The Jewish Farm Colonies of
Alberta
By Albert
Stein (March / April 2001)
Many Canadians do not realize the magnitude of agriculture's
contribution
to the Canadian economy. In 1999, this amounted to over $70 billion. Even
fewer are aware that a sizeable number of Jewish immigrants to Western
Canada were homesteaders, made their living as farmers, and contributed
to
the development of Canadian agriculture. This article covers two of the
most prominent Jewish farm colonies in Alberta, Rumsey and Trochu.
In the early 1900's, following completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway,
Canada opened its doors to immigrants from all of Europe, including Russia.
Young people were needed for the railways, forests, mines, construction,
and particularly to settle the West in order to build the nation from
coast
to coast and prevent possible American annexation of the largely vacant
prairies.
At the same time, Jews in Tsarist Russia were experiencing
severe
oppression and devastating pogroms. The future seemed hopeless, so when
the opportunity to emigrate to Canada presented itself, with the added
incentive of homestead land available in the West, many young men welcomed
the challenge. Many of these early Jewish migrants settled in Montreal,
Toronto and Winnipeg, where small Jewish communities already existed.
Others started out as artisans and merchants in the small
towns and cities
that were developing on the prairies. A smaller group of men, including
two of my uncles, worked their way across Canada, headed for Calgary.
Inspired by Yiddish writer Chaim Zhitlovsky's "back to the land" Jewish
renewal movement, they banded together, their ultimate goal a Jewish farm
settlement.
Alberta, in 1905, had just become a province, and actively
solicited
settlers by offering them homesteads-160 acres of unbroken land that would,
if certain conditions were met, be their own. If this homestead was "proved
up", i.e. if a number of acres were ploughed and planted, brush clearing
and some sort of dwelling place were in evidence after a couple of years,
then an additional 160 acres could be bought cheaply.
To these settlers, the chance to own land was a huge opportunity
denied to
Jews in Russia. They applied for their allotted acreage and became legal
farmers. None had even seen their land, but it was enough: they had youth,
courage, ambition, and a dream in their hearts.
Five days travel by horse and wagon over bald prairie and
grassland brought
them to their apportioned acreage 160 km. northeast of Calgary, on the
east
bank of the Red Deer River, "where grass was up to a horse's belly, lakes
and sloughs were fresh and productive with wildlife and game, and
wildflowers were everywhere."
When they returned to Calgary from this expedition, the
news spread like
wildfire among the Jewish newcomers. Soon about 75 men filed for
homesteads. Thus, almost overnight, and without financial help, a Jewish
farm colony was formed about 10 km. west of Rumsey village. Another smaller
Jewish farm colony was formed east of the village of Trochu, near the
west bank of the Red Deer River. Trochu was closer to rail connection
at the
time. The two settlements were only about 18 km. apart, but separated
by
the river. Until Rumsey received rail service in 1911, the Jewish settlers
had to walk or ride about 80 km. from Olds or Innisfail and then swim,
or
at low water ford the river, until a cable ferry service started in 1907.
Little did they know the hardships involved. Most of the
settlers had no
farming skills or experience with animals. For some it was an experience
even to find the location of their land. At first, some of the ranchers
were unfriendly. The government had allowed these early ranchers to use
the
land at will; now it was no longer theirs to use. But soon friendships
developed, and help and advice given generously to the new settlers.
The newcomers earned the respect of their neighbors. They recognized their
courage as a group that came to a strange land, without the language,
or
required skills and experience, but with the will and courage to succeed.
In reality, all were in the same boat and had to make the best of what
little there was at hand. They lived in tents from spring to fall, then
built sod huts and shacks for the winter. Obtaining lumber and other
supplies meant long travel by horse and wagon or ox cart.
Almost all the Rumsey colonists were single young men. In
time some found
wives willing to share the hardships, the manual labor and the harsh
winters. The years 1910-20 were fruitful. By the end of the decade, there
were approximately 40 youngsters in the district. The majority of the
district public school students were Jewish. It would have been easier
for
the teacher to learn Yiddish, as many of the children couldn't speak
English when they started school.
In 1917, funds were raised and labour was volunteered to
build a synagogue,
which served also as a school, Jewish library and social hall. Following
regular school hours, Jewish children attended classes in Yiddish and
Hebrew, taught by teachers hired by the settlers. The most respected and
dedicated of these teachers was my uncle, Eleye-Leib (Elias) Sengaus,
one
of the original homesteaders, who served also as a mohel (circumciser)
and
shochet (ritual slaughterer). In the 30's, when difficulties beset the
colony, Mr. Sengaus made almost superhuman efforts to make sure that
children received a Jewish education. By then, no longer a young man,
he
still travelled from farmhouse to farmhouse, on foot or on horseback,
never
neglecting any child's education.
He owned a sizable library of Yiddish literature and subscribed
to several
Yiddish journals and papers until his death in 1956. Because I spent many
childhood summers with him and my aunt on the farm, I too benefited from
his "teaching". He was a cultured, warm-hearted mentsch devoted to Jewish
education. In 1949, the synagogue was no longer needed. It was moved,
remodelled, and became the final home of my aunt and uncle Sengaus. Today,
after much renovation, it is the home of their grandson.
