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THE BUFFALO LAKE SETTLEMENTOur earliest settlers were real adventurers, some arriving to see what they could develop in this new land, and some came just to get away from their lives elsewhere.
For only a ten dollar fee, one could obtain title to 160 acres of untouched virgin land to farm, called a homestead.
Here are the details of some of our earliest pioneers, who arrived between 1880 and 1895.
Some also have short biographies, following, in their own sections of this exhibit.
In those biographies, some of the families may be grouped together if they were intertwined by marriage and the data works better that way.
The dates we give are sometimes suspect, as some dates in our records seem to conflict. We will try to be as precise as we are able to, but do not guarantee that the dates in all cases are completely correct.
We have history on over 929 people who came to our area prior to, or in the early days of Mirror, however in this exhibit, there is only room to speak about a few of them.
THE FIRST SETTLERS TO OUR AREA:
MATHEW COOK brought his family to the Buffalo Lake area in 1883.
Born in 1840, Mathew was most likely the first settler in the Buffalo Lake area. An Englishman, he arrived in Alberta in 1880, coming to the Buffalo Lake area in 1883.
Mathew was first employed by the CPR, and moved his family with him from Winnipeg as he helped build the railway across the southern prairies. One of his children, George Cook was born during this journey.
Once Mathew decided that our area was what he was looking for, he built a log cabin near the southwest corner of Buffalo Lake and supported his family by trading, hunting, trapping and freighting goods from Winnipeg to Edmonton with River Cart cavalcades.
He and his wife raised 4 children here, Kate, Billy, Owen and George.
Mathew and his boys were four of the people who helped plan and build St. Monica's church.
He and his family were truly real pioneers, preparing the way for the influx of settlers which came after them.
Mathew Cook died in January, 1912, and services were held for him in the little church he helped build.
JAMES GADSBY was the second settler in our area, arriving in 1885. He was a character, well liked and respected even though it was known that he had connections to the Jesse James Gang prior to arriving here.
BILLY MAGEE followed closely after James, homesteading just south of him. We have no further information on Mr. Magee.
JAMES (Jim) BRINDLE came to our area in 1888 or 1890, building a cabin about a half mile east of the Cooks on Buffalo Lake. He married Kate of the Cook family in 1897, which was the first marriage in the district. Jim then built a new home for his wife on the shore of the lake about a mile east of his old cabin. On April 2, 1901 they had a daughter, Annie, the first white baby born in the district.
Soon after Kate Cook married Jim, the Cook family moved to the land their new son in law had vacated. There they built a big house on the hill overlooking the lake, which still stands today.
EDWARD and WALTER PARLBY, the first ranchers to our area moved in between 1888 and 1890.
Also in 1890, VALENTINE NEIS arrived, filed on a quarter east of Spotted Lake, then returned to stay in 1891.
CHARLES WESTHEAD, and a partner, ROWE came around 1893 to ranch as well, as did JOHN WILCOX, RAYMOND KING and FRANK TAYLOR.
WILLIAM HUTCHINSON came with his wife and family in the early 1890's, settling by the little post of Lamerton, where he was land agent and looked after homestead settlement in this area.
Others who arrived somewhere in this same time period to either farm or ranch were Dr. McCULLOUGH, J.W. JOHNSTON, TOM TAIT, H.N. BELTZ, the HAWKINS BROTHERS, HENRY and A. HAWKINS.
R.S. CAIRNS bought land at the north end of Spotted Lake in 1894.
A. INSKIP (known as Skip) also arrived in 1894. He was born at Plymouth, England, September 26, 1872. When he was 18, he arrived in Cochrane, Alberta, where he served as an apprentice on the famous Bow River Horse Ranch. In 1894, he moved to the Buffalo Lake area and homesteaded the NE 20-40-20, near Lamerton, establishing the Inskip Cattle Ranch.
The next homesteaders to settle in the Lamerton district were MR AND MRS J.W, JOHNSTON. Most likely coming from the Maritimes, (Mrs. Johnston was a sister of Mrs. Robert Cairns, who came from Prince Edward Island), they settled the SE 20-40-22.
