MARY'S GENEALOGY TREASURES
The first inhabitants of the Welling area were the Indians. An ancient
campsite just a few miles south on land now farmed by Reid Heggie
has yielded many ancient artifacts including arrowheads.
As modern times approached some fur traders probably visited the
area. Then the whiskey traders and other freighters using the Ft.
Benton - Whoop Up Trail travelled nearby. The trail went through
land now farmed by Bakers. In 1874 the North West Mounted Police
arrived to maintain law and order. Shortly thereafter the Dominion
Land Surveyors were here measuring and marking every mile in both
directions. Among those land surveyors was C. A. Magrath.
In the early 1880's the CPR was being built across Canada. Alexander
Galt recognized that a railroad would need coal to power the locomotives
so he sent his son Elliot to search for some. He found that there was
plenty at Coal Banks, (later Lethbridge.) A company called the Northwest
Coal and Navigation Co. was formed to transport coal to Medicine Hat for
CPR. They first tried shipping by barges down the Oldman River but that
was a failure. They then got a grant from Ottawa to build a railroad from
Lethbridge to Medicine Hat. The grant was 3840 acres of land for each
mile of railroad built. The railroad was constructed in 1885. During the
period of construction C. A. Magrath joined the Galt Co. and later
married Elliot Galt's sister Laura.
The railroad was successful so the Galts decided to build a railroad to
Great Falls to deliver coal. In 1889 the company name was changed to
the Alberta Railway and Coal Co. and received 3700 acres per mile for
the new railroad. As can be seen the Galts became the owners of large
tracts of land. We go into detail in this matter because much of the land
in the Welling area was part of the land granted to that company.
In 1888 the settlement at Cardston was established largely as a haven for
Mormon men who were living in polygamy. Their effective and energetic
colonization of this area was noticed by Mr. Magrath. He had
responsibility to make some recovery from the large land holdings of his
company. He realized that if irrigation could be added to the land it
would become more valuable as well as produce more business for the
railroad.
After a series of negotiations with Ora Card and the Mormon Church in
Salt Lake City, a contract was made for the construction of a canal from
Kimball to Stirling. The contract also required that two towns be
established with at least 300 persons in each town. Work started on
the canal in Sep. 1898. Magrath and Stirling were surveyed in 1899.
Water reached Stirling in 1900.
Some of the most intensive construction activity was southwest of
Welling. A long cut was required to divert the water from the Pothole
Coulee to the high ground near Welling. A prominent leader from
Lethbridge visited the construction site at the Hammond cut in Nov.
1899. He tells of riding along the east bank of Pothole (later Welling)
to the canal in the making. "It seemed thronged for a couple of miles,
with teams laboriously scraping this brown trench along the hillside.
We at once agreed that these newcomers from Utah might be wizards
with water but they could never make it run up that hill." (Irrigation
Builders page 78.) That canal was in constant use until the early 1950's.
Since then much has been levelled but the canal along the Pothole is
still there as a monument to the industry of our early pioneers.
The first settler in Welling was James Pearce, a horse rancher who as
early as 1885 took a squatters right on Sec 7, twp 6, rg 21. (near where
the present highway crosses the Pothole).
On Aug 11, the town of Raymond was founded by Jesse Knight and
others. For the next two years there was feverish activity and by 1903
a sugar factory was operating. Jesse Knight had purchased large tracts
of land around Raymond which were subsequently sold to settlers.
Some of the land in Welling was owned by Mr. Knight.
Jospeh C. Peterson, his wife Cecelia and family, bought the first land
at what is now Welling and moved to it about April 1901. He build a
house, did some fencing, ploughed some land and raised a small crop
of oats that year. His house was built on the nine-mile coulee and he
was known by his friends as nine-mile Peterson. Hyrum Ririe and
Christian D. Peterson were the next to settle, and by spring of 1902
they were joined by Christian's brothers, Niels and John. John's wife
Genevra and their family, Michael Schumers, his wife Mary and family
and his brother Louis. The Bullock brothers, Earnest K. Bullock Sr.
and Amasa Bullock Sr. also arrived that spring, accompanied by James
Straton and his son Roy. They drove their teams and wagons
from Provo, Utah. Their wives and families joined them in October of the
same year, coming by train on the Great Northern Railway to Great Falls,
then on the Alberta Railway and Irrigation (A.R.I.) to Stirling. Here they
were met by their husbands in covered wagons and taken to their new
homes. As cash was scarce, they welcomed the job of building fences
for the Knight Ranching Company. The fencing east of the highway
through this district is credited to the Bullocks.
