[Bcma-l] CMA Clip Serv: Wagon train traces route of Alberta pioneers
bcma-l@museumsassn.bc.ca
bcma-l@museumsassn.bc.ca
Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:25:14 -0700
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<b>Wagon train traces route of Alberta pioneers</b></span></font>
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David Halliday, Canwest News Service, Wednesday, July 22, 2009</span></font>
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For decades, Eileen Davies dreamed of travelling in a horse-drawn
wagon train.</span></font>
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"It was a little bit of a dream to travel in a covered wagon," Davies
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The retired Grand Forks woman lived out her dream with the help of
Alberta Prairie Wagon Trains, driving a team of horses pulling a
covered wagon from Red Willow to Donalda in central Alberta.</span></font>
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Davies said it was "just a fluke" that she and her husband, Dave,
learned about the wagon train when they took the Alberta Prairie
Steam Tours train to Big Valley, 160 kilometres southeast of
Edmonton.</span></font>
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When Eileen was in the Stettler train station checking on their tickets
for the steam trip, she saw information about the wagon trek.</span></font>
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The decision was easy for a woman who has had a long involvement
with horses, including acting as a customs broker in Toronto for the
movement of thoroughbreds such as Secretariat and Northern Dancer
across the Canada-United States border.</span></font>
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Eileen's mobility was limited by recent hip-replacement surgery.</span></font>
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"I wasn't sure I could get into the wagon," she said.</span></font>
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But she was able to climb aboard with the help of a small stepladder
and drove the lead wagon pulled by Clydesdales Tom and Jerry
during the two-day trek.</span></font>
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The team of Doc and Bud that I drove for part of the journey
demonstrates how horses are individuals -- Doc tends to be a bit of a
laggard, letting Bud do more of the work, while Bud reacts to
commands such as "whoa" faster.</span></font>
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The journey is a reminder of the slower pace and arduous conditions
that pioneers faced on their trek to open the North American west.</span></font>
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The wagon train takes more than four hours to cover the 16
kilometres from Red Willow to Donalda -- a 10-minute trip in a
modern car at highway speeds.</span></font>
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However, that plodding pace also gives participants the time to see
the scenery and wildlife, including ducks swimming about the
sloughs and a lone shorebird wandering across the muddy margin of a
drought-shrunken pond.</span></font>
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There are no plush, comfy seats on the wagons -- just a bare wooden
bench. The overnight stay is in a sleeping bag either inside the wagon
or on the ground underneath it.</span></font>
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Pioneers would not have had access to medical care. For example, a
pregnant woman might have had to deliver her baby in the wagon
with the help of her husband or other women in the wagon train.</span></font>
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The wagon train is a relatively recent addition to Alberta Prairie,
which has been offering train trips for 20 years.</span></font>
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Bob Willis, Alberta Prairie general manager, said the wagon train is
the brainchild of Don Gillespie, the driving force behind the steam
tours. Willis said the wagon trips, now in their fourth year, are an
attraction that's still in the developmental stage.</span></font>
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Alberta Prairie owns the wagons, while wagon master Jim Long owns
the Clydesdale horses that pull them.</span></font>
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Long has worked with horses since he started riding a pony as a small
child. He shows drivers how to handle the horses before the wagon
train trek begins.</span></font>
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The running gear and top bows for the wagons were built by skilled
craftsmen in southern Ontario. Although most parts of the wagons
were new, the hubs of some of the wheels were recycled from wagons
that were a century or more old. Alberta Prairie staff built the boxes
for the wagons, and a Stettler upholsterer sewed up the tops.</span></font>
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The wagon train follows the rail bed of a rail line that was abandoned
and torn up. Alberta Prairie was able to retain only the track from
Stettler to Big Valley for its steam train tours.</span></font>
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Long promotes the wagon and steam train tours as part of what can be
an extended family vacation stay in central Alberta. When a woman
called recently from Toronto, Long suggested she take the train and
wagon trips as well as visiting the Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller to
learn about dinosaurs.</span></font>
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The Davies went one better, visiting those attractions plus the
Reynolds-Alberta Museum with its collection of old cars, trucks and
farm machinery in Wetaskiwin.</span></font>
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As the wagon train rolls along, Long rides alongside on his horse
Emmett, checking with people in the different wagons occasionally to
make sure that everything is going OK.</span></font>
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Five wagons are available now for the treks, but two more could be
added.</span></font>
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While each wagon usually holds two people, an extra seat can be
added to accommodate a family of four.</span></font>
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In those situations, Long finds that "the kids drive and the parents sit
in the extra seat."</span></font>
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When the wagon train is on the trail, one of the wagons is a cook
wagon, hauling the food for hungry travellers.</span></font>
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The lunch stop consists of sandwiches, fruit and ice tea or water.</span></font>
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When the wagons reach Donalda for the overnight stop, staff break
out the barbecue to cook steaks. Depending on the length of the trip,
other evening meals could include hamburgers and chili.</span></font>
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After spending the night at Donalda, visitors check out local
attractions that include the world's largest kerosene lamp, the lamp
museum, art galleries and the historic creamery.</span></font>
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<i>For more information on Alberta Prairie steam train and wagon trips, visit the
website at </i>
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<a href="www.absteamtrain.com">
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<i><u>www.absteamtrain.com</u></i>
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<i>Train trips leave from the Stettler station, while wagon treks start in Red Willow,
north of Stettler. Phone 1-800-282-3994 or 403-742-2811 for information on train
trips.</i></span></font>
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<i>Call Jim Long at 403-740-2796 to find out more about the wagon trains.</i></span></font>
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