JOE EDMINSON bought the Buffalo Lake Trading Post at Lamerton around 1895, and homesteaded SW of 34-40-22, across the road and to the south of the trading post.
EDWIN GOATER also arrived in 1895, moving first to Lamerton, then settled at Spotted Lake.
Other early settlers were CHARLIE MOTT, JACK and BILL SCOTT, HENRY JARVIS and his son, MILTON, FRED SYKES, and ERNEST HUTCHINSON, who may have also been a land agent, and son to William Hutchinson.
W.D. GRAY first lived in Calgary, after arriving in the west with the army that had been sent to quell the 1885 Northwest Rebellion. Ten years later, in 1895, he became a rancher here in the Buffalo Lake area.
Others who must have also been here in the early days, as they are buried in St. Monica's graveyard, were ALEXANDER TATE, MATILDA COOK, wife of ALFRED COOK, TOM BRINDLE, and MARY MacKENZIE, wife of LOUIS GAGNON.
More who were also here, as they are mentioned as helping to build St. Monica's church in 1895, are WILLIAM and LOUIS KRAFT, GEORGE ELIOT, HUGH CROFT, T.W. TILER, J.W. WOOLCOMBE, BILLY MALINS, and OWEN and BILLY COOK.
Between 1895 and 1900, many more settlers, mostly ranchers and ranch hands, arrived to settle in our area. Many were sons of well-to-do families from the old country, supported by their families with living allowances.
When the Boar War broke out in 1899, a great number of these men joined the army and left the country.
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The Nebraska Wagon Train Heading to the Buffalo Lake area1890
Between Nebraska and the Buffalo Lake Area
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FOLLOWED BY OTHER PIONEER FAMILIESThe photo here is of the Nebraska wagon train which arrived here in the late 1800's. Many of the settlers in the Nebraska district arrived with this wagon train.
This 'rush' of settlers arriving at the turn of the century took over much of the rancher's open range land. Because so many, needing land, came in such a short time, many of the ranchers either moved on, or turned to mixed farming.
Another development that occurred once the influx of more settlers arrived, was that the old Buffalo Lake Settlement gradually merged into the various districts of the area, often named for one of the early settlers who lived there.
SOME SETTLERS ARRIVING AFTER 1895
HENRY NEIS SR. AND FAMILY - 1898
Henry was Valentine Neis' brother, and after hearing glowing reports about our area, uprooted his wife and unmarried children, bringing them here to homestead.
ERICK WESTLING AND HIS FAMILY - also arrived in 1898, from the USA, settling a bit further away, a few miles north of Clive.
THE RIPLEY FAMILY arrived around the turn of the century, taking up a homestead in what would come to be called the Ripley district, just SE of Mirror.
ED BARNETT came to Alberta in 1879 to join the police force in southern Alberta.
Three years later he moved to the area around Lacombe (40km W of Mirror), where he homesteaded for eighteen years. His home became a stopover along the Calgary/Edmonton trail, and when the railroad came through, a siding was put in and Mr. Barnett's homestead became the site of the town of Lacombe.
In 1900, after marrying Lacombe's first lady school teacher, Miss Green, they moved to our area to acquire more open ranch land.
GEORGE AND ARCHIE JAQUES were two of four brothers who came from England in 1899 or 1900 and settled in the Lamerton district. These brothers raised Suffolk Punch horses.
CLEM SIMPSON AND FAMILY arrived in 1902.
ANDREW THOMAS brought his sons, ADELBERT and CHARLIE to Lamerton on Nov 1902, with a load of lumber for their homestead house.
LOUIS MOTT, Nephew of Walter Parlby - 1903
Louis came from Devon, England and purchased the north half of a section close to Mirror, which he turned into a ranch.
His main occupation, was training polo ponies and playing polo. He was also the local 1900's version of a disc jockey, owning his own grammophone and a large collection of records. He would cart this equipment around by horse and buggy to concerts, parties and plays, entertaining the folks who always enjoyed his participation.
