A MILLION

      Very quietly and all alone my blog counter passed the one million mark today.  I told my son in law last weekend that this milestone was about to happen and he said go ahead and tell the blogging world about my number. 

      I started blogging in 2008. I had no idea what I was doing so for the first six months I was reading blogging for dummies. I didn't post very many times. I had no idea what comments were about. The first person who commented on my blog was Connie from  Far Side of Fifty. Maybe she was the millionth customer this afternoon as she still follows my blog. That's quite a record for Connie. 

      I'm not a prolific poster but do from 110 to 150 posts a year. 

      What's so fantastic about blogging? The people you meet and make friends with in blog land. 

    Thanks , my friends , for visiting me and making blogging fun. 

INCOME TAX

      Our income tax dead line in Canada is April 30. So income tax is on my mind. I wonder how many countries in the world have an income tax system.  I wonder what are the tax  filing deadlines in other countries?

     I did my own income tax until 2018 when I decided that for my skills it took too much time. I knew what was going on but it was hard work. I now have someone do my tax. However, now I don't really know what is going on. You can't have it both ways.

      I filed  my first tax return in 1958. It was one page both sides. I put in my income . Everybody was given a thousand dollar deduction. So fill it out and pay the tax man. Simple. I wish the tax system could have remained simple. So various governments tinkered with the system trying to raise more tax income and then make things more palatable by giving some benefits. So they take with one hand and give with the other. They also think we don't know what they're doing.

     I taught for two years in a small isolated Inuit settlement. Usually 6 to 10 of the men got work at a nearby mine for a few months. These people did not read or write. However, the mining company had to send these men T-4 slips. When the men got these slips they would come to me and ask for money. I had to explain to them that we had to fill out a form and send it to the government and then they would get money. They had no other income except from the mine. So I ended up filling out a few tax returns. The were happy to get the income tax return. 

     So my return is done and filed. How about you? Have you found out how much money the tax man wants? 

A SURVEY SYSTEM

      A couple of posts ago I admitted my passion for the history of western Canada. This includes the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. It's a huge area made up of plains and forest. The southern parts are grasslands and the northern parts are dense forests. 

     In the 1800's this area was almost vacant. The Canadian government wanted people to live in this huge area. If that was going to happen the land had to be surveyed so people could identify the land they wanted.

     Did I tell you that free land was available? Yes, for $10.00 and meeting some obligations you could get 160 acres. 

    Now here's where my son in law comes in as he asked me about how the land was divided. 

     The land was to be surveyed in blocks so that identification was made for each parcel of land and it could not be mistaken for another property.

    An artificial line was established so that all measurement could start from the same place. There were township lines running north and south and range lines running east and west. These lines were 6 miles apart giving  piece of land 36 sections. One section was 640 acres. These lines were all numbered. The final description was east or west of the first meridian. They established more meridians as the moved west. 

      The surveys happened around 1880 and took quite a few years before it was complete. The technology of the time was simple. Survey crews spent from early spring to late fall. The crewmen were paid $1.00 per day. 

    So a piece of land would be described as SW-20-rge 21-twp 32 -  west of the second. No other piece of land has this designation. 

    This survey was not really used for another 20 years before people started coming to the area. Stakes were used to show the corners and the wooden stakes were marked , but a little problem happened. Wooden stakes rotted and the first nations people found that the stakes made a good wood supply. Some areas had to be resurveyed.

    Now there was another little problem. The roads were supposed to be one mile apart. Because of the curvature of the earth, the roads would get closer together as  they went north. To make amends for this they invented correction lines. Every 24 or 30 miles the roads would take a sharp jog of about 100 ft so that they would continue to be one mile apart. 

    Millions of people came to the area looking for free land and using this system of survey to identify the land they wanted. My grandparents came in 1905 and located land and farmed for close to 50 years. . 

I'M ABOUT TO BRAG AGAIN!

       I have a fantastic Christmas cactus. It is blooming for the fourth time this year. 

        It bloomed in November. It bloomed for Christmas . It bloomed in January and now it's full of buds and ready to bloom in March. 

      What's been happening is when the last couple of blooms are ready to fall off, new buds are being set. 

     It was a slow bloomer because it took about six years before it bloomed. But that could be because of the poor care I took of it. 

     I wrote about my Christmas cactus on Jan. 28.

