Hardships Endured

Redbush  wishes to share a part of her heritage with you.  She is the youngest of a large family.  Her father helped his father who was a gardener for a baron's palace in Russia.  At a young age of 17, he escaped from Russia before the revolution in 1917.   Redbush knows that it sounds like she's a dinosaur, but, she really isn't thaaaaat old.  Her father was nearly 17 years older than her mother who was married at the age of 15.  Her father had heard about the golden opportunities in Canada, so, leaving his family of 10 behind never to see most of his family again.  He and a few friends left to make their fortune in the land of milk and honey.  

Crossing over overseas on a ship, he contacted smallpox.  Overcoming this serious disease, he landed in Eastern Canada where a gang of industrialists forced him and other immigrants to work in a forest up  north.  Here, his designated job was to set up dynamite under rocks.  They had to grease their faces with motor grease to keep  thick  hordes of black flies from attacking their faces.  Exhausted they would then try to sleep in quarters infested with lice and cockroaches.  Redbush's father would have to take his clothes regularly to the river, build a fire, and boil them to try to kill the nasty insects.  One night after realizing that these conditions were much worse than where he came from, the boys ran away one night, catching a train to central Canada.  Her father soon found work on the railroad.   After this, he hauled groceries to camps in western Canada with his sleigh piled high with flour, salt pork, and other camp needs crossing major rivers with his hard-working mules.  He continued this job until on one of his last trips, his load broke through the ice losing everything except the mules, sleigh and himself.  Having no more nerve for this job, he then walked 500 miles, stopping at trappers cabins and camps along the way for food and rest.  He headed for the big city where he bought some machinery, horses, and two sleighs.  He worked   He and companions that he knew then filed homesteads quite close together.  They made several grueling 300 mile trips one-way back to the big city that winter hauling machinery, groceries, and even a case of whiskey.  The three of them lived in a companions small shack until he started selling their groceries to the Indians.  

Redbush's father and a friend filed homesteads close together.  He then walked back to the big city with his friend to buy a Percheron mare and a draywagon to haul all their needs back.  They forded creeks until they came to a large river where an Indian helped them cross.  The horse was too afraid to cross, so they coaxed her into the canoe with some oats.  (Remember, a Percheron is a huge work horse.)  She stood so quietly that it surprised them at how well she behaved  while the old Indian paddled them across.  They encountered muskeg where they had to lead the horse, and push the wagon wheels by hand to get it across.  

After this, when they arrived, Redbush's father built his house on the homestead out of jackpine logs, and a roof covered with sod.  He cleared some land by hand with an axe, and seeded a field of oats.  He and his friends threshed the crop with flailing sticks.   He then built a barn with double walls filled with straw along with a roof of rails and straw.  Her father had to get his mail six miles away from his homestead.  One Sunday he ventured out on his trek to get the mail only to discover that there was no mail given out on Sundays.  

When Redbush reflects on all the hardships her father endured, she wishes she would have listened to more of his stories as a child.  She knows that a lot of us would have a hard time not giving up in a lot of the situations that they were in, but realizes that they had no choice.  Redbush knows that today, there are a lot of difficulties  that challenge us, and many times we tend to  give up too easily instead of trying to solve them, or endure them.   She hopes she didn't bore you too badly and that you all have a wonderful day!