They will never know the beauty of this place, see the seasons change, enjoy nature’s chorus. All we enjoy we owe to them, men and women who lie buried in the earth of foreign lands and in the seven seas.
Government of Canada
and to honour those who served in wartime…
NEW EXHIBIT: F. V. Burden, Rockhaven, SK
The CMMM’s most recent acquisitions are from the family of Frederick Victor Burden from the Rockhaven area. Vic Burden served in WW II as an Aero Engine Mechanic at RCAF Trenton in Ontario. Click here to read the full story of his service. His uniforms, documentation, and additional artifacts are currently on display in the Cut Knife Library.
Frederick Victor Burden’s uniforms and duffle bag on display in the Cut Knife Library. Visit at 113 Broad Street to view additional documents and artifacts.
Amy Rowswell (née Stephens) purchased this Remington Portable No. 5 typewriter in 1942. At the time, she was a student at the Normal School in Saskatoon studying to be a teacher. After receiving her certificate, she returned to Rockhaven to teach at Baldwinton, where she met Jack Rowswell. They married in 1952. Amy and Jack farmed south of Baldwinton, had three children, and eventually retired to the Town of Cut Knife.
Amy passed away in June 2023 and her family has kindly donated numerous items of historical value to the Clayton McLain Memorial Museum. Many personal stories will be attached to this machine. After all, it had been a part of the family for more than 80 years. However, this machine is also valuable in that Amy’s story points us to other stories, too.
THE TYPEWRITER
The idea of the typewriter first appears in 1714 as a Machine for Transcribing Letters, then again in 1830 as a typographer, but it’s not until the mid-1870s, that the typewriter appears on the market. Philo Remington, gun manufacturer, had purchased the production rights from Sholes, Soulé, and Glidden in 1873. In 1874, the Remington No. 1 was in production. By 1942, when Amy purchased her machine, typewriters were everywhere.
Typewriters became commonplace in office settings but also in people’s homes. They transformed the way people composed and produced written content and facilitate the process of manuscript preparation, typing letters and drafting professional documents.
Normal Schools were teacher training facilities created and funded by provincial governments. These institutions were designed to address the increased need for elementary school educators in the newly established public education systems.
The term “normal” derived from France’s École normale supérieure of the 1790s, and implied that teaching methods used therein would become the norm for all schools within the government’s jurisdiction.
The school at Baldwinton, SD #4762, was one of many hundreds of one-room schoolhouses built in Saskatchewan in the early days of settlement. As both population and educational expectations increased, one-room schools were replaced with larger buildings appropriate for separate grade levels and multiple teachers. Baldwinton was in operation from 1929 – 1965.
These buildings were respected as centers of learning; they hosted community events; they were recognized as the framework within which the community grew – for the years they remained open.
Tuesday, May 23, 2023: Today, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police mark their 150th year of service to Canada and Canadians. To honour this anniversary, CMMM artifacts currently on display highlight Cut Knife’s long-time connections to the RCMP and its predecessor, the North West Mounted Police. Lucille has selected items that have a direct connection to individuals who lived and worked in the Cut Knife community, which includes this beautiful jacket from the RCMP dress uniform, the Red Serge.
Red Serge jacket from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police dress uniform belonging to Shirley (Meriniuk) Yurchyshyn.
Items from the Walter Kingston collection: North West Mounted Police, Saskatchewan Provincial Police, and Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
These 2 photos show only a sampling of the RCMP artifacts on display at the Cut Knife Library for the next few weeks. Stop by and take a closer look at the items of clothing, memorabilia, framed paintings and photos, and the RCMP Musical Ride flag.
Today, Lucille set up the first archival display in the new Cut Knife Library space. It showcases the Courier’s feature articles on the installation of the World’s Largest Tomahawk. Before too long, the CMMM will have set up multiple display cases within the Library with revolving exhibits.
A year-round exhibit space has been the museum’s dream for years. The former Good Shepherd Church at 113 Broad Street has been renovated to form two spaces: the Cut Knife Municipal Library accessed through the front door, and eventually, the Museum Administration and Archives Center (MAAC) visited – by appointment – through the north side door. Next time you’re in the Library, check out the exhibits and let us know what you think.
The response to CMMM’s Archives Week 2023 posts exceeded our expectations. Many thanks to each of you who took the time to view our posts, here and on Facebook, to like and to share and to comment on them, and to click links to additional information. We’re really encouraged by the interest and engagement the posts received. Thank you!
A couple of updates are in order:
In Memory of Private Robinson: Sharing this post was essential to its success, and it was truly shared widely, as stats indicate.
We have been contacted by the family and are happy to report they will be submitting materials to the Passchendaele Museum for Ernest Robinson’s page.
Thanks go out to Bonnie Ramsay, Mary Ramsay, and Randy Strelioff for their photos of relevant pages from the local histories Preserving the Past and Time Marches On. These photos have also been emailed to the family.
Former Gallivan School students: Lorraine Martin has kindly shared a link to her blog post about the event Gallivan School Gathering (click to view), and emailed us a group photo – with names! See below.
Back row- (l to r) Clifford Laing, Fred Buglas, Bob Laing, Allan Hardy, Beverly Brinkhurst, David Bertrand, Robert Brinkhurst, Herb Brinkhurst, Betty (Sayers) Brinkhurst, Lucille (Bertrand) Fairley. Front Row (l to r) Russell Stewart, Lucille (Dubrule) Trautman, Lorraine (Bertrand/Birstein) Martin, Margaret (Ovens) Buglas, Kay (Buglas) Williams, Gail Laing, Lorna (Buglas) Gaudet.
I was born in Cut Knife and grew up in the area. Being 81 years old I remember a lot of history myself. I remember the street behind the lumber yard there were teams of horses lined up for a block in the winter time, people gathered in town Saturday nights for shopping, picture shows, and course Louie’s cafe was a gathering place. I remember the old jute box where I used to put my little bit of change listening to Kitty Wells, still love her. Then there was Santa Clause day where we got a free bag of candy and a free picture show, that was a special day. I remember Dad putting the horses in the delivery barn and walking down the alley way looking at all the teams tied up. It was another place for visiting. Clarence Morrison was the manager and owner.
Robert Loranger
UPCOMING
Annual General Meeting (AGM): Date TBA but can be expected towards the end of March. In addition to reviewing the Annual Report and Financial Report, the CMMM will be electing Board Trustees.
Trustee terms are 2 years
Meetings once a month on the 4th Monday evening
It is essential we have a full slate of Board Members so we can maintain seasonal museum operations, initiate and complete new projects, and so much more. Each person brings something different to the table including their personal skill set, their interests and experience. Without a full Board, the museum is merely existing. If you’d like to find out a bit more, visit the Volunteer page here and/or email us at cmmmcutknife@gmail.com.
The CMMM celebrated its 50th Anniversary a few years ago. Let’s all work to insure its success for another 50 years.
Clayton McLain Memorial Museum 