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While my father was away on the C.N. R. construction work during the 1920's our family lived in Hanna for about three and a half years. In 1926, we went back to the homestead at Steveville. In the summer of 1927 we lost our younger brother Georgie due to scarlet fever. The rest of us had only mild cases of this disease.

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Bert and Ida Coultis wedding picture
5 July 1914
Thedford, Ontario, Canada

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Garden irrigated by river water
1 August 1935
Red Deer River, Steveville, Alberta, Canada

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Blanche Coultis remembers: When we first moved to the farm near the Red Deer River, Mother tried to have a garden up on the same level as the house. She tried to haul barrels of water on the "stoneboat" from the river, with Bud, the horse pulling it. Bud couldn't pull the load up the hill and she soon cancelled that idea. One spring father was home and he built a catamaran and suspended a pump between the two boats which proved to be unsatisfactory. Soon the pump was installed on the river bank and pumped no end of water onto our garden. The next year we made our own hose from canvas. Our old treadle sewing machine handled that canvas just as well as it did silk."

Note: The stoneboat is made by piecing fence posts or other suitable material together with plywood. It is pulled either by a horse or, in later days a tractor, to haul a heavy load. The bottom"rolling pieces" allow for movement while the smoother top piece allows items to be transported.

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