by Ruth Davies and Edna Copithorne pg 201 Big Hill Country 1977
Frank Brown married Martha Moore Thompson in County of Renfrew, Ontario, on February 21, 1900. They lived on the family farm in Cobden, near Pembroke, Ontario, for four years, where Ruth was born in 1902. Frank’s older brothers Robert and John came to Cochrane, Alberta, prior to 1904 and settled here. Frank sold the Ontario farm and with his wife and small daughter moved to Cochrane in 1904.
He purchased the NW¼ 19-26-3-5 and Robert McNamee built a house and barn on it for him, near a fine spring at the head of a coulee leading to Big Hill Creek. This land was purchased for about three dollars an acre. This same coulee had a seam of poor quality coal showing in its banks. Frank homesteaded the SE¼ 30, and obtained title to that quarter in 1909. The country was mostly open range, and looked like rich, lush land compared to his rocky Ontario farm. He said that when riding a tall saddlehorse the grass would brush his feet in the stirrups and was rich in pea-vine. However, you couldn’t grow potatoes here, at that time or for several years later. Coyotes were plentiful. There was any amount of prairie chicken, and trout in the creek. He had a coyote hound that would pull Ruth on a hand sleigh. One day while doing this, it saw a coyote and took off. Driving to Cochrane from this home, they had to follow the trail just south from Cochrane Lakes, down Horse Creek Road and across the bridge over Big Hill Creek and near what is now the creamery.
At about this time smallpox broke out in Cochrane and they could go further than the bridge. Groceries were brought to them there.
The Victims of the smallpox were put in tents down by the Bow River to recuperate.
Here are a few prices of groceries at that time:
Snowflake Baking Powder – 1 pound tin lOc
Soda biscuits – 8c- a pound.
Reindeer Brand Condensed cream – 15c- a tin.
St. Lawrence Corn Starch – 8c- a pkg.
Blue Seal brand flour – 24½ pound, 50c
Beans – 3 pounds for 10c
Baker’s 1/2 pound tin cocoa – 27c
Cheddar cheese – 15c- a pound.
Jamaica coffee – 25c- a pound.
Dried Apples – 20c a gallon.
Strawberry jam – 30c- a quart.
White sugar – 20 pounds, $1.
China black tea – 20c- a pound.
Yeast cakes – 4c- a pkg.
Lard – 3 pounds 35c.
Icing sugar – 7 c – a pound.
A good Mexican saddle cost from $27 to $35.
The Brown’s first near neighbours were people from France named Arden who spoke very little English but became very good friends. There were several bachelors nearby, Ernie Perrenoud, Gordon Carling, Mac McNaughtonand Harry Bullock to name a few. Later, Mr. and Mrs. Milligan from Ontario, and others, were near enough to be called neighbours and remained life-long friends, sharing the memories of those early years.
The Browns missed the beautiful orchards and flowers of Ontario when spring came to Alberta, but summer brought a wealth of wild flowers on the rolling hills, and the ever-present view of the majestic Rockies always filled them with pleasure.
The first two winters, 1905 and 1906, are remembered for their severity. The cattle from Ontario had less chance of survival and there were many losses. After that Frank raised and also bought and sold horses. He loved them to a fault and would spend his last cent on a good horse. His grey Percheron teams were his pride and joy and he often challenged their strength at pulling heavy loads, against other teams in the district. He lost a valuable team with lightning. Sometimes he would deal with Indians for saddlehorses, and made a few friends among them. A few of the people who bought his horses were the Creightons, Bowlens, Mr. Wallace and Wheeler Mickle.
When Ruth became of school age, Frank bought four lots in Cochrane and built a house and barn, a large corral, wood shed, and other outbuildings. The woodpile with its splitting block was standard equipment, also the outdoor plumbing. Ruth’ s first teacher was Miss Inez McNaughton, sister of one of Cochrane’s well known ranchers.
Ruth was born in 1908 in the home in Cochrane, with Dr. Park in attendance. The name Dr. Park is a dear memory to many in the Cochrane district. He was a dedicated family physician and friend.
Frank kept the ranch for a few years and brought horses in from there to break in the corral in Cochrane, and sell. It was a fascinating sight to see the gentle skill of halter-breaking those wild colts at the snubbing post in the centre of the corral. The ranch was sold to Mr. Claxton, a brother of a former St. Andrews Church minister. Frank took over the Bruckshaw homestead three miles out of Cochrane.