The colony's social life was centred around the synagogue,
but as is usual
in farm communities, everyone, Jew and non-Jew, was welcome and
participated in each other's celebrations. I saw ample evidence in later
years that the friendliness and neighborliness was constant.
Sport was always an important part of social life. The Rumsey
Jewish
baseball team was good enough to travel to Calgary and win. Even into
the
60's, half of the Rumsey baseball team was Jewish. Outdoor hockey was
popular in the early days; now curling is important.
The Rumsey and Trochu colonies were established on fertile
soil, and
enjoyed much higher annual precipitation than the Jewish colonies in the
drybelt of Saskatchewan. So, if they were lucky enough not to get wiped
out
by hailstorms or grasshoppers or early frost, the early years were
bountiful. By 1920, the Jewish population in the district was 238 and
over
10,000 acres were under cultivation. Rumsey and Trochu were the wealthiest
Jewish colonies in Canada. Land values soared and wheat, under the open
market system, reached a speculative high of $2.21/bushel. But when the
Canadian government abandoned the wartime Wheat Board in 1920, and returned
grain marketing to the Winnipeg Grain Exchange, growers were left at the
mercy of the grain cartel. Prices of grain and cattle were manipulated
down and by 1923 had brought ruin to thousands of farmers, especially
those who had obtained large mortgages to obtain expensive land. The Rumsey
and
Trochu colonies were not spared; many farms were abandoned. A number of
those who left went on to become successful businessmen in Calgary and
Edmonton.
Rumsey farmers were infuriated by the grain cartel's exploitation,
and
through their strong United Farmers of Alberta local, joined with thousands
of others across Western Canada to demand the return of the Wheat Board.
Failing to achieve this, they tried to organize a voluntary cooperative
pool operated by the farmers themselves. Organization progressed slowly,
until in the summer of 1923, UFA president Henry Wise Wood heard that
Aaron Sapiro, a California lawyer who had helped organize farm commodity
pools in the U.S., had been engaged to speak to Okanagan apple growers.
Mr. Sapiro agreed to speak to a rally in Calgary. His inspirational speech
created much enthusiasm and a resolution was soon passed calling for the
organization of an Alberta Wheat Pool. Almost all the remaining Jewish
farmers of Rumsey/Trochu were among the original Wheat Pool Signers, and
years later received official recognition for their achievement. The
Saskatchewan and Manitoba Wheat Pools were organized in 1924. The Pools
represented a producer-owned and controlled alternative to the open market
system for the sale of Canadian grain. They were the first cooperatives
to aspire to this in the history of the Canadian grain trade, and since
the cessation of their pooling activity in 1931, neither they nor any
other
farm organization has tried to repeat the experiment.
The decade of the "dirty" or "hungry" thirties saw prolonged
drought and
rock-bottom farm commodity prices take their toll. The idealistic dream
fell apart as many settlers were forced to abandon their farms and move
to
the cities where they and their families could survive. Those who managed
to remain benefited from the beginning of farm mechanization. After WWII,
major improvements in farming technology and living conditions came about.
Electricity arrived in the early 50's, a permanent bridge was built across
the river, and in the 60's major roads were paved, almost to the door.
The lure of better living conditions and better careers
continued to
attract the younger generation to the cities. The last Jewish farmer,
Jack
Cramer, left the Trochu district in the 60's. My cousins, the Sengaus
and
Silbertstein families, have endured, and now manage large mixed farming
operations, which include the original 320-acre homesteads. They are the
last of the original Jewish settlers still on the land in Rumsey.
Smaller Jewish farm settlements were established about 1910
near Sibbald
and Alsask, along the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. Some of these settlers
had earlier farmed in North Dakota and Montana. Unfortunately, they chose
light, drought-prone land and despite their best efforts and the assistance
of the Jewish Colonization Association, all were forced to leave by WWII.
Among the descendants of the Rumsey homesteaders who continued to farm
elsewhere in Alberta were Fred and Fanny Horodezky, who operated the
noteworthy 2 Bar F Ranch north of Pincher Creek, and Sam Rosenthal, son
of homesteader William Rosenthal, who I believe still runs three farms
and
ranches near Calgary, Stavely and Wetaskiwin. A number of Canadians now
prominent in business, the professions, the arts and politics can trace
their roots back to the pioneer settlements of Rumsey/Trochu.
As for me, I visit my cousins in Rumsey as often as possible,
to walk the
land and savor the enduring congeniality and comradeship of this community.
My daughters were named after my two pioneer aunts, Vichne (Victoria)
Sengaus and Rivka Silbertein, to honour their memory.
Major references: "Pioneer Days of Rumsey-Rowley, Book II."
The Scribe,
Vol. 14, No. 2, Jewish Historical Society of BC.
Land of Promise, Jewish Historical Society of Alberta