• Print

Our History

This page is dedicated to the family of Oscar and Diana (nee Dionne) Amyotte from Mallaig Alberta.

Oscar Amyotte, eldest son of Moîse Amyotte and Cordelia Gervais was born on May 28, 1887 at Fort Coulonge, P.Q.  He attended school until he was thirteen years old and at fourteen he went to the lumber camp with his father.  As this was the only job available, he worked there until he was twenty years old and then decided to come West.

Over a century ago, the Amyotte story began in Alberta.  It was in 1905 that our forefather Oscar came from Fort Coulonge, Québec to Edmonton seeking adventure.  He worked a while on the construction of the High Level bridge and even signed a petition so Edmonton rather then Calgary would be the provincial capital.  He worked in Saskatchewan on a threshing excursion and left after the fall work was done to arrive in St.Vincent where his dad and uncle, David Gervais, had applied for homesteads.  In 1908, he also filed for a homestead at the cost of ten dollars.  He worked in British Columbia cutting railroad ties for the winter of 1908 and in the spring of 1909 he proved his homestead by breaking then acres of land with three oxen and a plow which was paid by breaking fifteen acres for Mr. Larochelle and five acres on his dad's homestead.  He had also built a little log shack.

In the fall of 1911, he bought his first "six-foot cut" Frost and Wood binder which he used to cut crops for neighbours in exchange for stooking.  He bought a seed drill in the spring of 1912 with his brother David who had come with him in the West.  This made seeding much easier and faster.  From 1912 to 1920, he operated Mr. Labonte's threshing machine for thirty-five dollars a month.  In 1921, he did the same work for Mr. Girard.

A threshing machine was purchased in 1922 in partnership with Ernest Chartrand, Jos Viel, Mr. Strasbourg, Enoch Haglund and Jonas Johnson.  He was the main operator until the company dissolved in 1941.

Oscar met the Dionne brothers, Paul and Alphonse, who had arrived from Rivière du Loup, Quebec, and had settled in Bordenave.  Their father (Paul) followed in 1913 but their mother, sister Diana, and Cyril arrived in 1915.

That same winter he and a neighbour hauled oats to Vegreville to have a little spare money, but a big storm developed and they were forced to stay there extra days.  By the time they finished paying for room and board and livery barn fees, they had spent more than the amount for which they had sold.  Such is life!  Luckily people exchanged time in those days.

What a drastic change the Dionne family made in his life when he met Diana!  After a short courtship, they were married on July 11, 1916.  Even though she was a young bride of 18 years, a city girl, she adapted quickly to hard work and motherhood which came one year later.  She was an excellent cook, especially at baking bread and pastries, canning meat, berries and vegetables of every kind, keeping the cellar well stocked with food.  She also sold eggs, churned and sold butter for eight cents a pound.  She was a perfect seamstress being able to sew any garment without the guidance of a pattern.  She would wash and prepare raw wool to knit socks and mittens by the dozen.  Then in later years, the wool was shipped to Fairfield Wool Co. in exchange for woollen blankets and yarn.

As the family grew and started to marry, she made for each one a beautiful quilted comforter and a set of feather pillows to offer as a wedding gift.

The only time her hands were not busy was after supper when she took twenty minutes with the whole family to recite the rosary and night prayers asking God's blessing.

Sunday was always a special day for her as everybody went to church wearing a well pressed suit, starched shirt and tie (no drip dry in those days).  The irons used to press were heated on a wood store.  I am sure God was with her all the time to stand up to the work that had to be done.  While Dad and the boys were busy milking, Mom was preparing the bottles so they could be filled.  Washday was no regular task as the ice or snow had to melted, then heated on a wood stove.   She experienced the evolution of the washing machine from a washboard, to a hand driven machine, Maytag gas washer to an electric machine which was replaced by an automatic washer.

Although mixed farming was their way of life, Oscar took on many other jobs.  He started selling bulk milk to the men hired for the building of the railroad grade and to the elevator construction crew.  When the town population increased, the boys delivered bottled milk daily.  During the summer these bottles had to be prepared early as the boys, walking to school, carried them in their school bags to deliver to their customers, picking up the empties after school.  In winter, the children drove a horse and cutter to school.  Because Oscar never had the benefits of modern machines at the beginning, land was cleared with an axe, breaking done with horses, seeding broadcasted, haying with a pitch fork, threshing done by flail and grain shovelled by hand.

Oscar also served as school trustee, helped build a school and churches in St.Vincent and Mallaig.  He was foreman for the building of the road, as this usually paid part of his taxes.  To supplement his income, he started buying hogs one day a week for different companies.

As the log house was getting over crowded, he went logging at Picard's lumber mill to make lumber for a new home which was built in the summer of 1942.  From 1944 to 1947 he obtained a special lumber permit which was on a bombing range.  Later he sold his lumber, planed and piled, in Therien for sixty dollars per thousand.   This special permit was offered because of the war.  Had the army needed the lumber, it was theirs and nothing was said, if not, it was Dad's to sell.  A new L.A. Case tractor was purchased to be used to saw logs at a cost of $1700.  He had previously bought his brother Dave's quarter and had also purchased the Morrison quarter where Mallaig is now built.  A second homestead was proven in 1931 in Goodridge but was sold later to his neighbour circa 1950.  He then bought Bill Kelly's quarter and a half section two miles south of town.  Most of these quarters were taken over by the boys as they married.

Together, they raised a family of fourteen, twelve boys and two girls.

• Paul, the eldest, married Laurette Martin, daughter of Ovila of St. Vicent Lake
• Germain married Philipe Doucet, son of Olivier Doucet of Therien
• Armand married Jeannette Martin, daughter of Arthur Martin of St. Vincent Lake
• Lucien married Juliette Gascon, daughter of Donat Gascon of Mallaig
• Léo married Annette Bélanger, daughter of Alfred, from Therien
• Adélard married Thérèse Gascon, daughter of Donat Gascon of Mallaig
• Cyril lived for three months only
• Edward married Germaine Belanger, daughter of Alfred, from Therien
• Philias married Mariette St. Arnault, orphan daughter of Alfred and raised by the Donat Gascon Family
• René married Louise Roy, daughter of Robert Roy of Saskatchewan
• Hector married Laurette Poirier, daughter of Prudent Poirier of Mallaig
• Emile married Jeannine Roy, daughter of Robert Roy of Saskatchewan
• Edna married Léonce Leblanc of New Brunswick
• Raymon married Maria Heemskerk, daughter of Nicholas of Edmonton

After 61 years of wedded bliss, Diana passed away suddenly in their home on November 18, 1977, at 79 years of age and Oscar lived to his 96th birthday.  Both rest in peace in Mallaig cemetery.