Box 441
Athabasca,
A l b e r t a , Canada
November 8,
1979
Dear Mrs. T w i t c h e l l e :
Mrs. Donahue has informed me t h a t you wished some i n f o r m a t i o n about the
way of l i f e a t the G a l l i n g R i v e r T e l e g r a p h S t a t i o n a f t e r you l a s t l i v e d t h e r e .
I hope I can c o n t r i b u t e a l i t t l e t h a t i s h e l p f u l , even a f t e r t h i r t y - t h r e e y e a r s
s i n c e l i v i n g t h e r e , and a poor memory.
My husband, George T. Monson, took over the O f f i c e i n 1924,
a f t e r a few
y e a r s i n the S t a t i o n a t House R i v e r . A man named R o l l o Goodwin was o p e r a t o r
b e f o r e t h a t . B e f o r e R o l l o Goodwin, a man whose name had been changed t o Ed
Love, a f t e r a s t i n t i n the Army, and l i v i n g down E a s t , was i n charge. I do not
remember h i s r e a l name, though I must have heard i t . We have never heard of the
names of the o t h e r men who were i n charge b e f o r e t h a t .
A f t e r my husband r e t i r e d i n 1945,
a man named John Plews took charge.
He
was our s o n - i n - l a w .
He moved t o the House R i v e r S t a t i o n a f t e r a few y e a r s , and
stByed t h e r e a few y e a r s — u n t i l the l i n e was c l o s e d down. ( D u r i n g the War
t h e y needed the l i n e t o ensure s e c r e c y i n weather r e p o r t s and other i n f o r m a t i o n
w h i c h would not have been the case i n u s i n g r a d i o t r a n s m i s s i o n )
A f t e r John P l e w s , a V e t e r a n named Joe G i l l took over a t C a l l i n g R i v e r f o r a
few y e a r s , u n t i l the l i n e was c l o s e d down. He move I t o F o r t A s s i n i b o i n e a f t e r
close-down.
I do not t h i n k c o n d i t i o n s changed too much a f t e r you were t h e r e . They
b u i l t a lumber T e l e g r a p h S t a t i o n - w h i t e s i d i n g and a green r o o f , i n f r o n t o f a
t a l l l o g house w h i c h we used as a s t o r e h o u s e .
A few y a r d s n o r t h o f t h a t , my
husband had a l o g c a b i n b u i l t , t o house the g i r l s and the housekeeper. A l i t t l e
l a t e r , a lumber bunk house was s e t up on the South of the S t a t i o n f o r the male
g e e s t s , w i t h bunks i n i t , and much more comfortable t h a n s l e e p i n g on the f l o o r of
the d i n i n g room o f the S t a t i o n .
I m a r r i e d George T. Monson i n 1934,
and we had two c h i l d r e n i n a d d i t i o n t o
the t h r e e g i r l s he had by h i s f i r s t w i f e . She d i e d when t h e i r youngest g i r l was
b o r n . The Athabasca R i v e r was b r e a k i n g up t h e n , and t h e r e was no way o f g e t t i n g
h e l p . I t a u g h t a l l the f i v e g i r l s w h i l e we were t h e r e . I a l s o d i d the o f f i c e work
and l e a r n e d the Code t o become the s t a n d - i n o p e r a t o r , and the Dominion Government
was d e l i g h t e d t o have an a s s i s t a n t o p e r a t o r a t no c o s t . I sent the weather r e p o r t s
and r e l a y e d i n f o r m a t i o n when my husband was d o i n g l i n e work.
The o n l y means o f communication was the t e l e g r a p h , and a slow monthly m a i l
s e r v i c e ( i n t r o d u c e d l a t e r , t e n y e a r s b e f o r e we l e f t ) The s t a t i o n s P e l i c a n and
C a l l i n g R i v e r were the Post O f f i c e s , the o p e r a t o r s b e i n g post masters a l s o .
The m a i l c a r r i e r used a motor boat when the R i v e r was open, and a horse and c u t t e r
when i t was f r o z e n o v e r .
He had t o work h i s way around P e l i c a n Portape the best
he c o u l d .
T r a v e l was by means o f a motor b o a t , or by f o o t on the l i n e . T r a v e l l i n g was
good on the l i n e when the ground was f r o z e n and some snow on i t , when a dog team
c o u l d t r a v e l on i t w i t h a toboggan. I n the summer, no horse could t r a v e l on the
L i n e . We t r a v e l l e d on f o o t , f o l l o w e d by our pack dogs, as no doubt you remember.
