Monday, January 23, 2017

Life on Sahtlam Farm (circa 1930s)




 The Smith family ran the farm in Sahtlam for more than 25 years, from 1920, until Thomas (Pa) died in 1946.  During all those years it remained the place for extended family to gather for Sunday dinners and special events.

 
Circa 1925    The picture was dated by Carrie Smith based on the baby who is probably Marjorie Smith, daughter of Nels. Both main work sheds are visible.  No roofing is on the far shed however it is planked with ship lap as was the exterior of the house.  The woodshed behind the baby carriage covers the door to the kitchen.







Indoor Plumbing   It was several years before a bathroom was added onto the house.  Bath day for Edward was the ol’ galvanized wash tub set on a stump.  In winter the water was heated and poured in the kitchen.  Pa preferred the outhouse even after the bathroom was completed.





Family Picnic   The family made an annual outing to Victoria for a picnic at Beacon Hill.  The highlight was a half fried chicken provided for each person.  "Everyone getting their own half chicken was a great treat!" Carrie said.  They usually made the trip in Bart's car but if Gordy was home they took two cars.



Where's the pavement?  The children faced many challenges almost unheard of today.  Here Edward bumps along on his trike over gravel and grass.



Circa 1932      Little has changed around the house and yards since the 1925 photo.  Leslie, Edward and Murray dressed for photos.  The wood shed with stacked firewood and the rain barrel where the ladies washed their hair.  This was the main access to the house rather than the front door, since autos from the road stopped here and the gardens were nearby.





The Farm Tractor   A farm tractor was made by modifying the back wheels of a Model T.  The tires were removed and an extra wheel was welded on the outside to broaden the surface of contact.  Prongs salvaged from an old bed were welded onto the spoke ends that protruded through the wheels to make the tractor treads.  Les used this vehicle for farm chores.  (hauling wood, moving hand cut hay, harvesting)





Chickens, turkeys and cows   The farm was never without a supply of chickens and turkeys.  There were usually about three cows to milk each day.
Carrie Smith talking to son David 1999:
    “The best cow we ever had was called Dope!" Carrie said. 
   “What a crazy name for a cow.  Why was she the best cow?"
   “She gave lots of milk and she behaved." was the reply.
  “I remember Pa squirting milk into my mouth.  Maybe it was from Dope."
     “Could have been, could have been.”  




Cars of Yesteryear   Les tells this amazing car story.  He and his brother were driving over the Malahat to Victoria when they "blew the engine".  They took off the oil pan, removed a piston head and discovered the trouble was a demolished bearing where the rod connects to the crankshaft.  A piece of leather was cut from a shoe and pressed into the gap left by the missing bearings.  They made the return trip to Victoria without further incident.  "Cars were much simpler in those days," he said.


Stories From The Sahtlan Farm



These stories were all gleaned from conversations with Carrie Smith and her brother Les around 1999.  Many were prompted by remarks made by Murray Creightion in emails from Australia around the same time.  Often one idea would lead immediately to a fresh thought.  Unfortunately there are probably many more stories undiscovered.

Don’t Be Left-handed
Pa had a real problem with his grandson, David, being left-handed. He would frequently insist that things like scissors or utensils be placed in the boy's right hand.  Clutching a fist of the little guy's hair, he'd say,  "You little Indian, use your other hand!"

ABOVE: At the beginning, cedar blocks served as the foundation for the farmhouse.  (Murray & Buster circa 1926) This spot was a popular hiding place for hide and seekers.
The Old Shotgun
   Somewhere in this telling, the name Gary got thrown in.  Apparently this more earthy, Gary Smith still has an interest in guns whereas non of the immediate Smith boys do.  Les Smith had this old, hand-me-down shotgun that no longer fires but is something of a Smith heirloom because it was used to kill fowl to feed the passengers on the CPR.  Les had heard the story that one enterprising, Eastern Smith had a contract to supply game to the railroad. (this was Richard Smith and the story was true)  Les phoned young Gary who was very pleased to receive said shotgun.  According to Murray's recollection, said shotgun was probably on the gun rack in the family kitchen.  It may also have been the one involved in the following incident related by my mother.
    Pa was under the weather a little and there were pigeons feeding in his fields.  "Take the shotgun out a give them a blast," he told his youngest daughter.  Carrie had never fired a gun before but boldly carried the brute of a thing outdoors.  She laid the barrel across a plank in the Creighton/Smith fence and pulled the trigger on both barrels.  The kick scared the hell out of her and knocked her on her backside, but she went back in smiling when she discovered she had killed two pigeons.

