Two families left their place of birth and came to a new land. It was like they had always lived here. William Henry Biggs and his wife Golda Sylveste (Weddle) Biggs immigrated in March 1921 to Peace River Alberta from Colorado. They settled in Weberville, which is a farming community ten miles north of Peace River. Today the Weberville School stands where the Biggs first homesteaded. William Biggs, his sons Truman and Bob all served in the Canadian Army during the Second World War.
My mother, Maybelle Biggs, daughter of William and Golda Biggs, met and married my dad, Fred Furgeson, son of Jesse and Mary Furgeson. Dad and his family had also emigrated from the States and had settled in the Weberville area six years after mom’s parents came.
Dad and his parents immigrated into Canada from Wisconsin in September 1927. They packed their possession into two canvas-covered trucks and began their journey to Canada with six of their children.
They did not stop long for meals, trying to cover as many miles as possible each day. In their travels they were delayed for some time in Yellowgrass, Saskatchewan while a new wheel was found for the truck. Further on the trucks were mired down in a washout. They stayed for two weeks at the Immigration Hall in Edmonton. This was a comfortable stopover for new settlers provided free by the government. Every thing was supplied for their use except food.
The road north of Edmonton was reported to be in rough shape so the girls and Grandma took the train to Peace River. They waited there at the Immigration Hall for the arrival of the men with the two trucks. The men had encountered many difficulties on the trip.
When the men arrived at Widewater north of Slave Lake, the road around Lesser Slave Lake was too soggy for travel. They rented two small shacks and wrote for Grandma and the other children to join them there for the winter. The men found jobs cutting wood for a fishing company and working in a sawmill. They left in April, traveling on the lake ice as far as they could and finally completed the trip to Peace River. They settled north of Peace River at Weberville.
In 1929 the Furgeson men, along with neighbours in the district, squared timber, sawed lumber and together built the Weberville School house that still stands in Weberville.
The first few years on the homestead consisted of hard work and a struggle for existence. 1936 they homesteaded on the river flat fourteen miles north of Peace River town. The river flat land produced wonderful crops and gardens. They sold produce and cream for several years to the Hudson’s Bay boat, the “Weenusk” which stopped on its way to and from Fort Vermilion
The fourteen-mile trip to town (Peace River) involved getting an early start in order to return the same day. In the winter they heated big stones in the oven all night, wrapped them in burlap and put them at their feet in the sleigh to keep warm. With a heavy robe over their knees the stayed warm on the long ride. Later they built a caboose over the sleigh, with a wood stove on it. Often they played card to pass the time on the way to town.
Many times Grandma Furgeson traveled back to visit family in the United States. She was heard to say, “I do enjoy those trips but THIS (Alberta) is my home”. My Grandparents and parents have all passed on. Today the Daishaw Pulp Mill is on the land where the Furgeson's homestead was. A road down to the Mill bears the name Furgeson.
The Furgeson and Biggs family followed their dreams and came to Alberta. Today there are many, many of their descendents who continue to make this magnificent Province of Alberta their home.
