| Description |
: |
Robert and Jennie were married December 4, 1906 at Westhope, North Dakota, USA.
To mark the 100th anniversary of the original survey of the area, the County of Grande Prairie has commissioned a series of articles focusing on the original pioneers of the region whose families still own or live on the original homesteads. Today we present a feature on Robert Cochrane.
Robert Cochrane was born on April 6 1880, in Hensall, Ont. The Cochranes were of Scottish descent and ran a family farm in Huron County. As a teenager, Robert attended Albert College in Belleville, Ont. His adventurous side...
Read More
|
Robert and Jennie were married December 4, 1906 at Westhope, North Dakota, USA.
To mark the 100th anniversary of the original survey of the area, the County of Grande Prairie has commissioned a series of articles focusing on the original pioneers of the region whose families still own or live on the original homesteads. Today we present a feature on Robert Cochrane.
Robert Cochrane was born on April 6 1880, in Hensall, Ont. The Cochranes were of Scottish descent and ran a family farm in Huron County. As a teenager, Robert attended Albert College in Belleville, Ont. His adventurous side was revealed, however, when he decided to venture west on a harvest excursion to North Dakota. It was there that the young man first heard of the "land in Northern Alberta called Grande Prairie where the rivers ran clear with trout and he longed to see the place."
While in North Dakota, Robert gradually switched from farm work to carpentry. He made a dollar per day building in the new towns that were developing as the railway expanded west through North Dakota and Manitoba. He met Jennie Agar, a native of Ontario, who was living in Westhorpe, North Dakota and they were married in 1906. The couple settled in Winnipeg, a growing city that provided much work for Robert and his carpentry skills.
For the next few years many Klondikers, farmers and the adventurous spread rumours of the fertile Peace River Country. In 1910, Winnipeg's economy threatened to slow down and Robert and Jennie decided that his was the perfect opportunity to head west.
That summer they set out with another couple, Mr. and Mrs. James Moore and their son. The group was using a map that showed an automobile road from Edson to the Peace Country. This was terribly inaccurate because upon their departure, the difficult and uneven Edson Trail had yet to open, let alone a road suitable for motor vehicles!
After shipping their belongings to Edmonton for $20, the Cochrane-Moore outfit set out for the West. They arrived in Edmonton in June to discover their trip was to be made over the treacherous Klondike Trail, a far cry from an automobile road.
The group left Edmonton at the end of June with two teams of horses and two buggies. They had barely left Edmonton when they already ran into trouble - and this was the "good" section of the trail. Robert and James decided they better return to Edmonton and purchase a pair of democrats that were sturdier and would hold up better on the trail. They covered the democrats in canvas to offer more protection for their wives and supplies.
Their journey took them through Holmes Crossing, Klondike and then to Swan Hills. They rounded Lesser Slave Lake on the south shore to Grouard and then continued to Peace River Crossing. Finally, they entered the district from the north via Dunvegan and Spirit River. The trip was very slow-going on the rough trail and they arrived three weeks after leaving Edmonton, two weeks later then they had planned.
SETTLED NEAR KLESKUN
The Cochranes and the Moores spent several weeks surveying the country near Bear Creek and Clairmont Lake. Finally, they decided on a parcel of land near Kleskun Hills.
It was now the end of September and after choosing their ideal location, the Cochranes wasted no time. Robert and Jennie agreed to ride saddle horses back to the nearest Land Office at Grouard and file applications for both themselves and the Moores. They were able to travel through Sturgeon Lake on an old native trail that was too small for wagons. This made the journey much quicker. James and his wife would follow with a team in the slow democrat to meet the Cochranes in Edmonton, where they could stock up for the coming year.
Prior to their departure from Winnipeg, Robert and Jennie had both purchased South African scrip. Following the Boer War of 1899-1902, Canadian veterans who served Great Britain were eligible for South African Scrip. Under the Volunteer Bounty Act of 1908, South African Scrip entitled the holder to two adjoining quarter sections of available land.
Most of these veterans had no interest in settling the vast, untouched lands of the west. They usually sold their scrip to prospective settlers for a cheaper price than the cost of the land itself.
On Oct. 7, 1910, Jennie filed for the south half of section 13, township 72, range 5, west of the sixth meridian using her scrip. Robert used his to purchase the north half of the same section. Only in the Peace Country could one couple purchase such a large parcel of land.
By February 1911, the Moores and Cochranes had acquired their supplies and set out once again for the north along with Jennie's brother, Stanley, the Robert Moores family, the Dr. Andrew Bradford family, Jack Shortreed, and Joe McLaughlin. The Cochranes had four teams of oxen and a horse as well as furniture that included a piano and a large buffet with mirrors! They also brought plenty of hay and some Banner seed oats.
In order to bring all of their possessions over the trail in one trip, Mrs. Cochrane had to drive a team herself. Oftentimes, on the steep hills, they had to "double-up" their teams (hook both teams up to one load) due to the excessive weight of the sleighs. The convoy of travellers did not stay together long. Most stopping places could not accommodate such a large group so they split up. The Cochranes continued to travel with Agar, Shortreed and McLaughlin.
When the Cochranes reached their land at Kleskun Hill, snow remained on the ground so Robert spent the next weeks fetching spruce and poplar logs to build a cabin. In the meantime, the Cochranes lived in their caboose which they parked in the shelter of a bluff. They also hacked a trail through the bush to Arthur Gunn's place at Clairmont Lake where Robert hoped to purchase feed for the livestock. There was little feed to be spared but Arthur sold Robert what he could for $40 a ton.
