Ogema School's Grassroots Project
How Ogema Came About
Settlers decided on the name omega which
was Greek for "end" which fit because
at the time the settlement was at the end
of the rail-line. It was soon discovered
that Omega was already a town. Settlers then
decided to change the two letters around
and so it became Ogema. The town is located
115 km south of Regina and half - way between
Weyburn and Assiniboia on Highway 13.
Ogema was first homesteaded as early as
1905, but officially became a town recognized
by the government in 1911.
Before any people were here the Wascana Lake
smothered the R.M. of Key West area. Since
then, the land has been used wisely. The
prairie plains have been smothered by crops
of many sorts. While many men were building
the railroad, the men were trapped here from
cold and blizzards. Many buildings and structures
in Ogema were taken from small places such
as Dahinda, Edgeworth, Bures, Horizon, Kayville,
Wheatstone, Glasnevin and Amulet. Many of
the old buildings are now in the museum.
Agriculture of The Past and Present
Many years ago, working on the farm was very
different. Some examples how machines have
changed were plows, rock pickers, thrashers
and planters. A plow or other machinery was
either drug by horse or an ox to break up
the fields. Rock picking was done by hand
until the rock picker was invented. Today,
we use machinery for harvest, but in the
past it was done by horses. The horses dragged
non-engine machinery to do the work. . This
is how these machines are operated nowadays.
There are two ways to gather the crops. One
way of combining is to straight cut, and
the other is to pick up the swath. A swather
is similar to straight combining but a swather
just lays down the seeds and stems. A sprayer
is used to spray crops. It is either done
by machinery or airplanes. The machine sprayer
goes across the crop and sprays the land.
A plane to some opinion is easier. A farmer
must pay the pilot, for fuel, and spray.
A cultivator is used to break up the land
before seeding time, or any other time the
farmer wants. After cultivating, the land
is called summer fallow. Plowing the fields
and garden was very hard work. It also took
two horses to do this, but for the garden
they usually used two mules to do the work.
Grading the roads was even harder work. It
took at least 13 horses and five men worked
together all at the same time.
Transportation of Past and Present
Transportation in the community of Ogema
began with the early settlement of people
around the early1900's. The first types of
transportation were horses. They used horse
and buggy to go to town and many other places..
It took two horses to pull a buggy, that
carried two to four people. They didn't just
use them to get around, they also used the
buggies to haul grain to town. This took
four horses to pull a wagon full of grain.
They called it a grain wagon. In 1919, horse
transportation started to fade out and cars
started to come. The first cars that came
to Ogema had wooden spokes on the wheels.
In 1917 a touring car was made. When it rained
you had to turn a little crank for the windshield
wipers to move. You could fit four to five
people in it. In 1923 the cars didn't change
much. They got bigger and wider. You could
now fit five or six people in it.
Ogema had a railway between Weyburn and Assiniboia.
It was constructed between the years 1909
and 1912. Ogema started its services on July
13, 1911, and ended it's service in 1999.
Buildings and Businesses
The older buildings of Ogema have been placed
in the museum. The buildings have been fixed
up to be quite the place to visit. People
from near and far come to visit the great
Pioneer Museum. The main business street
was only two blocks away from the railway
station. On the west side of the street were
several businesses. These included W. P.
Ball's Department Store, Andrew Fraser's
Department Store, Sargent and Brunton's Department
Store, Horner's Real Estate and Insurance
Office, the post office and D. B. Robertson's
Dry Goods Store. On the east side was the
Union Bank, Alex McKinnon's Law Office, R.
J. Grant's Harness Shop, Dickin's Butcher
Shop, Chong Gow's Restaurant, Patterson's
Drug Store with Doctor Allen's Office and
Consulting Room, Ed Kilpatrick's Bakery and
Bakery Store, and a lumberyard on the corner.
Some businesses began in tents like Sargent
and Brunton and Moffet and Robertson. Mr.
Erb started his own business from his home
in 1907. These were the first stores in the
town. As time passed on, many more needed
businesses were developed. In October 1910,
the Union Bank of Canada opened in Ogema.