About this time, Martha, who could play the organ and piano, purchased a piano from Mr. Strickland, editor of the Cochrane Advocate, and started teaching Ruth to play. Until then, the only music available was on the records for the old-fashioned gramophone. The records were cylinders, and the machine had a big horn.
During the summer months, about 1910 or 1912, Frank was foreman of a crew of men constructing and surveying roads up on the Ghost River, Little Red Deer, Jumping Pound, Bragg Creek and Sheep Creek areas. Mr. Greenwood was his surveyor. The countrv he worked in was very wild; the game, such as mountain sheep, were quite curious and tame.
During the early summer, the rivers were raging torrents to ford with all their equipment. At one time, he became very ill with rheumatic fever, and always claimed that Mr. and Mrs. Jack Bevan, who were doing the cooking for the crew, saved his life by their good nursing and getting him to a doctor – a long rough journey in a wagon. The illness left him with a heart condition. The forest rangers, Alf Bryant, Jack Atkinson and others became his life-long friends. He also knew a few of the hardy pioneers out in those remote regions. Stan Fullerton of Bragg Creek tells about helping Frank to haul logs and build the first Forest Ranger Station in that district. While Frank was away all summer, Martha rented half of her home to Mrs. Alex MacKay, who was also alone with her small son Donald, while Alex worked at the Merino Ranch.
Among the highlights of those years in Cochrane was one night of terror when all Big Hill was on fire and Brown’s well was one of the few that didn’t go dry. Imagine hauling water up Big Hill in buckets to put out that fire! But the town was saved.
The Twelfth of July was something to look forward to. All the Orangemen, Frank included, took their families to Banff by train to march down Banff A venue with bands. The fun of riding on the train with so many friends, and going to the zoo in Banff were highlights to remember.
The Indians always camped up on the hill where the High School is now. During the winter we used to feel sorry for the children crying inside those thin tents. The children in Cochrane would pay friendly, timid visits to the Indian camps, sometimes taking gifts.
For many years after Edna was born, Martha suffered ill health and had a succession of nurses to care for her. One well loved one was Mrs. Mose de Repontendy, whose husband ran the bowling alley in Cochrane and later owned the hotel.
Miss Bruce was one of Edna’s earliest teachers. When the Bruces first came to Cochrane there was a pile of buffalo bones as high as a hill beside the railway tracks·. They were being gathered and shipped to a sugar refinery. Bruces lived where the police barracks now stands and the school she taught in is now the Masonic Hall.
Many times during the fall, in the daytime and at night, the sky would be full of geese honking and circling the town. The men would rent democrats from the livery barn, and hunting parties would go out to Cochrane Lakes.
Between 1914 and 1918, the troop trains moved slowly through Cochrane. The windows were jammed tight with the young faces of soldiers eager for the cheers and the parcels thrown to them. One time the Duke of Connaught came, and a group on horseback met his train.
The brickyards and stone quarry were operating then; there was also an oil derrick set up near the bridge below the cemetery.
Bobby Butler’s first car caused quite a sensation in town; he was a colourful figure. Frank Brown bought a milk cow from him, called Sloppy, who lived for many years. Martha churned butter and Edna would take fresh buttermilk over to her friend Aunt Minnie Bailey, later Mrs. S. Allen. Jean Russell, Minnie’s niece, spent almost every summer holiday with Edna during their school years. They spent many happy hours in Jock Bailey’s bakery and ice cream parlour.
In 1918, Frank and Martha sold their home in Cochrane and moved out to the Bruckshaw farm, the NE¼ 14-26-4-5. The first thing needed was a quiet pony for Edna, which they bought from Mr. Ripley. Next, they bought twelve milk cows from Sid Chester, a small flock of sheep from Bob Hogarth, a number of pigs and horses, and went into mixed farming.
The first requirement was a good well and this was dug with the help of Tom Spicer and Orr Fenton. When the well reached a depth to use dynamite, Tom and Frank let Orr down the hole in a bucket on the windlass. Orr set the dynamite in a hole in the rock and lit the fuse. They pulled him up and sat at a safe distance from the hole then waited and waited. Finally, Orr, against the advice of the other two, persuaded them to let him down the hole again, as he was sure the fuse had gone out. When he got near the bottom of the hole he yelled, “Let me up! Let me up! It’s lit!”
