Harvest Excursions

by Chris Evans | May 16, 2022 6:31 pm

Harvest season on the Canadian Prairies at the turn of the 20th century was a momentous time of year. Much depended on the timely and thorough getting off of the crops–too early and crops weren’t maximized; too late and inclement fall weather could kick in and partially or entirely destroy crops in the field. You’ll see harvest referred to numerous times in Section 2 of the By Sea, By Land book and in the archival documents of the Waters family. Here’s an interesting tidbit on what it was like to serve on a harvest crew, and how workers were transported to the West to add numbers to the crews.

Before the introduction of the combine, prairie harvests required large numbers of labourers for short periods of time. Harvest excursion trains, 1890-1930, brought workers west – about 14,000 in 1908. Railways offered harvest tickets from any station as far away as the Maritimes to Winnipeg for $15, and a return fare of $20. Excursion trains provided crude accommodation: packed 4 per compartment, passengers slept on slatted wooden seats. Delays, crowding and drunkenness on occasion led to riots. In the 1920s railways demanded and got RCMP detachments on the trains to keep order. The harvesting work paid $1.75-2.25 for a 10-12-hour day with board, and usually lasted 15 days. A threshing crew of perhaps 2 dozen was paid $2-3.25 each a day with board. Although the journey was rough and the work was gruelling, the excursions introduced Canadians and Britons to the Prairies. Many decided to return permanently to homestead. The collapse of the wheat economy in 1930 and changing farm technology ended the era of the harvest excursion.

Reference: Harvest Excursions | The Canadian Encyclopedia                       https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/harvest-excursions Accessed 2022-05-12, 3:13 p.m.

Source URL: https://mywatersfamily.com/?p=2318

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