1

The Red Flag Store
14 January 2007
Lanigan, Saskatchewan

Credits:
Marian Barclay
Lanigan and District Heritage Assoc.

2

August 1906, we drive out to the newly opened Red Flag Store, erected on a knoll east of the soon to be town of Lanigan. A young man whose family had arrived in the district three months earlier heard about the influx of settlers and the pending development of a new town. He saw the opportunity of becoming a businessman and he and his partner built a general store where they thought the town would be located. It was known as the Red Flag Store as they had a red flag flying from a tall pole on the roof of the store. The friendly homesteaders brought the supplies and mail as they traveled via the Carlton Trail. Horses later moved the store to a proper surveyed plot.

3

On the Homestead
Circa. 1907
R.M. of Usborne, Saskatchewan

Credits:
Ruth Wildeman
Lanigan and District Heritage Assoc.

4

The Log and Straw Barn
1900-1910
R.M. of Wolverine, Saskatchewan

Credits:
Dianne Bartel
Lanigan and District Heritage Assoc.

5

Many people arrived to the area by various modes of transportation and friendships were cultivated. To 'prove up' the homesteaders needed a shelter in which to live while they were clearing and breaking the land. The earliest homes were sod shacks, log houses and some were just dug into the side of a hill.

Later that fall, a hardware store and a drug store were built, lumber and supplies were hauled by team and wagon across the trails. The winter 1907 was long and cold with much snow. Business was slack as there was too much snow for the homesteaders to get through as the trail to Humboldt was blocked and there wasn't mail. As it snowed well into April, the six residents ran out of food. Two teams and five men, with sleighs and armed with shovels braved it to Father Sinnett's Parish and were given food. Sinnett was a Catholic Irish settlement approximately ten miles east of the Lanigan site. More than once the men dug out the floundered horses.

6

A Team of Two and Two
Circa. 1900
R.M. of Usborne, Saskatchewan

Credits:
Ida Blair
Lanigan and District Heritage Assoc.

7

Oxen ready to go to the field
1900-1910
R.M. of Wolverine, Saskatchewan

Credits:
Jean Kopperud
Lanigan and District Heritage Assoc.

8

In the Spring 1907, the town and district came alive. Teams and wagons hauled lumber from Humboldt, hammers and saws were heard from morning till nightfall. The rapid growth of Lanigan made some form of local government necessary. It was established as a village on August 21st, 1907 and Mr. Alf. Nurse was elected as overseer. Lanigan was proclaimed a town as of April 15, 1908. In One Year, 25 places of business had opened with 187 property owners in Lanigan and district.

9

Dairy Delivery
1900-1910
Lanigan, Saskatchewan

Credits:
Doreen Jantz
Lanigan and District Heritage Assoc.

10

Muddy Road
1910-1920
Lanigan, Saskatchewan

Credits:
Lanigan and District Heritage Assoc.