(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of three articles written by former Canora resident Jon Kalmakoff of Regina and Greg Nesteroff, about the horse-drawn carriages used by Doukhobor leader Peter Verigin when he traversed through the Canora, Veregin, Kamsack districts in the 1910s and 1920s.)
CANORA - During the first two-and-a-half decades of Doukhobor life in Saskatchewan, Peter Vasil'evich (Lordly) Verigin (1859-1924) spent much of his time travelling between their settlements on Community business. His chief means of local conveyance were horse-drawn carriages, carts and sleighs, dutifully maintained by his followers at key stopping points. But whatever became of them? Remarkably, several of these vehicles still exist today, over a century later. The following series traces their subsequent history and fate to the present day.
In the first decades of the 20th century, horses provided the primary means of transportation in Western Canada. A single horse could pull a wheeled vehicle and contents weighing as much as a ton. At a walk, a horse-drawn vehicle travelled approximately two to four miles per hour; at a trot, the speed was around eight to 10 miles per hour; horses rarely cantered or galloped with a vehicle.
This mode of transportation was not without limitations. Horses required large quantities of feed and water. Their range of travel when drawing a vehicle was between 10-20 miles per day, depending on the terrain, weather, horse and weight of vehicle. In many rural areas, there were still few roads except for rough, uneven trails, which were often impassible when wet.
When the Doukhobors first arrived on the Canadian Prairies in 1899, they had few horses and wagons, forcing some Doukhobors to carry heavy supplies on their backs over long distances by foot, and others to hitch themselves to wagons and plows, as human draft animals. Following the arrival of their leader Peter V. Verigin in Canada in December 1902, the Doukhobors communally pooled their earnings to acquire much needed horses and vehicles.
Under Verigin’s management, in 1903, the community at Veregin purchased 404 horses, 16 wagons, 152 sleighs, as well as two cutters (lightweight, open sleighs holding one or two people) likely for the leader’s personal use. And in 1905, the community purchased another 30 wagons, 41 sleighs, as well as two buggies probably for Verigin’s personal use. Bulk purchases of horses and horse-drawn vehicles continued thereafter.
Peter V. Verigin spent much of his time travelling between Doukhobor settlements on Community business, visiting with villagers, and inspecting their progress on various endeavors. His preferred means of conveyance was a horse-drawn carriage – a four or two-wheeled vehicle which was lighter and more maneuverable than a wagon and capable of greater speed and efficiency. The distance between Doukhobor settlements made effective transportation essential to managing the Community.
A skilled horseman, Verigin most often drove the carriage himself, typically with a spirited team at breakneck pace! A sense of his energetic driving style can be gleaned from the comments of one passenger who wrote in 1911:
“We were met at the Kootenay River ferry by Mr. Veregin's driving team and had one of the swiftest drives we ever had, Mr. Veregin himself driving. I like fast horses but freely admit that I cannot drive as he does. We certainly had to hang on when rounding the curves. He made a point of commenting on my providing him with a quiet horse to ride. I regretted that I had not given him a bucking horse that I thought too bad to take along."
From time to time and place to place, various types of carriages, carts and sleighs were acquired by the community for Verigin’s exclusive use. Those which have been documented include the following:
• Democrat or Buckboard – a light, four-wheel, flat-bed open carriage with no sideboards or top, leaf spring suspension and with one or two seats, usually drawn by one or two horses;
• Phaeton – a sporty open four-wheel carriage with a very light-sprung body atop a curved frame with four extravagantly large wheels, pulled by one or two horses;
• Buggy or Roadster - a light, four-wheel, one-seat carriage with low sides, side-spring suspension and a folding top, usually drawn by one or two horses;
• Brougham or Rockaway – a light, four-wheel carriage with one passenger seat in an enclosed body with two doors, and a box seat in front for the driver, leaf spring suspension, drawn by two to four horses;
• Barouche – a large, heavy, four-wheeled carriage with low sides, a back seat and front box seat for the driver and collapsible half-hood for passengers, curved frame, leaf spring suspension, pulled by one or two horses;
• Gig or Chaise – a light, two-wheeled, one-seat cart with side-spring suspension, usually driven by one horse;
• Cutter – a light, open sleigh with a single set of runners and a single seat that held two people, drawn by one horse; and
• Bobsleigh – an open sleigh with two seats that held up to four people, with dual sets of runners for easier maneuverability, pulled by one or two horses.
These vehicles were stored and kept in Community stables and sheds at major centres of Doukhobor settlements such as Verigin and Kylemore, as well as at commercial centres such as Yorkton where Verigin had stopping houses. The vehicles and their horse teams were dutifully maintained by Community members so as to be ready for use upon request.
After Peter V. Verigin’s death in October 1924, these vehicles were sometimes used by his son and successor Peter P. (Chistyakov) Verigin (1881-1939) following his arrival in Canada in September 1927. However, by then, the automobile had largely supplanted horsepower as the preferred mode of transportation.
During the bankruptcy of the Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood, Ltd. in 1936 and its subsequent foreclosure in 1937-38, many of Peter V. Verigin’s carriages, carts and sleighs – like other community assets – were presumably liquidated at fire sale prices. Others were likely destroyed by arson. Remarkably, however, at least three of them have survived in Saskatchewan and are now part of museum and private collections. We’ll look at them individually in this series.
