Job Reed’s Letters : Life in Lethbridge 1886-1906

Occasional Paper No. 9, Whoop-Up Country Chapter, Historical Society of Alberta. Job Reed (1841-1906) immigrated from England to Canada with his wife in 1882, and wrote letters that he planned to send back to England as informative accounts of prairie life for potential settlers. This booklet reprints 15 of Reed’s letters written 1884-1905. The letters describe Reed’s work (from mining to market gardening), the trials of prairie life (including cattle lost in snowstorms and floods carrying houses away), and the minutiae of everyday existence (from the cost of butter to playing cricket). Reed also comments on Lethbridge’s growth as a town, remarking on the arrival of new residents and the creation of new services. Editorial remarks provide context and clarification throughout.