Homesteading 



ten to seventeen dollars an acre, but it was 

 rumoured they had a colonization scheme in 

 prospect. 



We also learned from him that the post office 

 was about a mile and a half away, at the house 

 of one of the earliest settlers, who had by per- 

 severance and the hard work of himself and his 

 wife " made good," as he put it, and after whom 

 the post office was named. He also told us 

 that a young Englishman with his aunt, a lady 

 from Yorkshire, lived near the church, and there 

 were many other settlers not far away. 



On hearing from his young hired man, who 

 sat down at table with us, that we had bought 

 Bob's oxen, he told us that he and his cousins 

 (for another had now joined them) lived only 

 some three miles further north. He advised 

 us to make for their house, saying they would 

 put us up for the night, if at home. 



Coming out of the house, our host pointed 

 out that his place was on the top of a rise, and 

 that, looking south, in clear weather they could 

 see the hills on the other side of the Saskatchewan 

 River, some fifty or sixty miles distant. He also 

 showed us his well with some pride, telling us it 

 was about eighty feet deep and gave an excellent 

 supply of good water, and that, strangely enough, 

 though they had bored to a far greater depth 



54 



