Mail Order Bride - Come To My Side

I married Edith Wishart in Dauphin, Manitoba July 18, 1933 in the midst of the great depression. We farmed at Makinak, Manitoba. We had a happy marriage, and raised one son and two daughters. Just when our family was all married, my wife took sick and died in June 1971. I was left alone on the farm; I was 64 and alone so I had to make a new start. No one could help me, I had to help myself. I felt there was another good woman out there somewhere, who would like a good husband. It was up to me to find her! We had taken the Western Producer for many years so I put and advertisement in the personal column and soon had twenty single women corresponding with me from the four western provinces and Ontario. Some sent pictures of themselves. I sent each one a picture of myself and corresponded with every one for a few months until some quit and some wanted to marry me right away.

Sweat Rejoicing And Tears

My Wife's father, Gus Westergreen, immigrated to Canada from Sweden in the early 1880's when he secured employment at one dollar a day with William Van Horn's crew, who were in the process of constructing the Canadian Pacific Railway across Western Canada. It was a laborious, man-killing job as they laid the rails across the prairie of the Northwest Territories at a fast pace until they met up with a Chinese crew from the west coast, who had blasted a path for the railway through the Rockies over the Roger's Pass to Craiggallechie, British Columbia.

Gus stuck with the job until the last spike was driven by Donald Smith at Craiggallechie on November 7, 1885 completing the railway that linked the east with the west, and thereby fulfilling Prime Minister John A. MacDonald's national dream; a railway from coast to coast! Donald Smith was better known later as Lord Strathcona, Federal Member of Parliament for Selkirk, Manitoba. Then, Gus Westergreen was appointed section foreman on a branch line at Whitewater, Manitoba where he lived in a converted box car that also served as the first railway station at Whitewater.

Remembering -- Peter Sellers

Recently I caught The Life and Death of Peter Sellers on the idiot-box, and it started my brain churning back overtime.  I loved watching the Pink Pather series as a youngster, either as a family rental, or with some luck a trip to the theatre with my mom.  


When I was older I marvelled in his performances in The Party and Dr. Strange Love. But his move that leaves me totally in awe is Being There. Based on a novel by Jerzy Kosinski, this is a total departure from Inspector Clouseau. Peter Sellers plays an illiterate gardener named Chauncey (Chance), who basically makes Forest Gump look brilliant. By a quirk of fate, Chance becomes an advisor to the wealthy.  I do need to read the novel, but it is a fine piece of cinema, that should be on everyone's must see list.




More Later....
G

Women Warriors

• Lozen of the Chiricahua
• Joan of Arc
• 花木蘭 — Hua Mulan
• Boudica

Just of a few of the random names of important women from various places and times in history.  Until recently I had not heard of Lozen.  I caught a series on Discovery Civilization on Women Warriors, and this specific episode was about Lozen of the Chiricahua (a member of the apache Nation) sister of Chief Victorio.  She was a warrior and medicine woman, and was part of the last apache stand with Geronimo. 

I will have to do some more research, but it was very interesting, and tragic since the Chiricahua were basically rounded up from New Mexico and shipped to a prison in Florida. 

More Later....
G.

Cry of Freedom... and Others....

Over past few weeks, I've been recalling some historical that I've watched

• Gandhi
• Cry of Freedom A story about Steve Biko and Donald Woods.

Both directed by Richard Attenborough.  I don't know why I've been thinking about them, just have.  I recall the first time I saw Gandhi in the theatre with my mom, there was an intermission because of the length of the film.  I don't know if they would even consider such a thing now, granted I don't recall many 3 hour movies either, each of the LoTR movies are om the ball park, but they didn't have an intermission.   Even more strange is why I was thinking about Cry of Freedom it is mostly about Donald Woods, a newspaper editor that had to flee South Africa durring apartheid.  It is in passing about Bantu Stephen Biko, a black activist that died in custody while in a South African prison.  At somepoint I want to read the Donald Woods book Biko -- Cry of Freedom.