"Halt the trek"

Hold the Fort

The Trekkers arrived at Kamloops, B.C.the next day stiff, sore, tired and hungry. In two groups they marched in orderly fashion to camp quarters that had been arranged for them in Riverside Park. When they found the preparations were inadequate, they quickly took matters into their own hands, canvassed citizens and businesses, and soon there was enough food for all.

In defiance of a ban by local authorities they held a Tag Day. They stayed for two days in Kamloops, while they waited for the second contingent of strikers from Vancouver to catch up.

In Golden, Evans arranged a happy reception for them when they arrived on June 6. Lodging was at the Auto Park. A local committee had been set up to collect food and a public meeting arranged for the evening which was addressed by Evans.

"We went among the farmers," Evans said, "and collected foodstuffs and butter and eggs. I wired to Calgary for 800 loaves of bread. We got four cords of wood, borrowed every wash tub in town, prepared everything and then cooked a big stew that night sufficient for the body of Trekkers, with enough left over for the next day."

Two Trekkers who had been drunk that day were expelled from their ranks. One turned out to be an agent of the police.

Evans was called back to Vancouver by the Workers Unity League and Black was elected to temporarily take his place as Trek leader.

The trip from Golden to Calgary included going through the spiralling seven mile Connaught Tunnel that went through the heart of a mountain. It was a slow, suffocating trip with the men breathing in dirty, brown, acrid, sulphurous fumes, covering their mouths and noses with handkerchiefs and rags. When they emerged, many of them were feeling sick, but all were happy that they made it.

Calgary

Their next stop was on June 7 in the city of Calgary, Alberta. Calgary was a city in which the labour movement was strong and support for the Trekkers was equally strong.

The Calgary City Council agreed that the Trekkers could be housed at the Exhibition Grounds. But the Trekkers needed more than a place to sleep, They were without funds and food. They decided more militant action was needed.

When A.A. Mackenzie, chairman of the Alberta Relief Commission refused to grant them meal tickets, they picketed and surrounded his office and let him know that he would not be able to leave until relief was provided. After an exchange of telegrams with the provincial government and Ottawa, the chairman finally capitulated and agreed to supply meals tickets for the weekend. The "seige", which the press described as hostage-taking, had lasted for 3 1/2 hours.

The mayor refused to grant the Trekkers permission to hold a Tag Day but they held one without permission and without police interference and raised $1300. Many donations of food and clothing also came from citizens.

The following day the Trekkers celebrated at a mass rally at Bow River Park, where a large audience applauded the speakers.

Cheered by their successes and by additions to their numbers by relief camp workers from Edmonton, the Trekkers happily left Calgary after a three day stay for their next stop. They carried with them a batch of 2400 sandwiches donated by Calgary wellwishers.

Swift Current, Medicine Hat, and Regina

In Swift Current they just stopped for a meal donated by the city.

The next halt was at Medicine Hat, Alberta, where the Trekkers made a 24 hour stop, staying at Athletic Park. Cooking facilities and food were provided for them by city authorities.

Here Evans joined them once more. He had come all the way from Vancouver by freight train.

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A Trek leader, Steve Brodie, gave this account of Evans' arrival:

" I was tending night fires with a group and smoking and drinking coffee. Out of the shadows at the entrance came a man. Somebody looked up and said, "Well, here's Arthur."

"He was absolutely bone-weary, almost staggering from tiredness and weakness...this night he looked like a living skeleton.

"He had pulled on a pair of overalls over his suit. His face was black with soot and his eyes were red from cinders and tiredness. He looked at me and said, "Steve, for god's sake, give me a cup of coffee, please." Then he told me the story.

"He always took precautions because his life was under surveillance by the police at all times. He had someone drive him to a small station near Vancouver where he got on the train. Even then he had to be careful he would not be trapped. He hadn't gone very far when he saw in the same coach two men, obviously policemen. He knew his chances of getting through to join the Trek at Medicine Hat were absolutely nil. He knew there was going to be an arrest.

"When they made the next stop he casually walked out of the railway car and went into the restaurant which every station had in those days of the steam engine. He stopped at the counter long enough to order a sandwich and a cup of coffee, knowing that he was being observed from the train coach. Then he went through a side door, took off uptown, ran ahead of the train, got into the "jungle" area where freight and passenger trains were normally boarded by rodriders, and jumped on the tender of his own train.

"His manoeuvre was successful. He rode the tender all the way. It was two o'clock in the morning when the train arrived in Medicine Hat."

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On June 13 the Trekkers arrived in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, where they were greeted by a large body of citizens, and provided with meals in restaurants by the authorities. They stayed over and held a public meeting that evening addressed by Evans and other Trek leaders as well as local citizens.

Their next (and last stop as it turned out) was at Regina, Saskatchewan, the capital city of the province, where they arrived on June 14. Here they were joined by 500 more men from the Dundurn relief camp.

more .....On to Ottawa!