Murray’s Ol’ 22 Calibre
(Murray 1999) I still have an old 22-calibre, single shot that once hung on the original, farm gun rack. It’s the first gun I fired over 70 years ago, and the same with Les, only longer ago. It was used to shoot at pigeons in tall cedar trees just across the front creek from the farmhouse, kill rats in the chicken yard at dusk, and shoot robins in cherry trees. I don't think I have fired it since we left Canada but it still seems to function ok. I cant recall how I got it in the first instance; I don't think Les wanted it so he left it with me.

Buster Disappears
   "Buster was a great hunting dog.  He disappeared one time.  We were along the top of a rise looking down into a boggy area.  We sent Buster down to circle the bog and flush any deer around to meet us.  He took off.  We heard him thrashing through the bush a little, then a short squeal like he had hurt himself or something- then nothing.  We went in to check and nothing.  Never saw Buster again."

Anti, Anti Eyeover 
  Anti, Anti Eyeover was a favourite game among the kids. 
   "It was a good house because you could throw the ball right over it." Carrie said.  "Usually we played with a tennis ball."
   "What happened after you caught it?" 
   "You run around the house and tag the other guy."
   "Then what?"
  "That's it!  It's a kid's game.  No purpose.  Just fun!"
NOTE: On Carrie’s 85 birthday, Murray wrote in an email “For a birthday present, I’m going to forgive you.  You will recall (I think it was 1929) we were playing Anti Anti Eyeover at the farm and you were sneaking around the corner as usual so you knew I had caught the ball, and POUNCED.  Your spindly bracelet caught on my front tooth (permanent) as you yanked at the ball.  BINGO!  By some miracle I grew a third tooth, so this finally had a happy ending.” 

Hide and Seek
    "Where did you hide?  Did you have some favourite places?" David asked this of Carrie and Les at a family lunch.  They were both in their 80s but their replies were instantaneous.
    "In the garages. In the toilets out back.  Around the stump with the clothesline.  Down in the cellar.  Under the water tank.”
    I was immediately intrigued by the mention of the ‘stump’.  They were referring to a giant willow stump that dominates the left of the driveway as you approach the house.     I discovered it has been chopped down twice but still persists in sending up vigorous new shoots.  In 1999 it still looked like a good place to hide!

Charcoal Eater
The story goes that the young Murray was constantly getting into the charcoal.  He would wander the property looking for burnt out stumps not yet removed and pick off pieces of the black stuff for culinary sampling.  The doctor theorized that the boy's body craved some important element found in the charcoal.  "Yummy!"


Sunday, January 22, 2017

The First Smiths of Duncan circa 1930s




Thomas William Smith & Wilhemena Tohm
Children:  Nelson William (1900-1994) Josephine Julie (1902-1963)     Henry (1904-1984) 
Gordon Thomas (1906-1946)    Laura Emiline (1908-1972)    Fred (1912-1974    
Carrie Ellen  (1914-2007)    Leslie Clifford (1919-2012)

Christmas circa 1931 Left to Right: Carrie (18) holding Milton (3); Gordie, Josie with Lloyd (4) in chair;  Henry & Pearl Leslie (13); Murray (9) & Edward (5) seated;  Fred, Adele (5) in chair; Ma and Pa ie. Caroline &  Thomas 
 Lloyd and Adele are seated in two wooden high chairs.  Les is sitting in the wagon holding Edward.  The corner of the wood shed is in the left background.  Freddie, Gordie and Leslie are wearing Cowichan Indian sweaters.  This was the spot of choice for family photos.

Sunday, circa 1929
Left to right: Freddy, Ma, Leslie, (back) Daniel Tohm, (front) Carrie, Murray, Pa, Josie
 Ma and Pa have been on the property almost 11 years.  The world is in a depression but life on the farm goes on pretty much as always.  Food is plentiful and cash is scarce.

 

Sunday Night Dinner
   Sunday dinner was always a celebration.  It was not unusual to have 20 at the table.

 

   Card games such as 500 and cribbage were a favourite for Sunday night gatherings.  (Pa loved a game of crib.)  The radio was used infrequently but one program everyone remembers is Jack Benny.  Several family members could play the piano.
 

The Menu
    Sunday dinner menus have endured for 80 years.  Large helpings of meat, salmon or fowl, gobs of mashed potatoes, homemade bread, pickles, two or more boiled vegetables with gallons of milk and homemade pie for dessert.



