Histories

With team and wagon, driving a herd of 50 mules to Meota Saskatchewan, George Wildman and his wife Effie Lee (Allen) emigrated from Vici, Oklahoma. They had with them their two year old son Clement and infant son Chester “Cap”. It would have been an arduous journey at best.

They likely arrived in SK in late 1913 and purchased their homestead at SW 5 52 16 W3rd in Midnight Lake. Their first home was a sod-roofed house and the first fall they lived in it, one of the steers tied into it and ripped a corner out! In 1919 the birth of Kenneth completed their family.

George was an excellent horseman and an avid hunter. He made his living from the proceeds of trapping and hunting as well as livestock while farming. A very active grandfather, George didn’t want to be called Grandpa, as it made him feel old! His grandchildren Lee and Garth were told to call him Daddy George, not Grandpa. He and Effie owned and operated a general mercantile store in Glaslyn for several years, moving into the town of Glaslyn about 1934. After the war, he was not around much of the time, spending his time between Okotoks, AB, Vulcan, AB and Oklahoma.

George returned to Oklahoma for good around 1952 and Effie remained in her home at Midnight Lake. After Effie’s death in 1955, George married Maudie and they made their home in Oklahoma until his death in June of 1959. He died while laying a fishing line in a farm lake east of Oklahoma City. A companion said George might have drowned - he suddenly went under after apparently stepping in a hole. The coroner investigating the accident said death might have been caused by a heart attack as there was little evidence of water in the lungs.

As a young man, Cap joined US Navy, and became the Captain of a ship. During WWII his ship was torpedoed and he was severely wounded. Cap married the Saskatchewan born Muriel Whelen and they had two children – Lonny and Marylee. Cap and Muriel made their home in Washington state.

Ken Wildman went to Nebraska and started ranching there. Times were not always easy - one year a ferocious storm covered and smothered 200 purebred Hereford cattle. He married Ethel Lydiatt in Washington and daughters Eura Mae and Lorena were born there. Eventually the family settled in Oregon.

George’s brother Richard “Arthur” Wildman was a teacher at the Midnight Lake school for many years. All of Arthur and Ethel’s sons were born in Midnight Lake – Leland in 1915, Orville in 1919 and Marion in 1921. Arthur and Ethel homesteaded the NW 8 52 16 W3rd.

Another brother John Edward “Ted” Wildman and wife Ola May (Pfister) also made the trek to the Midnight Lake area. Ted and Ola May homesteaded the NW 9 52 16 W3rd. Their first two children Gilbert and Lila were born in North Battleford and Reta was born in Turtleford. In time, June was born in Edmonton in 1921 and Edith born in Oklahoma in 1929, as the family returned to its roots.

In due course, all three Wildman brothers returned to Oklahoma where most of their siblings resided.

Clement was the only Wildman who chose to remain in the area. He and Idella (Arnesen) were married in 1934 in a double wedding ceremony with Idella’s sister Maud and husband-to-be Charles Nelson and they made their home on the same home quarter as was originally homesteaded by George and Effie.

George’s way with horses was passed down to Clem – although he was seldom seen astride a horse, he had some excellent driving teams. He told of a cold winter night when he was called upon to transport a doctor to Turtleford across the Livelong railroad trestle at night with team and wagon. Minnie and Dollie, a team of Standardbred trotters, walked on the railroad ties across the trestle, in the dark of night and all safely reached the other side. Few drivers or teams would attempt crossing the coulee in the daylight under ideal conditions! Another time he took a doctor to east of Medstead. After the baby was born, Clement took the doctor to the railway station in Medstead, and saw him aboard the train. He then left for Glaslyn. It was a snappy fall night and Clem let the team have the reins. They set a fast trot all the way. Just as he was getting close to Glaslyn, he heard the train whistle. He stepped up the team a bit, and was waiting at the train station when the train pulled in! He then drove the doctor to his house.

In addition to farming, Clem was an L.I.D. inspector in the Glaslyn, Frenchman’s Butte, Big River and Meadow Lake areas. When he left that he sold crop insurance. There were few farmers in the area that Clem didn’t know!

Their son Lee married Velma Lobe from the Jackpine/Speedwell area and they had two daughters and two sons. Son Garth married Jeannette Burton who was from the Midnight Lake area and they had two daughters and a son. Lee and Velma are living in Lloydminster and Garth and Jeannette live in Calgary.

Clem and Idella celebrated 51 years of marriage and then in 1985, Idella succumbed to the cancer she had so valiantly fought. Clem remained on the home quarter until about 1989, when he moved to Glaslyn. Around 1997, he moved to Lloydminster to be closer to family and passed away there on April 6, 2000 at the age of 89. In July of 2000, his and Idella’s ashes were mixed and spread under the evergreens on the home quarter.