In 1950, some people felt there was a need
for a Credit Union in Ogema. It was eventually
built and provided people with a place to
store their money. The Ogema Theater was
built in the early twenties by Mr. Hugh,
which provided entertainment for the people.
In 1947, a four-bed nursing home was built.
The South Eastern Saskatchewan Regional Library
was formed in 1966.
Activities
Baseball was a popular sport played in Ogema.
The wives usually attended the games to watch
their husband's play. After the game was
over, the women would make a big supper for
them to enjoy. The community members would
play games of horseshoes, or head down to
the rink or their own dugout to ice skate.
There was once a beach, along with a lake
located about three kilometres south of Kevin
McKague's farm. The present day 4-H Club
program, formally known as the Boys and Girls
Club Work was organized in Ogema in 1949.
Scouting in Ogema commenced in the autumn
of 1927 with Reverend Cooper, an Anglican
Minister as Scoutmaster.
Past Work
Most women worked in the house, or helped
out the farmers with their work, such as
feeding livestock and poultry and helping
with harvest. The woman was to always have
three meals a day prepared for the family.
Young men usually did not finish school,
they did this to find work that would in
return support their family Today there is
more equality among males and females. Women
are no longer stay-at-home moms and have
ventured out into the business world. Men
do just as much work around the house as
females.
The Ogema Fire Wall
The Ogema Fire Wall was built on main street
in 1915. Although fire walls were very expensive
and equally uncommon, the councillors decided
that the security that the wall would provide
would make it worthwhile. The wall is 28
feet high, 16 inches wide, 70 feet long,
and 8 feet under ground. The fire wall was
built to prevent the destruction of Ogema
by a fire which occurred earlier in 1915.
B/A Station
The B/A Station used to be the old gas station
in Ogema. Its name stands for the British
American Oil Company. This year it has become
a heritage spot. It used to be the place
to hang out. It was just renovated this summer
to the way it looks now.
Hospital
The old hospital was designed and built by
Albert Mehnke. It was permanently shut down
in the eighties. It is said that it cannot
be torn down yet because there are some dangerous
chemicals still in the basement. Everything
has been boarded up so there are no means
of getting into it.
Elevators
The town of Ogema had four elevators in the
early years. They were the Saskatchewan Cooperative
Elevator Company, Matheson-Lindsay, The North
Star, and the International. Today there
is only one remaining, the Saskatchewan Wheat
Pool Elevator.
Fire Hall
The fire hall is now a historic site in Ogema.
It is situated on Main Street in Ogema and
is featured on the front page of the "Deep
South Star" drawn by Gerry Taylor. The
fire hall and the fire wall were built after
a 1915 fire that destroyed most of the east
side of Main Street, including a bakery,
a restaurant, a drug store, a butcher shop,
and others. The fire hall was to have a cistern
for water storage and one wall of the building
was to be as thick as the fire wall to prevent
the spread of possible fires later. The fire
hall cost was $2900.00 and a man from Milestone
was to engineer the project. The next year,
the town bought a new fire engine for $3395.30.
The fire engine served until the 1970's,
when a new one was purchased. The new steel-clad/frame
building was to serve as fire hall, workshop,
and library. The cost was to be about $26,500.00.
The present fire chief in Ogema is Melvin
Horner.
The Water Tower
The water tower is one of the tallest structures
in Ogema. It holds lots of water and many
people think that some drowned in it, because
the water always tastes like blood. It is
the biggest landmark for miles around. If
it wasn't here, many people would never be
able to find Ogema.
The Railroad
The railroad is one of the most important
parts that made Ogema a town. The train brought
vital items to town such as news, special
items, clothing, firewood, and coal. Even
with the highway now used the railroad is
still very important to transport grain to
the coasts, to be shipped off to other countries.
Return to Prairie View GrassRoots - History
Ogema School GrassRoots - Culture and Recreation
Avonlea School GrassRoots - History
Yellow Grass School GrassRoots - History
Lang School - Grass Roots Project #2
Pangman School GrassRoots Page