Sunday circa 1929 Left to right: Gus Bergman Henry Smith Pearl Smith, Josie Creighton (Murray), Freddy Smith
Wilhomena (Ma), Thomas (Pa), Laura Bergmans (Smith), Bart Creighton, Carrie Smith


The Smith Farm at Sahtlam, British Columbia



     You can find the old farmhouse by following Cowichan Lake Road out of Duncan to Creighton Road. Turn down Creighton to Curry Road. The house is on the right near the end. The outside dimensions of the house remain the same except the woodshed is now part of the main floor area. Pa used to sleep on the outside porch on a warm summer night.

Photo of the Smith house taken from Curry Rd in 1999
Ol' Pa Smith moved his family to the Duncan farm in 1919. Moving to the untamed wilderness was a bold step for a 52 year old who's early career had been hotels and business. Minnie was 39. Five-year old Carrie was pulling on her mother's skirts and Les had just been born at Clark's Crossing, Regina. For the older siblings (Nels 19, Josie 17, Henry 15, Gordy 13, Laura 11, Fred 7) it was a great adventure but with chores and work that never stopped.

(Murray) "The farmhouse had a sizeable kitchen with a very large cookstove, a large table opposite the stove where meals were prepared, butter churned, doughkneeded, etc. By the back door in the corner was an enamel sink, and in early days a hand pump connected to a well outside. Later on, a tank tower was built, water pumped from the front creek, with great difficulty in winter. On the other side of the door was a very full gun rack, then a sizeable woodbox that could be filled through the outside from the lean-to shed. The front room was very large, with a buffet on the side wall and a tin heater and Pa's big easy chair against the kitchen wall. The outside wall had a front door and full verandah, both hardly ever used, and a crank telephone. The end wall had a large window, chairs and a big battery operated radio. There were 4 bedrooms upstairs... big pantry filled right up with bottled fruit, vegetables and yummy venison."

(Murray) "Thinking back it was amazing how quickly they got a big orchard and vegetable garden up and running: hayfields, chicken yards, barns, garages, separator house, etc as you say, for subsistance living. The only outside job I ever recall Pa having was on a road gang during the Great Depression."

(Murray) "The farm was a 40-acre block cut in half longways, 20 to T.W.S. (Pa) and 20 for Creightons, and a 1 acre excised off the latter for my paternal g'parent's house. He was a master builder in Wales and played a large part in the construction of the three houses; his own, the family farm house, and later, on the 19 acre block, a 2-storey one for my parents, J.B. and Josie." Dave's note: All three houses exist today in the same location at the corner of Creighton and Curry roads. In 1919, much of the farm had already been cleared, but stumps dotted the pasture.

The Property circa 1930
This photo was taken from the low hill above the farm.  To the left is pasture and the Creighton house.  The biggest building is the newest barn. The end of a garage pokes out on it’s left and a hen house is visible on the right.  Following the fence line down takes you to the woodshed attached beside the main house.  The small, peaked roof with white trim at the left end of the house is the bathroom with plumbing added in the late 20s.



Saturday, January 21, 2017

Fishing For Everyone (circa 1940s)




It was a rare day when fresh salmon wasn’t caught on a Smith line.  Cowichan Bay was at their doorstep and some of the biggest fish on the continent dallied there.   Everyone had a story to tell. 

Dave's Story
     We always owned a boat when I was growing up.  One of my earliest memories is my father bringing home an old, peeling 'clinker built' row boat for fixing up.  We put hours and hours into scraping and sealing until eventually it was "good enough" and the new paint was lovingly applied.  In my father's estimation the "clinker built" was the best one could achieve in wooden boats.  The planks were curved, straight-grained cedar overlapping from the keel to gunnel on a frame of oak.  The finished product was wonderfully strong and light. 
   I spent many hours rowing around Brentwood Bay while my father puttered aboard our larger vessel, the 26 foot, double ender, Skipper.  She'd been a life boat in a former life but before she came to us she had been used for many years as a trolling vessel.  Tackle and tools were still in her when we took over. The entire side wall of the engine cabin was covered with spoons and plugs of every shape and size.  Old rusty, tobacco cans and cookie tins held hundreds of nuts, bolts, hooks, weights, fasteners and many other bits that 'might be useful sometime'. 
     The dark green engine, weighing in at 500 pounds, was an enormous, single cylinder Easthope that sat almost exactly midship.  A huge fly wheel had to be grasped with two hands and forced downwards to make the engine catch. A soothing, even 'chunk a ... chunk a ... chunk a ...' pulsed across the water when she was running.   My father had installed an old, carburetor from a Model T that smoothed out the put-puts but constantly dripped gas at higher speeds. A tin can hung beneath it to catch the drips.  Of course, slower rather than faster was always the challenge for trolling.  Our speed had to be just right.  When wind or currents were factors, we would often create drag by tethering an ancient steel bucket over the stern.
     The cabin was always thick with fumes of gas and oil. The bilge never seemed to be dry and had to be hand pumped, a job I was often given.  Etched upon my mind is the rhythm of my early morning pumping. Bilge water sloshed out a pipe in the side, shattering the silence of calm bay. In spite of her age and quirks, Skipper served us well and helped fill the home freezer with many pounds of salmon. 

