Picnic Groves of the Past

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Longer warmer days make us think about times ahead with a picnic lunch enjoying the sun.  Early residents were no different than us and almost 137 years ago, July 1, 1886 was the first at Guthrie's Grove according to Ellen Guthrie Bulloch in her book Pioneers of the Pipestone.  The Grove was on the banks of the Pipestone Creek on the south half of 26-7-27 W1. The picture at the top of this page was taken years later and miles south at Sourisford, but I picture the Pipestone version as looking much the same. 

My curiosity about the site came about with an article by David Braddell in a June 1968 Reston Recorder column. He laments that during a recent visit to the "Scout Camp", south of the Guthrie homestead he saw it had been partly cleared and planted to crop. Although he admits that with the high price of land, farmers need to make use of every acre but it was a loss to those who admire its natural beauty.  A couple of weeks later, the Recorder carried the following memories of Kate Lothian, spinster daughter of early pioneers William and Annie (Milliken) living in British Columbia.  

The Guthrie picnic – how many of us are left who remembered that outstanding summer event of past days?
Reading in the recent Reston Recorder of the ploughing up and seeding of the old picnic grounds has brought back these memories.
The picnic started with very few settlers of that day, scattered here and there in the different districts. The coming of the Lanark people to that district where the Pipestone Creek meandered through started the enterprise, Mr. William Guthrie giving the area mentioned in the Reston Recorder. The Lothian and Milliken brothers cooperated, and like a prairie fire, the news spread far and near and folks came in wagons and buggies and on horseback, old and young, to the Guthrie picnic.
Mr. James Lothian, notably, gave his time to helping to clear the ground and get things into shape. He it was who climbed the highest tree to hoist a flag, what a gala look it gave in the eyes of we children. A clearing was made for a long table set up and a stove and boiler for the tea. The first two or three years, everyone was welcome whether they brought food or not, but every year the crowds grew, so it was organized into a Basket Picnic. A sports ground was cleared where sports were gone into, and a platform under the trees where speeches etc. were indulged in! And prizes given for various projects, one being for bouquets of wildflowers, this organized by Mrs. Howard McGregor. The McGregor brothers also had a refreshment stand, and our first ice cream was made and served by them! No ice cream freezers, but made in the long cream cans of that day, and it really was as hard as brick, but we didn’t know their secret.
I remember only one day in many years the weather failed us. All day until noon it was threatening, and by afternoon turned into a real wet day, so the picnickers had to wend their way homeward, but never mind - it was grand for the crops.
And so the old order changeth, yielding place to new but some are still here who were children then and remember the great day in summer of the Guthrie Picnic. What it meant to have a gentleman like Mr. William Guthrie from Lanark Ontario, who gave that lovely spot on the banks of the little old Pipestone Creek for a picnic each year. God bless our pioneers at the going down to the sun and in the morning we will remember them.

William Reid Guthrie and his second wife Eleanor Harding moved to Pipestone in 1884 after he had spent several summers here working railway and construction and breaking his homestead. They raised 7 children while being early pioneers. He was an influential community minded man and served as the Reeve of the Pipestone RM from 1896 to 1898. Their daughter Jean Stewart Guthrie never married but lived on the homestead until moving into the Alstone Lodge. 

Bonnie and Kay shared the following quote from "The Story of James Guthrie and His Family" by Bonnie Guthrie Kuehl.  

The original W. R. Guthrie house was a two story clapboard building. A large barn was erected later with its lower walls of field stone. One section of it was reserved for harness repairing. The farm was bordered on one side by the Pipestone Creek edged with its growth of poplar trees and low growing brush. The Indians related that part of the W. R. Guthrie farm where the river curves to form a large point of land had been a famous buffalo hunting ground in earlier days. Many Indian relics were found in this area as the ground was broken up for planting.
Wild animals such as the red fox, prairie wolves, rabbits, badgers, and gophers were plentiful, also an occasional deer. Wild turkeys, geese, ducks and prairie chickens abounded in good number. Wild fruit grew in abundance. They all started their own vegetable gardens, growing large crops of potatoes in particular.
The first of the famous picnics held in Guthrie's Grove took place also in 1887 and became the chief annual event of each summer. A flag waved from the top of a large elm tree and below gathered everyone for miles around. The ladies brought baskets of food to provide both a noontime and evening feast. An afternoon program included singing, speeches, games and races for the children and baseball for the young men. It was a great time for good old-fashioned visiting among the ladies , of course, but also among the men. 

Such great descriptive writing!  Can't you just see it?!  Stay tuned for a second part of this post about Harper's Grove, coming soon!