The first building was a log restaurant built by Mr. Rath. It was situated on the north side of the tracks. The chief part of the meal was rabbit. since no other meat was available.

Among the first buildings to be erected here were the Depot and temporary housing quarters for the railroad and temporary round house.

John McTaggart of Winnipeg was early on the ground. As a relative of Sir W. McKenzie, he w as given preference in getting his material on the grounds for his Hardware Store. He carried a complete stock of hardware, and later sold out to the Great Northern Lumber Co. This store was built before the town was surveyed.

Mr. Henderson from Winnipeg was an early settler and established a Lumber and Hardware business. He built in the northwest part of the town, before the survey. This business was later sold to Ritz and Yoerger.

The first General Merchant in town was the Great Northern Lumber Co. carrying a stock of general merchandise, hardware and lumber.

The store was built on the south side of the tracks and was a tar papered building. It was situated where the old fire nail now stands (which was lately toppled over). The fire hall was a frame structure The front part was used for the storage of the fire engine and hose and., the back part was used for housing the pump. The well was a producer of good water and supplied the needs of the town which made water delivery to all who wished it.

The pioneer merchants and early businessmen of the town are made up as follows: Andrew George. AJ. Eidelbrock. J.N. Lowes. R.J. Kepkey. E.T. Wallace, Freeman Young. J. Cummings, L. McLocklin, John Ritz. J.G. Yoerger. F.K. Wilson G.B. Richardson, George Bushey Joe Bushey A.E. Pike, W.R. Bell. F.B. Davidson. E.G. Walker, Dr. D.B. Neely O.W. Andreasen, AJ. Kruse, F. Heidgerken, Telfer Bros., J.M. Crerar, AJ. Borget, Hy Haskamp, John Speak Hanson Bros., G. Schaeffer, John Schaeffer, A.E. Rouse. Tom Kidd. George Barnes, Robert Walker.

The first overseer of the town was .J.H. Lyons. After his term of office he was followed bv.J.N. Lowes. to whom great credit should be given for his work in getting the town established. it was during his term of office as over seer the plans were made for the incorporation of the hamlet as a town. He ran for office as mayor but was defeated by a small margin by O .W. Andreasen w ho became the first mayor of Humboldt. During his term of office many local improvements were made; water works, electric lights and many miles of sidewalks.

The town was organized into a school district in, 1905 The first trustees were George Ritz. E.G. Walker and J. Yoerger The first school teacher was Miss Alma Lyons. Since there was no school building, school was held in the Presbyterian Church. the firs. church established here in 1905.

The Rev. Joseph Hunter was the first missionary coming here straight from Scotland. This church was later sold to the Salvation Army and they are still carrying on in the same building.

The next church to be established here was the Anglican. They built close to where the Post Office now stands. This building was later moved to their own property, and its still used as a vestry.

The Roman Catholic Church held services in the old Great

The CNR dug wells for their supply of water for the round house. but they found it was not suitable and later ran a pipeline to a slough two miles out.

The pioneer settlers drove in from Rosthern and Saskatoon before the railroad was built. They mostly all lived in log shacks. a few of them had horses. but most of them had oxen. They came to town over the trails. which were very good. They moved around the sloughs and bluffs.

The south trail served the south country. It ran along through by George Barnes'. Mr. Kopps' around Stoney Lake. Joe Thole's, and out by the old Humboldt Telegraph Station.

The old station was a log building and it was replaced by the building that now stands on the site. The lumber and materials used were freighted across country by horses from Saskatoon. Mr. McDonald was the first operator.

Over this south trail it was common to see dozens of teams hauling out materials and provisions to build up the towns of Lanigan, Guernsey and Watrous. The settlers in these districts came into Humboldt for all their supplies.

The trails through the country in the summer months were very pretty, winding in and around the bluffs It was common to see deer wolves and game c lose to the trails.

The mail was distributed from Dauphin to Rosthern and came across form Rosthern by stage to Muenster. Someone from town went to Muenster on Saturday for the mail. It was distributed in the Great Northern store. and later the Post Office was established in Lowes and Kepkeys General Store. Later it was moved to a building next door owned by R.J. Kepkey who received the appointment of post master and still holds the office.

The first passenger train arrived in May 1905. There was great excitement. and all the townspeople were down to see it come in. We had mail and train service every other day. The first settlers of the town came in on the work trains in the caboose.

The first celebration was held July 1,1905 on the Commons on the south side of' the town It was as quite a wonderful celebration with floats, horse racing. baseball and football. The town was nicely decorated for the occasion with flags, bunting and small green poplars. Dorothy Kepkey was Miss Humboldt.

The: first fire was the Windsor Hotel It was burned while under construction The structure was up and a temporary stairway in the building was partly burned. A strong north wind was blowing and it was supposed someone had spilled coal oil down the stairway and set it on fire. The flames and sparks flew and huge chunks of blacked shingles were picked up three miles out.

There was a restaurant next and several men escaped in their night clothes. They were badly burned and were taken to the, store where Dr. Neely and Mr. and Mrs. Wallace tried to relieve their suffering. One man and his dog burned to death. The man was buried on the Commons on the south side and was later removed to the cemetery.

The roar of the fire woke the citizens. The inside of the shacks were black from the fire. The people living on the south side had to get the roofs with brooms while brushing the sparks as they fell on the on their roofs.