The Tackle Box
Dave Remembers
   Spoons and plugs were always a standby lure for salmon. The brass and chrome needed constant cleaning and shining. Tom Mack was a popular name.  For grilse, a string of spoons interspersed with beads called a 'gang troll' was popular.  Higher on the line, a shiny, flat device called a dodger, worked the lure back and forth so it appeared to be a small, darting fish.   
    Freshly dug worms were threaded on to the 'gang troll' hook. Tiny minnow were fastened into a special plastic shell and then skewered with the hook in such a way that the curved body rolled back and forth as the boat trolled. Herring were used in a similar fashion but had to be cut into the perfect shape to fit the holder.
    Weighting the line was done in several different ways.  If the line was to stay near the surface, a simple slip weight of lead was clamped a few metres above the lure.  When a fish struck, the jolt released the weight which slid down the line near the fish and allowed the fish to be reeled close to the boat for netting. For deeper fishing a 'planer' was common.  It was a flat disc of plastic that angled against the water and dragged the line downwards as the boat moved forward. 
     My father favoured a device called a 'trip weight', which might be two pounds or more.  He used 200 or more feet of heavy steel line which took substantial time and labour to reel in. If a fish got hooked it was essential to have the weight drop off, which meant the weights had to be expendable and cheap.  Soup cans were zealously saved and filled with gravel and cement. Each can was rigged with a wire loop that fitted into a notched brass plate fastened in the line.  A jerk caused the loop to slip out of the notch and the weight to fall away into the depths.

Henry Smith Special (Murray)
    I haven't any early Cowichan Bay fish stories that Les couldn't improve, probably. All the Smith siblings were pretty active in the fall salmon run. In the days of quiet rowing/trolling with plugs and favourite spoons, Henry designed and marketed fairly successfully a plug which I think he named the "Henry Smith Special". There was no love lost between other brothers and Henry, so for a bit of mischief, ask Les what he thought of Henry's lures.

Right: Murray Creighton rowing while his mother (Josie) and Aunt Ethyl Brown (Smith) troll. Josie is wearing a Cowichan Indian sweater

Soup Spoon Story
    Carrie and Josie often fished together.  One time they rowed clear across the bay and saw an Indian who seemed to be catching a lot of fish.   Josie hollered, "What are you using?"  The reply  "A soup spoon!" brought gales of laughter. "Of course they'd never tell you what they were really using," Carrie explained.

Left: Josie Smith (Creighton) was an avid fisherman.  The house and garden at Sahtlam are in the background.

Trout (Carrie's memory)
Two creeks crossed the Smith farm.  A flexible Willow pole and worms from the garden were all that was required to catch the plentiful brook trout.  Oh!  One other thing!  You had to move very quietly along the creek bank or the fish would disappear.


A Hunting We Will Go (circa 1940)




 The Smith boys were all hunters.  Vancouver Island was thick with deer, so there was never a year when the larder wasn’t stocked with canned venison.  They could bag a deer in the woods behind the farm.  No wonder the Depression seemed to pass them by.  The most famous duo were Nels and Leslie who made an annual trip every year for 20 years.  Nels was near 80 before they stopped.  Visitors often came to the farm to go hunting.  Carrie’s husband, Richard, was one.  Another was Jack Davidson, husband of Josie Smith who was Pa’s cousin. (see Richard Smith)


Leslie Smith, Edward Bergman and Murray Creighton after a birding adventure.  Ducks could be found along the banks of the Cowichan River and Pa (Thomas Smith) was a skilled dog trainer.

A would-be hunter inspecting the kill.  When game was brought home, many hands helped with the butchering.  The meat was shared among all the family members and usually consumed fresh.  A carcass would keep about 10 days. 

Leslie Smith at the ol’ hunter’s cabin he and Nels used for several years.  This photo was labelled “Hiawatha”.

