I Remember

Jack A. Kulpas, Calgary, 1970

Jack Kulpas was born in 1901 in Pierre, South Dakota. The Erdman and Kulpas families moved to Barons in 1904. He owned the Ford Garage in Champion from 1928-1938 before moving to Lethbridge to work for Pyramid Motors. Jack and his wife Phyllis moved to Calgary in the mid-50s and retired in 1969. He died in 1981.

In 1904 and '05, the Barons district, which at that time was called Blayney, was homesteaded by the United Nations. There were Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, Estonians, Germans, 2 Swiss bachelors, and at least 1 Englishman. To my knowledge, there were 3 families from Eastern Canada and about 3 families who called themselves American.

This created a language problem as there were many who could only speak their native tongue, but in about 3 years almost everyone was able to swear in about 4 languages and speak a few words in 3.

The ability to swear in several languages helped a lot and you could get rid of frustrations much faster, but it sometimes could be embarrassing.

Just lately I was in a corner store which was operated by a very nice young Chinese lady whom I know very well. The price of some article had gone up and I swore at it in Chinese. I didn't know what the words meant, but I thought they were on the mild side, as I had heard Chinese use them often.

She said, "You must not say that." So I asked her what it meant and she replied, "Oh, it's velly bad." It must have been very bad because she always spoke perfect English and never substituted 'l' for 'f'.

It was very necessary for people to be able to converse with one another for several reasons. The nearest doctor was 30 miles away, and with no cars or phones, we had to depend on Mr. Books and do-it-yourself doctors. However, there was very little sickness; probably due to the fact that people ate good food, drank pure water, had plenty of exercise, and kept regular hours.

I only know of one death in the first 5 years. He was a middle aged bachelor, and when we went to the funeral services held at his house, mother spotted a pile of cans and exclaimed, "No wonder he died. Look at all the tin cans!" Mother never owned a can opener and never served us anything out of a can.

There were babies born, and quite often my Grandma was asked to bring one of them into the world. In one case, neither of the parents-to-be could speak English and Grandma could only speak Estonian. I don't know what nationality they were, so we'll call them Swedes for short. There was no one around who could speak both Swedish and Estonian, so Grandma had to have 2 interpreters: one of my aunts translated from Estonian to English and another girl translated from English to Swedish - and vice-versa. Everything went fine and the new baby and mother came through as healthy as could be.

No one could rely on their own resources and no one tried except the Englishman who, at first, had a holier-than-thou attitude, until necessity broke down the barrier.

One day, he came over and asked Dad. if he were going to Claresholm soon. Dad said he wasn't and asked why. The Englishman said he had bought a set of 'arness for the 'orse, but the collar didn't fit the 'orse's neck and he wanted to take it back and exchange it for the right one. Dad got curious and said he'd like to go over and see if he could do something about it.

The Englishman reluctantly accepted the favour, and Dad went with him. Dad asked him to put the collar on, which he did, but he put it on upside down. That way it didn't fit anything. Dad showed him how to harness a horse. The Englishman insisted that in England they put the buckle on the bottom, but Dad figured that he had never seen a horse until he came to Canada. The Englishman didn't take to pioneering and left after the first winter.

There was a Lutheran minister, who came occasionally from Medicine Hat, Reverend Sillak, who could speak about every language going. He always held his sermons at Erdman's. On one occasion, he preached a sermon in Estonian at 11:OO o'clock and immediately afterwards, he held one in German.

Mr. & Mrs. Allen, who couldn't speak a word in either language, sat through both sermons. When asked why, he said he liked to spend his Sunday in a house where God lived and he liked to hear the choir sing.

As far as the sermon went, he didn't miss anything anyway, as the minister always preached in the same pattern. He would read a line from the Bible, and then repeat it over and over for an hour. Every time he repeated it, he raised his voice a little and hit the pulpit a little harder. Toward the end of the sermon, he would be actually roaring and pounding the pulpit.

The law also moved in and we now had an R.C.M.P. and a magistrate. Some of the sentences handed out by the early magistrates were rather amusing. There was one case in a neighbouring town where a proprietor of a Chinese restaurant was charged with bootlegging. The court found him guilty and fined him $200. Louie said, "It's too much, Mr. A , and I won't pay it". So Mr. A - said, after some consideration, "I still find you guilty but reduce the fine to $100." Louie said, "A hundred dollars is still too much and I won't pay!" So the magistrate asked him what he considered a fair fine, and Louie said, "I'll pay $50 cash and that is all."

So the magistrate said, "After duly considering all aspects of the case and the extenuating circumstances, I find you guilty and fine you $50!" I don't know what happened, but that was the last case Mr. A - tried. I guess he was too much of a horse trader to suit the establishment.

In the spring, things began to happen. Dad seeded his cultivated plot into wheat, potatoes, and all kinds of vegetables. Kirkendahls moved in and built their home across the road from us. And the best part was that they had a son, just my age, a playmate for me. August had 2 sisters and Lentsmans, who built just west of us, had 3 girls about the same age. We soon made friends and got together almost every day.