Thanks to his skilled carpentry work, their log cabin was completed in the early spring of 1911. Unfortunately, that summer, the cabin was completely destroyed by a fire. Without a railway, they could not obtain additional supplies from Edmonton. The Cochranes were worried that they would be forced to abandon their homestead.
Thankfully, the neighbours all pitched in the materials they could spare and with the help of his fellow pioneers, Robert completed construction on a frame house before winter. This house often served as a stopping place for travellers who came over the Edson Trail.
In the spring of 1911, with 20 acres broken, Robert began to sell his high-grade Banner oats for $1 per bushel. To increase production, he broke an additional 80 acres and constructed a wooden frame harrow with the iron he had brought in the previous year. He also took the time to lend his carpentry skill to Reverend Alexander Forbes for the building of McQueen's Presbyterian Church on Bear Creek.
In 1912, Robert successfully added timothy seed to his repertoire when frost took his Banner oat seed. That spring, he also made a trip to Edmonton for supplies. He purchased two teams of oxen from a Russian settlement. However, when he arrived in the city to buy supplies, he realized that he had lost his list! Robert was able to remember most of the items except for some very important supplies for Jennie.
FAMILY STARTED
She had written down the necessary "stork requirements" on the list as she was pregnant but, unfortunately for her, she lived in a time where men were generally clueless about childbirth and rearing: Robert had no idea what to buy!
He asked the woman at the Hudson's Bay Company for assistance but all she sent him home with was some safety pins, flannelette and some material. Luckily, Jennie's family in Saskatchewan was able to send her the remaining items before the birth of their daughter, Jean in August 1912.
By the summer of 1912 the community around Kleskun Lake began to grow. The area that had once been occupied mainly by bachelors was now home to many families, including expectant mother, Jennie. As a result, community members J. H. Harris, A. O. Sproule and W. J. Kellett organized the Kleskun Lake School District No. 2743. This district was one of the first on the Grande Prairie.
Although he was no longer a carpenter by trade, Robert was contracted to build the school for $325. This important building became not only a school, but a community centre that housed dances, meetings, concerts and even church services.
The Cochranes made good use of the school as their family began to grow. Jean was born Aug. 14, 1912 followed by daughter, Ruth and son, James. They continued to live in the frame house for the next 21 years, hauling water in from a spring. The kids attended school at Kleskun Lake and took piano lessons in Grande Prairie. They practised on the piano that came in over the trail in 1911.
Around 1931, the Cochranes punched a well on their property and decided to build a permanent house near the well. This red brick house still stands on the Cochrane farm today.
TIMOTHY KING
Robert continued to farm for the next few decades. He found great success in his growing operations and became a world-renowned farmer. In both 1928 and 1932 he was crowned "Timothy King of the Empire" as well as winning "World Wheat King" title in 1955.
Robert was very active in the local farming community, founding Peace River Seed Co-operative. He also served as director of the Alberta Seed Growers Association in 1933. During the Depression these groups, under the direction of Robert, were responsible for the sale of seed to desperate farmers across the country.
In 1934, the co-operative began trading one bushel of seed grain for two bushels of feed grain with other Canadian farmers who were unable to produce seed from their crops.
Cochrane was recognized once again in 1936 when "he received an order for 60,000 pounds of Boon Timothy seed from a well known seed house in Toronto."
In addition to his large contribution to the agricultural industry of the region, Robert took a great interest in geology. His grandson, Bob, remembers his Granddad taking him to the Bad Heart River, among others, to search for fossils. "I remember the backbreaking work of packing these fossils out of the riverbeds. But looking back at it, it was lots of fun!"
Robert's fossil collection, which he kept in a museum near Kleskun Hill, drew international attention. Representing the Department of Geology at the University of Alberta, Dr. J. A. Allen confirmed that some of Robert's fossils were over 300 million years old. Even paleontologist,
Charles Sternberg, of the National Museum in Ottawa, made a trip to Kleskun Hill to see Robert's collection in 1948.
Today, Robert's fossils can be seen at the Grande Prairie Museum, the Provincial Museum of Alberta and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D. C. In 1946, Robert, along with Dr. Lewis O'Brien, campaigned to have the Kleskun Hills designated as a public park. Kleskun Hills Geological Park became home to annual geological picnics and to "Dinosaur Hill" which was identified by a plaque in July 1946.
Along with his interest in geology came Robert's passion for nature and conservation. On his large farm, he left an entire quarter section of virgin, untouched prairie in its natural state. Bob, who now owns the Cochrane farm, remains dedicated to preserving the natural state of this piece of land. In addition, the Cochranes donated the land to the Nature Conservatory of Canada. It is kept up by Bob's buffalo that graze on the native soil.
Robert also continued to work with wood throughout the years. He enjoyed carving figurines out of juniper and crafting violins. He even made a violin for world-famous violinist, Betty-Jean Hagan.
Jennie Cochrane died in 1961 at 77 years old. In 1965, Robert's son James passed away at the age of 48 after farming for years on the Cochrane homestead. Six months later, Robert died. He was 85.
His daughter Ruth now resides in Ontario and still misses the Peace Country where her nephew, Bob still lives in the old brick house.
He remembers having a fire after dinnertime as a boy where he would drink tea and get to eat chocolate. His grandmother, Jennie was a kind, gentle woman and his granddad always had his hands busy.
Also a naturalist, Bob attributes his love of the outdoors to his dad, James and granddad. He began farming at age 16 and has been doing so ever since: "It's been a wonderful life, the freedom that the farm gives you - not having to punch a time clock. You've got to work hard and play hard."
Article prepared by Jillian Wright, Economic Development, Summer Student. County of Grande Prairie No. 1.
|