A. M. Wilde and sons William and Vern and daughter Millie with her
husband and two small children, came in the spring of 1902. They
made their first home in Raymond in a "dug out" while they built a
house in Welling. The rest of the family came in the fall. In October
of 1903, they moved to their new home on the farm in Welling.
All of these pioneer farmers brought or bought the necessary
machinery and set to work. The sod was ploughed by 14 inch
walking ploughs pulled by four horses, then disced and harrowed
and seeded by hand. A man would sit in the back of a wagon
throwing and spreading grain, first with one hand and then the
other, while his neighbor or wife drove the team.. The yield was
good, wheat about 30 buchels to the acre and oats about 50
bushels. The rainfall in 1902 was 28 inches.
Horace Welling came sometime in 1902 and planted his first crop
in 1903. He built a fair-sized house just south of the railroad
tracts and he, along with Hyrum Ririe, the Peterson brothers and
Schumers brothers, bought the first threshing machine powered by
twelve horses going around in a circle.
James C. Thompson, his wife Alice Jane and twin sons, James
and Henry came to Canada from Moab, Utah in October 1903
and settled at Stirling until February 1904 when they came to
Welling. The community continued to grow. Joseph Elisha
Day, his wife Harriet and family from Draper, Utah came in 1904.
In the same year Heber Robert McBride, his wife Elizabeth and
their family arrived from Eden, Utah. Sometime before 1908,
Brenaman and Miriam Bitner and Chris and Annie Christensen
came.
John and Libbie Heninger and family came in 1908 and lived
by the elevator and station where Horace Welling had built.
They operated the first Post Office and owned the first
automobile. John started out to do things in a big way in
Welling, he almost made a village on his own. There were huge
barns, thousands of chickens and sheep. It was quite a site
riding by the train.
The newly formed Taylor Stake Presidency consisted of
President Heber S. Allen, formerly of Cardston, with Theodore
Brandley of Stirling as First and J. William Knight of Raymond
as Second Counselors. They felt the need of some Church
Organization for the people on farms 6 miles west of Raymond.
That was a long distance then with a horse and buggy, dirt
roads and no bridges over the coulees. It was almost
impossible for these scattered farmers to get to Raymond to
Sunday School and Church. The Presidency of the Stake
called a meeting and those living in the district were all notified.
Some were told as they came to Raymond for groceries, and
they notified others. Most of them were present in the home of
Abraham and Louise Wilde for the meeting. (The exact date is
unknown because the minutes were lost in a fire, but it was
sometime between October 1903 and February 1904. President
Allen welcomed all and told them the purpose of the meeting was
to organize a Branch of the Raymond Ward. After singing and
prayer, it was suggested they decide first on a name. According
to William Wilde, "Apostle John W. Taylor arose and suggested
the name of Welling, in honor of his good friend Job Welling of
Farmington, Utah. He is a splendid man, of excellent reputation,
and besides his son Horace has built one of the first fair-sized
homes in this community. His suggestion was put to vote and was
unanimously accepted. The other business of this memorable
meeting was the appointing of a leader of the new Welling Branch.
His name was Abraham Marsh Wilde.
On 22 Feb 1904, the Stake Sunday School Superintendent Lafayette
Holbrook came to Welling to organize a Sunday School. The
following officers were sustained: Superintendent Horace Welling
with assistants James C. Thomson and John C. Peterson also as
Secretary Treasurer. Teachers - Adult Class: Abraham M. Wilde:
Intermediate Class: Christian C. Peterson: Kindergarten and Primary:
Genevra Peterson.
