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Mrs. Walter McKay -'{Celebrates Her 80th Birthdayr|xt-*nkyDa Saturday, Mrs. \V*lter Mtlvijrcelebrated bet vth birthday at tinLomt* erf her daughter, Mrs e. Me* Leunaa. and entertained a tvw ot her old pioneer friends to tea. Rimmis ceases wer^ to order.Mrs. McKay was bora at Stratford, Ontario, May iS* 1S»S, and, a* JessieAnderson, brst came west with her sister. Mrs Jas. A. Kippau, land tog in the Silver Creek district May U. IkSl. Mrs. Flynn, then Maggie Ruth erford. travelled on the same trainas .Miss Anderson to the end of theline, ten miles west of Portage la Prairie. Here they were met by re!a lives and friends and the Journey was continued along the old Fort Felly TrailThe country tor the most part was wide open prairie, houses twenty miles apart or more, and stopping traces few Most of the settlers drought in their supplies by ox lt;art or w ag.QjOn They usually camped overnight , .as at the stopping houses meals were *50 cents and a shake-down on theKeahI.ed►r.Kdult;teJeiil1tfloor, 50At the time of Mrs. McKa) *a arrival in Sliver Creek, those already settled there were: P. Hyde, Juo.McIntosh, Big Jim Kippan, Jas. A. Kippan, D. Stewart, Geo. Donaldsonand D. Dunn. ItijMii* W ;:lu Russell there was a Hudson Bay!rSpost where Doig’s store now stauds.and Major Boulton’s family was liv*lug where the Creamery is now.Ail the settler’s houses were made of logs, some with board floors and some with mud floors (the latter a great saving on scrubbing); a few were shingled aud many were sod roofed Almost all the furniture was home made. The food consisted ofpotatoes, “rattle suake’* pork, beets, carrots, onions, cranberries, raspber-ies, aud golden syrup (sold by theHudson Bay in kegs which when emptied were used as chairs). Wheat was ground into flour at Asessippiand when, as often happened, he wheat was frozen, the Hour made tery sticky bread — even with thro# hours baking it was still doughy. But no matter, that was only one of many such difficulties to be courag iously met and lived through by our pioneers. \ ^' V:.';,.. v-#in 1S5, Jessie Anderson married Walter McKay, who had first come west to teach at the Sliver Creek School. They settled on a farm in the Silver Cree^ district and lived there until the fall of 15)07 when the larnily moved to Russell. Here Mrs McKay has lived the greater part the time since, though her family i* somewhat scattered. She has living seven childreu, twelve grandchildren, and four great grandchildren. Mrs.McKay enjoys good health and is still an active woman. Amongst the many callers to congratulate her onSaturday were her old pioneer friends, Mrs. A. McLennan, Minniska; Mrs Flynn, Siiverton; and Mrs. T Callin and Mr*. J. A McDonald, of town. J. •
Newspaper Details
Russell Banner
Russell, Manitoba, CA
Thu, May 18, 1939
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Nola K.
CA 15 Aug 2022
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