Badlands Chevette

 

The 1973 oil crisis saw oil prices in North America quadruple in only a few months.  People formed long lines to fill up as gas stations were running out of fuel.  The oil crisis created an oil boom in Alberta.  This boom generated more new multi-millionaires than any time before in Canadian history.  Hoping for a piece of the wealth, 4000 people a month were coming to Alberta.  The province's population grew by a third in the 1970s.  At the peak of the boom, Calgary was issuing more than 1 billion dollars worth of construction permits annually, more than populous American cities like Chicago and New York.       

The oil crisis of 1973 prompted many changes in the way we produce, consume, and distribute our energy.  Many tensions were created, as Alberta and the federal government did not have the same view on many of these issues.  In response to the 1973 oil crisis, more research was done on alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar power as well as nuclear energy.  North American auto manufacturers began to produce more fuel efficient automobiles. 

One of these cars was a new subcompact from Chevrolet, the Chevette.  Weighing in at 1998 pounds and carrying a sticker price of $2899USD, the Chevette was introduced in September 1975.  In its first production year, the largest engine available was an Isuzu produced single-overhead-cam 1.6 liter.  With 62hp at the crank, the car received an EPA-rating of 40mpg highway. Production continued until 1987 when it was replaced with the Chevrolet Sprint. 

International Harvester 2+2

 

The International Harvester 2+2 is a rear wheel drive tractor merged with a front wheel drive unit.  The 2+2 used a modified rear section of an IH86 series and a new front frame section.  The 2+2 was marketed as “2 Wheel Performance + 2 More Wheels Drive.”   They offered the traction and floatation of a 4wd but retained the control and versatility of 2wd.  The forward mounted engine and rear cab provided 54/46 weight distribution, along with unmatched balance, stability, and visibility in a 4wd row cropper.     

This model, a 3388, saw a total of 2146 units built during its production run from 1978 until 1981.  In 1981, a 3388 would set you back $45680USD.  It came with a 16-speed transmission and 436 cubic inch turbocharged 6 cylinder diesel that produced 114hp on the drawbar and 130 PTO horsepower.

Their long nose earned the 2+2s many nicknames such as anteater, landshark, and Snoopy.

AK Series Chevy

 

For the 1941 model year, Chevy trucks sported a re-designed front end with the headlamps sunk partly into the fenders instead of sitting above.  The 41-47 Chevrolet trucks, known as the AK Series, were the first model to depart from sharing the same styling as passenger cars. 

Knowing that their trucks could be needed for the war, Chevrolet engineered the AK series to be a stronger, more versatile truck.  The standard 216.5 cubic inch inline six cylinder was bumped up to 90 horsepower.  The trucks came with beds made of heavier gauge steel, a longer wheelbase, a crank out windshield and more comfortable seats. 

In February 1942 Chevrolet ceased building civilian models to concentrate on production for the war.  Chevrolet civilian truck production did not begin again until August of 1945. 

The AK Series remained in production until about May 1, 1947, when the Advanced Design trucks entered production.

Kingman, Alberta

 

Francis Kingsbury opened the Kingsbury post office in 1904.  It was located in his home, one and a half miles south of the hamlet of Kingman, where he lived with his father (a widower) and two brothers.  In 1909 the post office was moved into Kingman.  As there was another post office in the province called Kingsbury,  the post office changed its name to Kingman to avoid confusion with mail delivery.  
 
Lots in Kingman went onto the market October 19, 1909, at 10:00 am.  In short time, Kingman had two general stores to serve the new residents.  The first was owned by Taje & Olson Company of Bawlf.  The second, directly across Main Street, was occupied by A. Horte and Sons (later becoming the International Store).  In February 1910 the first passenger train on the Tofield-Calgary branch of the Grand Trunk Pacific railroad stopped at the Kingman railway station.

During its first years, Kingman experienced extensive growth.  The community laid claim to a doctor's office, a real estate office, a dressmaker, a grain buyer, a farm machinery warehouse, and a restaurant, where a full course meal was had for 35¢, or coffee and pie for 10¢.  
 
The construction of a Hogg & Lytle grain elevator began in July of 1916.  The 40,000 bushel elevator was ready for business in August of that year.  In September of 1926, the Home Grain company purchased the elevator, continuing operation until it was acquired by Searle Grain Company in the spring of 1929.  1940 saw an annex added.  Sometime in the early 1970's Searle sold the elevator to the Federal Grain Company, who in turn, sold it to the Alberta Wheat Pool a few years later.  The elevator was dismantled in about 1975.

