April 2nd 1905 - Bought a tent to live in

This was second day of April. We had breakfast then went out to explore the great City to be but there was not much then. We started from nineteenth street and first Ave. to twenty second street East down twenty second to the River along the Crescent back to first Avenue again and we had been around the great City to be.

We met all classes and conditions of men, some wanting work and could not get it, now I have made a mistake, they could get lots of work but there was very few would could pay wages for doing the work so there was a lot of men had to be shipped away to where they could earn wages. Of course there was others, as there always is, wanting wages but not work. They were loafing around to find some greenhorn or tenderfoot as they named the newcomers so that they might relieve them of their Dollar bills if they had any.

You ask was it a busy place then? Well the stores and lumber yards were very busy selling supplies to men going out on their Homesteads and Broncho or horse dealers also, what they called Bull punchers. Anyway there was a great mixed up lot.

Well we walked around till we was tired. "Do you want to buy a team of Bronchos" one fellow calls out. "no". A little further on "Can I sell you a team of Oxen, good team, do anything". "How much do you want for them?" "Oh two hundred and fifty dollars, come see just the kind for you". "Well I'll go see them, they might have been Oxen once but but now they were nothing but a bunch of bones and skin and you want Two hundred and fifty dollars for them?" "Yes, them cheap."

I guess he thought I was a green Englishman but I had some experience with cattle before, though not a great deal but I could tell their ages just the same. I did nothing more that day in the way of trading but went to the Land offices to see about locating a homestead. A man in the name of R. MacIntosh was Agent then gets a lot of plots. I got all kinds of advice. Someone tells me to go to Goose Lave way, lots of good homesteads. Others would say go Lloydminster.

Well it was go there go here till one did not know just where to go for the best so I came out of there to try and think things out for myself so we walked up first Avenue again when a man spoke to us. He asked me if I was going homesteading. I said Yes. He asked me many questions. I felt I could trust him so I told my circumstances and how I was placed so he advised me how I could save expenses until I could get located. It was to buy a tent and leave the boarding house. He knew someone who had a tent to sell so I went and bought it and I don't know how I should have got on without it. That was the best bit of work done that day. That man is now Sheriff of Saskatoon, Mr Colder. We pitched our tent and slept until that night so now we were rent free.