The squatters.(settlements in Edmonton)(Viewpoint essay)

The following is an historical fact which pertains to the early settlement of the area northwest of Edmonton, now the Westlock and Barrhead district, and which information I have been unable to find recorded elsewhere.

When that area was surveyed, the Department of the Interior at Ottawa saw fit to make available the even-numbered sections, only, for homesteading, leaving the odd-numbered sections to be settled at a later date, either by homesteading or preemption.

In his report of 1909 to the Department of the interior, the Dominion Land Agent, K.W. McKenzie, made this observation, "The financial year just closed, opened under somewhat unfavorable conditions brought about by the financial stringency, which set in during the year 1907 and the partial failure of the crops during that season."

Old timers will remember that there was a great influx of setters into this area during the years 1907 and 1908. Hundreds of these people squatted on the odd-numbered sections, no knowing whether they were to be thrown open for homesteading. Among these setters was my father.

Because of the financial crisis of 1907, like so many others, he was lured by the Call of the West. He had on deposit in a Minneapolis bank $400 which he decided to withdraw, when he moved to Alberta. When he went to the bank he learned that he had to give thirty days' notice before he could take out the money, which was rightfully his. When this financial transaction was accomplished, my father went out to establish a home in a new land, squatting on the northwest quarter of Section 25, Township 59, Range 1, West of the 5th Meridian, at Hazel Bluff, now known as the Westlock area. Out of the $400 he was able to pay transportation for my mother and seven of us children from Minneapolis; to build a home 14x20 feet of one-ply drop siding; and in order to really establish himself in this new land, to place $100 to the credit of his account at the country store. All this on $400.

One can imagine what would have been the plight of the squatters had the Department of the Interior decided to open the Hazel Bluff area for pre-emption. This would have given the homesteaders on the even-numbered sections the right to pre-empt the quarter section next to them, thus throwing the squatters off the land upon which they had already built houses and had started clearing and breaking.

When I look back on those days, I marvel at the spirit of the people who had come from many parts of Canada, the United States, and other parts of the world. One desire was common to all of them, to have a piece of land that they could call their own, and upon it to ...