Japanese Settlers in Raymond
Working for the Family
A young married couple came from Fukushima, Japan and settled in
Raymond. They were among the very early settlers to come to southern Alberta in
search of a better life. After living in a two-room shanty for some time, they
were able in 1920 to buy an 18-acre piece of land from William Knight, second
son of the founder of Raymond. Using the lumber he had accumulated from the
garbage dump, he was able to build a small two-room house. An old discarded shed
from the sugar factory was hauled in and attached to the house. When renovations
were complete, there were two bedrooms and a kitchen. The family was now proud
owners of a piece of property they could call their own. One day he came home
with a big black horse to help him farm, given to him by Raymond Knight, for
whom the town was named. They called the horse "Doti" and with the
purchase of a single horse plow, two sections of small square harrows and a
harness, work began on their land.
They now had eight children and life appeared to be rosy until tragedy took
the mother while she was giving birth to a tiny premature baby girl. The baby
survived and when she was eight months old was adopted by a Japanese couple who
returned to Japan where they raised their little girl.
One more early Japanese pioneer left Japan and, after a brief stay in Hawaii,
came to Canada in 1907. After three years working on the railroad at Fernie,
B.C. and as far east as Taber, he came to Lethbridge to become a cook at a large
hotel, where he was able to study English at night.
In 1913 his bride joined him in Canada. After owning and operating a local
restaurant in Raymond for some years he bought 40 acres of farmland in order to
grow vegetables for his business. By 1915 the farm was doing so well that he
sold the restaurant to devote full time to farming. 1916 turned out to be a year
that old-timers talked about for decades. Rain was plentiful and a bumper crop of
potatoes was on the way. A pit was dug along the road to store his potatoes. He
harvested his crop and put them in the pit, covering them with stray and a bit
of soil. The harvest was completed on September 30, just before the wind shifted
from northwest to east. Snow fell on October 1st, 2nd, and 3rd and the
temperature dropped to 4 degrees Fahrenheit on October 4th. But his potatoes
were safe in his makeshift storage. When the weather moderated he sold them for
$100 a ton, an unheard of price for potatoes up to that time.
In "Japanese Farmers in Canada," published in 1929, it is recorded
that in 1917 he owned a farm with six cows, four horses, a full line of
machinery and a house. It is also recorded he attributed half of his success to
his wife who worked along side him on the farm. In a later book it was recorded
that he raised 7,500 bushels wheat, 1,000 bushels oats, 150 tons of sugar beets,
100 pigs, 100 chickens, 6 milk cows and 100 sheep. A success story from early
southern Alberta in one year.
A young man, born in 1896, a few miles from Tokyo came to America. His
journey was on a 11,500 ton British ship, on board which there were 136 Japanese
males, 31 Japanese females and twelve Chinese. There were also five Japanese
stowaways. He landed in Victoria in November 1907 and took a cram course in
English at Yoshizawa Kyokai. There was no work for him locally so he cut logs
for a mill at Haney until it closed. The Knight Sugar Company in Raymond was
looking for workers and on 8 May 1908 he and 72 other Japanese people boarded a
train for Raymond. They arrived on May 18 and the next day were divided into
three camps. For the next few years they were employed as sugar beet workers.
When the Company closed in 1913 four sections of land came up for lease to those
who wished to farm in the Raymond area. He was one of the ten people who decided
to stay and paid $25 an acre for the land. The use of machinery and horses were
provided, all of which he could pay for when he had the means.
After many hard years his wife came to Canada in 1917 as his "picture
bride" and they raised their nine children on their homestead, located ten
kilometers from Raymond. It was said, "These pioneers had foresight,
courage, tenacity and enthusiasm, and we salute them. Enduring and surmounting
innumerable obstacles, they opened the virgin lands of Alberta and left a proud
legacy for following generations. We are fortunate that they chose to settle in
this great country – the best place in the world to live. Our generation is
the one spanning ‘horse and buggy era’ to the space age." We must
strive to remember the lessons of the past even as we look to the future."
Excerpts courtesy of Evelyn Hendry from the Raymond Museum and Archives.
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