They got so excited that the rope jumped the windlass and they had to pull him up by hand. All three ran for their lives and just got clear when the blast went off, shooting rocks and boulders high in the air. The next time they had to use dynamite, the fuse seemed to go out again, and despite much pleading from the other two, Orr walked over to the hole and looked in just as the blast went off. His big hat was blown in the air and riddled with holes, but he only received a few bruises and scratches. The rocks from that well were very interesting because they were full of fossils. William Camden also helped with the well, and being a stonemason by trade, he could pick up a rock and know exactly where to hit it to make it break open.
During the winter of 1919, many cattle died of starvation. Frank had some feed to spare and Steve Peyto came over to buy some for his dairy herd. They had a long argument over the price of the feed, as Steve wanted to pay the current high market price and Frank wanted to give it to him to save his cows. They finally came to an agreement on a lower price.
Crops were good on that farm, but the knotter on the old binder gave a lot of trouble, and Alex McEwan had to be brought out in the buggy many times to fix it. The threshing was usually done by Mr. Callaway, Lloyd Fenton, or Tom James, who had a portable steam engine and a conveyor for the straw. The granary and the straw stacks were on a knoll where the prairie chicken danced. It was lovely to see and hear them doing this, and also on moonlit nights the
straw stacks were a meeting place for jackrabbits. They were so plentiful, they had well-worn paths across the fields in the winter.
Martha became well known for her fine cooking. Her Sunday dinners were enjoyed by many bachelor neighbours. The Sunday singsong around the piano was enjoyed by all. George Dodds was an especially fine singer. Phillip Eyers built the Browns a crystal radio set. It was great fun listening to W.W. Grant on CFCN with the two ear-phones, but woe betide the person who jarred the little wire off the crystal and lost the station.
Martha was also a skilled seamstress, having taken a tailoring course when a girl. She could make old clothes look like new. Throughout the years she was a faithful member of St. Andrews Church and a member of its earliest Ladies Aid. Her grandparents were pioneers in Ontario and although she suffered ill health much of the last half of her life, she had that pioneer spirit that carried her through the hardships of the depression years. At one time she had a knitting machine and knit wool socks by the dozen, to sell. Ruth and Edna helped with the milking and would take the cream to the Cochrane Creamery in the buggy. Mr. Loughery had such a pleasant personality that they always enjoyed their trip there.
The Carlson place along the Big Hill Creek was leased for more pasture and Ruth and Edna had to ride after the stock besides riding to school. Ruth quit school near the end of high school as her mother’s health was very poor.
The McNamee place was purchased and the family moved over to the buildings there beside the spring. Andy Garson and Frank put up hay in nearby fields, and the Garsons camped in the yard. Flora cooked for the hay gang. There was much fun and card games with the hay gang in rainy weather. Jimmie McEwan did custom baling in the winter and his stay at the place was always enjoyed.
As Ruth and Edna grew up, most of their social life was in Cochrane where their school friends lived, but they attended dances at Weedon and the local picnics. Ruth married Edgar Davies in February 1927, and lived in Cochrane, while Ed walked back and forth to work on Beynon and Davies’ dairy farm just out of town. Edna finished school in Calgary then worked in Mrs. Allen’s confectionery store for a couple of years. She married Percy Copithorne in 1931, and they live on the Richard Copithorne place.
Frank sold all the cattle. Martha became so ill that he had to rent a home in Cochrane, and their dear friend Mrs. E. C. Johnson nursed her until her death in 1935. After that, Frank’s interest in the farm seemed to be gone, and the heart just went out of him. One morning he stoked the fire and went out to feed the horses as usual before breakfast, and the house burned down.
The many neighbours for miles around rallied to help build another house for him, but he soon sold the place and rented a housekeeping room in Calgary. Here, in 1942, he died of a heart attack.
Ruth and Ed have two children, Aileen, an R.N., married to John Copithorne of Whirlwind Dairy Farm, and Gordon, who is Vice-Principal of Cochrane High School. Aileen and John have three children, Lloyd, married to Clara Bakker, Sandra and John.
Edna and Percy have three children. Sheila, an R.N., is married to Ted Burger, a wheat farmer at Arrowwood; they have three daughters, Dixie, Betty and Lynn, all at school. Marshall, a graduate of Olds Agricultural College, is married to Trudy Flumerfelt and they run the C. L. Ranches Ltd. They have three daughters and one son, Cheryl, Kathy, Michelle and Ryan. Margaret, a lawyer, is married to John Ramsay, also a lawyer. They have two daughters, Melissa and Gillian.
Frank and Martha lived a quiet life, seldom in the limelight of the community. In the memories of their children, however, they were always happy to assist anyone in need and to offer a warm welcome to a visitor at their door.
