The following family history was written by Lois Rebecca Shack and is dated  8 July 1969.

 

Russell and Mary Bowles

 

Our father Thomas Russell arrived in the west as a settler of prairie land. Grandfather C.W.Bowles with his two sons Russell and Wilson left Mono Road, Ontario at 5 a.m. March 3, 1914 for the west. For a week previous to this there was great activity as the Bowles boxcar was loaded for the Settlers' Effect Train, which was to take them west. Among the things loaded for use on the prairie homestead were these items:

 

     six work horses with harness and feed for the 8 day trip

     wagon, plough, disc, drill

     forty laying hens (they used their eggs as food daily)

     all necessary household effects

 

The contents of this car and the fare of one man to travel with it cost Grandfather Bowles $150. This settlers' train was a bargain arrangement to encourage farmers in settled Ontario to pull up stakes and start developing the wild west. For that $150 Grandfather Bowles and his sons arrived at Biggar, Saskatchewan on 7 Apr 1914, with all the necessary equipment to start to improve the homestead.

 

Imagine the excitement that chilly April morning as they unloaded that boxcar. Our father, Russell still remembers the number of their car C.P.R. 109832. The following is the procedure of that memorable morning: First the horses were walked down the ramp into the stockyards, then the men set to work assembling the wagon (all the machinery had been taken apart and stacked to make the best use of the boxcar space). When the wagon was assembled all they could possibly manage was packed into the wagon, the horses were harnessed and hitched to it, then off they rolled to their new home. The homestead was located 5 miles west of Biggar in the Oxborough district. Grandfather had purchased the land in 1913 so there was a shack, barn, stack of hay, and forty acres of land broken for cultivation. When they arrived at noon Dad recalls that it was the first things first. As the shack had been empty since Fall it had to be cleaned out, a fire made in the wood stove then they proceeded to carry in the furniture and food. Dad's comment now is that this cooking was a new and unhappy experience for them as they had never been away from home longer than three days and they were accustomed to good food as Grandma Bowles was a fine cook.

 

All summer they improved their farm. That Fall Grandpa Bowles and Uncle Wilson returned to Mona Road. Although our Dad has visited in the East he never returned to live there after he made his way in the West.

 

Dad continued to work this farm for his father until he quit to work permanently on the C.N.R. in 1924. In the Fall of 1922 Dad had hired on as a fireman. He worked in this branch until 1923 when he transferred to braking. When Dad retired in 1959 he had 36 years service with the C.N.R. Our mother, Mary Kristine, started life on the prairies. She was born at Morden, Manitoba on 22 Sep 1903, the third child of Charles and Johanna Fairbanks. When Mom was eight years old her parents decided to move further west to homestead. Thus in 1911 they arrived at Juanita, Sask. by train where they had rented a farm. The next May the family journeyed to Wilson Lake about forty miles north of Juanita. Mom remembers that they arrived by wagon the day of the Regina Cyclone. Gramma and Grandpa Fairbanks remained on this farm until they retired to Biggar in Sep 1943. In June 1948 they moved to Oliver, B.C. where Grandpa Fairbanks passed away 16 Aug 1953. He was buried in the Oliver cemetery. Gramma Fairbanks is now residing in a nursing home at Kelowna, B.C. She is a remarkable lady in her 92nd year.

 

Gramma, Johanna Johannason, was born in Reyijavik, Iceland on 19 Oct 1877. Her family came to Canada when she was seven (1884). Their first home was in Winnipeg, but later they moved to Wynyard, Sask.

 

Our parents, Mary Kristina and Thomas Russell, were married on 29 Jan 1924. The service was performed in Knox United Church, Saskatoon, Sask. Mom and Dad have lived in Biggar all their married lives except for three years, 1947‑50, spent in Hanna, Alta. They continue to make their home at 207 ‑ 6th Ave. W., Biggar, Sask. where we children grew up and made their lives hectic. As we write this at Hanna, Alta on 8 July we are enjoying a visit with Mom and Dad and Roneen and Trevor (Helen and Ron's children). On July 10, Mom and Dad, my family, and Roneen and Trevor plan to meet Helen and Ron in Banff for a visit.