Page 131 More Big Hill Country
Mitford School
Traces of the foundations of buildings in Mitford can still be found on land that is now part of the Stoney Indian Reserve, on the Bow River’s south side. A school district was never established, but the early settlement retained the teaching services of Miss Isabel Monilaws of Kincardine Ontario in 1891 . Her schoolhouse was the old saloon. In Big Hill Country, Isabel Skinner tells that while her father built up their ranch, north of Cochrane, her mother lived in Mitford so that her brother, George, could attend Mitford school. Mrs. Walter Jones also lived in Mitford and her son, Harry, along with George, would lie on the CPR railroad bed and let the trains pass over them, “nearly scaring their mothers to death”. Some others who learned their A B C’s at Mitford were Birdie Radcliffe; Harold, Walter, Leslie and Vera Towers; Violet Smith; Ethel Bassett; Mary, Everet and Joseph McNeil. Miss Monilaws taught school for four years and in 1895 married rancher James Cooper, joining him on their Hillsdale Ranch northwest of Cochrane.
Jumping Pond Public School
District #254 of the North West Territories The first meeting of the Jumping Pond School District was held at Paddy Drummond’s Emporium on Wednesday, September 28, 1892. The Trustees elected at that time were Robert Ellis, John H. Ellis and William J. Wade. This school district comprised of Sections I to 12 in 1\vp 25 Rge 4 WM and Sections 20 to 36 in Twp 24 Rge 5 W5M. (The present day location would be 2.5 miles north of the Trans Canada
Highway, 2.5 miles south, 2 miles east of Highway 22 (called the Bragg Creek Road at the time) and 3 miles west of Highway 22). Built about a 1/4 mile west of “Drummond’s Corner” (Highway 22 and Springbank road) the school was a frame building built on the south side of the road. It opened in early 1893 with Miss Agnes Clark as the first teacher and included as students the Wade children, Martha Ellis and Johnny Goss among others.
This early Jumping Pond schoolhouse served the community as the centre for entertainment. As there was no community hall at the time, concerts, dances and social events were held here. There was a Literary Society, where topics of interest were discussed and they held monthly meetings at the Jumping Pond School. Anyone who had any talent performed, and a local man Christopher Duke, a singer and banjo player, was popular. Church services were held there in the warmer summer months, and in 1908, the Rev. Sales and the Rev. Harrison from the Anglican Church held the services. The school was closed in the early l 900’s due to lack of children in that area of the district and opened again in 1909. Miss Willoughby and Miss Nellie McGlashing were two of the early teachers at the time. The School closed around 1914 and the building was sold to Charlie Cooley who used it for a granary.
Little Jumping Pond School
District #471 of the North West Territories
The organizational meeting of the resident ratepayers was held at the home of Howard Sibbald on April 20, 1898. The school district was to be named Little Jumping Pond School District #471 of the North West Territories. Trustees were Oliver Ellis, Jack Stuart and John Copithorne. This area was quite large and included part of Twp 23 Rge 5 W5M all of Twp 24 Rge 5 W5M and part of Twp 25 Rge 5 W5M.
The little log school was built by volunteers on Section 30 Township 24, Range 4, West of the 5th meridian, west of the Jumping Pound Creek and southwest of Cochrane. The hills on the north provided shelter for the horses that the children rode to school as they were tied to the heavy willow bush north of the school. These hills also provided much entertainment for the children in winter as they slid down the hill on cardboard or an old scoop shovel. In the warmer days the hills were used for nature studies. For 25 years there was no barn for shelter for the horses until 1923, Dave Lawson supplied a temporary barn for the horses and had it moved to the school site, at no expense to the school. Miss N .A. Robinson was hired for eight months as the teacher at a salary of $42.00 a month.
This little log school opened on March 20, 1899 and on November 18, 1928, it was approved that the little log school be closed as most of the early homesteaders in the western side of the district had moved away.
It was decided to move the school so the students wouldn’t have as far to ride so a house, owned by Archie Aris was moved to the east bank of the Jumping Pound Creek. (fhis location is very close to the intersection of the TransCanada highway and the Jumping Pound road. This house was used as the school, at no expense to the school, and was a cold and drafty building that the wind whistled through. A new wood stove couldn’t even keep it warm however natural gas had been discovered fairly close to this building and a pipe was run in and the stove fixed up to burn the gas. This was a big improvement as the gas kept the building warm throughout the night and therefore was lovely and warm when the students arrived in the morning. This was raw gas corning straight from the ground well and some mornings when the children arrived at school it was bitterly cold and the gas to the school was frozen. The older children went out to the wood pile and brought in wood for the stove, lit the fire and it took almost until noon for the little school to warm up. It was not until many, many years later that those students, as grown ups realized the danger that they were putting themselves in as they were burning wood and coal in a stove that was set up for burning gas! This little Jumping Pond School might very likely have been the first rural school house in Alberta to be heated with natural gas (even though it was still raw coming straight out of the ground.)