A United Grain Growers (UGG) elevator, with a 35,000 bushel capacity, was completed and ready to handle grain for the 1922 harvest.  During its first year of operation, the UGG handled 60,000 bushels.  Kingman's UGG elevator was demolished in March 1976.

Kingman's Alberta Wheat Pool grain elevator was built in 1928 with a 40 000 bushel capacity.  Two 15 000 bushel annexes were added in 1941.

By the 1960s things in Kingman began to slow down; businesses closed and people moved away.  In the mid-1960s rail service was discontinued; the tracks removed in 1978.  In the late 60's the train station was relocated to Dodds where it was used as a dwelling. Sadly, it burnt down a few years later.  The International store was the last remaining general store in Kingman, closing its' doors in 1971.

On February 15, 1977, the last grain elevator in Kingman was moved to a private farm.  It took ten days of preparations and loading to ready the 200-ton structure for transport. It was transported with a modified former WWII tank carrier.  The 8 mile move took six and a half hours.

Today Kingman has a school, post office (in the former International store building), museum, community hall, and an outdoor skating rink.  Kingman celebrates its Scandinavian roots with an annual Lutefisk Supper.  The 2017 supper saw a turnout of over 400 people.  

Some noteworthy dates in Kingman's history:
1911- Prospering with a population of 87
1912- Telephone service began
1912- Kingman's first school opened
1913- Pool hall built
1914- A. Horte and sons opened their second store
1917- Yngve Johnson bought the first tractor in the area
1919- In May fire destroyed the post office, telephone exchange, a store, and a building used by Camrose Central Creamery
1922- Garage opened
1922- Small cyclone hit the village damaging some of the buildings
1922- Barbershop opened
1923- April 11, 9:45 pm - fire destroyed the livery stable
1927- Kingman hall built. First dance held in January, 1928.
1928- Cafe built on the site of Horte & Sons store that was destroyed by fire.
1930- Manning -Sutherland Lumber Company sold to Beaver Lumber Company
1932- Progress Lumber Company builds hardware store adjoining the lumberyard
1947- A New school built
1967- Population 100 (approx.)
1988- Kingman School burned down
2006- Population 87
2011- Population 90
2016- Population 103 – and growing

 

Low Cab Forward

 

The C-Series or Low Cab Forward (LCF) trucks were built from 1960 until 1975.  The C500-C700 were rated as medium duty while the C800-C1000 were designated as heavy duty.  

The LCF used a 1956-60 pick-up cab and unique front body panels.  The front fenders swing out, and the hood flips up allowing easy access to the engine.  

C-Series trucks were constructed with durability and comfort in mind.  The cabs were built with heavy gauge steel and had thick rubber mounts to lessen noise and vibration.  The cabs also came equipped with comfortable seats and 5-way ventilation.

Dual headlights set the earlier trucks apart. After 1967 Dodge incorporated the single 'pie plate' headlights used on their light trucks.

Gasoline engines were made by Chrysler and diesel engines were provided by Perkins, Caterpillar, Cummins,  and Detroit Diesel.    

In 1975, Dodge decided to exit the medium and heavy-duty truck segment in the U.S. and Canada, only building a few more trucks for export to Mexico, Central, and South America.  

The LCF was the last heavy truck that Dodge made.  

McCormick Deering No. 22 Harvester - Thresher

 

From the 1880s Until 1902, the two giants McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. and the Deering Harvester Co., as well as their smaller rivals, were involved in what is now known as the “Harvester Wars.” Production of harvesting machines far outweighed demand, creating fierce competition between manufacturers. Salesmen tried everything they could to sell their equipment. There are stories of bribery, sabotage, and violence.

As the Harvester Wars dragged on, equipment prices fell drastically, and selling expenses grew to more than 40 percent of total sales. In 1902 a merger with the five most significant companies was brokered by the J.P. Morgan banking firm. The McCormick, Deering, and Milwaukee Harvester companies, Plano Mfg. Co. and Warder, Bushnell & Glessner merged to become International Harvester Co.

For many years following the merger, IHC sold two slightly different lines of equipment, one named McCormick and the other Deering. The two lines of equipment were consolidated, and McCormick Deering became the name of a line of tractors and farm machinery manufactured by the International Harvester Co from 1922 until 1947.

