The photos in this section will deal with overall historic views of the Bell Farm from the time of its establishment in 1882 through its evolution into small family-sized farms in the 1890s and after. These images may show farming operations, like seeding and harvesting, various farm buildings, construction and other activities. It concludes with the incorporation of the Bell Barn into a well-landscaped acreage late in the 20th century.
RESEARCH BY:
Primarily by Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask.
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1880s - Sioux Encampment near Indian Head
Similar to teepees at the Bell Farm in the 1880s and 90s - these teepees are located on the Assiniboine / Carry the Kettle First Nation. Major Bell hired his Indigenous neighbours to help bring in the harvest and to cut fire wood for use by the many houses on the Farm.
SOURCES:
Postcard donated by JoAnne Matsumura, Issaquah, Washington, USA. Postcard published after 1905 by Alfred G. Orchard, Indian Head, Sask. Orchard opened a Drug Store at Indian Head in 1892, from which he also sold copies of local photographs. The Orchard family moved to Regina in 1917. History: "Indian Head and District", p. 584-585 - A.G. Orchard 1883 – March 6 – Letter from Major Bell to the Minister of the Interior (Sir John A. Macdonald: 1878-1883), p. 2 1884 – Feb. 8 - "Sherbrooke Weekly Examiner": mentions Chief Pie-a-Pot and band cutting 800 cords of wood for the Bell Farm. 1884 – July 1 – as published on Nov. 21, 1884 in the "Ayrshire Post": Dominion Day on Bell Farm 1884 - Aug. 12 – A Visit to Canada in Connection with the British Association Meeting, 1884 - Alfred Pegler, member of British Association, visits the Bell Farm, and mentions Assiniboine wigwams camped on the Bell Farm 1885 – June 15 - "Manitoba Free Press" – Grain Elevator article: Chief Jack brings wheat to Bell Grain elevator for inaugural milling 1885 – June 18 - "Qu’Appelle Vidette": Indian Head - “Flouring mill open to the public.. . . . The first public grist received and first flour turned out belonged to “Jack, chief of the Assiniboines, whose reserve is south of here.” 1886 – Jan. 15 – "Qu’Appelle Progress", p. 6 – Qu’Appelle: “A number of the Bell Farm teams passed through here on Tuesday with flour for the Indian reserves northwest of here.” 1886 – Sept 6 – "A Canadian Tour: Entering the Great North-West Territory" – p. 26 – Report on the Bell Farm employing 150 Sioux in the 1886 harvest. 1887 - July - "The Queen’s Highway From Ocean to Ocean", by Stuart C. Cumberland, p. 185-186 – Indigenous workers helped with Bell Farm harvest in 1886. 1888 – Sept 4. – "Regina Leader" - Major Bell again employs large band of Sioux at harvest. 1893 – "Scottish Tenant Farmers on the Agricultural Resources of Canada: The Report of J.T. Franklin" – p. 7 – "We saw some excellent crops being carried by Indians, who camped near during the harvest . . ." 1893 – Sept 19 – "The Agricultural Resources of Canada: Mr. T. Pitt’s Report", p. 15 - visit to Bell Farm / “Indians help on the Bell Farm in harvest.” 1893 – 30 Dec. - "Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald" – “On approaching Major Bell’s farm I was pleased to notice an Indian encampment consisting of eighteen tepees, the Indians helping with the threshing.” 1894 – Jan. 13, "Artisan Expedition to the World’s Fair, Chicago" – from "undee Courier and Dundee Weekly News" - James Taylor report: “As hired help is required during harvest and is difficult to procure in this locality, the Major generally gets from thirty to forty Indians for the harvest. They pitch their tents on the prairie close at hand, and I am told they make very fair harvest hands.” 1894 – Aug. 2 – "Qu’Appelle Vidette": Fort Qu’Appelle, “Maj. Bell of Indian Head, was in town yesterday, to secure the service of Sioux Indians for harvest work on the Bell Farm.” 1894 – Sept. - “Across the Canadian Prairies” by J.G. Colmer, p. 29-30 - "It is no uncommon sight in this district to see the Indians working on the farms side by side with their pale-face brethren, and, if report be true, they work well and earn their wages, many of them becoming quite expert in the handling of farm machinery.”
