My dad Lloyd Russell Holland was born January 15, 1894
at Brigham City, Utah. He died April 24, 1966 at Welling
Alberta.

My mother Alta Jane Ellison was born November 18,
1895 at Aetna, Alberta. She died January 14, 1979
at Cardston.

Dad's family moved from Utah to Cardston where he
grew up and met mother. They married and had five
children. We lived in Cardston and then moved to
Spring Coulee.

The four older children started our schooling in
Cardston at the Public School. I was 8 years old
when we moved to Spring Coulee and it must
have been in the summer when we were out of
school. I can remember us older children riding
on top of the furniture on the back of a truck.

Dad was hired to be a grain buyer at the R.S.
Thompson Elevator, where he worked for six years.

We moved into a three story Hotel and what
excitement as it was so big. The first floor had
a kitchen, pantry built under the stairway, a big
bed room and a dining room, a front hallway
going to the 2nd floor, with four bed rooms and
big hallway and a 2nd stair going to the 3rd floor
and 2 big rooms. The roof had a square top that
could be lifted off for roof repairs I guess and the
boys would lift it up so we could look out. It was
quite scary, it seemed so high and we could see
the top of the world. The front had a big porch which
we called a shanty, a trap door and stairs into a dirt
cellar, not too many cement basements in those days.

Our drinking water was piped from Munroe's flowing
well to a cistern at the back door of the Hotel.

There was an old barn 2 or 3 out buildings that went
with the hotel and it was all on the corner of Spring
Coulee's main street and close to the railroad station,
where the train came through twice a day from
Lethbridge to Cardston in the late afternoon or
evening and back to Lethbridge the next day.

When my family lived alone in the hotel we had a
play house on the 3rd floor. During the years we lived
in the hotel there were several other families lived
in the 2 upstairs rooms.

One family made sourkraut in a wooden barrell
and you could smell it all over the house. There
was oil drilling in the district and a young couple
Lelha and Al Springer from California lived in the
top story. Mother kept in touch with her for years
until mother passed away. After Lelha left Canada,
she would send us a big box of clothes every Xmas
and how we looked forward to those clothes to wear
or be made over. We would go to the Post Office
every night to see if it had arrived.

I can't remember how many years we lived in the
Hotel, then we moved over to the Kelley house. It
had 7 rooms and a small room that had been a bath
room. We had a barn and out houses where we raised
our chickens. Uncle Johnny Mather's brother loaned
us a milk cow and we had her for many years. She
always got lost for a day or so and later had her
calf and uncle John would come and take the calf
home. When we didn't have a milk cow Mrs. John
Thompson gave us milk and many a trip I made
walking to their place with a gallon syrup pail to
get the milk.

We lived in the Kelley house for a long time and we
all went to school. Our teachers were Mr. & Mrs. Pharis,
Miss Blackbourne and Norma Chrisie. There were two
schools and we called them the little one and the big
one. When we got finished in the Little School we
crossed the road to the Big School and got as much
High School as we could or could afford as we had
to pay a few dollars for departmental exams and that
was hard to come by.

There was a barn for the horses the country kids came
to school on. Some rode a good many miles, or came
in buggys or walked in all kinds of weather dressed
in layers of clothing and that was pretty scarce for
some.

One girl dressed like a man and always had a good
horse. Another girl had little clothing and froze her
legs till they blistered. I gave her my scarf and
helped wrap her legs to get home after she had
stayed at school all day and her legs were blisters,
boy what she must have gone through.

The twins and I would ride in a one horse buggy
or on an old horse, bare back. He didn't care
how many were on his back.

Mrs. Anderson always had a table full of good
food and always many mouths to feed. When
we were too young to go to the dances we
spent many hours dressing up in their older sister's
cloths and pretending we were grown up enough to
go to the dances.

When I was out to the Wood house, which was
often, they had good saddle horses and I loved to
ride the horse called Jimmy. Then the Wood's could
hook up a team of driving horses and we could go
to town in the Bennett Buggy.

We were always going to sneak out the bedroom
window and go to the dance at the Vernal School
house but never did get brave enough.

One of the Boettcher girls would go to her dad's (
Paul Boettcher) garage every night after school
and he gave her a penny if I was with her. I
got a penny too and we would go to Mrs. Jolliffe's
Penny Store and get some candy. Every week the
Boettchers got the funny papers to be read by
others than the family.

