This cache is part of a series called the “Prairie Storms Adventure Trail” developed by Living Skies 2014 MEGA Event volunteers. Enjoy the hidden secrets of Southern Saskatchewan by getting off the beaten trail to sites seldom visited, scenic views, historic sites and buildings. The name also pays tribute to the Alberta's “Prairie Winds Adventure Trail” which was created for the Best of the Bad (WestCan 1) MEGA event in 2011.
This series will also take you along the Red Coat Trail, which is a 1,300 km route through southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta taken in 1874 by the North-West Mounted Police in their quest to bring law and order to the Canadian West. In Saskatchewan, Highway 13 is designated as Red Coat Trail.
Prior to the invention of the combine, these threshing machines or separators were used to harvest the crops. It required a very large crew of 20 to 30 people to keep this machine in operation. This crew was called "the threshing gang". Besides the threshing machine operator, each crew would have at least six teams of horses (6 drivers) to haul the sheaves from the field to the threshing machine. There would be 4-6 pitchers who helped to load the sheaves onto the racks and/or unload the sheaves into the threshing machine. There would be at least 2 grain wagons to haul the grain away. This involved another 3-4 people as unloading was all done manually by hand. Women played a big role as this crew had to be fed. Meals consisted of 3 full course meals and 2 lunches per day. And the best part of the whole set up was......Nobody worked on Sundays and everyone got Saturday night off to go to town. Sure was different compared to the harvest today.
Please do NOT crawl on the machine for your safety. Cache is very easily accessible to retrieve.
To receive a Special Edition Living Skies Geocoin, you must have logged, as "found" at least
45 of the “Prairie Storms Adventure Trail” caches. Please send an e-mail to
prairiestorms@livingskies2014.ca and we will check your profile and contact you for mailing arrangements. There are approximately
30 geocoins available.