Nels Smith and Leslie Smith made a trip together annually

Nels Smith and Richard Foster (husband of Carrie Smith)

Murray Thomas Creighton (1923-2010)


 

Murray Thomas Creighton, b. 6 January 1923 at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; d. 7 August 2010 at Boonah, Australia

          Father: Barton John Creighton, b. 16 October 1893 at Cardiff, Glam Wales, d. 1977, d. 21 June 1978 at Boonah, Australia
          Mother: Josephine Julie Smith, b. 26 August 1902 at Emmerson, Manitoba, d. 28 January 1963 at Victoria, British Columbia


Spouse: Frances Elizabeth Morrison, b. 1 August 1923 at Vera, Saskatchewan

Married: 6 September 1947 at Vancouver, British Columbia.


     As the only son of the eldest Smith daughter, Murray became a contemporary of his youngest cousins, Carrie and Les.  He was born on time to enter the Canadian Air Force with Les during WWII.  He studied at UBC for a time but soon left to follow in his father’s footsteps in the newspaper business.  At 24 he married Frances and began to raise a family of three boys.  The boys had their early schooling on Cortez Island, which lies between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia.  The oldest two, Steven and Michael, attended high school in Powell River which is a short boat ride from Cortez.  The family operated a general store and marina on the island until about 1970 when they emigrated to Australia.  Murray rejoined his original career by purchasing a  newspaper in Boonah, Queensland.  This business would eventually pass to Michael.  Steven had his own business career in real estate, finance and development and Chris, the youngest, became an executive for a large multi-national paper company.


"Two Grandfathers": Thomas William Smith & Pa Creighton, master carpenter, chatting over a pipe on the
farm at Cowichan River near Duncan.















Descendants of Barton John Creighton, born 1893 in England

Children and grandchildren of Barton John Creighton and Josephine Julie Smith

1 Murray Thomas Creighton, b. 6 January 1923

        Spouse: Frances Elizabeth Morrison, b. 1 August 1923
        Married: 6 September 1947 in Vancouver, BC; d. 7 August 2010 at Boonah, Australia
        Mother: Phyllis Jean Groves, b. 2 April 1921

1 Charles Russell McIntosh b. 2 October 1943 in Duncan, British Columbia, m. Arlene Joan Ouimet
       1 Cynthia Joan McIntosh, b. 17 May 1969, m. David Vitkauskas, 2 May 1998 in Richmond B.C.
              1 Amy Jennifer Vitkauskas b. 16 November 2004
                 2 Brian Charles David Vitkauskas b. 11 May 2006

       2 Chad Russell McIntosh, b. 11 July 1976, m. Valynn Aubrey Lyon, 2 October 2004;  m. Kelly Rae Johnston 10 November  2012
2 Stephen Jeffery Creighton born 4 July 1948 in New Westminster, British Columbia
Spouse: Lynette Joy Wilson, 24 July 1971
       1 Richard William Creighton born 16 January 1972 in Timaru, S.I., New Zealand
       2 Michael Allen Creighton born 1 December 1973 in Timaru, S.I., New Zealand
               1 Morgan Jade Creighton born 18 March 1999 in Nambour, Queensland, Australia
Spouse: Sheryll Bucknell, 10 September 1983
       3 Amy Elizabeth Creighton born 23 December 1984 in Rotorua, N.I. New Zealand
3 Michael Andrew Creighton b. 1 September 1950 in Chemainus, British Columbia m. Wendy Dorthea Opperman, 5 August 1978 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
       1 Tobias Carl Creighton born 17 November 1980 in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
       2 Casey Jonathon Creighton born 21 April 1983 in Boonah, Queensland, Australia
       3 Fraser Courtney Creighton born 22 March 1990 in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
       4 Shaun Michael Creighton born 22 March 1990 in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
       5 Drew Marshall Creighton born 15 January 1993 in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
       6 Guy Morrison Creighton born 15 January 1993 in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
4 Christopher Barton Creighton born 15 January 1961 in Comox, British Columbia
Spouse: Tracy Lyn Kaddatz, 14 July 1984 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
       1 Lance Thomas Creighton born 4 October 1990 in Sydney, NSW, Australia
       2 Elliot John Creighton born 24 February 1994 in Melbourne, NSW, Australia
Spouse: Cheri Kay Shinner, 20 July 2002 in Bahamas
       3 Ava Grace Creighton b. 24 March 2004 in Seattle, Washington
       4 Kaden Rhys Creighton b. 26 July 2005 in Seattle, Washington