Weekly services were held in President Abraham Wilde's home until
the fall of 1904 when the School House was built. The big one
roomed School House was used for everything: School, Church
Sunday School, Choir Practise, Wedding Receptions, Funerals,
Dances, and Home Dramatics.
The Welling Ward of the Taylor Stake was organized on 18 May
1908. The meeting was held in the Welling School House with
58 members present. Apostle George F. Richards: President
B. H. Roberts of the First Quorum of the Seventy: Heber S.
Allen, Stake President: George H. Budd, Stake Clerk: John T.
Smelie, Stake Counselor and John F. Anderson, Bishop of
of the Raymond Ward were all in attendance. John C. Peterson
was sustained as Bishop with Abraham M. Wilde and Hyrum Ririe
as Counselors and B. H, Bitner as Ward Clerk.
The Welling Ward Relief Society was organized 27 June 1908
with Stake Relief Society President Hannah Russell in
attendance. The meeting was held in the Welling School
House at 5 pm, prior to Sacrament Meeting. Louise Wilde
was selected as President with Genevra Peterson and
Harriet Day as Counselors and Ann Christensen as Secretary.
They were sustained later that day in Sacrament Meeting.
The Mutual Improvement Association was organized 3 Jan
1909. Chris Christensen was sustained as President of the
Young Mens Mutual Improvement Association with Niels
W. Peterson and James C. Thomson as Counselors and
Alma Bullock as Secretary. Annie Christensen was sustained
President of the Young Ladies Mutual Improvement
Association with Amber Peterson and Effie Day as Counselors
and Geneva Day as Secretary.
In Louise Wilde's diary dated Saturday 20 June 1916 it says the
Relief Society sold refreshments at the afternoon sports to raise
funds to help furnish the new Relief Society Building. This new
building was the former Tithing Granary. It was built by Bishop
Peterson's home to hold the tithing produce that was paid in
kind. The building was moved to the school grounds and made
into a very comfortable room complete with curtains, an organ, and
each sister gave a chair. It was also used as a classroom for
Sunday School and later a School Room and also a Scout Hall.
In 1935 it was sold to John Wolsey Senior who moved it and
built on it and made it into a nice home. As present the home
is still lived in.
The School House was built in the fall of 1904. The big one-
roomed School House was used for everything. A big round
coal stove stood in the northeast corner, a large cupboard
to accommodate lunch pails stood in the southeast corner,
a big glassed in cabinet held library books, beside it stood
the piano, on the north of the west wall was a map of the
world.
In March 1929 ground was broken and construction began.
Within one year it was being used for church meetings. The
basement was used for dances, parties and class work. It
took anoher 6 years before it was ready for dedication. On
20 Aug 1936 Melvin J. Ballard of the Council of the Twelve
dedicated the building. Antoine R. Irvins, one of the First
Seven Presidents of the Seventy was also present. Taken
from records in Salt Lake City "Dedicatory Service Thursday
Evening 20 Aug 1936, at 7:30 pm held in new Ward Chapel.
Opening prayer by John C. Peterson of Aetna Ward. He was
the first bishop of Welling Ward. Financial report given by
Bishop Sterling Floyd Wilde: 'Building Cost', $12,638 -
Equipment $2,138 improvements on grounds, $176, making
a total $14,952, and we are free from debt. The Welling
people had raised $7,476, and the Trustee in Trust of Church
in Salt Lake City gave the same amount." Brother Ballard
in his dedicatory prayer blessed all who would stand behind
this pulpit to speak that their tongues would be loosened and
other wonderful promises were made to the people if they
would live their religion.
Later the building had some major renovations and additions.
In 1951-52 the Cultural Hall was built and the entrance to the
building was changed. The chapel was redone with the podium
changed from the west end to the east end. The basement
was made into clasrooms and a Junior Sunday School room
was built over the old furnace room. There were more
renovations done in 1958-59 and the building was rededicated
by Elder Bruce R. McConkie.
In the spring of 1985 the building was demolished and the
construction began on the new building. The Welling Ward
members travelled to Magrath for Sunday meetings for the year
until the new building was completed in the spring of 1986.
The new building was delicated on 13 Mar 1988 by Stake
President W. Tyler Alston.
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