My wife’s great-grandparents are John Alexander McLeod, born in 1867 in Kincardin, Bruce County, Ontario and Annie Jane Burns, born 20 March 1873 in Prince Edward Island, daughter of John Nelson and Catherine (Kirk) Burns. John Alexander McLeod and his parents, Angus and Annabella (Fraser) McLeod, moved to Idaho in 1889 and were living there when John and Anne Burns were married in December 1894. He constructed a tramway to take goods from the valley up to a plateau and the railway at Lewiston, Idaho.

John A McLeod and his Tramway at Lewiston, Idaho

When the Klondike gold rush started in the late 1890’s John made his way to Whitehorse. In order to get there he had to carry a year’s supply of food (one ton) on his back over the Chilkoot Pass through the Coast Mountain range from Alaska to B.C. He worked in the shipyards at Whitehorse for the better part of 3 years.

In 1905, after the gold rush, John and Annie McLeod moved to Bruce County, Ontario and farmed for a few years there before they move to Alberta, where they had a thriving lumber business in Gadsby, Alberta. They moved from there to Donelda before moving to Victoria for three years.

John Alexander McLeod

In 1914 the family packed up and headed for the Peace country in northern Alberta. There they set up the “end of rail” hotel. Anne Jane Burns was the cook and Arabella McLeod, my wife’s grandmother, and Stella Smith were the waitresses. John McLeod also built a livery stable, which served as a post office, masonic hall, undertaking parlour, bank and office building. In 1917 they sold their holdings to Charles Spaulding and moved to the Holloway property east of High Prairie where they farmed.

McLeod’s “End-of-Line” Hotel in High Prairie

Annie Jane Burns

Ralph Lebans at the Farm in High Prairie, Alberta

One of the McLeod daughters, Annie Laurie, died in January 1919 of the Spanish Flu, leaving three small children.

John A. McLeod building his vessel at High Prairie

In 1932 John built a large 12 by 24 foot scow on the farm near High Prairie. The scow was loaded on the wheels of an old threshing separator and hauled to Peace River Crossing with a John Deere tractor. They loaded the scow with food and provisions and floated their way down the Peace River, including a portage for the cargo around Vermillion Chutes.

“They floated down to Lake Athabasca and Slave River, finally landing at Fort Fitzgerald. There some of the supplies from the scow were traded to Ryan Brothers in payment for the cost of transportation of the balance of the supplies, and enough lumber from the scow to build a new smaller boat. When this boat was launched at Fort Smith, for the last leg of the journay, ice had formed on the river and the R.C.M.P. at Fort Smith forbade the  party to continue. Mr. McLeod asked if there was a written law that said he could not go on. The police admitted that there was not, but reminded him that if they were lost, the police must hunt for them. Mr. McLeod told him that that was what he was being paid for and accompanied by his son Angus and two helpers, he proceeded to Fort Resolution. The following morning they found that Great Slave Lake was frozen for a mile and a half and that they had to break ice to get into the main stream. Half way up the river they picked up Captain Naylor, distributor for the Hudson’s Bay Company, and towed him to his destination in his open boat, since his outboard motor was frozen. The McLeod party went on to Fort Norman where they spent the winter in the Roman Catholic Mission house. The grandsons and Mrs. McLeod joined them there the next summer and they remained there freighting on the Bear River Rapids for the next three years. A move to McMurray followed.”

The family moved to Richmond in 1934 where John Alexander McLeod passed on in March of 1950 and Anne Jane (Burns) McLeod in September of 1959.