A Home Away from Home

1872

Many people have immigrated to Canada to find a new and better life. This story is about some of the first ones to farm land in Canada, called pioneers.

Go stand outside your home and turn around in a circle. What do you see? Probably lots of people, cars and buildings. In 1872, when anyone in Canada stood outside and looked around they likely saw nothing but fields, trees, mountains, or lakes. It was possible that they did not see one other person for as far as they looked.

Canada was the land of the free. There were no slaves and very few laws. Canada was the place with rich farmland. It was where fruit and grains grew without any work.Canada had the healthiest climate in the world. It had homes for millions. Canada was a land of opportunity. It was a country where everyone could own land and become rich.Canada was heaven with water, wood, gold, and silver everywhere. At least that is what the government wanted people who lived in other countries to believe.

In 1870, the Hudson's Bay Company ( see 1881 ) sold its rights to trade on Rupert's Land. The Canadian government bought the rights to 1/3 of the entire country of Canada that year from the company. Suddenly the government had a lot of land that they wanted people to live on and protect from any Americans who wanted to take it.

The government started advertising for people from Europe and Eastern Canada to move to Western Canada. They gave any man over the age of 18, or any female head of the household, 160 acres of land for just $10 ( about $200 today ). The first people to travel across Canada and build a home where no other people had lived were called pioneers.

Pioneer life sounded like a dream. The advertising made it sound like all any pioneer had to do was get to a piece of land in western Canada and start making money.However, getting there was sometimes just as difficult as starting a new life without anything–no food, no homes, no clothing, no cooking fuel, no roads. Nothing at all.

Pioneers who travelled from the east often moved in wagons pulled by horses and covered with a heavy fabric to keep off the sun. The wagon carried all the things the family needed to eat and sleep–beds, dishes, food, water, guns, tools, etc. Pioneers ate food that they made outside on wood fires. Some brought chickens, pigs,and cows with them. The trip took many months and was dangerous.Some died of illness or accidents.Some were killed by wild animals.Many drowned in the water when crossing large rivers or died in bad storms.

ADVERTISEMENTS

Those pioneers that made it to the west had an even more difficult time once they arrived. The first pioneers soon knew that success in the new land was staying alive, not getting rich fast. Building a farm in Western Canada meant living alone, without supplies in cold winters, and long,hard work. However, it did not take many years for those who did work hard to get comfortable and start making money.

The pioneers who were the happiest with their new home were the ones who had been unhappy in their old country. Russia made a law that everyone living in that country had to have the same culture, language, and religion. Over 18,000 Mennonites went to Canada so they could practice their religion and culture freely. After the Second World War, 12,000 more Mennonites immigrated to Canada from Russia and Germany. A few years later, 20,000 more left Russia because they did not like the newest Russian government and because there was not enough food.

Mennonites helped to build Western Canada. Perhaps they were so successful as farmers because of their religious and cultural beliefs. They did not like technology so they did not use electricity or cars. Most used horses, not tractors with a motor. Almost all were farmers in their home country. The pioneer life was usual for Mennonites.

Soon, 21 villages had been started in Manitoba, which were just for Russian Mennonites, called the East Reserves. Some of these villages were far from the railway,stores, or post office. It could take all day to travel there by horse. None of them were near running water. The Mennonite's closest neighbours were the First Nations and wild animals.

Europeans who came to farm the land in Western Canada did not know the first thing about how to do it. They did not know about the dangers of the wild animals in the forests. They did not know what food to grow. They did not know how long and cold Canadian winters could be. They had no education about any of this and many of them died or gave up and went back to Europe.

The Mennonites, however, were used to farming in Russia where things were similar.They were used to open fields. They knew how to find water by digging in the ground They knew how to build small homes and how to heat them without using wood. They knew how to shelter their land from the wind by planting trees. They did not put a border around their farm, so they did not need to cut wood for this. They could stay alive during the winter.

Although the land on the East Reserves was dry the first year and then became too wet for the next three, the Mennonites stayed. The land had many rocks which they took out. After, they planted food and grains such as wheat. The Mennonites made the East Reserves into the best place to grow food in all of Manitoba.

Over time, Mennonites built homes, schools, roads, churches, and stores. They made villages that grew into towns. After many years, some began to move to the cities.There are still many Mennonites who live and farm on the land today. Mennonite food,honey, eggs, and milk are known because they are natural. Canadians love to visit their markets in the summer to buy their food that comes fresh from the farm that same day.