We were growing up during the hard years, we
didn't have much peer pressure then. If we had
hand me down clothes we were very grateful.
Mother was a great sewer, quilter and crocheted
a lot so could always make our clothes or make
over clothing for all of us.

I was 18 when I got my first bought coat and I was
really proud as it was quite an achievement.
Neighbors helped each other and that was the way
of life. I guess we all knew we were living in a
depression but didn't worry about it, but I'm sure
our parents had lots of worries raising their families.

All the neighborhood kids spent a lot of time in the
big coulee west of the town. We did a lot of sleigh
riding in the winter and just spent time in the
summertime. A creek ran through there too and lots
of buildings, two or three houses and corrals. There
was a big white two story house that was left with
a lot of furniture in it after William Thompson had
lived there and moved to California. The TX owned
all the land I suppose and buildings and corrals in
the coulee. The main road to Cardston went through
it. There was a big old car left sitting by the house.
In the back seat there were two little seats that
folded up or down for extra passengers. We played
in it many times pretending we were driving somewhere.
Nowaday it would be called trespassing, not then, no
one seemed to mind.

I started work at an early age of 9 years, baby sitting
the Bishop boys when their parents went to card
parties or dances. When I got older I babysat at the
Long's and helped with housework. I had two little
girls to look after and house work to do after school
and on weekends when their parents went to Lethbridge
for the day. The house was two miles west of Spring
Coulee so I walked many times into a strong west
wind or I would have it in my back pushing me.
Then I worked for Mrs. R. S. Thompson and learned
to do many things and Mrs. Jolliffe at her store. I
kept in touch with Mrs. Thompson until her passing
a year ago and received a letter from her just before
she died and I have such good thoughts of my
working years for different neighbors over the years.

We were still living in the Kelley house when
another brother and sister came to our family.
My sister and I were old enough to help look
after them as mother was a busy woman taking
care of a family, sewing for us and others to help
make a living for her family. She quilted for years
for her family and other ladies.

Mother cooked several falls for the R.S. Thompson's
big steam outfit. It was called the TX outfit and
that was their brand. She was alone on the cook
car other than when my sister and I went out after
school to help her. She had 25 men to cook for at
dinner time including the whole crew and grain haulers.
She cooked everything every day and every noon
meal. She had both pie and pudding besides the main
food of meat, vegetabeles and lots of bread. They
were half starved so it took a lot of food to fill
them up.

Jim Godlonton was the separator man, Bud McConnell
the steam engineer, Squint-eyed Pete was the water
man and Jeff Barnett the flunky. Jeff did everything
like hauling coal or wood or food and water as well
as men back and forth who had been either hired
or fired. He was mother's helper, bringing supplies
from Spring Coulee store and R. S. Thompson's
basement. He cut all the meat for the days eating
and many other chores.

The last thing at night Jeff would let the bed springs
down from the ceiling onto the table so we could go
to sleep and in the morning we would have to pull
them back up again before breakfast. Many a morning
Jeff would put me on old Flax, a TX horse or in a
grain tank to take me to school. Harvest was a lot
of work for everyone and everyone hoped for good
dry weather, as there were a lot of TX farms to move
to and thresh. There are so many good stories that
could be told of how we lived and survived the 30's.

We were all in the same boat, good friends and
neighbors and time to help, visit, and have good times.
Our dances were a big thing after they built the new
hall and everyone danced no matter what age and
everyone for miles around came to the Spring Coulee
dances.

It was around 1938 my folks moved to Lethbridge
and dad worked for the Ellison Mill about a year and
then moved to Welling and dad bought grain for the
Ellison elevator for 28 years.Three of the children
finished their school at Welling and grew up to go
on their way.

One son, Ellison, had been away from home for some
time and the second world war broke out, so he
came home and joined the R.C.A.F and trained
as a gunner and got his sergeant stripes. He went
overseas and saw active duty. His plane was shot
down Sept 18, 1942 over Dusseldorf Germany and
he later was reported dead, which was a great
sorrow for everyone.

After dad passed away in Welling, mother moved
to Cardston and bought her own home and was
near her sisters and family. Mother had good
health and was able to enjoy living in Cardston
and do some travelling. One trip, mother and her
sister Mattie went to Europe where they travelled
to Clive, Germany and to the cemetery where
Ellison was buried after he was killed in the second
World War. This was her great desire to be able to
go there. She remained in good health until her
sudden death in Cardston. She was 83 years old.

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