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  • Blue Moon at Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. Concert goers at Belle Plaine performance take a break during intermission to get some fresh air under the blue moon.
    2012-08-002-0040-D.tif
  • Belle Plaine in concert at Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. Belle Plaine, lead singer; Jeremy Sauer, drummer; Elizabeth Curry, bass player.<br />
<br />
"Up north, I didn't have any vices except music," says Ghostown Blues owner Greg Hisey. "Edmonton and those towns are just ripe with amazing talent. So, CKUA radio out of Alberta was what I listened to 24/7 and they promote Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba artists, up-and-coming brilliant artists, and I started following them and befriending them and, man, I wanted to do that at this place!"<br />
<br />
Greg books acts until October each year. <br />
<br />
"Once people start to understand the caliber of talent -- you just know that if it's here, it's gonna be good."<br />
<br />
"It's a passion of mine. I like the artists. I enjoy the music. That's what sustains me up north in camps."
    2012-08-002-0007-D.tif
  • Sheep wagons under the stars, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Guest gather 'round the campfire by the sheep wagons.
    2012-08-001-1077-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. This is one of two sheep wagons. This wagon required little restoration, as it had been well preserved by a covering that was put over it many years ago. Contents are authentic, including the bed (but with modern mattress), stove, benches, pull-out table, track lamp, shelf, and towel racks. End walls originally were canvas, but Greg replaced with wood because he liked the way it looked. Greg Hisey on the lantern by the door: "That's a CPR coach car light. (It would have been on the) inside of a coach on the CPR railroad, on a passenger car."
    2012-08-001-1072-D.tif
  • Inside the Historic Log Cabin, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK
    2012-08-001-1037-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. This is one of two sheep wagons. This wagon required extensive restoration, with some liberties taken regarding full authenticity. The body of the wagon is original, as is the cabinet shown here.
    2012-08-001-0944-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. This is one of two sheep wagons. This wagon required extensive restoration, with some liberties taken regarding full authenticity. The body of the wagon is original, as is the cabinet shown in some photos.
    2012-08-001-0930-D.tif
  • Greg Hisey, owner and proprietor, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Greg is sitting at one of the dining tables in the lodge, a former church from Hatton, Saskatchewan.
    2012-08-001-0919-D.tif
  • Chuckwagon, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. <br />
<br />
Greg Hisey: "That's a 1925 Eaton wagon, out of the Eaton catalogue. That's an original wagon. I've built underneath there, that's called the pan boot, and the chuck box there. This was a kitchen on wheels, that's what they were designed for, made by a guy named Charlie Goodnight in 1864 [Wikepedia says 1866], when the cattle drives started. Now, they didn't have trunks on top. It had a rack, and that's where the cowboys' bedrolls went. That's where the chuckwagon races were invented. They usually had more than one of these on the cattle drive and they raced to the next camp to get the best site handy to water. The cowboy's bedrolls [and personal effects were stowed] up front. There was another box on some of them that was a pantry, and then there was a shelf across that you put the lanterns in. So they could eat and cook at night."<br />
<br />
"It was a marvel of practicality, just like the sheep wagons. To me, they were built like a ship berth in there - a marvel of practicality and functionality. This one I take to town quite often for parades and heritage day, or Taste of Maple Creek, and they'll be cooking out of the back of it. All this stuff's hand hammered. I try to keep them as true to what they were as I can get. They're fun. I enjoy building them."
    2012-08-001-0879-D.tif
  • Historic log cabin (L) and Homestead cabin (R), Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. <br />
<br />
<br />
This cabin was originally a cowboy's line shack. On the big ranches, cowboys would stay at these shacks on the prairie when they couldn't make it home at night, Greg Hisey says.<br />
<br />
<br />
The settlers' cabin in the background was moved into Maple Creek from northeast of town. A previous owner told Hisey that it was moved to a school for a time and used by the schoolmarm. Like many old prairie cabins, this had been moved into town. But unlike most, it was too small to be converted to a garage, so it remained relatively intact all these years.
    2012-08-001-0865-D.tif
  • Drizzly Saturday morning at Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. Antique wagons. <br />
<br />
Greg Hisey: "All this stuff's hand hammered. I try to keep them as true to what they were as I can get. They're fun. I enjoy building them."
    2012-08-002-0052-D.tif
  • Drizzly Saturday morning at Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. Antique wagons.
    2012-08-002-0047-D.tif
  • Blue Moon at Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. Concert goers at Belle Plaine performance take a break during intermission to get some fresh air under the blue moon.
    2012-08-002-0033-D.tif
  • Belle Plaine in concert at Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. Belle Plaine, lead singer; Jeremy Sauer, drummer; Elizabeth Curry, bass player.<br />
<br />
"Up north, I didn't have any vices except music," says Ghostown Blues owner Greg Hisey. "Edmonton and those towns are just ripe with amazing talent. So, CKUA radio out of Alberta was what I listened to 24/7 and they promote Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba artists, up-and-coming brilliant artists, and I started following them and befriending them and, man, I wanted to do that at this place!"<br />
<br />
Greg books acts until October each year. <br />
<br />
"Once people start to understand the caliber of talent -- you just know that if it's here, it's gonna be good."<br />
<br />
"It's a passion of mine. I like the artists. I enjoy the music. That's what sustains me up north in camps."
    2012-08-002-0012-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Shown (left to right): Historic Log Cabin, Homstead Cabin, Thresherman's Wagon, Lodge.<br />
<br />
This image is a single, long exposure at twilight (not a composite).
