A Wilson Family Tree
Notes for George Robertson Dennis
It looks like he was named for his grandfather, who was a U.S. senator from Maryland.
Santa Cruz Evening News, 15 Aug 1917, p. 7 (obtained from Newspapers.com):
TRAVELS OF MRS. H. C. COOPER
Word has been received from Mrs. H. C. Cooper who is visiting her son George R. Dennis at his farm on Canough Creek thirty-six miles from Kamloops, B. C.
She says Mr. Dennis and his wife are the only Americans in this vicinity and he is rapidly becoming a leader. He is a great worker and has accomplished wonders on this land in the two years he has resided there. He has built two houses for himself and one for a neighbor, also a large barn, many outbuildings, fenced most of the 160 acres, besides clearing a good many acres and looking after the stock and helping his neighbors. He and his wife get up at four o'clock in the morning and never stop working until dark which is at this time of the year 10 p. m. They have a difficult task as the ground is full of rock--this however, with the timber, they have utilized in building. It is a wild but beautiful country, wooded with fir, spruce and pine, also poplar and birch in spots. There are some beautiful lakes near here, through one of which we were obliged to drive. If Santa Cruz people had to ride over these roads they would never think their own bad again.
It is a very independent life here as taxes are only a few dollars on 170 acres and the only bill is for groceries, as they raise everything else. At present there is not much fresh meat, but plenty of chickens, eggs, cream, and butter, also ice which they get from the lake in winter so we have ice cream every day. In winter they kill steers and hogs and share with their neighbors.
The ride from Vancouver here is [sic]
The ride from Vancouver here along the Frazer is a fascinating one. There is a railroad on both sides of it and many tunnels. Vancouver is a large and attractive city but in some ways much behind our cities in the states. Its stores and business blocks looked very shabby to me. I didn't see a store to compare with Mr. Leask's. The people there must be fond of sweets as there were two or three candy stores to every block. There is a beautiful park.
Many families around here are subsisting on the war, as the Canadian government is quite liberal. One woman with two children gets about a hundred dollars a month, the husband never earned anything before; she gets a separation allowance for herself and two children, part of the salary and money from the patriotic society.
We only get the mail here once a week; postage is .03 on letters and .02 on postals.
I expect soon to leave for Banff, a celebrated resort in Alberta. The road, I am told, is very picturesque, and leads through a tunnel fifteen miles long, where the train is carried through by electricity.
Note: Some of the information in these pages is uncertain. Please let me know of errors or omissions using the email link above. ...Mike Wilson
Page generated on 14 September 2024