The last big farm event of the season was the harvest. For this, Leighton hired some Indian help. The Blood tribe was always happy to have Indian families help out with the harvest. They could make some money for the tribe and that was always welcome. So Chief Big Swan was happy when Leighton asked for three families.
Indian workers didn't come alone; they brought their sons, daughter and squaws (wife). They would bring their tipi, put it up down by the river, and this would be their home for the week or so it took to bring in the crop. Anyone in the family old enough to work, did so. The squaw would do the cooking and look after any babies; the men folk and older children would work the combines.
In Canada, as I believe it is in the USA, it's against the law to sell or give any alcoholic beverage to an Indian. Unfortunately, there are many products that contain alcohol. One of the Indian families that came to work on the farm had an unfortunate experience. The husband somehow was able to obtain some hair tonic or cough syrup and proceeded to drink it all. Under the influence, and it doesn't take much, he decided to go on the war path. To him the war path was to beat up his wife, rough up his children etc. We had a frightened squaw and children show up at the farm house looking for help and shelter. Her husband had ridden back to the reservation and it took three days to go find him and bring him back. In the meantime, Mrs. Buckwell made up a bed for them on the porch. The situation finally settled down and the crop came in. But, it was an interesting experience.
Winter soon set in, and it was very cold. The weather set a record 49 degrees below zero that winter and I felt every degree of it. I think I wrote earlier that the only heat in the house was from a large pot bellied stove in the sitting room. At night, the stove was banked up and some coal added that would last until near morning. It was Leighton's job to keep the stove going. He would get up in the night and add wood or coal. In the ceiling, there were some grates that could be opened so the heat would rise upstairs. Before going to bed at night, we would warm some bricks in the oven. These would then be wrapped in a cloth and put into the bed in the attempt to keep us warm.
I would have two or three blankets on the bed. As soon as you got your clothes off you would dive into bed as quick as you possibly could. Many a morning when I woke up, there would be a ring of ice on the edge of the blanket formed by my breath while I slept. I would often try to bring my shirt and pants into bed to warm them up for the morning. If I live to be 100, I'll never forget that winter.
Winter was not the only weather phenomena that we had to deal with. We would get some terrible lighting storms in the heat of summer. All the buildings had lighting rods on the roof; these directed the lighting into the ground when the house or barn was hit. I can recall seeing sparks jumping off door knobs during nighttime storms.
Lighting would sometimes hit the cows out in the field. It was strange, how it would kill them. The cow would drop down on its front legs, but not fall over. Only when you went up to the cow and pushed it, it would finally fall over. It is strange, but true.
One day, one of the farm hands was out in the fields when he got caught in a storm. He was riding as fast as he could to find shelter. He came to a barbed wire fence that had a gate. As he reached down from his horse, and grabbed the fence to open it, lightening struck the fence about a couple of hundred yards away. The electricity travelled along the fence, stripped most of his clothes off, and killed his horse. He survived but would never more go near a fence in a storm. This didn't happen while I was there, but it was a well known fact in town and on the farm.
The other odd weather event was the dust storms. You could see them coming. The wind would be blowing very hard. Off in the distance, the dust storm looked like billowing black clouds from ground to sky. Everyone would close windows, put towels or rugs on window sills and under doors. If your car was outside, the dust and wind would strip all the paint off on the incoming side. After the storm passed, there had to be a major cleanup operation to try to get all the dirt out of the house and out buildings.
In spite of these unexpected weather challenges, my life on the farm left me with mostly great memories. I feel so fortunate in being able to experience a tiny bit of a farmer's life. I will always be so thankful to the Buckwell family who took me in, and shared their life with me for over a year. I learned a great deal, much of which I will never forget. It was with a great deal of respect for them, that I decided to take my leave and move into Fort Macleod. I had no idea of what to expect, but that never deterred me from my youthful desires for exploration. I guess it was something inherited; I was always ready to take on any adventure.
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