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South Peace Regional Archives
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Forest Falk fonds
Forest Falk fonds. -- 1895-1988. -- 5 cm of textual records, 30 photographs, 1 postcards, 3 cards.
Biographical Sketch
Forrest Clinton Falk was born August 23, 1895 in Sumner, Iowa. When he was six years old, he was placed in the Lutheran Orphans’ Home in Waverly, Iowa by his father, but was retrieved 2 months later by his relatives. By the time he was 15, he had rejoined his father and was working at any odd jobs he could find in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
At the age of 17, Forrest travelled as a stowaway by train up to Edson, then drove a team over the Edson trail for Leonard Beard, a settler coming to Grande Prairie with his family. They arrived in September, 1911. After filing on a quarter southeast of Clairmont and helping the Beards start a cabin, Forrest worked as a farm labourer for ranch owners such as Sproule and Cochrane. In 1912, he was joined by his father, John Frederick Falk. Father and son worked at proving up their homesteads over the next years, with Forrest working out as a ranch hand and a hauler on the trails.
On September 23, 1917, Forrest enlisted as a Private 1st Class for World War I at Deer Lodge, Montana. He fought at Cierges Fermes and Soissons in 1918, and was injured during this last raid, on August 30, 1918. After 4 ½ months in an American Red Cross hospital in St. Aignon, France, he was released.
In 1927, Mr. Falk married Edith Catherine Paige.
Custodial History
Records were donated by Margaret Wood, daughter of Forrest & Edith Falk.
Scope and Content
The fonds consists of personal records and photographs; legal papers and financial records from the Falk’s homestead including his original homestead application; and papers and correspondence regarding Forrest’s tour of duty in France during World War I and his resulting injury.
Table of Contents
| Series 049.01 | Personal Papers |
| Series 049.02 | Falk Homestead |
| Series 049.03 | World War I Records |
| Series 049.01 | Personal Papers. -- 1895-1980. -- 2 cm of textual records, 7 photographs.The series consists of correspondence, naturalization certificate, and copies of certificates regarding the birth and citizenship of John Frederick and Forrest Clinton Falk. Photographs include one portrait of John F. and Mary F. Falk, with their son Forrest in 1895, 1 photograph of the last home of Forrest and Edith Falk, and 4 photographs of Forrest Falk and Hazel Beard at the opening of the Smoky River Bridge in 1973. There are also four turn of the century cards from Edith Paige Falk’s family and the 1967 memoirs written by Forrest Falk for "Pioneers of the Peace". |
| Series 049.02 | Falk Homestead. -- 1912-1965. -- 2 cm of textual records, 23 photographs.The series consists of receipts for work done, land, livestock and machinery; transfers and leases of land between Forrest, his father and neighbours; sale agreements and loan agreements; and 20 photographs of the homestead between 1920 and 1930. One hand-painted photograph shows the wagon with four horses which Forrest drove over the Edson Trail, and a small cash book lists prices of items purchased for grubstake in 1912, as well as later purchases and records of work done for area farmers. Two aerial photographs show the Falk farmstead as it was in the late 50s or early 60s, and a 1965 Auction Poster advertises the farm sale when the Falks retired. |
| Series 049.03 | World War I Records. -- 1917-1933. -- 1 cm of textual records.The series consists of communications from the war department regarding the "wounded in action" of Forrest Falk, and the resultant compensation; dismissal papers such as the enlistment record and soldier’s affidavit; and a small diary used while at the American Red Cross hospital, with addresses and records of the treatment of his injury. |