There were 26 creeks w i t h muskegs between them, t o c r o s s on the way South t o Deep
C r e e k , and beyond t h a t , t o Richmond Park. These p l a c e s a r e h e a v i l y - p o p u l a t e d farm
areas now, but t h e r e i s no one l i v i n g more than ten m i l e s n o r t h o f them. N o r t h of
C a l l i n g R i v e r , i t was b e t t e r t r a v e l l i n g on the l i n e — not many creeks and muskegs.

An American F a m i l y named S m i t h , had a sheep farm a m i l e n o r t h of the S t a t i o n ,
and t h e i r son had a sheep farm a l s o , a c r o s s the Athabasca R i v e r , about a m i l e away.
A farmer named B i e b e r , l i v e d not too f a r away from him.
A c r o s s C a l l i n g R i v e r i t s e l f , an o l d I n d i a n named Min-a-hoo, l i v e d w i t h a d a u g h t e r
and f a m i l y . T h e i r name was Jacobs.
The o l d man d i e d when he was 106 y e a r s o l d , but
t h e y had a l l moved away by t h a t time. The b u i l d i n g s f e l l i n a f t e r a few y e a r s .
I
don't know i f you could have heard o f Min-a-hoo, as I am not sure he was t h e r e i n your
t i m e . But t h a t was a l l the p o p u l a t i o n b e s i d e s our f a m i l y .
As you p r o b a b l y know, we had t o shoot w i l d meat, and s e t nets f o r f i s h , as t h e r e
were no r e f r i g e r a t o r s , except when the c o l d weather kept e v e r y t h i n g w e l l i n the
w i n t e r . Of c o u r s e , everyone grew garden s t u f f , and picked b e r r i e s . We kept a cow.
Other s t a p l e s and canned s t u f f came i n by the t r a d e r . He p u l l e d a barge w i t h a motor
b o a t , and t h e r e was no f r e i g h t i n g i n the W i n t e r i n our t i m e , except what could be
moved i n a dog toboggan. The f i r s t t r a d e r we knew, was Edward Gamber, and the next
one was D i c k Newmann. He d i e d l a s t Year.
There was s t i l l much good f e l l o w s h i p amongst the people l i v i n g i n the Area
between Athabasca and F o r t McMurray. You a l l went t o the boat l a n d i n g when you heard
a motor b o a t on the R i v e r , and they always stopped and came up f o r a meal a t l e a s t ,
i f not o v e r n i g h t . When t h e y l e f t , the whole house went down t o the R i v e r t o see them
off.
I f you were d y i n g , you would s t i l l be expected t o do t h a t . Of c o u r s e , i n the
W i n t e r , you would meet any incoming dog team on the t o p o f the H i l l i n front o f t h e
S t a t i o n . I t h i n k you would remember how c l o s e the edge o f t h e h i l l was t o the
S t a t i o n ; so you wouldn't have f a r t o go t h e n . But you s t i l l went out i n a body t o
meet and g r e e t them, and a l l went out t o the edge o f the H i l l t o say "Good-by".
We were accustomed t o v e r y much company i n the t h i r t e e n y e a r s I was t h e r e . I
don't remember any time when we were a l o n e i n the t h i r t e e n y e a r s . Many, many t i m e s ,
t h e r e were two o r t h r e e s e t t i n g s o f t w e l v e o r t h i r t e e n a t the t a b l e d u r i n g a meal.
And I do not count the housekeeper and the h i r e d boy.
I am s o r r y I cannot s u p p l y more names. There are not any people l e f t i n the
C o u n t r y h e r e , who c o u l d remember what happened b e f o r e my husband l i v e d t h e r e .
In 1977, a number o f our c h i l d r e n made a t r i p t o C a l l i n g R i v e r , o v e r l a n d from
C a l l i n g Lake. The F o r e s t r y S e r v i c e keeps a road open t o C a l l i n g Lake. They s a i d
the g r a s s had prown t a l l around the b u i l d i n g s , as w e l l as some shrubs.
The b u i l d i n g s were b a d l y d e t e r i o r a t e d . No one i s l i v i n g i n the Area nor anywhere a l o n g the
R i v e r , but t h e r e i s a F o r e s t r y c a b i n near the R i v e r c l o s e t o the boat l a n d i n g .
The
Area i s open t o moose and d e e r h u n t i n g . I d i d n ' t want t o go, as I wished t o remember the p l a c e as I l e f t i t i n January 1946.
The young people d i d n ' t remember anyt h i n g about the way i t l o o k e d , but when they saw i t , they began t o remember a l i t t l e ,
the way i t was.
YoaTs^verj
sincerely,
P. 3. I t would be w o n d e r f u l t o meet y o u , but a t t h i s t i m e , i m p o s s i b l e , so I g r e e t
you a c r o s s the m i l e s and the y e a r s .