MARY'S GENEALOGY TREASURES
History of Seven Persons
Chapter 2
Creation of the Hamlet
By 1902 there were signs an embryo hamlet was being
formed. Section men, who maintained the railway tracks,
lived at this site. Mr. John Meyers, Senior, was section
foreman for many years,, and lived with his wife and family
in a house nearby. Mr. Tom Nesting was pumpman and
supplied water to a water tower from the creek for the
steam-driven locomotives. A box car, set off the tracks,
served as a depot and a wayfarer's inn. There were
several cattle and horse ranchers on the surrounding,
untouched pastureland. Recalled names of these are:
Harry Foster, Christ Kraft, J. Brandt, Claud Edwards, S.
Davies, W. Reid, Chris Zimmerman, James Mitchell, C.
Huntley, O. Peterson and J. P. Jenkins.
By 1908 there were marked advances in the hamlet's and
the community's development. The land had been
surveyed and homesteads were being made available.
Squatters rights vanished. Illustrious posters promised
"Free Land". The railway offered transportation at a
cent a mile, and free freight for homesteaders. The
fantasy that Alberta was part of the Arctic was denied,
and rosy stories about warm winter chinooks gave
homesteading an optimistic appeal.
Return Seven Persons
Home
Copyright © 2000
Mary Tollestrup