One of the men instrumental in building a legacy in the Enilda – Salt Prairie district is being fondly remembered as the 112th anniversary of his birth is marked July 1.

Gurney Nixon Steeves was a war veteran, pioneer, farmer, fox rancher, businessmen and devote Anglican. He was president of the Enilda Shipping Association and founding member of the Alberta Wheat Pool, for which he received a plaque. He was also president of the Rural Electrical Association of Big Meadow from 1952-67.

Steeves was born in Coverdale, N.B. July 1, 1891. In 1916, he enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces and served in France and Belgium. He was discharged May 24, 1919 at Saint John, N.B.

“When Gurney returned from WWI to New Brunswick, there appeared to be little future possibilities for expansion in the rather settled community in which his parents lived,” recalls his daughter, Marnie Bradfield. “All land for farming was occupied.”

Steeves and his cousin headed for the west on the railway all across Canada in 1919, arriving in Edmonton in July 1919. He went north to look for land at Grande Prairie and Peace River. He eventually arrived in Grouard, then made his way to Salt Prairie where he filed on a homestead.

“He went on the NAR beyond Peace River but the black flies and mosquitoes were so bad he decided he would have to come back and have a look around Lesser Slave Lake,” says Bradfield, adding Steeves’ cousin landed near Barrhead.

The land was at the north end of the hay swamp. The summer of 1919 was spent putting up hay, which was hauled to the railroad at Enilda during winter.

“My dad knew it was going to be a lot of work but he had no idea that the winter conditions would be so severe. He often said that he was forever thankful to the Indian people and the settlers who had helped him adjust and survive those first few years. He knew nothing about wild country like the west.”

In 1927 a lease option was taken on the Joe Tomkins’ farm, two and a half miles northeast of Enilda on the Grouard Road. Gurney moved to that location in November 1927.

The original house was built in 1912 and at the time was known as Tomkins Crossing. It was built as a stopping house and hotel on the trail between Grouard and Grande Prairie.

The house on the Tomkins quarter had been built of hewed timber. The face on the butt end of the logs was as much as 15 inches across. A. McAulay did the finishing of the inside of the house in 1913. Money being scarce so he was paid with two cows which he sold, and with the money, married and went to California on his honeymoon.

The McAulays came to see the house again in about 1959. He was very pleased to see how well his work had stood up.

In 1929, Steeves was granted title to a second homestead adjoining the Tomkins farm on the west. In 1937, the Fletcher Bredin place was acquired. This quarter was sold to Samuel Hart in 1938 and Steeves bought the Knudson Ranch on the Grouard Road. In 1943 a half section of East Prairie River land was purchased from Peter and Jean Neville. Four other quarters of East Prairie land was later acquired. The total land holding was 12 quarters.

On March 31, 1932, Marion Barnes, daughter of H.V. Barnes, and Steeves were married. In June 1940, she passed away. There were no children.

In 1942, Steeves brought the first tractor to the farm but horses were still in use. In 1943, the first rubber-tired tractor was purchased and phased out farming with horses.

He was also very involved in the Anglican Church, serving as People’s Warden of the St. George’s Anglican Church in Enilda from 1953-67. During that period a small hall in the community came on the market. He arranged for its purchase and had it moved to the southwest corner of the churchyard, where it served as a very useful hall.

In 1942, Steeves married Ruth Priscilla Bell, who had taught school in Salt Prairie in 1927. Ruth was born in Edmonton. They had two children, Marjorie Keturah Elizabeth, born in 1943, and James Henry Allison, born in 1945. On July 26, 1962, James died while swimming in the East Prairie River.

“My brother always called me Marnie and that is why I am called Marnie,” says Bradfield. “We both attended Enilda School for our first six grades. When I left Enilda initially, I trained as a nurse at the University in Edmonton and later worked as a public health nurse.”

In 1970, Bradfield married a South African and lived in rural Kwa Zulu Natal, in South Africa, then Johannesburg. They came to Canada in 1977 and have lived in Victoria since 1979.

In May 1967, Steeves sold their holdings to six different local people. The home farm, which was comprised of three quarters, was bought by Alan Barnes. Steeves moved to Kelowna, B.C. on Jan. 26, 1968 and resided there, along with quite a number of other retired people from the Enilda-Big Meadow area, for about 10 years.

Marjorie trained as a nurse, and while nursing at Edson, AB, she met Leigh Philipson Bradfield, a member of the teaching staff there. On July 4, 1970, they were married. They had two daughters, Marsha and Heather.

Steeves died June 26, 1979 in Kelowna, B.C. and is buried in the Pinehill Cemetery, Salisbury, N.B.

His wife, Ruth, died Nov. 19, 1989 at 81. She was cremated and her ashes were buried beside her husband in New Brunswick.

Bradfield recalls a very successful life for the family and is proud her father contributed so much to the growth and betterment of the area.

“My dad was known as ‘Uncle Gurney’ to the Barnes and August Sandquist families,” she recalls. “He had close ties with them over many years.”