Edward Anderson was born in Prescott, Arizona,
U.S.A., September 28, 1881. His parents Peter and
Mary Olson Anderson had immigrated from Den-
mark.

Ed came to Brandon, Manitoba, with his brother
Olie but the exact date is unknown. Ed recalls the
mosquitoes were so bad they drove the brothers out of
that area.

After coming to Stirling, Ed met and married
Margaret Olive Hartley. She was born in Pleasant
Green, Utah, September 24, 1887. She came with
her father, the William Hartley family, to Stirling in
1902. Ed and Olive were married April 6, 1904 in
Raymond, Alberta

Ed was a steam engineer by profession. He oper-
ated steam driven tractors to do plowing and thresh-
ing. Some of the men he worked for were William
Spackman, Guy Finley, Bob Peterson and Art Coul-
ter. In the winter he hired out as a cowboy to such
people as Raymond Knight and Joe Peters. He also
worked for the Canadian Pacific Railroad and drove
the trains from Lethbridge to Fort Macleod. The
original line was subject to many maintenance diffi-
culties and a new high level bridge and the Monarch
bridge were built and the new line opened October
23, 1909. He drove the last train across the old
bridge. The next engineer never made it because one
of the bridge trestles collapsed under the weight of
the train.

The Ed Anderson home in Stirling was located in
the northeast corner of town. Ed and Olive had seven sons
and two daughters.

During the fall of 1910 the family moved to Jaf-
fray, B.C. where Ed was employed at a lumber mill

Ed was the inventor of a machine for digging
topping and loading beets. A demonstration model
was made and a patent obtained. Machine companies
were interested in manufacturing the digger but his
financial partners would not accept any company
offers and the patent expired.

The family returned to Stirling in about 1911 or
1912.

The family had a milk cow and the usual chick-
ens. Irrigation water had arrived in Stirling in the
early 1900's and a water cistern was filled from this
for household use. One day when mother, Olive, was
milking the cow a lightning bolt struck and knocked
her down so hard that the imprint of her body was left
on the ground. She was bruised a little but not hurt.

In 1918 the family moved to the farm in the
Judson area. Ed was working out for Art Coulter at
the time. He borrowed Art Coulter's big Reeves
steamer and skidded the house from Stirling nine
miles to its new location six miles west, on the north
side of the highway of Wrentham.

From Wrentham the family moved to the Leth-
bridge Northern Irrigation District near Picture
Butte and lived there for a while. Eventually, in 1948,
they moved to a farm south of Fort Macleod. Later
they sold the farm and moved into town.

Ed passed away November 3, 1949, and Olive
died November 25, 1970.

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