The land where the cache is situated used to belong to the
Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District (LNID - I am told at the
time, it was a subsidiary of the CPR). In 1884, an American settler
named John Rogers Davis filed for a homestead east of the present
town of Coalhurst and across the river from the modern site of
Hardieville. His homestead is just to the south of the cache. North
of here was leased land for grazing.
J.R. Davis’ son Roger employed my grandfather and in what I wish
to believe was an act of kindness meant to help out another person,
didn’t pay the taxes on this land. It then reverted back to LNID
control. This allowed my grandpa to buy, in about 1936, a piece of
his own land at a fair price. In 1937, he married my grandmother
after winning her over by having one of the few radios in the
area.
Since that time there have been many changes, including my
parents building their house beginning in 1968 where they still
reside.
Please enjoy this cache and remember to wave if you see a farmer
‘out standing in his field.’
Information on J.R. Davis from the Lethbridge Historical Society
publication The Rocky Mountain Rangers Southern Alberta’s Cowboy
Cavalry in the North West Rebellion – 1885. Additional information
gleaned from conversations with my Dad and a couple of his
brothers.