International Harvester's first harvester-thresher combine was the McCormick Deering No. 1, built in 1914. Pictured is a McCormick-Deering No. 22 harvester-thresher, manufactured from 1925-1956.

 

Dorothy, Alberta

 

The Dorothy Improvement District No. 246 was formed on December 18, 1913.  On February 13, 1932, it was included in the Municipal District of Lone Butte which became part of the Municipal District of Berry Creek on April 1, 1933, which later became part of the Special Areas in 1936.

Two hundred families farmed in the area at one time.  Most of the land that used to produce wheat crops has been reverted to grassland and now supports cattle ranching. 

With the coming of the railroad in 1928, three grain elevators were built in Dorothy: an Alberta Wheat Pool, a United Grain Growers, and an Alberta Pacific.  The Alberta Wheat Pool was still operating at least as late as 1971.  The United Grain Growers elevator was torn down in 1931.  The Alberta Pacific remained in business until 1951.  Later, a large farming operation in the area acquired it to use for grain storage and were still utilizing it as of 1971.  The last scheduled train service through Dorothy ended in 1968.  

To avoid navigating a steep winding trail on the south side of the Red Deer River a grain chute was constructed from metal pipe.  The chute ran about 300 feet down the hill into an overhead bin at the bottom of the hill where a truck would pick up the grain and take it to the elevators a mile away.  In the fall of 1929, the south grade was built down to the ferry ending any further need of the chute.  The materials from the chute were salvaged and the bin was put into use on a nearby farm.

C.R. Kidd built a general store in the fall of 1928, but by the fall of '31 went broke.  Many were having a hard go of things during this time, so Mr. Kidd generously let them have their purchases on credit, realizing that his chances of collecting were slim.  Later, he worked for the elevator in Drumheller, and then operated the Drumheller Ford dealership, before selling out to participate in an oil discovery northwest of the city.  He and his wife retired in Calgary.

Initially, Catholic Church services were held in residents' homes around the community. In 1941 a former school was moved in and used for church services. In 1943 the Wilford School was bought for fifty dollars and moved to Dorothy.  The new Catholic church was blessed by Father Anderson on a Sunday in June 1944.  The last Mass held in this church was on October 22, 1967.  

Across the road is the United Church.  When discussing how to raise funds for a church, residents decided on organizing a chicken supper and making quilts and then holding a bazaar to sell them.  Enough was raised to buy a house in 1932.  It was moved 25 miles from Finnegan into Dorothy.  As no large trucks were available, the house was moved with horses and smaller equipment. The last service held at Dorothy's United Church was in 1961.  

Although small, Dorothy still holds its vibrant community spirit.  In recent years, both of the churches have been restored, and there are talks of repairing the grain elevator that was damaged by a storm on July 22, 2015.

In The Hand Hills

 

Tucked away in the scenic Hand Hills, this house and barn were built in 1909 on the present land owner's great uncle Mark Lenfesty's homestead. When the family, consisting of William and Anna Elsie Lenfesty and their children Sterrie, Mark, Day, and Stella (Babe) Lenfesty, moved to the Hand Hills, they spent the first winter in a sod shack a mile and a half south of Mark's future homestead. In the spring they acquired the lumber from Stettler and built the house and barn on Mark's property. They all lived there until they were able to finish building on each of their own properties. Mark lived on his property until the well went dry in the 1960s when he moved in with family who farmed the land to the south.

William “Grandpa” Lenfesty was a stonecutter by trade, but like many settlers worked a variety of jobs. Driving a food wagon in the Riel Rebellion, he took an arrow to the forehead. Carrying nitro-glycerin, the man showing him how to handle it lost his hand when he accidentally bumped a small container on a rock. Grandpa Lenfesty worked as a steam shovel operator for the Grand Trunk Railway and later the C.P.R. He followed the railway west and homesteaded near Shepard in 1902.

The present land owner, Day Lenfesty's grandfather took first place in saddle bronc at the first Hand Hills Stampede and was a founding member of the Hand Hills Lake Club House. The Lenfesty family has been an essential part of the rodeo's success over the last 100 years. Day is treasurer of the Hand Hills Lake Community Club. He handles most of the community functions, cooks for catering events, and mans the food booth at the stampede with his famous saskatoon pie.

On July 20, 1917, the first Handhills Stampede was held on J.J. Miller's ranch at the south end of Hand Hills Lake. The local branch of the Red Cross sold admission ribbons for $1 a piece; women and children received free admission. They raised $3200 with all proceeds going to the Red Cross. Many locals pitched in to make the first show a success, and that community spirit continues 100 years later.

