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Tag: Alberta

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“Lest We Forget” January 20, 1913

Although in this entry, Clem did not put a “$” sign on the “windfall”, he did underscore the “30” which is how he usually wrote dollar amounts. The underscore won’t copy over to this post, but trust me….it’s there! And I can easily see how he meant to say he had $5.30 left for the…
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This post gets us up to date in “Lest We Forget”

Wooops! Missed the 17th because of the mix-up in the pages where Clem wrote his daily entry on the wrong page and…. Oh, never mind, it’s too hard to explian here… Here’s the entry for the 17th: Cullerne bill the outfit out and there was no trains west, so we stayed in car all day.…
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Lest We Forget January 18, 1913

Sometimes I try to imagine what my grandfather would think if he could see this blog…100 years after he wrote the words and took the pictures! What a world!!! “Lest We Forget” On Sunday, January 19, 1913, Clem and his co-workers decided to “sleep in”. He didn’t get up until 8 o’clock!! Half the day…
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“Lest We Forget” January 16, 1913…Clem gets the days mixed up!

Here’s today’s entry: We did a little better today. Weather was a little warmer about 10⁰ below. Steve and I walked to Carval (?) left Stony Plain at 1 oclock and got back at 3.25 PM. 17 miles. Cullerne went to Edmonton in the afternoon. I wrote to Jim Fisher. [Note: At this point in…
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January 15, 1913 aboard the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway….

….or what would become the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway! Clem mentions “the car” which is, of course, the railcar where they lived throughout the construction project.  No mention of the temperature today, but it did snow.  So much for today’s weather report! Here’s today’s entry in “Lest We Forget”: Steve and I in the car…
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Much warmer on January 13, 1913 near Spruce Grove, Alberta in “Lest We Forget”

Weather much warmer about 20⁰.  We did nothing but clean up the car in the morning.  Steve and I walked to Spruce Grove on rail drainage.  Walked both ways eight miles.  After we started it started to snow and it lasted it till we got back at 4.30 and the car was very cold. [From…
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It got a little colder??? “Lest We Forget” January 12, 1913

      Here’s a another few shots from my grandfather’s photo album.  It looks as though the bear might have been a camp mascot!  I’ve got a few others that I’ll post with the next few blogs…           Northwest Canada in 1913…even today…January weather can be counted on for cold! …
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“lest we forget” that it was 35 below zero on January 10 1913!!!

When he describes the weather that day, he states that it was “35 below”. Now that’s cold! But keep in mind that he’s talking about 35 degrees Celsius, not that 35 degrees Celsius is tropical….That’s still pretty cold! At any rate, here’s the entry for January 10, 1913 in Saskatchewan. I know it’s Saskatchewan because…
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“Lest We Forget” diary entry for Thursday, January 9, 1913

Stuck in a rail car for days at a time with no hi-speed internet connection, no cell phones, no “Words With Friends” and certainly, no cable TV!! The cold snap continues! Here’s what Clem had to say about Thursday, Januaary 9, 1913…one hundred years ago today: Stayed in the 7 spot all day keeping on…
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Clem Dickson Diary “Lest We Forget” Wednesday, January 8, 1913

Keep in mind that when my grandfather, Clem Dickson, wrote this diary 100 years ago, he was working on the construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad in northwest Canada, a bitterly cold and primal wilderness .  He worked with the team that was responsible for construction westward from Winnipeg, Manitoba toward the team that began in Prince Rupert, British Columbia and…
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