RESEARCH BY"
Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, Sask., and Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask. -
1882 - Bell Farm Plan - with added colour
The layout for the Bell Farm included a zig-zag pattern along the east and west sides after the squatter settlement was concluded. This colour version uses the Plan of the proposed Bell Farm, as surveyed by Henry Carre in July 1882 as a base. The lands in yellow were homestead lands to be acquired by the Qu'Appelle Valley Farming Company from the federal government; the lands in orange were to be purchased from the Canadian Pacific Railway Company; and the lands in blue were reserved for schools, and had to be acquired separately. As a result of squatters on the property, the ultimate borders for the Bell Farm were different, particularly along the east side.
SOURCES:
Brad Pickard - via Library and Archives Canada Saskatchewan Archives Board: Bell Farm map, by Henry Carre, July 1882.
RESEARCH BY:
Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask. -
1882 - Bell Farm Plan
Original 1882 Bell Farm Plan - by surveyor Henry Carre. The original plan called for an area 10 miles by 10 miles square. Due to the surveying system applied in the West, there is a jog in the land locations. This was further modified in 1883 during negotiations with squatters who claimed part of the Bell Farm for their own homesteading purposes.
SOURCES:
Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan: Carre plan of Bell Farm, 1881 Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan - Plan of the Bell Farm, by Henry Carre, July 1882
RESEARCH BY:
Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask. -
1882 - Detail of the Bell Farmhouse newel post
Elaborate carving and fluted detail near the top of the newel post. - The delicate carving helps display some of the decorative design found inside Major and Catherine Bell's Farmhouse at Indian Head. -
1882 - Newel post from the Bell Farmhouse
The newel post was salvaged by the Holden family before the house was demolished. - This wooden newel post anchored the railing leading from the front entrance to the second floor of the Bell Farmhouse, and was installed in 1882. The newel post was donated by Eleanor Holden to the Bell Barn Society on April 28, 2010. It is now on display inside the reconstructed round stone barn. -
1883 - Bell Barn and machinery in 1883.
Photo by Hall and Lowe, Winnipeg - Photographer: Hall and Lowe, Winnipeg photographers Source: Bell Family Collection - Shelagh Whitaker -
1883 - Bell Farm House and Barn, with stookes in the foreground - 1883
Photo by Hall and Lowe, Winnipeg -
1883 - Bell Farm House and Barn, with stookes in the foreground - 1883
Sketch based on photo by photographers Hall and Lowe, - Skene Lowe and James D. Hall were Winnipeg, Manitoba photographers who were in partnership from 1882 until 1892. Before relocating to British Columbia in 1885, they took a number of photos of the Bell Farm, including the earliest-known images of the Farm, taken in the fall of 1883. Engraved copies of Hall and Lowe's images appeared in a number of publications throughout the 1880s and 1890s. Sources: http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/photographers/halllowe.shtm; Memorable Manitobans, by Gordon Goldsborough http://ourroots.ca/e/page.aspx?id=485908 – The New West – 1888, image 167 and 168 between p. 104 and 105 https://archive.org/stream/cihm_30664#page/n7/mode/2up - Homes for Millions, the Resources of the Great Canadian North-West, 1892 Research by Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon and Frank Korvemaker, Regina -
1883 - Close-up view of the Bell Barn - 1883
Photo by Hall and Lowe, Winnipeg -
1883 - Close-up view of the Bell Farm House - 1883Photo by Hall and Lowe, Winnipeg - Major Bell stands in the doorway, flanked by to other men.
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1883 - Detail of the Bell Barn in 1883.
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1883 - Stone Bell Farm Cottage and barn - 1883
Photo by A.B. Thom, Winnipeg, Manitoba -
1883 - Two wooden Bell Farm Cottages in 1883
Photo by A.B.Thom, Winnipeg, Manitoba -
1884 - Bell Barn with horses
Photo: McCord Museum, Notman Collection: V1388 - taken 1884 - Round stone Bell Barn in 1884, with teams of horses in the foreground. Photo by William M. Notman, Montreal, for the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. (Source: McCord Museum, View-1388) -
1884 - Bell Farm from south
Photo: McCord Museum, Notman Collection: V1386 - taken 1884 - Bell Farm, as seen from the southwest, with the large wooden barn on the right, two storey headquarters house in the centre, round stone barn to the left of the house, and blacksmith shop to the left of the barn. Photo by William M. Notman, Montreal, for the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. (Source: McCord Museum, View-1386)