In 1907, he sold his ranch to follow his faith, and was ordained as a deacon in Calgary. He performed services in St. Monica's Church during 1907/08, until Alix's St. Pancras church was built.
Louis Mott never saw Mirror become a town, as he returned to Devon in 1909.
CHARLES BUELOW FAMILY - arrived 1904
OTHER NAMES
Listed in the score book of the Lamerton Gun Club, June 15, 1901 are names such as Trevenen, Gay, Magee, Cunningham, Hutchinson, Guron, Minnick, Wilkins, Taylor, King, Brindle, McCullough, A. Jaques, G. Jaques, Brealy, Arbuthnot, Wolferstan, Ferguson, Johnstone, Willett, O.Cook, G. Cook, and Hull. Some, we've already spoken about as their names are familiar in our historical records, but others are only mentioned here.
Other family names that were known were the Mathers, Thomas's, Rays, Sutleys, Jewells, Setters, Pilchers, Olsons, Williams, Phelps, Merkleys, Becks, Andersons, Roselles, Swansons, Woolcombes and Alexander Tate.
D.W. MACKENZIE took the last homestead in the Lamerton district, the SE 30-40-22, numbered 435706, just east of the Goater homestead. Mr. MacKenzie made his living by trapping, hunting and working at odd jobs for other settlers, and was said to be either a brother or cousin of Mrs. Mathew Cook.
I would like to add that along with many of the men named here who came to this land to settle, many equally brave, yet unnamed, women came with them. In those days, a woman's status came from her husband, so women were rarely named for their own efforts. However, without their dedication and support, the men of the west would not have been able to successfully tame our wild land as well.
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Lake Street1912
Mirror, Alberta
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TOWNSFOLK - MIRROR'S FIRST YEARS:TOM TAIT - was named on a 1893 surveyor's map as living on the shores of Buffalo Lake. He later had a store in the town of Content (East of Mirror). He moved to Mirror in it's first years, partnering with Mr. Tullock to run a livery stable.
Mr. Tait also operated one of the three horse-drawn school vans used to transport children to the Mirror school from surrounding districts.
He died very suddenly around 1919, or 1920, and was buried in the Mirror Cemetary.
WILLIAM GEORGE MERKLEY - 1903
William moved to Lamerton, where he and his family opened up a farm implement and harness shop.
He also managed the Lamerton Hotel for awhile, and filed and proved a homestead just south of Lamerton.
His land was among the lands purchased for the layout of Mirror, and he was given a town lot in Mirror as part of the sale of his land. William built a house on this lot, moving his family to town. He soon partnered with Mr. Thomas Sr. to open Mirror's first grocery store.
Once Mirror was completed, the land company who built it found they had purchased 'too much' land, and returned some pieces to their former owners. Mr. Merkley was one of the fortunate folk who regained their farmland and kept their town property.
THE ESTELL FAMILY also arrived in 1903. They opened a garage.
J. F. FLEWWELLING - 1911
Blacksmith, shop owner and one of the first councilmen of Mirror.
Morris Flewwelling, who is a decendant of J.F. Flewwelling, was elected the mayor of Red Deer, Alberta in 2004.
WILLIAM GEORGE BEAMISH - arrived 1912
Born in Ireland, William first immegrated to Ontario, then moved to Saskatchewan to homestead, moving again to Portal N. Dakota before settling in Mirror.
William built the first butcher shop in Mirror, beside the Imperial Hotel on Main street.
MR. & MRS. LUDLOW LEMONT CASSIDY
Ludlow and Jean Elizabeth (Waters) were Canadians from the East, who after trying out life in Massachusetts, USA, came west to settle in Mirror in it's early days.
Their daughter, Edith, went to Normal School in Camrose and taught school in the Mirror, Ripley, Clive, Sargent and Tees districts prior to 1920.
WILLIAM CORMACK and HIS SON, CARL
Operated a lumber business in Lamerton, later moving it to Mirror as it's first lumberyard.
ROY HOPKINS - Ran a livery barn in Mirror's first years. Mirror's first theatre and dance hall was in the loft of Roy's barn.