Currently, Day Lenfesty and his brother Tim and family farm the homestead lands of Grandpa Lenfesty, Sterrie, Mark, and his grandfather Day, as well as the land acquired by his Aunt Babe and her husband, Lawrence Ringrose.

Rose Lynn School

 

The first post office in the area was on the farm of Albert and Martha Strong. Mrs. Strong named the post office Rose Lynn due to the abundant wild roses in the area.

When the Canadian National Railway acquired land for the 'Pea Vine' line, from Hanna to Wardlow, the townsite of Rose Lynn was established. The 'Pea Vine' line was completed in 1919.

In 1920 a store was built by Tom Fendall. The store sold groceries, dry goods, hardware, gas and was also the post office for the village. In 1924 Si and Edna Livingstone operated a restaurant and blacksmith shop. 1920 saw the construction of an Alberta Pacific Grain Company elevator.  In June of 1928 an Alberta Wheat Pool elevator was erected.

In 1925 a house was moved in from Richdale by the Alberta Pacific Grain Co. for their elevator agent, Frank Brocklebank.  Ralph Hickle removed the living room window and drove his team of horses from the living room. They got stuck in a coulee, and the house was snowed in for the winter but managed to complete the journey when the snows melted and the ground dried. The current landowners Hugh and Doreen Fitchett lived in this house when they moved to Rose Lynn in the fall of 1971 until they built a new house in autumn of 1986.

The Alberta Pacific elevator was sold to the Alberta Wheat Pool sometime in the 1940s and was torn down in the summer of 1949. Rose Lynn's Wheat Pool elevator burned in 1956 when it was suspected to have been struck by lightning.

The school house pictured was moved into Rose Lynn from Mizpah in the 1940s.

Sheerness

 

Coal was discovered in the Sheerness area by a cattleman who was wintering his herd in 1905/1906. His water supply was running low, so he decided to dig a well. At a depth of about ten feet he found a coal seam that was five feet thick. Not only did he find water, he discovered a coal field that would supply many settlers with a source of fuel and later, provide power to a large number of Albertans.

Colonel Walker of Calgary and Tex Oscar, with John Smith as a partner, were the first to operate a mine in the area. Tex Oscar farmed with his family a few miles north of the mine site. John Smith and his mother owned most of the land that the town would be developed on. John owned and operated the first livery barn along with the first pool hall. Together they started the first boarding house. John later acquired the general store that was operated by two Englishmen, Alf Minto and Lou Fields.

Mr. George Crozier, who ran the first post office at his homestead chose the name of Sheerness in memory of a seaport town on the east coast of England. The post office was moved from the Crozier farm to the mine site in 1910.

The school (pictured) came from a few miles north and was moved to the mine site in 1918.  Later, the Richdale school was moved into town and added onto the existing Sheerness school making a three room school house. The Richdale school can be seen as the 'front' section of school now. It was built in 1917 by Bill Williams and Fred Blackmore.

With the coming of the railroad in 1919 the town site was moved a short distance northwest in order to be closer to the train station. Many new businesses came into existence, serving the growing population. A meat market, Chinese restaurant, lumberyard, general store, a Bank of Toronto, and a laundry all made up the town. Friday night dances, a yearly stampede, a tennis court, pool hall, and ball games against neighboring communities on Sundays all provided residents with entertainment.

The store (pictured) opened in 1923 by Harold (Pop) Lucke after the previous store, owned by Erb Debow, burnt in a fire that also claimed the pool hall. Mr Lucke's house and barn were moved off of the family farm and into Sheerness in 1925. The Lucke family sold the store to Mr. McConkey when they moved to B.C. In 1935.

An Alberta Pacific Grain Company elevator was built in 1923. Alberta Wheat Pool bought the elevator in 1948, closed it in 1961, and dismantled it in 1963.

Over the years Sheerness was home to many different coal mines that changed hands several times. With natural gas becoming a more viable source of energy, coal became less important and many of the mine workers transferred to other mines in Alberta. By 1970 the school, store, and post office had all closed and the remaining residents moved to Hanna. In the 1950s approximately 150 people lived in Sheerness. Today only one family is still living on the original town site.

The Sheerness area is still known for coal mining. The Westmoreland Coal Company mine and the coal fired power plant are co-owned by ATCO Power and TransAlta. The 780 megawatt Sheerness thermal generating station has been in operation since 1986.