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ujiuiire.Medicine means more to an Indian than it does to us. We think it is one of those things like ep-som salts or castor oil that we are obliged to take when we are out of condition, and do take it on the advice of the doctor, or because some aged person tells us it will do us good. The Indian distinguishes as ““Bad Medicine fancies will . change his fortunes for better or worse. Say he is out hunting antelope and stubs his toe on a stone, or one foot goes down in a badger hole. Can he doubt that means luck to him, and shortly after he gets a shot and brings down a fine young buck? Not he; in this he is as reasonable as we are.Well, years ago a Blackfoofc chief, w?ho lived here on hunting and making war on the Crees between times, had a head-dress of feathers that he called his “Medicine Hat”, for when he wore it he had good fortune, if he also had good luck. One day he and his braves met the Crees all dressed up for war, near the sice of this town, and fell upon them will all their * energy, slaying and scalping. Just as the enemy was in flight a gust of wind came from the north, caught his beautiful hat and tossed it into the river. The old chief lost his confidence in himself and his braves. With victory in his grasp he took flight, He and his i braves left in a hurry and always I called the name of that battle } Medicine Hat. Do any of my readers ever wear a Medicine Hat?Alberta had been fortunate in attracting the active attention of a number of enterprising men in her early days. These men were not expecting that the government would keep them, or that they would get something for nothing. They were willing to work and think up ways of having something to carry them, and their families, through their declining years.XXXPIONEER IN IRRIGATIONSuch a man was the late William Roper Hull, of Calgary. I knew him well. He was born in the same year as I was. He, and others, have told me something of his life history which will be interesting to readers of the Herald, for it was Roper Hull who first demonstrated the feasibility of irrigation in this province. On his home ranch of five hundred acres, which was known as the Old Government Farm on Fish Creek near where this stream debouches into the Bow River southeast of Calgary, he proved irrigation to be a success when applied to the growing of barley, wheat oats, vegetables and flowers. He built a beautiful house at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars. He owned some of the largest farms in Alberta. The Lang-don farm comprised five thousand, three hundred acres, and was considered one of the model farms of the northwest. It was devoted entirely to agriculture. He owned the Pine Coulee ranch west of Nanton on the Macleod branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and also the Oxley ranch of six thousand acres, together with a big lease, on which were eight thousand head of cattle and two hundred saddle and work horses.William Roper Hull was bom in England in 1856. In company with his brother, J. R. Hull, he left Southampton, England, and went to Panama, crossed the isthmus, w'ent to San Francisco, then to Victoria, British Columbia, and from that point went up the Frasei River to Fort Yale, and thence by stage-coach to Kamloops, the entire trip covering about two months. Here he, and his brother, engaged in stock raising, both horses and cattle, in an extensive way, and in the latter part of 1883, they brought twelve hundred head of horses, via the Crow’s Nest Pass, to Calgary. Some of them they sold to the Royal North West Mounted Police, and the balance to the Northwest Cattle Company. On this trip Mr. Hull saw, and recognized, the future possibilities of the North West Territories.In 1886 he engaged in the meat business, opening fifteen branches of the business under the name of Hull Bros, and Company. In 1883, while in the meat business in Kamloops, they took a contract from the Canadian Pacific Railway Company to supply the construction department with beef in British Columbia. In 1886 they brought three thousand head of cattle, and five hundred horses to the North West Territories, sold off half oi them, and keeping the remainder, took ud a large ranch on whichthey commenced raising cattle and horses.X X XSELLS TO P. BURNS In 1896 the firm of Hull Bros, and Company was dissolved, his brother assuming the entire business in British Columbia, W. R. Hull retaining that in the Terri-On’ account of the rapidity with which the country was becoming settled, and the scarcity of water, Mr. Hull retired gradually from the cattle business. He sold the Pine Coulee ranch, west of Npn-ton on the Macleod branch of tTie Canadian Pacific Railway, also the j Oxley ranch consisting of six thousand acres, on which there were eight thousand head of cattle and two or three hundred head of horses. This place is south of Calgary on Willow Creek on the slope of the porcupine Hills. Having disposed of the larger part of his ranching business, and having capital and energy to spare, he derided on buying good property in the various towns and cities throughout Alberta.He had acquired valuable property in Victoria and elsewhere in British Columbia, Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge and Medicine ' Hat, as well as in many smaller towns. He built the first modern building in Calgary, the Grain Exchange. He also built the first opera house in Calgary, which was known as the Hull Opera House. In Lethbridge he constructed a building of two storeys, the ground floor for stores and the uDperstorey for offices and dwelling apartments. In Medicine Hat he built a three storey block on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Third Street, the ground floor and basement being leased to the T. Eaton fTeco) Stores, and the upper stories to offices and apartments.In 1833, in conjunction with Messrs. A. E. Cross and Cochrane, he organized the Calgary Brewing and Malting Company. Mr. Hull and Mr. Cross were intimately associated in business affairs of a different character for many years. They owned a great deal of valuable property in partnership. They were both interested in the Metals Company Limited, of which Mr. Hull was the president, also the Beaver Camp ranch of twenty-five hundred acres of agricultural land near Willow Creek on the slope of i the Porcupine Hills, and the Sheep Camp ranch north of Calgary.Mr. Hull had great faith in the future of this country, and as he spoke from experience, his opinion is valuable. He travelled extensively through the North west and believed this to be the best mixed farming country in Canada.XXX“DOWN AND OUT’*The man who wins in the fight for fame,Who wins in the war for gold, The welkin rings with his lauded nameWherever his deeds are told.Not mine to jeer when I hear him hailed;I’m proud of his heart so stout— But what of the follow who tried and failed,The fellow that’s “down and out?Shall nought be said for the manwho tried The goal of his hopes to gain? Who faced the battle with patient prideAnd fought though the fight was vain? # |Whose spirit in one weak moment quailed,Who fell at the last redoubt— Ah, many a hero heart has failed, So here’s to the down and out.”♦The man who wins, oh, honor him,well 1And give him the praise that’s jdue,But don’t forget the other who tell Ere ever his dreams came true; i Yes, honor the man whose will prevailed,Who baffled despair and doubt— But give one thought to the man who failed,The fellow that's “down anlt; cut.’*—Denis A. McCarthy,In New York Sun.XXXThere are others of the Old Timers to whom I would like call attention, some still living and i some have gone West. In my next chapter I will introduce some other names that are as deserving of be- i lng brought to the attention of our young people paricularly.To Be ContinuedGood Medicine” and j tories. J. R. Hull disposed of his ” anything that he; meat business to P. Burns andCompany, W. R. also selling out to the same firm.
Newspaper Details
Lethbridge Herald
Lethbridge, Alberta, CA
Tue, Aug 30, 1938
Page 7
Full Page
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Anonymous
USA 19 Mar 2020
Other Publications Near Lethbridge, Alberta
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