I JUST FORGOT

          Somehow or other the Micro Manager and I got onto the subject of high school at dinner tonight. To be specific we were talking about what subjects we took in high school.

        One thing I remember is that I took eight courses in my grade twelve. (final year)

       The Micro Manager claims she took 6 classes. We were in different provinces so under different systems. 

      Now I tried to remember what courses I took. I couldn't name everything  I took. She asked me if I took biology and I had to really think if I took biology. 

     Now I took eight courses but I have credit for nine courses. We had a system of applying to write exams. My Principal told me to order an exam for a course I hadn't taken. He said take a look at the exam and if you think you can write it go ahead. If you think it's too difficult just give it back to him. So I wrote it and I think I got 68%. The course was agricultural economics and for a farm boy who was in 4 H, it was an area that I knew quite well. 

     I will have to look at my old report card to find out what else I took. 

    I finished high school in June of 1957 which is 66 years ago. I wonder what else I've forgotten in the last 66 years??

                                The kid (me) in gr 10.

Also, you know that I'm in the process of downsizing. So I have all the report cards and marks I ever had. Do I dispose of them? I don't think so. 

ANOTHER UNBELIEVABLE TREK

          A trading post was established in about 1795 where Edmonton , Alberta is today. It was an excellent fur trading area as it was rich in what they wanted -fur. 

         However, since the furs were wanted in Europe there had to be a transportation system to take the fur to a port which was Ft. Churchill , Manitoba which is in the west side of Hudson Bay. 

       So, in 1795 , how do you get from Edmonton , Alberta to Ft. Churchill? Why canoes! Canoes will take all your furs to the nearest port. 

      For part of the years from 1795 to 1910 a yearly system was followed. 

     Some aboriginal bands wintered around the Rocky Mountain House area of Alberta. The men would travel to Edmonton in March or April. Here they would spend time building canoes. When the river became ice free they would start the trip to Ft Churchill. They would follow the North Saskatchewan river to Lake Winnipeg and then on to Churchill. This trip was all down stream.

     Then they would load up with trade goods at Ft Churchill and begin the trip back to Edmonton against the current. 

     In mid to late August they had got as far as Battleford Saskatchewan. Just past Battleford they left the river. The women and children had walked across Alberta and were waiting for them at an arranged place. Then the whole group slowly walked across Alberta to Rocky Mountain House where they would spend the winter. Some bison usually overwintered in that area so hunting was good. 

       So this was a trek that took most of the year. 

      Again one has to admire the stamina that this group had to make the round trip.

      Again, I'm sorry that I can't find a map for this trip. 

SOME HISTORY IS RECENT

     Yesterday I told you of my interest in family  and local history. However, my real passion is for Western Canadian history. I read every book I can find on Western Canadian history. 

     I wrote about the family farm I grew up on. Running across some of that land was the Carlton Trail. This trail and a number of others that connected to it ran from Winnipeg , Manitoba to Edmonton Alberta a distance of about 900 mi or 1450 km. When I was a kid in the 40's and 50's you could still see the ruts from this trail. I still know where to find some evidence of the trail. 

     The transportation system using the trail started in the 1870's . There were no railroads so supplies and trading goods were hauled from Winnipeg to Edmonton by ox cart. Each cart carried about 1000 lb and was pulled by one ox. The cart was made completely of wood and hide. 

      Western Canada was basically empty at the time. There were a few bands of first nations who roamed the area looking for buffalo. There were a few  traders. There was the odd farm.  There were no railroads and very little farming had been developed. Farm products were consumed locally as there was not transportation to send it to a place to sell it. . Local flour mills milled flour. 

      The oxcarts started at Winnipeg in the spring heading to Edmonton. Usually one man had several oxcarts. Oxen were used as they didn't need grain whereas horses needed grain. Too much grain would have to be hauled in place of freight. The men made and ate bannock and salt pork. Some game was taken and some wild berries were also available. Pemmican was also used for food. 

     So finally all the oxcarts got to Edmonton. So did they turn their oxcarts around and go back to Winnipeg? No way. The oxen were left at Edmonton to be used for beef. The ox cart drivers walked back to Winnipeg. 

     All this seems hard to believe. The men were tough...very very tough.

     So I like learning about the developments in Western Canada which wasn't that long ago. 

    My ancestors came here in 1905. There were railroads but none where they settled.