A Lifelong Bond
Two brave couples with a pioneering spirit remained friends for life
After Jens and Myrtle Pursell married in 1909, they decided to move up to Canada from Spokane, Wash., to start their new life together. With a tent attached to their wagon, a yellow dog and a young roan as an extra horse, they made their way to Elko, B.C. Upon arrival, a fellow in a nearby tent shouted, “This is the end of the road!”
So they camped around Cranbrook for a while, and eventually filed a blind claim in the Sedalia, Alta., area, about 200 miles east of Calgary. They shipped their goods and rode on till they found a horseshoe near a stake, and there they stayed.
At first, the couple lived in a 17-foot-wide dugout with poplar poles for a roof and Prairie sod on top. By 1912, they had built a 12-foot-by-12-foot oneroom shack. It was so small that they kept their things on the bed during the day and stowed them under it at night. Using a sulky plow, the Pursells broke some land, and the little roan horse always did her part. Starting with only $9 to their name, they worked hard, prospered, and eventually owned two threshing outfits.
Soon after Wilhelm and Katerina Born came to Canada in 1926, they found work on the Pursell farm. The two couples bonded immediately, even though Jens and Myrtle were English- speaking Scandinavians and the Borns had just fled from terror in Ukraine. Myrtle’s father had died before her birth in 1888, and her mother soon after. Katerina was an orphan, too, and was now a 20-yearold mother with an infant son, Jake—who grew up to become my husband. To teach Katerina to read and speak English, Myrtle used the “Home Loving Hearts” section of a farm paper.
When the Depression struck in the 1930s, both couples lost their livelihood. The Borns chose to move north to Tofield, Alta., but Jens wanted to go west to James River Bridge, Alta., where there were natural springs of water. Jens, who was 15 years older than Myrtle, slowly drove their old Ford coupe during the eight-day trek, while Myrtle guided their 27-head herd. A passerby along the road shouted, “You are driving those cows too hard!”
Myrtle shouted back, “If I can walk it, so can they!”
The two couples stayed in touch over the years, and my husband recalls the Pursells bringing him a little wooden wagon on one visit. As adults, Jake and I have lived in British Columbia, but when our children were young, we took them to see the Pursells several times. We always sent greetings and sometimes small gifts at Christmastime, and our families kept in contact even after Jake’s parents died.
Jens died after 20 years of farming in James River Bridge. Myrtle then moved to Sundre, Alta., to farm on her own for another decade. Weakening eyesight prompted her to switch to washing and carding wool, instead of her usual intricate quilting and rug-making.
At age 89, she rode the bus from Calgary to Abbotsford, B.C., to attend our son John Born’s wedding to Ellie Wall. She enjoyed every detail, especially the pizza supper after rehearsal. Upon her return home, she surprised us with a huge parcel of 50 pure wool blocks for our silver anniversary. She advised, “When you’ve slept under the same quilt for 25 years, it is time for a new one.”