There is a common misconception that archaeology is only concerned with the early Indigenous history of the province. Archaeology is interested in all history, including the settlement period and into the early industrial period. Potash developments in the province certainly intersect with the early settlement and farming practices.
Another misconception is that early settlement is well mapped out in the many mile-by-mile sections that describe the province. The truth is much more interesting. The Dominion Land Survey started in 1871, however, most of Saskatchewan was surveyed after 1881. There were people on the land before that.
This was not the only system of describing land. Metis settlements were surveyed in river lots. Prior to that, territories and locations were defined by landforms and trails. Finding those boundaries and settlements is a challenge since names and landforms have changed and there are cultural differences in what aspects of a landform are significant, as well as how landforms were used and settled.
The Dominion Land Survey created road allowances but roads often followed earlier trails and people liked to settle along roads and trails. The quarter section grid came after the trails were established so while it is useful for describing settlements, it may not have been the dominant feature in describing where people settled. Railways also had a major role in determining where people settled and Saskatchewan had a lot. It was said that Saskatchewan and Alberta had over 7,000 kilometres of railways in just the agricultural portion of the province (Bohi and Kozma 2008).
There was a hierarchy of settlements around railways, and sidings were one of the smaller ones. A number of years ago Western Heritage was looking at a potash mine expansion and when they surveyed the cultivated field, they noticed a few settlement era artifacts and a big lump of concrete – what was that?
The first clue was a rail siding at the potash mine called Neely. A quick check into the local history indicated that the siding was moved when the mine was built but the name stayed the same. The local history for the rural municipality also produced the following paragraph:
At Neely there was a loading platform where farmers loaded grain into boxcars by hand using grain scoops. In about 1928 the northern elevator was built and a combined office and house for the agent. This created a small community with several families living at Neely. The elevator later was bought by National Grain Co. and served the area until July 31, 1969, when it was closed (Garner 2005).
The first question is where is the original Neely Siding (and was it Neely or Neeley?) as the location seemed to jump around on some early road and railway maps of the area. This jumping around was not uncommon as the location of settlements was determined by features such as road intersections or post office locations, and these could and did move over time. Fortunately for Neely, there were very high-quality photos from 1944 and 1947. The elevator and several buildings are clearly visible in both images so the location was fixed.
To investigate the site further, Western Heritage employed a surface collection of artifacts and two geophysical surveys. Artifacts that were observed or collected included some white ware, bottle glass, and ceramic jars that were likely related to the people living at the site. A rail shoe and some wire and insulators fragments are directly related to railway activity. Some artifacts could provide further information, like an ink bottle from the Reliance Ink Company in Winnipeg, and a glass bottle embossed with Aspirin on the side (paper work and headaches do go together). The Aspirin bottle was manufactured in 1942 which fits the time period, while the ink bottle has a wider date range.
Were there buried building remains? In 2008, Western Heritage completed a magnetic survey of the area of the siding. There was a very active area around the old elevator (the area of no data was the large piece of concrete), and several significant anomalies to the north. It looked promising, but more data was required.
In 2010, Western Heritage returned to the site and completed a ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey of portions of it. The GPR survey picked up the location of the railway, roads, and several buildings, and there was also a buried component.
Archaeology is a regulated concern and the regulator decided that while there was evidence of buried features, there was insufficient evidence to argue for site excavation. That was the end of the search for the settlement at Neely. The concluding statement from the local history runs: “The elevator and the station has since been torn down. The rails and ties in the old rail bed were lifted in 1978. Neely is only a memory!” (Garner 2005).
An interesting side story relates to the changes in ownership in the elevators. The Northern Elevator Company was a Canadian company from Winnipeg that was in business from 1893 to 1900. It was later sold to the U.S.-based Peavy Elevator Company where it operated as a subsidiary. The Peavy Elevator Company became part of the U.S.-based National Elevator Company in 1940. This illustrates the rapid consolidation in agriculture at that time and undoubtedly the higher capitalization of the U.S. customers.
References
Bohi, CW and LS Kozma
2008 Interwar rail construction in Saskatchewan and Alberta: an evaluation. Prairie Perspectives (Vol. 11) 45, University of Regina
Garner, L.
2005 NEELY CNR SIDING in Milestones and Memories: Colonsay and Meacham Districts 1905 -1980.