There were 7 of us, ranging from 5 to 7 years of age. Our favourite playground was at the small lake which was on Mr. Allen's place about a half mile from our respective homes. It was here, one day, that we got our first sex lesson. We watched a horse and a mare who had picked this lake for their mating spot and we got an idea for a new game. We called it 'playing horse'. Now horses didn't wear clothes so the first thing to do was strip. So we went around on all fours, ate hay and drank slough water. Then occasionally we would chase the mares and climb on their backs, but after that we were lost because we didn't know what to do.

When I first saw August's sister in the nude, I thought she had been in a terrible accident and I asked August about it. He knew all about these things having had 2 sisters, and he explained that girls were made that way.

The very next day, this pastime came to an abrupt end. One of my peeping-Tom aunts decided to come and see what we were doing, and literally caught us with our pants down. She ordered us to dress ourselves and sent the girls home, and hinted that our parents were going to be told all about it Sunday after church.

The next day was Sunday, and as usual, the community met at Erdman's. The men always gathered outside and the women stayed in and drank tea. The children were put out to play.

August and I knew our horse game would be discussed so we stayed close to an open window and sure enough, my mean old aunt brought up the subject. Much of it was whispered and we could only make out that they were talking about us. Then they laughed and laughed, and then laughed some more. We were quite relieved, but not for long. 'My parents did not say anything to me about it, but the next morning I was told to go and see Grandma Erdman (Mari Erdman).

Grandma was the three star general in our family war department. I had only attended her Kangaroo court martial once before and the procedure was the same this time. First you had to sit in a chair while she got ready for the trial. In about what seemed to be an hour, she would appear carrying her large bible. Then she would sit directly in front of you, thumb through her bible and give you a stern look occasionally. Finally, after you got so uncomfortable that you were ready to cry, she would start her lecture. She always read appropriate passages from her big book, and ended by a veiled threat of fire and brimstone, forever here after. I was always allowed 2 words, namely "Yes, Grandma," or "I'm sorry." I would be too embarrassed to visit her for a week or so, but then the thought of her home-made fresh bread and donuts, etc. would win out and some afternoon I would wander over. She always treated me like nothing had happened and was her own friendly self again. The other kids got off easy: some got spanked and the girls were grounded indefinitely. This episode broke up our little gang and August and I began to pal together.

August and I wondered around and looked for wildlife. There was quite a variety; badgers, skunks, porcupines, gophers, rabbits, etc. I got too close to a porcupine once and discovered that the quills hurt more when they were being pulled out than they did going in. Bob (Robert) Erdman showed us how to make and use snares and immediately we started to snare every thing that went into a hole.

One day we saw a pretty black animal with a white stripe and a bushy tail. We thought that maybe we could catch him and take him home and make a pet out of it. We chased it until it disappeared into the badger hole. This hole wasn't very deep and we could hear him scratching just a little ways down. We decided to drown him out. I set my snare and August went for a pail of water.

August came back, set his own snare, also, and poured the water in. This monster came out immediately and sprayed both of us with something that smelled just awful. The house became out of bounds for me and after taking a bath (outside) and burying my clothes, I was instructed to get the saddle blanket and sleep in the haystack. August got the same treatment. After the first night, August joined me in the haystack and things didn't go too badly. I guess it was at least a week before I was allowed in the house again.

I had my sixth birthday about this time, and when the weather got cold enough to curtail outdoor activities, the Establishment decided I should start my education. As there was no school and no known prospects of one, there was only one answer. Mother became the school marm with the first lessons being reading and writing in Estonian. As soon as August's parents heard about this, they asked my mother if August could join me. We learned fast and soon mother decided to have us read while she did the chores, so we were put to reading the Bible; for 2 reasons. One was because that was the only Estonian book we had and the other reason was that we needed the religious education as someday we would be confirmed into the Lutheran Church. I eventually read the Bible from cover to cover.

Dad became our English professor and Mother became a student. We also added arithmetic and geography. The education carried on for 2 years and then Wheatland Centre School was opened up. I must have had good teaching because I covered 3 grades in the first year, and started my second year in grade 4.

When I first started school, I ran into trouble. I had to walk 2 and half miles to school and there was a family of 5 kids who lived about a mile from the school who used the same road I had to take for the last mile. They decided it was fun to beat me up on my way home. I used to get out of school as fast as I could and get out of range, but they usually caught me, roughed me up and then went home. Then August started school and I told him what was going on and we mapped out our plan of action. We were on our way home when those same 2 kids took after us. We ran our best for a ways, just to draw them a safe distance from their big brothers, and then let them catch us. We turned and gave them a real good beating. I guess they hadn't realized that the odds had changed. We were never bothered after that.

At school, there was a little fat girl who sat in the desk in front of me. She had a habit of throwing her head back and her long straggly, unkept hair would fall on my desk, depositing white specks and sometimes little ugly grey varmints who slowly crawled about until I swept them off.

