April 9th 1905 - Buying supplies

The ninth day - a very busy day. Went to a dry goods store to get some supplies, the store-keepers name was Grayham on Second Avenue. he asked me if I want to buy a pair of steers, he would sell them cheap. "How much do you want for them" I asked. "$75.00 for the two" he said. That sounded cheap to me towards $250.00 as most of them was asking. Goes to look at them, one has a damaged horn that was done getting it fast in the barn he says. They were small, I bought them, I thought they would grow bigger. They would do for me for a while anyway. Then bought a second hand wagon, went to Massey Harrow bought a set of Harrows, a walking plow. Buys the rest of my supplies, small cook stove, bag of flour, stoves sky high, flour way down. I paid $2.75 per bag of Champion milled in Saskatoon at that time. Finished our buying in it was now near supper time

Now we must try the steers in the wagon. I might say here that they had been trying to break them in before I bought them and could not do it, that was the cause of one having a damaged horn and not by getting fast in the barn. All the men was having a great laugh at my expense. "You will never get out of Saskatoon with them brutes" I had already got harness for them which consisted of a collar and tracing chains, ropes for the line. These cost me $12.50 anyway I put the harness on them, they certainly did look wild.

Everybody in town turned out to see me hitch these wild steers up, they was going to see some great fun but they got left in that. I tied them together, put ropes to each one, gave my boy one rope, me the other, each of us a stock, started to lead them round just with the harness on. If they started to run we just put the sticks in front of them. After this training we put them in the wagon, they showed like giving trouble but a little patting and kindness did the trick.

In two hours we had them doing what we wanted them to do so we was going to what other said we could not do. The two brothers started out this same afternoon, they did not wait to see whether I could get out or not and I was not sorry they got a days start of me. The end of this day.