Pete and I take dozens of biking expeditions across the Qu’Appelle Valley and Saskatchewan prairies.
In addition to the biking benefits of exercise, camaraderie, and scenery, we stumble across numerous abandon structures. And I love architecture and history.
In this portion of the world, numerous empty buildings makes sense. Starting in the 1880s when the Canadian government offered free land to European homesteaders, numerous immigrants came to the prairies and farmed for a living. As time passed and farming technology allowed fewer people to farm more land, less people needed to live out here.
Farms grew bigger while the farming population grew smaller. Thus, lots of empty houses, deteriorating by the elements, litter the prairies.
Other buildings too. Numerous barns and wooden grain bins. Occasional church buildings. And the rare schoolhouse.
Fieldstone built structures are quite the landmark. Most all are still standing and are well documented.
This photo is the old Wright farmhouse, south of Balcarres, Saskatchewan. A grand castle just sitting in the middle of nowhere. When Pete and I discovered it, we biked up from the back side on a road allowance. That’s a former road where a farmer has the right to plow it up if no one uses it. Google maps never told me that.
Pete and I found ourselves biking across some farmer’s unseeded field in mid April. Something that looked like a medieval castle slowly rose above the horizon as we peddled closer.
Holy moly. That’s amazing. We couldn’t resist. We explored it. Crumbling stone walls and all.
I’ve since found much more interesting buildings in way better shape. Like the time we found a very well hidden house, thus protecting it from vandals and souvenir hunters. As a wood artisan, I’m giddy beyond belief to find ornate trim work from turn-of-the-century artisans that has been undisturbed by all but time and elements.
As a professional in that realm, I also know what amount of work it takes to create that trim. And there wouldn’t have been access to power in the remote prairies during the early 1900’s when some of these houses were built. Not to mention, supplies and work crews would have had to come in by train to the nearest station, then horse and buggy it all to the remote location. I assume everything was done by hand. And probably a work crew that camped out on the job site for weeks, if not months.
And then…here it is. One hundred and twenty years later, it stands abandon in a field. Wildlife inhabit it. The environment slowly destroys it.
Why do we spend so much time, energy, and resources on our houses? Why do we build bigger barns?
They will end up just like us: back to the earth from whence it came.
A person’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions, indeed.