MORE MIRROR TIDBITS
Mirror served a fairly large rural area, the George and Lakebend districts to the north, Hickling and east Gadsby Lake districts to the west, and the Ripley district to the south. To the east was Buffalo Lake.
Other early stores and business owners:
The Williams brothers - store from Lamerton
The Thomases - store from Lamerton
Duitman and Johnson - hardware store
Mr. Spiece and son, Norman - took over the hardware store
C. Suggett - drug store
Mr. Devereaux - took over the drug store
J.F. Flewwelling - first blacksmith shop
Lew Clarke - blacksmith shop
Albert Jewell - blacksmith shop
L. Mott - butcher shop
D.M. Jewell - first restaurant
Mrs. Edge - rooming house
Mr. and Mrs. Stump - took over the rooming house
G.T. Cook - built the Imperial Hotel
Billy Cook - livery stable
F. Tulloch - livery stable
Andy Ray - took over Tulloch's stable
George Thomas - ran the post office
Coleman's ran one of the two pool halls
Mirror's first theatre and dance hall was the loft of Mr. Roy Hopkin's barn. Later a theatre was built by the Kadlicks after they left Lamerton. It burned down in 1917, and Doug Haddon's house presently sits on it's old foundation.
Another theatre, The Grand was built in 1919, by William McCormack.
a movie hall
a community centre
a town hall and firehall
Bank of Commerce - came from Lamerton
Bank of Toronto - first set up in a tent.
Royal Bank of Canada - came a little later
St. Monica's Anglican church
The United Church - came from Lamerton
The Catholic Church - opened later
Dr. Meyers - our first doctor
Dr. McLennan - the doctor who followed Meyers
Dr. Chown - our last doctor, who stayed 30yrs
C. Good - The Mirror Journal, our newspaper
And of course, The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, which had a station, large train yards, a six-bay roundhouse for steam engine repairs, and stockyards for cattle.
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The Flewelling Store and Baby Henry, first child born in Mirror1912
Mirror, Alberta
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The Flewwelling family in front of their store in Mirror.MR. J.F. FLEWWELLING came from Manitoba, arriving in Lamerton on June 30, 1911.
He walked to Mirror on July 1st to attend the town lot auction sale, purchasing two lots south of Tate's Feed and Livery.
He built a blacksmith shop by early fall, adding an office before winter. He and Mrs. Flewwelling lived there until 1912, and this office still exists today.
It was moved to Main street in 1920, and is presently part of our General store. The shop portion was torn down in 1920, and the materials used to build the garage behind this same General store.
Around 1916, a building from Tees was moved in and added to the blacksmith shop (before it was torn down). It was used as a woodworking shop. This building, after being moved twice elsewhere, ended up as the living quarters at the rear of the General store.
On May 23, 1912, William Henry, a son, was born to the Flewwellings. He was the first baby to be born in Mirror. He is the child in this photo.
In 1918, Mr. Flewwelling left the blacksmith business and by early 1920, he had established a hardware and furniture store in this building that is now our General store. He was also the undertaker, and ran that business out of the far left section of the buildings, where the bakery portion of our General store now sits.
The Flewwellings also ran an Esso station on Main Street.
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Fred Dowswell Family1915
Mirror, Alberta
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A portrait of The Fred Dowswell family, when they lived in Mirror, around 1915.The Dowswell's moved from Lamerton to Mirror, in it's first official year as a town, 1912.
Fred was a carpenter, and built one of the first frame cottages in Mirror. He also worked on the building of the Roundhouse for the GTP railway.
In 1915, during WWI, he served overseas, and on his return, he bought the NE 29-41 school land in the George district through the Soldier Settlement Board. He and his family farmed this land for many years.
In this photo are: Left to Right
Back row:
Daughter, Dorothy and Mrs. (Frances) Dowswell
Front row:
Blakely, son, Baby William on Fred Dowswell's lap, and daughter, Madeline.
The Dowswell's also had another son, Billy, who drowned at a young age, in a large slough behind the farm buildings.
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