This issue's document is meant to be representative of an era and a way of life, now, for the most part, a thing of the past. It is one of many items of correspondence, available at the Provincial Archives of Alberta and other archival repositories throughout the Province, pertaining to the operations of a small, owner operated feed mill operation near Bittern Lake in east-central Alberta. This particular mill was operated by the Haselwood family and dated back to the turn of the century. The mill was designated by the Province as an Historic Site in 1993 (Boddington, 1993) A great deal can by gleaned by an examination of the lives of the individuals and the work involved in these owner-operated local mills of a bygone age. The Haselwood is but one example.
Alfred William Haselwood, his wife, his elderly father, Tom, and five children came to Wetaskiwin, Alberta from England in 1897. The following year they settled on land south-west of Bittern Lake. Having operated a flour mill for sixteen years in England, it naturally followed that Mr. Haselwood would continue this work on the prairies. Accordingly, in 1900, he and his sons built a grist mill. This venture proved quite successful, and by 1906 a log and frame structure was built which included both a flour and a feed mill powered with a wood-fuelled steam engine. The millstones and most of the equipment for the operation were shipped in from Ontario.
The flour operation, in particular, fulfilled an obvious need in the area. For example, the "Prospectus of the Strome Milling and Grain Company" in 1911, noted that:
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Alfred Haselwood soon added to his already established skills in the grinding of grain, blacksmithing and carpentry, by obtaining his third class engineer's certificate in 1908. The family also purchased a threshing machine to serve local farmers. In 1928, an electric light plant was installed in the mill, which had by that date been expanded to three stories.
The flour mill was destroyed by a fire in 1932 and was replaced by a seed cleaning plant. The steam engine, however survived unharmed. Ernest Haselwood designed the replacement plant largely by himself, as is evidenced by calculations and engineer's drawings which have survived in his numerous note books. The existing mill was actually built by Carl Carlson and Oscar Birkness.
A.W. Haselwood died in 1934 aged 76. His son, Ernest, continued grinding animal feed and cleaning seed in the new mill, the grinding of flour having been discontinued after the fire. A gasoline motor now ran the seed cleaner and the steam engine ran the mill. Another son, Alfred, took over management of the family farm.
From the very beginning, the Haselwood mill was a boon and a necessity to settlers in the area, it being the first of its kind east of Wetaskiwin. As early as 1902, The Wetaskiwin Times reported: "grain grinding at Haselwood's every week day." The local history pointed out that:
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According to the 1924 Census of Industry, Haselwood's processed 19,600 bushels of grain and, in 1927, 18,900 bushels were processed. After the new mill was built, "farmers continued to come from miles around to have their grain ground, cereal made, or grain cleaned." At the end of the Depression the mill was still grinding over 14,000 bushels of wheat, oats and barley. Until his retirement in the 1960s, Ernest Haselwood ran the business, "and even after it ceased to be a commercial enterprise, [the mill] . . . ground wheat for his daily porridge."
The entire family took an active part in community life. A.W. Haselwood, for example, was elected Chairman of the first Board of School Trustees of the Rosenroll Lake School District, eventually to become the South Bittern Lake School District No. 616. Mrs. Haselwood, according to a local publication, "always walked with her daughters to the Methodist Church services and was the organist and singing leader in various homes."
The family history displays examples of the necessary self-reliance common to the settlement period. A.W. Haselwood brought his skills to bear not only in the development of the family homestead but as a response to the needs of the community in the operation of the mill. This family tradition was continued in later generations. Mrs. Haselwood's involvement with the church and her husband's work as an early school trustee further underscore the family's importance to the community. The Haselwood endeavour, then, represents a good example of a small-scale privately-run enterprise of this type during the early settlement period of Alberta's history.
Questions For Discussion
Issues that could be discussed with regard to this example might include the role of wheat production in Alberta's early economy and how this might have changed over time, particularly with regard to the operations carried out at the local feed mills. Also the role small-scale owner-operated businesses such as the Haselwood Mill played in the local community, both economically and socially. How has this changed over time?
Activities For The Classroom
This may be a good opportunity for students to engage in the hands-on experience of grinding wheat into flour or course feed for cattle. It may also be an excellent opportunity to engage in research on a local level, particularly in a rural setting with regard to the importance to the community of the "wheat economy" today.
References
Primary Sources
A.W. Haselwood Correspondence, Acc. No. 71.65, Provincial Archives of Alberta.
The Bitter in Sweet, Acc. No. 971.233 B 548, Provincial Archives of Alberta.
Haselwood Family Fonds, Acc. Nos. M 491; M 1569; M 2064, Glenbow, Alberta Archives.
Haselwood Business Files, Acc. 76.65, File # 10, Provincial Archives of Alberta.
South Bittern Lake School District No. 616 Fonds, Acc. No. M 7109, Glenbow, Alberta Archives.
Unpublished Secondary Sources
Boddington, Steven. "An Historic and Architectural Evaluation of the Haselwood Feed Mill Near Bittern Lake Alberta". Alberta Historic Sites Service, 1993.
Books
Dommasch, Hans. Prairie Giants. Saskatoon: Western Producer Prairie Books, 1986.