John was born in LeGrande Oregon in 1893,
emigrated to Alberta with his parents in June
1898, homesteaded in the Leavitt Mountain
View area. As a young man he hunted coyotes
with hounds, ranging along the Milk River Ridge
south of Spring Coulee and occasionally staying
with the Marsden family. At Ross Lake Ranch,
he pounded nails in the loft of the barn to hang
his pelts on.

On a Sunday outing in Spring Coulee in 1931,
with his future wife Jennie May Beazer, they
viewed one of the first oil wells in the area.
Little did they realize that one day they would own
this property.

In 1937 he purchased section 15-4-23-4 from Smith
and Over, with Ernest Long purchasing the
adjacent west section. The MacKenzie family
consisting of three small children, moved to a farm
near Raley as Harold Anderson had one year
remaining on his lease. The family moved to Spring
Coulee farm in the fall of 1938 and Jack was surprised
to discover the barn from Ross Lake was now located
on his farmstead (and has been in continuous use until
destroyed by fire in 1993). Woody Anderson believes
that it was moved by Rock Brown, who worked for
Ross Ranches. The MacKenzie family moved to
Picture Butte every winter where Jack fed cattle
in a feedlot near the Sugar Factory. Cattle were driven
across the Blood Reserve from Mountain View and
Park Bend to Picture Butte with the help of Alfred
Blood and Jack Curliss.

One son attended first grade at Vernal School in
the fall of 1940. He vividly recalls a terrible dust
storm, and not being able to walk home against
the wind, crawling the half-mile home in the
barrow pit with another boy guiding. The boy
turned and with the wind at his back literally
flew home. The following year saw the
consolidation of the school district and closure
of the Vernal School, with school buses running
from Vernal and Raley areas to Spring Coulee.

Jack was a well known baseball player having
"backstopped" the Cardston Maple Leafs to
championship status. After W.W.11 as the
community returned to normal he was asked to
organize a Spring Coulee team. This likely got
underway in 1946 but was certainly organized
by 1947. Practices were held on two weekday
evenings with games being scheduled for Sunday
throughout the summer months. Spring Coulee
joined the Boundary League which consisted of
teams from Woolford, Taylorville, Jefferson, Rinard
and Del Bonita. On Sundays virtually the whole
community would turn out at the Park with the scene
taking on a festive atmosphere. A collection was
taken at the gate to defray expenses of balls and
broken bats. Jess Sherman was usually at that spot.
The women of the community would run the hot dog
stand. Those coming early would claim parking spots
along the foul lines in order to watch the game from
their cars. Ernie Long (score keeper) would be
presented with each team's line up. Two precious
pristine balls would be broken out, a number of
small boys would get ready behind the screen in order
to shag foul balls. Leo Chapman (umpire) would
shout "batter up", "play ball" and the game would
be under way, but only after everyone had finished
honking their horns. Over the course of three or four
years the Spring Coulee team became quite competitive
due in large part to the strong throwing of the two
Johnson brothers. The "best ball" was seen when the
Coulee met Del Bonita. An incomplete list of players
includes: Bill Fortner, Murray Chapman, Yoshi Kunimoto,
Dave Hofer, Roy Johnson, Don Johnson, Russel
Bishop, Dale Nish, Tom Beswick, Norman Bengry,
John MacKenzie, Don Ripley, Wayne Ripley,
Nobi Kunimoto, Ray Long, Ikey Bishop, Leonard
DeGinnus, Eddy Lane, Louis Armsworthy, Jimmy
Sandham and Frank Rothe.

During this period incomes were increasing rapidly
as was the presence and use of automobiles. So
even before the intrusion of television this form of
community activity was losing viability. The last year
for the Coulee team was 1956, this probably being
the last year for the Boundary league.

As Jack's children grew he put together several
sets of pack horse equipment consisting of: pack
saddles, cinches, pack boxes, saddle blankets,
halters, hobbles, stake ropes, tents, tent stove,
kitchen kit, horse shoe kit, sleeping bags, air
mattresses, bridles, saddles, axes, fishing
equipment, food, rubber raft, trolling motor etc.
Shoeing up to eight horses, preparing farm trucks
to haul them, and organizing this mountain of equipment
required considerable effort and stands as a testament
to Jack's energy.

For a number of summers after what was then a fairly
short haying season the family and friends would go
on pack horse trips mainly to Glacier Park. These
would sometimes last as long as two weeks.

After harvest this pack outfit would be pressed into
recreational duty once again to go to the Belly
River Lakes for fall fishing trips. Regular and
steadfast companions on these trips were: Ken
Long, Sid Creed, Tom Beswick, Herman Johnson
and others.

Jack and Jennie retired and moved to Lethbridge in
1963 and had many enjoyable camping trips in
their motor home, often inviting grand children
to accompany them. Jack died in 1978 and Jennie
remained in her own home till moving to Diamond
Willow Terrace in 1993.

Jack and Jennie had one son and two daughters.

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