I didn't know what they were, but finally my head became itchy and my mother noticed me continually scratching. She investigated and I was pronounced lousy. The treatment was combing with a fine tooth comb and frequent washing. This was not successful in getting rid of the lice and mother started shampooing my hair with kerosene. This worked, but nearly burnt my scalp off. The culprit and her sister were finally found out and expelled from school. That summer they moved away, so we never saw them again.

Sometime later, August and I followed a load of lumber on our way home, when a package of what we thought was candy fell off the top of the wagon. The label said MacDonalds Cut Plug and there were 6 bars of it, which we started to eat immediately. This was chewing tobacco and a regular user would take an occasional chew, chew it to a pulp and spit it out. It had quite a sweet molasses taste with a tang to it. We managed 2 bars apiece before we became deathly sick. I managed to make it home, laid down in front of the house,' vomited, and thought I was going to die. To make matters worse, I didn't tell my mother the cause of my sickness at first, but when I became sure I was going to die, I broke down and told her. This eased her mind somewhat and by next morning, I was back to normal. Mother said it was God's way of punishing me for not returning the tobacco to the man when I saw it fall off the wagon. I was wondering how the other kids got away with some of the bad things they did and I came to the conclusion that God had a full time job watching me and the only time He caught anyone else was when He was moonlighting.

Along with the rest of the community, we were evolving out of the dark ages. We were now cooking with wood and coal. Kerosene lamps took the place of home-made candles, and we had added some modem appliances such as a deluxe wash board that had a neat little gadget on it where Mother could keep her home-made bar of laundry soap. Dad bought a half section from the Hudson's Bay Co. for $8.00 per acre. This was adjacent to the east side of the homestead. It was on this property that we built our new house.

Our new house was as good as any in the neighbourhood: 2-story, 3-bedroom, with a full basement. The living room and kitchen were very large rooms. Everybody built big living rooms, as we and everyone else had a lot of company in those days. No radio, no cinema, no telephone, or TV; people got acquainted with their neighbours. Sing-along singing was a favourite pastime.

Bill Alexander built a barn with full-sized hayloft and started holding barn dances on Friday nights and sometimes oftener. On those occasions, everybody went and the music was supplied from the local amateur talent. There was always an abundance of this, which varied in quality, but was always loud. There was an assortment of instruments; violins, a banjo, a couple of trumpets and a few which I had never seen before and haven't seen since. Even our washboard was put to use. There were always such small instruments as harmonicas and Jews harps and some of the boys were very good on these. There was one man who was a first class square dance caller.

Then one night, when the whole community was gathered for the usual barn dance, Bill Alexander proudly displayed the eighth wonder of the world.

It was a little box with a handle on the side and a great big horn on it. He inserted a black tube on top of it and turned the handle for a while. While everyone listened in awed silence, the thing started emitting sounds that sounded like it was trying to say something about his master's voice, and then went into screeching sort of a tune that faintly resembled the current hits of the times. First it sounded like Pop Goes the Weasel, and then finished up with Pony Boy. The phonograph wasn't loud enough for dancing, and anyway, who wanted to dance when there was this novelty to listen to.

We were very busy that summer. We moved into the new house. Then one day, about 10 men with their families came over and fenced in about 10 acres and built a hen house. These work bees happened quite often in the early days. They made an outing out of it. The women cooked up a real feast and the keg of beer always helped.

The next step was to dig a well. Dad was the big chief of all water witchers. He used a forked willow branch and I never saw him fail. He could tell you where and how deep the water was and, in most cases, the volume.

He couldn't find water close to the house. He estimated the underground stream which he located about 100 yards from the house to be 60' to 70' below the surface, but about 3/4 mile from the house, he found a place where he estimated the water to beabout 20' down., so we started to dig there. One good thing about digging on the prairie was that the sub-soil was clay and there was no danger of cave-ins.

After 3 days of work, we hit water at 18', and it came within 10 feet of the top. And it was good water. The only thing wrong was that it was too far from the house.

We didn't have to use the well for a fridge any more because Dad built a dumb waiter, which took care of such things as butter, milk, etc. We also boasted a new kitchen range with a high warming oven and everything. The dirt basement was as good as a root cellar, and vegetables of all sorts kept from one crop to the next, and we always had a barrel of dill pickles. Dill included cukes, cauliflowers, green tomatoes, and small carrots. Peas, beans, and beets were preserved in jars, as were saskatoons and chokecherry jam. There was lots of sauerkraut. We ate well in those days, as we had our own milk, eggs, meat, etc.

The next stupendous event was the advent of the telephone. At first there were only 5 on this party line. Everybody had their own signal; ours was 2 long rings. There was no reason for these signals because it didn't matter what the signal was, everybody ran for the phone and listened in anyway.

Note: "The Kulpas family (except Jack) changed their name to NewDay. Mom (Ellen Johnson) thought it was in 1901, when they came to North America, but Betty says in her story that it was in 1929 when Anton became a citizen of the United States."

Barbara Gullickson

This article was reproduced, with permission, fiom "JUri's Children-The Generations of the Erdman Family". Compiled and Edited by Barbara Gullickson. Copyright 1989 by Barbara Gullickson.