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The Badlands is a challenging environment to live in with hot, dry summers and long cold winters. However, the people of East Coulee knew how to have a good time. There was the predictable activities of the miners, especially the bachelors. The adults of different ethnic groups would gather to enjoy the traditional activities of their culture. The children would find things to do with what ever was available. There was a strong sense of community and people spent a lot of time socializing while playing cards or sitting outside in the cool of the fine summer evenings.2
Baseball "Homerun"1 October 1945
East Coulee, Alberta, Canada
Credits:Unknown
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Bachelors having fun ?The hotels offered the miners a place to meet for a drink after a hard day in the mine. Men with families would stop by for one or two and then head home. The single men would often stay longer partaking in too many beers. Later in the evening the disagreements over this and that would break out into fist-a-cuffs which spilled out into the street. No one was seriously injured in these fights but they did go home with some bruises and a bloody nose from time to time. One story tells of the men drinking the hotel, then later on they would go to the gambling hall across the street to try their luck at poker. A few more drinks added to the charged atmosphere and again there would be disagreements which led to fighting in the streets. However, after the fight was over they would all go back into the hotel bar to have a drink together before going home. Strange way of getting to know your neighbour but this was the life style of the single miners.
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Boys on Hoodoo1 October 1930
East Coulee, Alberta, Canada
Credits:Unknown
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Children always find something to do...The children found places to play and things to do that did not require any money (or technology like the children of today seem to need). Climbing in the hills and on the hoodoos was a favorite passtime. After reaching the top of the hills it was now time to slide back down. They found places where the surface was smooth enough to not get hurt while sliding down to the bottom of the hill. Sometimes, though, a miscalulcation would send them off to the side where the cactus plants annouced their presence with a sharp clarity. In this instance, some time was needed to remove the cactus needles from your behind before going home.
A favorite activity in the summer was swimming in the river. On the down river side of the spit, just west (up river) from the railway bridge, there was a pool of shallow water where all the children could swim. It was not too deep and there was no current to worry about either. This was the first level in the challenge of swimming in the Red Deer river. The second level was to go a little further out and swim to the island. Only the older kids and teenagers could do this since the current was strong enough to pull you down stream if you could not swim well. This marked a threshold in the world of the children living in East Coulee: You were more grown up now that you had graduated to swimming to and from the island. The final challenge was to swim on thhe other side of the island. This is where the main channel of the river flowed and the current was faster there. You not only had to know how to swim quite well but you also had to be strong and only a few of the teenage boys were strong enough to swim in the main channel before they were adults. The other boys and girls had to wait until there were grown up before venturing out into the fast waters to reach the far (south) side of the river. The river offered a great way to have fun and cool off on the hot summer days.
There were other things the kids did that were a bit risky. One of these was to climb up onto the railway box cars. This was not too hard as each box car had a ladder on the end of the car. However, the challenge here was to jump from one car to the next on the same rail line! This was definitely dangerous since it was a nasty fall if you missed the mark. For the real dare-devils, though, the ultimate was to jump from one box car to the another that was on a different rail line. The distance was larger than that between box cars on the same track. And it was a little further to the ground if you fell...
Playing cards was another activity that filled many hours. This allowed for some fun, some challenge and to socialize. At night there was a game they played where they set up two lines of cans. Then they would throw or kick rocks at the other sides row of cans, trying to knock down the cans. The team the got all the cans down first won. They would play this game for hours. Another more sinister "game" they played was to dig holes in the ground and then cover them up with branches and leaves. After that, they would tease someone into chasing them. The kids would lead the person to where the "trap" was and if the person unlcky, they would run over top of the trap and fall in. This was very distressing and could be dangerous. Again, it turns out no one was hurt but one man did get stuck in the hole as it was too deep for him to climb out of on his own. Needless to say, he was not very happy with these kids...
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Kids on the Hill1 October 1940
East Coulee, Alberta, Canada
Credits:Unknown
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The ethnic groups of East Coulee often got together for social events and to celebrate the holidays and traditions of their culture. The Hungarians and Ukranians were two of the bigger groups in East Coulee. There were almost 700 Hungarians in town and they held many events. They also decided to build their own community hall where they could have their events and get together during the cold winter months. One of the reasons the ethnic groups did so many activities together was that many of the people that moved from Eastern Europe did not speak any English. This obviously made it difficult to make friends with other people in town. So they would visit each other and talk in their native language which helped them feel a little more secure since the move from Europe was very disruptive to the individuals and to the families.On most major holidays there would be a celebration in the community hall(s). There were three in total and each one was full. They shared the festive occasions and many people moved from hall to hall to see what the other people were doing - they did not want to miss out on any of the fun. There were also events that took place outdoors such as making rugs from old clothes. The Hungarians would gather together, bringing old clothes that were cut up into thin strips. These strips were then sewn together and woven into a rugs using a specail handbuilt loom.Though the purpose of the gathering was to make rugs, there was always an ample supply of home made wines and food. They had huge cabbage cutters which were used to make hea[ing bowls full of coleslaw. These people knew how to make the most of what they had - to build a good life in the Badlands.
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United Slavs of East Coulee1 October 1940
East Coulee, Alberta, Canada
Credits:Unknown
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Young Adults...East Coulee had a limited number of things to do especially for the young adults. Finding a date was not easy for the single men and even if you met an available young lady there were not many places to go for a romantic evening. Once again, people adapted and many people went on long walks along the river. On a day off they could go up on top of the hills to have a picnic. When there was a dance, everyone that was available would be there - no one wanted to miss the opportunity to have some real fun. If they had a car, they could go into Drumheller for the evening or to one of the dances in a nearby community. A very popular spot was the movie theater where you could sit close to each other and maybe steal a kiss from your sweetheart.
Sometimes they were lonely and you might see the longing in their eyes (see picture of the woman standing next to the building) or you could see the twinkle in thier eyes as a young man headed off for the evening, hoping to meet someone (see picture of the man walking down the street). Perhaps these two would meet one day or maybe life would take them elsewhere, never to return.
HANK WILLIAMS CONCERT OR BUST
One evening a group of four young men, Don and his three friends, went into Calgary to see hank Williams in concert. This was a huge deal because travelling to Calgary was a major event and of course seeing a great start like Hank Williams happens only once in a very long while. Well, after the concert the men were heading back to town and the car broke down. They tried to fix the car but it needed the services of a mechanic. After the car was repaired the next day two of the men back to East Coulee. The other two got jobs but one went home within a week or two. The fourth, however, never returned to East Coulee. Don stayed in Calgary working for Westren Saddle and eventually marrying and moving away. Life can bring many surprises but there is no doubt Don had no idea that his choice to go see Hank WIlliams would be a life changing decision.
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Waiting...1 October 1945
East Coulee, Alberta, Canada
Credits:Unknown
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Looking for ...1 October 1945
East Coulee, Alberta, Canada
Credits:Unknown
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