Extracted from "Between Long Lake and Last Mountain, 1982, Friesen Printers pgs 583-585"
"Geoffrey and Etta were born, raised and married in Peterborough. In 1912 they came to Saskatchewan on a colonist train, the coaches having slatted wooden seats and stoves in the end to do a little cooking or make tea, arriving in Regina in time to see the cyclone damage. After farming in several centres the Harvey family moved to the Dr. J.A. Baughman farm in 1928, which consisted of 1,120 acres or one and three quarter sections near Last Mountain Lake, 14 miles north west of Strasbourg or 11 miles west of Duval.
"In 1928 all land work was done with horses and big barns were needed to house them and their feed. Drills, plows binders and threshing machines were used. The two big barns on the Baughman farm were eventually destroyed by a cyclone and now (1981) no one lives there and all buildings have been cleared away.
The Harveys found a lively, thriving district after the big 1928 crop. The farms were small in comparison with those of today but each had a family which made a progressive Lakeside School District no 2336 which, when it was first formed, was called Lakeside no. 2336 of the North West Territories, SK. according to a seal in an old history book, copyright of 1901 from the school library. In the early days it was also called Mayview. This site has been entirely cleaned off.
The district abound with good neighbours, the Mays Sonstelies, Swallows, Voldens, Mortensons, Smiths, Olsons, Bursts, Campbells, Haugs, Winnicks, MacNaughtons and Mutchs. Dr. Baughman had died in 1918 and Mrs. Volden in 1917 and were the first to be buried in Duval Cemetery.
A rink was built in the school yard and many good games were played with outside teams. Impromptu concerts were held in the winter in the school while good old-fashioned enjoyable picnics were held in the summer. Among the teachers over the years were E.D. Mills, Scott, Struthers, Pinkney, Hinchliffe, Erhardt and Paul. Church was held in the school, the minister being a United Church Clergyman, Rev. Heaney from Duval, a most dedicated Christian man who drove out the 11 mile in winter with a team of horses and in summer with an old Model T. A ladies Aid was also formed and the district ladies, no matter what their religion, turned out on meeting day for a cup of tea.
By 1932 all was not well for the country because of the financial crash in which many lost all they had and what the farmer had to sell became almost worthless giving rise to the Depression. It took nearly all a steer brought to pay the freight. A store bill from Essery's where the family dealt, dated July 1932 showed eggs to be seven cents a dozen. Mr. Essery gave Mrs. Harvey a box of chocolates for the family, every Christmas for years.
As well a severe drought had set in giving rise to dreadful blinding dust storms and this condition lasted through most of the "Dirty 30's". Neither gardens or crops sprouted and Russian Thistle, cut green was sometimes moved for feed. A relief project to build No. 20 highway between Duval and Strasbourg was started and one member of a family was paid along with his horses. This was in 1931 and it was built with horses and suitable machinery. People in the district started to abandon farms and move north where feed could be grown.
The "Dirty 30's brought a change from horse to tractor farming -- from plows to one ways - from binders to combines: Marquis wheat, so prone to rust was replaced by Thatcher. The uncertainty of wheat prices caused by the Grain Exchange was replaced by the Canadian Wheat Board which stabilized the price with quotas so each farmer had an equal chance at the market in the fall. Electricity spread all through the country giving farmers city conveniences such as televisions, automatic oil and propane furnaces and pumping water. High build up roads replaced the ruts and pot holes of earlier times and cars could run all winter.
Mr and Mrs. Harvey retired to Strasbourg in 1948 and now rest in Strasbourg Crescent Road Cemetery."
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