Saskatchewan

Unposted. Publisher/Photographer unidentified, Card is printed on early Velox Private Postcard stock. It shows a great scene of the early Saskatoon as seen from Natuna, on the far side of the South Saskatchewan River. Apparently the spring breakup and ice flow of 1904 washed out the railway bridge - a boon to the ferry business. (Can't quite make out the name of this small side-wheeler.)

Unposted, but depicts a 1904 event. Publisher/Photographer unidentified. Card is printed on early Velox Private Postcard stock.As the message explains, location is identified as "Looking towards Natuna from Saskatoon". Most likely, this is the same ferry seen in postcard image "ST0036" - the photographer likely took the ferry ride to get this pair of pictures from each side of the river (South Saskatchewan).

POSTCARD Date: Posted November 24, 1908 Publisher / Photographer: Ridgely Calendar Co. Great Falls, Mont. Notation: This image is from an early (1904-1908) Regina Fair. The North West Mounted Police (NWMP) were formed in 1873 to maintain law & order in the early North West Territories - what now forms much of Alberta & Saskatchewan. Over time, their mandate expanded to additional geographical areas. In 1904, their name changed to the Royal North West Mounted Police (RNWMP) and, in 1920, they were renamed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Apparently the "Musical Ride" has outlasted or replaced sabre skirmishes as entertainment at public events. Of particular interest in the image: This postcard was published by a Montana-based company.

POSTCARD Date: Posted November 29, 1904. Publisher / Photographer: Unidentified Notation: A “Classic” early undivided Velox Private Post Card. Posted from Winnipeg to Mrs. J. D. Griffiths in Weston Lullingfields, Shopshire, England. Note on front: “Many thanks for letter & paper I received last week. Will write soon. Oh, thanks for the Photo I like it splendid. Hope you are quite well. I am at present. Love to all. Will.” I was intrigued by the image on this postcard and acquired it with the intent of trying to try to identify it. After some research, I am pretty much convinced that it is of a Doukhobor community - almost certainly the settlement of Verigin, in the South Doukhobor Colony. I found two images on the Doukhobor Genealogy Website that are pretty conclusive matches for both the building on the foreground and the rows of residences (house-barns) in the background. In 1904 (the year of this image) the C.N.R. constructed a new line between Kamsack and Canora. The line crossed through the South Doukhobor Colony and the Railway installed a siding to serve the Colony. They named it Verigin Siding - after Peter Verigin, the leader of Canada’s Doukhobor religious sect. The settlement of Verigin took shape around the new station and at some point in 1904, Peter Verigan himself moved his home and headquarters there. Further information on Doukhobors in Canada can be found at: www.doukhobor.org

POSTCARD Date: Posted January 23, 1909 from Astwood, Assiniboia, through Canora, Saskatchewan, to Miss Brenda Ouverson, Granite Falls, MN. Publisher / Photographer: Unidentified Notation: This is an odd scene. The picture was apparently taken after church services on Christmas day 1908. There is definitely snow on the ground but most of the folks, including the children seem relaxed in posing without overcoats. I haven't researched it but it may have been a particularly warm winter. In the note on the reverse, written on January 23, 1909 it says; "...not cold now - raining this evening". There is a makeshift structure in the front of the group that may be a pulpit or baptismal font - suggesting that the Christmas service may have actually taken place, at least in part, outside. A priest of some sort is just to the right of that odd structure -a tall bald fellow with an odd circular collar, who seems to be holding candles? Astwood is now a ghost town. Near Canora, SK, it was renamed Hinchcliffe in 1929.

POSTCARD Date: Not evident. Not Posted. Publisher / Photographer: Novelty Manufacturing & Art Co. Notation: I missed out on an opportunity to purchase one of these cards about 10 years ago. I was particularly drawn to the image and have been on the lookout ever since and was very happy to run across this one recently. In my experience, this scene of folks frolicking and joyfully posed in the water is fairly unique amongst postcard images from the prairie provinces. I like its vibrancy.