By 1939 there were only a few students left in this comer of the district and it was closed.
Brushy Ridge School District #1454
Located at NE 1/4 10-25-4 W/5 the school opened in 1906. The first teacher, Mrs. Mary Porterfield was hired at a yearly salary of $600. The school house burned in a wild prairie fire of November 19, 1936. Without delay on November 22 a meeting was held at Mr. Wellington Barkley’s home to make plans for continuing the children’s education. A temporary school was set up in Barkley’s bunkhouse. A new school was officially opened in September 1937. Following are some reminisces of Irene Edge (Greer) as recorded in Chaps and Chinooks: a history of west Calgary volume I.
A new school, very up-to-date and modem for a rnral area, was opened in September 1937. It had a full- ized basement with a furnace, inside closets and a hardwood floor.
On January 1, 1939, the “Large Unit” as it was called then came into existence and took over the jurisdiction of the rural schools in our area.
Mrs. Edge goes on to explain that in the fall of 1956 the children over Grade 6 were bussed to Cochrane and Grades 1 to 6 continued in Brushy Ridge. Then due to the declining enrollment and the trend to consolidate schools the Brushy Ridge School closed its door in June 1962.
The following teachers taught in this new building :
- 1937-39 Miss Irene Greer (Edge)
- 1940-41 Mr. Murray S. Carmack
- 1942 Miss Marjorie Van Der Velde
- 1943 Miss Mavis E. Gainer
- 1944 Mrs. E. H. Keding
- 1945 Mrs. Miriam (Johnson) Callaway
- 1946 Miss Jennie Mahood
- 1947 Miss Edna M. Stone
- 1948 Mrs. Edna M. (Stone) Edge
- 1949-50 Miss Helen C. Pecover
- 1951 Mrs. Edna M. Edge
- 1952 Mrs. Pearl Hill Miss Burton (Mrs. Dave Baughman)
- 1953-62 Mrs. Edna M. Edge
Clemens Hill School District # 4859
Clemens Hill School, in the Jumping Pound district, was a clapboard-sided one-room building newly built and located on Section 11, Township 25, Range 5, West of the 5th M. ( the south side of the current Township Road 252 and Range Road 51 intersection. This road now leads to the Shell Jumping Pound Gas Complex.) When the doors opened in September of 1930 there were very few roads in this area. The first teacher Miss Bertha Mahood welcomed the students, Bob and Sue Robinson, Dorothy and Clayton Barrows, Harold and Beatrice Hart, Jim Copithome, Herb Rhodes and Paddy Coelen, to the new school. Other teachers were Miss Marjorie Van Der Velde, Miss Eleanor May and Miss Aileen Brander. Mrs. Claudia Edge was the substitute teacher. The student body increased by three students Sheila Copithome, Shirley Baldwin and Dawn Volway. This school’s highlight was the Annual School Picnic held in early June. It was the social event of the summer. Large crowds attended and participated in the various races and ball games with the children. Again, due to declining student numbers the Clemens Hill School was closed and the building moved to a site northwest of the Jumping Pound Post Office in 1944. The school was in the Little Jumping Pond School District #471 and was renamed Jumping Pound School.
Drummond School
During these early pioneer days in the country the school moved throughout the district where ever the demand for a school was needed so that the children did not have to travel excessive distances by horseback or buggy to get their education.
In 1940. a new school was built on a new location one half a mile east of the old Jumping Pond School location. This school was built on the south west comer of the intersection known as Drummond’s Comer. (This corner is presently the junction of Highway 22 and the Springbank Road.) This school was named Drummond School and in 1946 Jumping Pond School District #254 was changed to Drummond School District #254. Trustees were Robert Barnes, Jim Robinson, Mabel Bateman and Sam Copithome. The first teacher was Mr. Nelson, followed by Miss Jean Spiller, Miss Eileen Brinker, Miss Janet McGregor (who also taught music), Mrs. Miriam Callaway, Miss Elizabeth Mehrer, Miss Mavis Gainer and Mr. Lowden. A number of these teachers boarded with Mr. and Mrs. Robert Barnes on their farm located south of the school. Many good times were held at Drummond School. Concerts ‘ dances and parties raised funds to buy a piano and dishes for the school. When Drummond School closed the children were bussed to Springbank. The school building was moved to Bragg Creek in 1952.
Jumping Pound School
The school building, having been closed at Clemens Hill, moved to a site northwest of the Jumping Pound Post Office in 1944. This was back into the Little Jumping Pond School District #471. The school was renamed Jumping Pound School and the first teacher was Miss Ellen Norris (now Mrs. Henry Buckler) who taught there for the year 1944 – 1945. The Jumping Pound School operated until 1957 when the students were transferred to Brushy Ridge School. Some of the students were: Jim, Elaine and Bill Bateman John ‘ Lynn and Janet Sibbald, Lawrence, Mary and David Copithome, Raymond Nicoll, Jean Copithome and Sally McDougall.
