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More tales of early days from Wilf Miller

In the county of Castor in Alberta there was a neighbour who, in the hungry thirties made a lot of money hunting coyotes for their hides.

 

To the Editor:

In the county of Castor in Alberta there was a neighbour of mine who, in the hungry thirties made a lot of money hunting coyotes for their hides.

They had to be caught in winter to get the nice, white expensive furs.

His name was Don Reidel. He used a team of thoroughbred horses  on the fornt bobs of a bobsleigh, and a large box on it to carry blood hounds - also purebred. When he saw a nice coyote, he would drive his rig at top speed and when he got abreast of a coyote he would turn the dogs loose. They would kill the coyote without hurting the hide. He used to get a lot of money this way and did very well. He had a very pretty wife and she had the finest of clothes, and this was in the hungry thirties.

My father was also a very successful farmer in those days. There were eight of us kids and dad and mom.

We milked upwards of 26 cows and sold the cream, and poured gallons of skim milk to the pigs. We made a good living while many in Alberta had nothing. We drove a 1921 Buick and paid 18 cents per gallon for gasoline.

We also made a little money in the fall. My dad owned a threshing machine and at age 15 and older I ran that around the country, threshing for people for several seasons.

As ever, Wilf Miller, Keremeos