How Do You Do, 1935?
© Maria Dunn, 2004 SOCAN

Train was the main mode of transport in the 1930s with people and goods criss-crossing the country under various conditions during that time.

The On-to-Ottawa Trek, a grass roots protest against the Federal government's Depression relief camps, left Vancouver in June 1935. One thousand young men travelled in orderly formation, train hopping as far as Regina before government forces stopped them from proceeding further. The communities through which they passed supported them along the way with food and lodging. The trekkers called the camps "The Royal Twenty" because they worked for 20 cents per day plus food and bunkhouse accommodations. At the time, the average wage outside the camps was about $3 per day, (or 37 cents per hour-thanks to historian Alvin Finkel for the comparison) although that didn't include food and rent. Trade unions and social agencies recommended that 50 cents per hour was the minimum wage necessary to raise a family of four.

Meanwhile, new settlers in Northern Alberta hopped the trains southward, looking for paid work to supplement their meagre homesteads. More established farmers had troubles of their own, having just been on strike in the winter of 1934 to protest the low prices they were receiving for their grain. It's no wonder that people dreamed about how to spend the $25 per month that evangelical preacher William "Bible Bill" Aberhart and his Social Credit Party promised when they swept to power in Alberta's 1935 provincial election.

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There's a train that's coming from the West
A thousand men clinging to its back
And though it's June, the nights will leave them nearly frozen
Coming through the mountain pass
Rolling in to Calgary on track

On-to-Ottawa their cry
The Royal Twenty their lament
We can't live in relief camps, we need work and wages
We'll tell that to the government
And can you spare some money for the Trek?

How do you do, 1935?
I need some kindness to tide me over
Before I move on down the line

There's a train that's coming from the north
Leaving the sunset in its wake
Desperate men are hiding in its cars
Travelling on to find work that will pay
And keep out of the Mounties' way

Good-bye to their families in the bush
Down to Lethbridge they'll go
Spending the summer picking beets for a farmer
While their wives struggle on alone
Trying to make that homestead a home

There's a train that's taking all the wheat
The farmers have managed to grow
But for all of their labour they still can't break even
When the agent grades the grain too low
And the dry winds never cease to blow

Oh give me a home where I can rest
And not have to jump those passing freights
Where all I do is dream about the Social Credit scheme
And the twenty-five dollars that awaits
At Bible Bill's golden gates

Maria Dunn vocal, guitar · Shannon Johnson violin ·
Dawn Anderson harmony vocal · David Ward harmony vocal ·
Solon McDade upright bass · Craig Korth banjo ·
Jeff Bradshaw pedal steel

***

Photo in CD Liner Notes: On-to-Ottawa Trekkers, 1935 (City of Toronto Archives 1244 - 2181)

Written as part of an Artist Residency with the Edmonton District Labour Council; funding support from Alberta Foundation for the Arts

Sources used for How Do You Do, 1935?:

1. Caragata, W. (1979). Alberta labour: A heritage untold. Lorimer: Toronto.
2. Montero, G. (1979). We stood together. Lorimer: Toronto.
--Red Walsh's account of the On-to-Ottawa trek
3. Potrebenko, H. (1977). No streets of gold: A social history of Ukrainians in Alberta. New Star Books: Vancouver.
4. Broten, L (2001). Oral history interview by Alberta Labour History Institute. Unpublished.
5. Canadian Labour Congress (2000). Working: The story of Canadian labour, 1900 - 2000. Barna-Alper Productions. [CD-ROM]
--description of the On-to-Ottawa Trek
6. Waiser, B. (1995). Park prisoners: The untold story of Western Canada's National Parks, 1915-1946. Fifth House: Calgary.
--description of transients in relief camps in the early 30s

Other recommended reading:
Waiser, B. (2003). All hell can't stop us: The On-to-Ottawa Trek and Regina Riot. Fifth House: Calgary.