The first elevator was built in 1905 by William L.
Thompson with a capacity of 18,000 bushels.
Tom and Lester Morrow were among the first
operators. It burned down in 1914 but was
later rebuilt. For a time it was known as the
Bawlf Elevator but Clara C. Thompson bought
the Bawlf interest in the company and it became
the Thompson Elevator. For many years the
farmers hauled their grain to town using grain
tanks pulled by a team of horses but by the late
thirties these were replaced by trucks. The
Thompson Elevator was not equipped to handle
the large trucks so it was eventually torn down.

The Alberta Pacific Grain Company built an elevator
in Spring Coulee about 1906. Many years later it
was torn down and replaced with a larger elevator,
annex and coal shed. Over many years they sold
coal and shipped hogs (Thursday was hog shipping
day.) In 1968, Federal took over the Alberta Pacific
Elevator for a short while, then it was purchase by
the Alberta Wheat Pool.

The Ogilvie Elevator was built around 1907. One of
the early operators was Nick Brunsdale. It was
taken over by the Alberta Wheat Pool in 1929.

The following history of the Alberta Wheat Pool
was submitted to Mrs.T Beswick on October 26,
1962 by E. Patching, superintendent of Publicity
Department.

"In April, 1929, the Alberta Wheat Pool purchased
the Ogilvie elevator in Spring Coulee and for the
first time Pool members in the area were able to
deliver their grain to their own facilities. Prior to that,
they had to market their pooled grain through the
facilities of the other elevator organizations. Over the
intervening years Pool elevators at the point have
handled just over 2 1/2 million bushels of grain.

The Pool's first elevator, which had been built in 1925
with a capacity of 45,000 bushels, was destroyed by
fire on August 12, 1931. Rebuilding began right away
with Voss Brothers of Calgary the contractors. In 1940,
a 22,000 bushel annex was built and in 1956 a 41,000
permanent balloon annex was built, giving the Pool a
total capacity of 103,500 bushels.

G.O. Risvold was the first Alberta Wheat Pool agent in
Spring Coulee but remained there for only a little more
than a year before being moved to Connemara. W. H.
McCougherty followed him for a few months and he in
turn was succeeded by A.E. Hobbs, who remained for
about a year. H.B. Evans was next in line , he operated
the elevator from 1932-1936, when he transferred to
Coutts. W.H. Kabeary took charge of the elevator in
August 1937 and stayed until March 1945, when Ted
Johnson was made agent. He moved to Nanton 1952
and on July 15 that year the present agent Dean Nelson
took over.

The Alberta Wheat Pool is democratically controlled by
its members through the 70 delegates they elect. Over
the years three delegates have represented the Spring
Coulee area. J.A. Johansen of Woolford, was the first
delegate in 1923 and was followed by Chris Jensen,
of Magrath for four years. Mr. Johansen then served
for another 16 years before retiring in 1942 when he
was followed by present delegate, Lester Lee, also
of Woolford.

Directors from the southwestern section of the
province have been: Chris Jensen, from 1923-1945:
A.T. Baker, of' Nemiskan, and now General Manager
of the Alberta Wheat Pool, from 1945 to 1953; and
Nelson Malm of Vauxhall from 1953 to the present.

The price of wheat reached the lowest level ever
recorded in Western Canada on Friday December 16,
1932. The open or speculative marketing system,
which was then in effect, had become completely
demoralized in the face of world depression. On
the fateful day, the machinery of the open market
ceased to function to all practical intents and
purposes. The following are prices for the main
grades on that day at a shipping point with the
same freight differential as Spring Coulee.

Wheat--------cents/bus.
I Northern---19 1/2
2 Northern---17 1/2
3 Northern---16
4 Northern---I 3
No. 6--- I 1 1/2
Feed---8 1/2

Oats----- cents/bus
2 C.W.---7 1/2
3 C.W.---4 1/2
Ex I Feed---4 1/2
I Feed---3 1/2
2 Feed---2 1/2

Barley
3 C.W.---II
4 C.W.---8
5 C.W.---6

Flax
I C. W.---46
2 C.W.---42
3 C.W.---30

It has been more difficult to ascertain the high price
for wheat but it appears to have been reached in
September, 1920 when the price of Northern at
Fort William - Port Arthur rose to 1.85 5/8 per
bushel. I am not sure whether there was a rail
line at Spring Coulee at that time so I cannot
give you the actual price paid to the farmer in
the area. It would likely be 20 to 25 cents below
the Fort William price mentioned above.

Spring Coulee Elevator
Burns Complete Loss

The W. L. Thompson grain elevator here burned to the
ground last night, with a loss of about $10,000.00. The
fire, the cause of which is unknown, started about 2
o'clock this morning and before the flames could be
controlled, had practically destroyed the entire plant,
together with 10,000 bushels of wheat and 4,000
of oats in storage. The fire spread to a car on the
side-track near the elevator and burned it with
contents, wheat ready for shipment, to the car tracks.

It is expected that about 10% of the grain will be
saved, as the leak occurred on the windward side.

The insurance of the building amounts to about
$2,000.00, but there was no insurance on the grain.

The elevator was owned by Mrs. W. L. Thompson,
operated by H. Thompson and managed by C. H.
Kelley.

Believe Germans Burned The
Elevators At Spring Coulee

Three large elevators, a flour mill and several
hundreds of tons of hay have been burned in the
Magrath and Raymond districts in the past few weeks.
The latest conflagration, the burning of the
Thompson elevator at Spring Coulee has alarmed
the natives, and the suspicion that German
incendiaries are at work, is broadcast in the south.

In giving the account of the burning of this elevator
to the Herald, the informant stated that it was the
general opinion that the fire was started by the
careless throwing of match ends in the vicinity of
the building. A social was in progress the night of
the fire, and it is thought that some who had their
teams hitched to the building might have thrown
matches nearby while unhitching their horses at a
late hour.

The following is what the Magrath correspondent of
the Calgary paper has to say on the subject: "It is
hardly probable that the wheat would ignite
spontaneously at this time of the year, and under
careful watch, and the belief is growing that
German sympathizers may be doing the work.
Recently several large stacks of hay were set
afire in Raymond, just following the blaze in which
the large Ellison mill at Magrath was destroyed.

There had been a number of Germans in this section
for several months, especially one mysterious
character who worked at the Knight Sugar Factory.
Your correspondent can vouch for his complete
knowledge of Southern Alberta, together with charts,
maps and data concerning the topography of the
country from Saskatchewan to the mountains. This
information he always kept under lock and key.
He is known to have received much mail, many of
the letter bearing official seats, and to cap the
climax, he disappeared the morning war was declared."

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