paddy, I became a little concerned over my twenty dollars. After asking a few people if they had seen Paddy, someone said that he was over at the church. I found Paddy busy digging a grave; shovels full of dirt were flying out of the hole. Leaning over the hole, I inquired about my twenty dollars. Paddy said to go and see the minister in the church and he would give me twenty dollars out of what he was going to be paid for digging the grave. When I went in the church the minister was standing next to an open casket. I told him what paddy had told me. As he turned away, I could see the head of a dead man protruding from the casket. It was the first time in my life I had seen a dead person. I got my twenty dollars and exited the church as quick as I could.
After I left the farm, I rented a room in a private home in the town. The lady who owned the home was very nice. If I remember correctly the rent was ten dollars a month. I obtained a job in the local movie house, the Empress Theatre. My job was to usher during the movies, sweep the aisles and between the rows, and vacuum the carpet. I also changed the bill boards when the movies changed. The owners, Mr. and Mrs. Doyle, ran the theatre. Mrs. Doyle sold the tickets and Mr. Doyle took them at the door. They also employed a projectionist. I really enjoyed the job as I got to see all the movies. I even remember all the words and songs from the shows, after hearing them over and over.
(When I returned to Fort Macleod in 1995, after having attended the Rotary Convention in Calgary, I found the theatre just as I remembered it. If you enter www.fortmacleod.com into your computer, just click on" town history", and you can read about the Empress Theatre.)
The Empress was pretty much the only evening entertainment in town. Fort Macleod rolled up the sidewalks pretty early. Almost every evening show was sold out, as were the Saturday afternoons. Most of the evening shows were filled with Air Force personnel along with Indians from nearby Indian reservations. The Empress was a popular spot. I can remember the movie distributor telling Mr. Doyle that he should book a certain movie titled "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" because some new actor, Donald O'Connor, was in it and he was going to be a big star in the future. Another one I remember well, as we held it over, was "Yankee Doodle Dandee".
Life in Fort Macleod was generally pretty quiet, that is, until the rodeo came to town. Every year cowboys would compete in almost all the provinces across Canada. Fort Macleod held the last competition before Calgary, where the famous "Calgary Stampede" took place. The competition included calf roping, bronco and bull riding, along with horse races, etc. In the next blog, I'll tell you all about it; quoting from some copy my mother wrote as the official Air Force "observer" for the Air Force Station paper "The Slip Stream".
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