Summary information
| Repository: | South Peace Regional Archives |
| Title: | Stanley William Bird fonds |
| Reference code: | 0594 |
| Date: | 1918 (date of creation) |
| Physical description: | 12 pp. textual records
1 photograph |
| Dates of creation, revision and deletion: | Processed by Mary Nutting November 2014 Added to new database May 2025 – TD |
| Note: | This fonds has been identified as having Indigenous related content. Researchers may encounter language that is outdated and offensive. To learn more about Indigenous records at the South Peace Regional Archives please see our guide. |
Administrative history / Biographical sketch
Stanley William Bird was born in Dorset, England ca. 1899 and came to Canada with his parents in 1908. The family lived in Nakomis, Saskatchewan until 1914, when Mr. Bird took a homestead about 20 miles southwest of Watrous, Saskatchewan. There is little information about Stanley Bird’s youth, just that he worked for the Texas cattlemen who grazed their herds in southern Saskatchewan.
In 1918, Stanley filed on a homestead in the Northfield/LaGlace area of the Peace Country, on the SW of section 6, Township 75, Range 8, West of the 6th Meridian. This was “about 40 miles from Prairie City, 4 miles from a post office, and 3 miles from a store.” After spending the summer on his homestead, he returned to his father’s home in Saskatchewan for the winter. Somewhere along the way he contracted the Spanish Flu and died on Christmas Day, 1918.
Custodial history
The records were deposited at South Peace Regional Archives in 2014 by Murray Dovauo, the son of Peg Bird, Stanley Bird’s sister, to whom one of the letters is written.
Scope and content
The fonds consists of a photograph of Stanley William Bird, and two letters which he wrote to his sister and father in 1918. The letters describe what was happening in the local area, and what he was doing. He mentions the 1918 murders, attending Sports day, and going hunting.
Notes
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title of fonds based on contents.
Access points
- Textual record (documentary form)
- Graphic material (documentary form)
- Family and personal life (subject)
- Settlement and Immigration (subject)
Series descriptions
| Reference code | Title | Dates | Physical description |
| 0594.01 | Item – Stanley William Bird | 1918 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 5 x 7 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph of Stanley William Bird (registered on the Alberta homestead files as William Stanley Bird) in sheepskin chaps and cowboy hat. A note on the photograph reads “Grandma’s brother Stanley William Bird. Taken June 1918.” Conditions governing use: Not suitable for reproduction. |
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| 0594.02 | Item – Letter to Peg | June 10, 1918 | 5 pp. textual records |
| Scope and content:
This letter was written by Stanley William Bird to his sister, Peg. This letter contains the words to the song “Prairieland” as well as the poem, “How”. He mentions subjects in which Peg was probably interested (birds’ eggs, what the houses look like, and how all the men look like cowboys), and tells her that she can keep his pony Nell, “a little white mare with brown ears.” |
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| 0594.03 | Item – Letter to Dad | 1918 | 7 pp. textual records |
| Scope and content:
This letter is written by Stanley William Bird to his father. Each page is numbered 1 through 7 and it comes in two parts. Part one, dated June 27, talks about the murders of seven men in June 1918, and is a good measurement of the rumours and assumptions made at the time about the money, the perpetrators, and the victims. This letter also describes the wildlife in the area (wild horses, beaver, moose, bear, silver and cross foxes, timber wolf), the remnants of the Klondike Trail which is also the pack trail from Prairie City to Pouce Coupe, and looks forward to the July 1 Sports Day and that “all the Indians in the country will be there.”Part two, dated July 11, gives the “latest news” which is that the number of men murdered has increased to thirteen. He also mentions that he is making $70.00 per month working on a steam plowing outfit, and that he is going hunting with an Indigenous man. The last line if the letter says “Indian name Wi-kit-sis.” |
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