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The legendary John Grieve Oliver: Builder, ferryman and entrepreneur

Part 3 of 3
John Grieve Oliver
John Grieve Oliver’s steam powered ferry, circa 1905.

The most complicated and critical piece of equipment for John Oliver’s ferry was the boiler. Oliver dismantled his sawmill at Turtle Lake (he had rebuilt it after it had been destroyed by fire at the start of the Rebellion in 1885) and rebuilt and modified the sawmill boiler for use on his ferry. Only he had the mechanical skills to do this.

He hauled it by horse and wagon to his ferry construction site along the river straight north of the Battleford town site. It was complicated and extremely challenging, but Oliver was able to make the boiler and engine transfer power to the paddle wheel.

Essentially, the builder had to determine how to convert linear force to centrifugal force – not an easy task. The boiler was the only power source and could generate an extraordinary amount of force with the steam it generated. Of course, the amount of force had to be controlled in response to river conditions and the weight of the cargo. The boat was steered by rudder – a long shaft of wood with a large paddle located on the river side of the cabin.

Oliver also had to secure a smokestack (notice the picture). Otherwise, smoke close to the deck would suffocate animals and passengers alike. Oliver built a cabin on the stern side of the ferry adjacent to the fire box and steam engine. This was the command centre from which Oliver and his assistant (whom he had carefully trained, and who kept the fire box stoked at an optimum level to regulate the intensity of the heat) operated the ferry. If too much steam was produced, it created too much force and too much speed. To address this, Oliver built a release valve in to the engine that could be opened or closed as required.

The wood supply consisted of semi-green aspen cut to length. If the wood was too dry, it burned too quickly and created too much heat. Large blocks were split, and an ample supply of kindling was maintained. The logbook was also located in the cabin, and Oliver kept detailed records with respect to his clients, animals, machinery and various kinds of cargo that arrived by stagecoach and wagon on the Battleford side, and by train on the North Battleford side.

In 1905, the Canadian Pacific Railway reached North Battleford bringing cargo and goods of all kinds, passengers and a great deal of business for Oliver’s ferry.

Finally, the Union Jack was flown high. After all, the west was a British Colony, and Oliver proudly served Queen and country.

Oliver did not secure a government contract until only a short time before the official launch of the Battleford in late spring of 1900. No worry. He knew all of the shakers and movers in both the federal and territorial governments. He was personal friends with many, and a lot were beholden to him for past favours. So, they came to John Oliver, not the other way around.

The christening of the Battleford and its official launch was quite a spectacle. There were many speeches and music by a 12-piece brass band, and champagne flowed freely. Every big wig in the country was there and they all vied for position to board the Battleford on its maiden voyage upriver to Delmas, then across to North Battleford and back to the loading site.

Vi Loscombe reported in the News-Optimist(July 9, 1982, p. 11) in her Territorial History article) that “All his life, John Oliver had been interested in timber and rivers, and there was little he didn’t know about either.” For many years it was the only form of transportation between the communities of Battleford and North Battleford.

It was heady stuff, to be sure, and John Oliver basked in the attention and praise. Then reality set in and he turned his attention to the hard work of running a ferry, especially a steam ferry. As you can see from the picture, the ferry docked sideways in order to load. The actual landings varied on both sides of the river because of the shifting sandbars and currents. It was also often necessary to trek up the steep banks of the river and haul cargo and help drive animals to the ferry. Most animals didn’t take kindly to ferries. One landing site was adjacent to the North Battleford pump house on the north side of the river.

The life of a ferryman was hard and that would be understating it considerably. Oliver’s ferry was the only form of transportation until the iron bridge opened a decade later.

Ever the innovator and entrepreneur, John Oliver initiated the first Battlefords Sunset Riverboat Cruises in the west. For a handsome fee, leading citizens from both communities boarded the Battleford after sunset for a cruise to Delmas and back. There was good food, good drink, music (provided by local musicians) and dancing. The cruises were the premier social events of the year.

On occasion, ferry operators had to deal with some huge challenges. In 1906, the Battleford’s ferry wheel picked up a coil of wire in the river. The wire twisted hundreds of time around the shaft – a critically serious matter. A bulletin went out to inform that the ferry was shut down for repairs and that all traffic on the river was suspended for the rest of the fall.

What happened to Oliver’s ferry, the Battleford? One night in a storm, it broke from its moorings and floated downstream to a sand bar. It was stuck there for many weeks. Finally it was stripped of most of its machinery, the boiler, the smoke stack and other components. And that was the end of the fabled Battleford. Octave Nolin took the loss. John Oliver had been out of the ferry business for some time.

I would be remiss if I did not offer a few remarks on Oliver’s personal and family life.

