Settlers in the Bashaw district liked the area so much they put out a special booklet on the area.
The 36-page booklet was a visitors guide of sorts that highlighted the land, the recreation, the weather and more. Dubbed Bashaw District Alberta: A Book Issued By Bashaw Extension of Settlement Club, the 1915 document features incredible pictures for the time.
This little booklet is a heart-to-heart message from homemakers in Central Alberta, to home seekers in other parts of the world,” states the book.
For the authors the question was how to get people to come to the small community and district of Bashaw and it’s clear that location, climate conditions, crops, livestock, fuel and taxation. There are even letters from other settlers about why they enjoy living there.
“We came here to better our condition,” states the booklet.
“We are telling you our sentiments and our history in the following pages. We take it for granted that you wish to better your condition, and we urge you to come and see for yourself what we have to offer.”
The best part of the invitation for people to move to Bashaw is the colourful language that describes the weather. Certainly there was some ‘poetic license’ related to winters in the area to hopefully entice readers to move here. Comments that “blizzards are absolutely unknown” and that “the winters are very agreeable” may have a lot to do with wanting to get people here first.
“While it is true that it sometimes gets cold, these periods as a rule are of very short duration and are likely to be followed by weeks of comfortable pleasant weather,” states the booklet.
However, there are more details later on regarding average and low temperatures in the area.
What’s interesting to note is the number of settlers and where they came from. While the majority settled from the Unites States from places such as Montana, Minnesota, Illinois and Oregon, there are also settlers from Russia (J.H. Utas and A.S. Schultz) and Hungary (John and George Pulay). In addition, there were many settlers from England and Ireland.
Of course, the town is named after Eugene Bashaw who settled from Honolulu.
In his settler’s letter to readers, Eugene said he left Honolulu and then through Seattle, WA, settled in the area. “I have been successful and after living here 11 years I still like it,” states Eugene.
“In the time that I have been here there have been no failures of crops. There are good crops raised every year,” he continues.
He even goes so far to say that he prefers the weather on the prairies over California’s.
“Everybody works, rich or poor. It doesn’t tire you. And you can fish and hunt to your heart’s content,” stated Eugene.
This is the first of a series of historical stories related to the Bashaw Extension of Settlement Club booklet.
