Meilicke Diary 4

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unlock her tongue either. Most of the Swedes and norweigns had a bottle or two.

At every station the train stoped for half an hour, and one place they stoped for an hour

to get dinner.

It was 4:30 when we got to Sangudo. there Andy met us.

We went to a hotel and got a room for the night for it was impossible for us to get away

that night. Andy come with the sleighes and one of our teams.

The train stopts on the south side of the Pembina river, So Andy had to find a place to

put in the team. The river was freezing over and the ferry could not run. And the only

way we could manage was to get a hand car and load our goods on and push it across

the R.R. bridge.

Before we had supper Andy and I walked over the R.R. bridge to feed and look after the

horses for the night. When we got there we watered them and queen got a touch of the

colic. We worked more then an hour with her before we could get her quiet. Then

Andy stayed at the place where the horses were and I came on back to Sangudo.

As the bridge and tressle is about half a mile long I was glad to step off of it, and it was

dark at the time which made it worse. '

Emma had already had her supper and was in her room when I came back. As she was

suffering from a cold she swatted her throat with coal oil and went to bed at once.

From St. Paul out the hotel got worse and worse, so when we got to Sangudo the hotel

was a very rude structure built of lumber and lined with building paper.

The beds were very plain, but were clean.

Eight years ago Gus and I camped below on the river about a mile east from where the

bridge. ln those days there was no ferry and we had to ford the river. If the water

happened to be high every thing had to be taken over on a raft and the team was made

to swim across. Once when our ox team refused to go into the water we got a lot of

stones and just drove them right in and they found it went alright. Then it used to take

us two weeks to make a trip to town for a load of provisions. Now the train runs twice a

week from Edmonton to Sangudo. And after a while when they get the siding on the

Meilicke Diary 3

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were getting into Alberta and it was getting colder. the small ponds were froze over,

But we passed a large lake on the north side of the R.R. that was all open yet, and the

wild geese there were by the thousands on it. The train stopt at a station close by and

one of the men had a pair of strong field glasses, so we all took a good look at them,

but it availed us nothing, so we gave it up.

Arrived at Edmonton at 10: P M Sunday night. It was just starting to snow. We walked

up town to the Yale hotel on jasper Ave.

Monday morning Nov 8th and still snowing. We got breakfast. (Oat meal ham and

eggs and coffee.) after breakfast we waded snow in search of over shoes and some

winter clothes.

Edmonton was very dull, and full of those blooming soldiers they imaging they own the

sidewalk. I only saw a few people l knew and one of them in a uniform.

We walked out over the high level bridge. It was still snowing at the time about 3: P.M.

After we got well out on it we felt the cold wind it made us hide our ears and put us on

the move.

When we got over we waited for a street car and rode back right up to with in a block

off our hotel.

As every thing was dead in town we stayed in that evening and rested up for in the

morning we were to take train for Sangudo.

Nov 9th.

At 8.35 a.m. we got aboard the C.N.R. train for Sangudo. The last stage of our R.R.

journey.

The train was a mixed train. It must have been like a slow train through Arkansas. It

had on to coaches and they were packed full. The passengers were of a mixture that

can only be seened out in these parts.

There was the Norvveign the Swede the German the Swis the Hungarian the blooming

H'english and about a dozen more variety. One Swede from Peavine was talking to a

lady from Whitecourt saying that the Peavine country is the only place for white people

to live in. But he sure met his better and one who did not have to depend on whiskey to

Meilicke Diary

This is the first of a series of items. The storey is a transcription of Julius (aka Jewell) and Emma diary  or similar which was sent to JA's farther, and survived. It was transcribed by young decendent and sent to mother, Alberta, by Mildred Nickols, all of the extended Meilicke Clan. I ran the transcription thorough OCR and fixed up the formatting, which OCR cannot handle. As I had to do some figuring to make sence of this, I will explain after each page. Note that this is November of 1915.

MEILICKE DIARY

Trip and homestead in Canada/

(Diary written by Julius and Emma Meilicke)

Kirksville, Mo. A

(Written by Julius) November 3th, 1915.

I was at Wills in the morning. And after breakfast we made a couple of jugs of cidar to

take to Ed Wrights in Kirksville and also to take a bottle of it to Fred whom we are to

meet in St. Paul on our way to Alberta.

Will drove me to town with the lumber wagon. And we left the team in the 10c feed yard

whiled we went out to Ed Wrights for dinner. After dinner we went up town to get a few

things we needed for the trip.

At 8:30 P.M. we boarded the Wabash train for St. Paul. Mr. and Mrs. Ed Wright

Dave Wright and Miss. Green were at the train to see us off.

Nov. 4th.

Arrived at St. Paul 11: A.M. Meet brother Fred at Hotel Sherman. After having Greeted

each other we had dinner. An A. 1. dinner it was too. So then we had the rest of the

day for visit.

Fred looked well. It seemed as tho. the country and all agreed well with him.

In the evening we three went to a theater. The play was fairly good. The best part was

a mule (a brother to Mary's Jake) they had on the stage, his part was to let no one ride

on his back. There were a couple of nigers and some white men trying to mount him,

and when one succed to get on his back he was at once unseated for the mule would

bite as well as kick. I believe if Mary would train her Jake a bit he might yet make a

name for himself.

We all enjoyed the play very much and when it closed we went to the Hotel and retired

for the night.

Nov 5th

In the morning we walked over the city. Had dinner at the State capitol building. The

Minn. capitol building is built with white granit and is finished inside with marble and

other costly stone, It all cost $4,700,000

Explanation:

Will likely is JA's younger brother, born William Carl Meilicke, May 17, 1885, in Dallas County Iowa. Lived near Kirksville, MO.

Fred likely is JA older brother, born Frederick G (Gustav?) Meilicke, 1877, Frankfurt, or Pensylvanien  which is the german spelling of Pennsylvania with one n. 

 Ed Wright... no idea...

Mary may be JA's older sister, Born Anne Maria Helena Meilicke (aka Mary) November 14, 1873, Frankfurt, Married 1896 to Charles West, Minburn, which is 3 miles west, 5 north of Dallas Centre.