Oliver and the former Julia Cousins were married on Nov. 28, 1882 at Brandon, Man. Oliver was a family man even though he was away from home for extended periods of time. He ran ferries on the Mackenzie River in British Columbia for the Hudson’s Bay Company. He would range far and wide on horseback searching for stands of lumber for his sawmills and building projects. He found lumber near Fort Edmonton (200 miles to the west), hauled in a crew to cut and skid the logs with powerful Clydesdale workhorses to the North Saskatchewan River to float them downstream to his sawmill at Battleford. Nothing seemed impossible for the supremely confident John Grieve Oliver during these years when he was in the prime of life. 

The Olivers raised a family of five children (three girls and two boys) at a time when families were typically large. Five children was average. The Olivers’ children, their respective birth dates, the respective dates of their marriages, and the dates of their respective deaths are presented here in chronological order. Some of the Olivers’ children lived into the 1960s and ‘70s, so it is likely many Battlefords and area residents will recognize their names.

Agnes Jane Oliver, born Sept. 13, 1883, at Turtle River, North West Territories. Married John Thomas Callahan on April 29, 1903. Died Nov. 12, 1971 at Prince George, B.C.

Annie Belle Oliver, born Oct. 15, 1885 at Battleford, North West Territories. Married Hugh Minard McKenzie on Sept. 2, 1903. Died June 16, 1971 at Port Coquitlam, B.C.

Jay Adam Oliver, born April 8, 1889 at Battleford, North West Territories. Died (by drowning) on July 8, 1901, North Saskatchewan River at Battleford, North West Territories.

Arthur King Oliver, born Oct. 7, 1890 at Battleford, North West Territories. Married to Sarah (Sadie) Ann on Oct. 26, 1914. Died on Feb. 26, 1969 at Portland, Ore.

Alice Grieve Oliver, born June 10, 1893, at Battleford. Married John Hewitt on Aug. 14, 1937. Died on July 6, 1977 at Port Coquitlam, B.C.

There is no evidence anywhere in the public record to suggest Oliver did not love his wife and children, or that he had a roving eye. Oliver was consumed by his work. He was extremely wealthy, so his family had everything it could wish for except a husband and a father much of the time. Unfortunately, John Oliver spent little time with his wife and children. He was often gone for months at a stretch, so it fell on the shoulders of John’s wife, Julia, to raise the children. She accomplished this with remarkable persistence and resoluteness. She was an extraordinary mother to her children.

For John Oliver, there were many personal and work barriers and obstacles to overcome. He met them all with determination and courage to become one of Battlefords’ most successful men. There were also some heartbreaking, personal tragedies.

During the afternoon of July 8, 1901, John Oliver’s 12-year-old son, Jay, and two friends were playing on the riverbank on the Battleford side of the North Saskatchewan River (about 200 yards east of the present east bridge, north of the Battleford town site). Oliver was busy salvaging dead logs about 60 feet from the bank. He admonished the boys to be careful and get back from the river’s edge. Then the unthinkable happened. Jay slipped and fell into the water. He was immediately pulled under by a shifting shore current.

Jay’s friends screamed, “ Oliver, Jay is drowning , Oliver, Jay…” The boy surfaced 30 feet from the shore and, calling for his father, tried to swim to him on the scow. His father, frantic with fear, tried desperately get his work boots off. He screamed, “Hang on Jay, I’m coming, I’m coming, hang on son.”

Jay, his lungs already half-filled with river water, was pulled under again. This time he did not come up. John Oliver dove in, desperately searching the murky water for his son. It was futile. John Oliver and Jay’s young friends, their hearts breaking, and with muffled sobs, trudged up the hill to Battleford where Oliver organized a recovery party. Jay’s body was recovered downstream two days later. He was laid to rest in the Battleford cemetery on July 13, 1901. Most of the town attended this immensely sad affair. Oliver never fully recovered from the loss of his son.

Oliver lived a full and accomplished life. He attained the proverbial threescore and ten years and exceeded it by four years. Sadly, John Oliver, who was so physically imposing and healthy, with a boundless energy most of his life, became sick in November 1920, fell into a deep and morbid depression, and was confined to his bed.

He died on Dec. 13, 1920 in his bed at home in Battleford, his wife and children by his side. He was 74. His funeral was conducted by Thomas Clark, Anglican prelate for the Battlefords and area (Clark ministered to the First Nation people on the Red Pheasant Reserve. He was also the first principal of the Battleford Industrial School located in the former Government House building).

At the funeral, the church could not accommodate the mourners and citizens, who came to pay their respects. They came great and small. They were the who’s who of Battleford and North Battleford and area — politicians, government administrators and scribes, educators, business tycoons and even his competitors. They included the wealthy and great including names like Prince, Clinkskill and Nolin and First Nation chiefs and headmen.

A huge multitude followed the horse-drawn hearse to the Battleford Cemetery. John Grieve Oliver, the first pioneer in the Battleford and area, a great builder and businessman, a family man and great citizen of the community of Battleford, is buried in the Battleford Cemetery next to his beloved son, Jay who preceded him in death 20 years previous, overlooking the great river valley and the mighty river that had brought him great wealth and public acclaim, and, ironically, tragedy and unrelenting pain.

This great man, and his son, rest now overlooking the eternal North Saskatchewan River.