    2012-08-001-1008-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. <br />
<br />
This is one of two sheep wagons. This wagon required little restoration, as it had been well preserved by a covering that was put over it many years ago. Contents are authentic, including the bed (but with modern mattress), stove, benches, pull-out table, track lamp, shelf, and towel racks. End walls originally were canvas, but Greg replaced with wood because he liked the way it looked. <br />
<br />
Greg Hisey: "This wagon came from the Capser ranch, Capser, (near) Harlowton, Montana. (The ranch) went from Harlowton to Rygate. Bill Capser was 82 years old  when I got this wagon."<br />
<br />
The wagon was used until about 1939, when the Second World War cut off the ranch's supply of Basque sheep herders. The Studebaker running gear dates to 1896."
    2012-08-001-0955-D.tif
  • Greg Hisey, owner and proprietor, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Greg is sitting at one of the dining tables in the lodge, a former church from Hatton, Saskatchewan.
    2012-08-001-0916-D.tif
  • Detail, dovetail construction of the Historic Log Cabin, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Greg Hisey: "That's an amazing build. The axe-smith who put this together with zero gaps and every log fully scribed from one end to the other.... it's pine. The Cypress Hills burned in 1886 or 1887. One of the old ranchers down there told me that they were not allowed to cut live trees, so they had to use for building standing deadfall. That would explain why there was no chinking in it, because it was shrunk if it was standing deadfall. That kind of verifies the .time it was built. It's an amazing little cabin."
    2012-08-001-0911-D.tif
  • Detail, dovetail construction of the Historic Log Cabin, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Greg Hisey: "That's an amazing build. The axe-smith who put this together with zero gaps and every log fully scribed from one end to the other.... it's pine. The Cypress Hills burned in 1886 or 1887. One of the old ranchers down there told me that they were not allowed to cut live trees, so they had to use for building standing deadfall. That would explain why there was no chinking in it, because it was shrunk if it was standing deadfall. That kind of verifies the .time it was built. It's an amazing little cabin."
    2012-08-001-0910-D.tif
  • Looking north, trapper's tent, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK.<br />
<br />
The lights of Maple Creek brighten the sky at right (east). Except for that pool of light, the area is renown for its dark night skies. Cypress Hills Dark Sky Preserve is 25 km south.<br />
<br />
On this clear starry night, a line of thunderstorms was blowing along the northern horizon. Flashes of lightning are visible in the photo.
    2012-08-001-0906-D.tif
  • Inside the Historic Log Cabin, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK<br />
<br />
100-year-old cabin (built in 1912), looks pretty modern after Greg Hisey has finished with it. On a rainy night in August, the place was warm and cozy. The queen-sized bed, adapted to a vintage double frame, provides a super-comfortable place to rest your head. High-speed wireless Internet is available, thanks to a router in the lodge, next door.
    2012-08-001-0886-D.tif
  • Blue Moon at Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. Concert goers at Belle Plaine performance take a break during intermission to get some fresh air under the blue moon.
    2012-08-002-0043-D.tif
  • Blue Moon at Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. Concert goers at Belle Plaine performance take a break during intermission to get some fresh air under the blue moon.
    2012-08-002-0023-D.tif
  • Belle Plaine in concert at Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. Belle Plaine, lead singer; Jeremy Sauer, drummer; Elizabeth Curry, bass player.<br />
<br />
"Up north, I didn't have any vices except music," says Ghostown Blues owner Greg Hisey. "Edmonton and those towns are just ripe with amazing talent. So, CKUA radio out of Alberta was what I listened to 24/7 and they promote Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba artists, up-and-coming brilliant artists, and I started following them and befriending them and, man, I wanted to do that at this place!"<br />
<br />
Greg books acts until October each year. <br />
<br />
"Once people start to understand the caliber of talent -- you just know that if it's here, it's gonna be good."<br />
<br />
"It's a passion of mine. I like the artists. I enjoy the music. That's what sustains me up north in camps."
    2012-08-002-0009-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Shown: Lodge, Chuckwagon.
    2012-08-001-1088-D.tif
  • Sheep Wagon in evening light, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. This is one of two sheep wagons. This wagon required extensive restoration, with some liberties taken regarding full authenticity. The body of the wagon is original, as is the cabinet shown in some photos.
    2012-08-001-1071-D.tif
  • Cowboy brunch at the Lodge, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Cowboy brunch is served every Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., during the summer.
    2012-08-001-1038-D.tif
  • Inside the Historic Log Cabin, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK
    2012-08-001-1036-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Shown (left to right): Historic Log Cabin, Homstead Cabin, Thresherman's Wagon, Lodge.<br />
<br />
This image is a single, long exposure at twilight (not a composite).
    2012-08-001-1009-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. <br />
<br />
This is one of two sheep wagons. This wagon required little restoration, as it had been well preserved by a covering that was put over it many years ago. Contents are authentic, including the bed (but with modern mattress), stove, benches, pull-out table, track lamp, shelf, and towel racks. End walls originally were canvas, but Greg replaced with wood because he liked the way it looked. <br />
<br />
Greg Hisey: "This wagon came from the Capser ranch, Capser, (near) Harlowton, Montana. (The ranch) went from Harlowton to Rygate. Bill Capser was 82 years old  when I got this wagon."<br />
<br />
The wagon was used until about 1939, when the Second World War cut off the ranch's supply of Basque sheep herders. The Studebaker running gear dates to 1896."
    2012-08-001-0947-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. This is one of two sheep wagons. This wagon required extensive restoration, with some liberties taken regarding full authenticity. The body of the wagon is original, as is the cabinet shown at right.
    2012-08-001-0938-D.tif
  • Detail, dovetail construction of the Historic Log Cabin, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Greg Hisey: "That's an amazing build. The axe-smith who put this together with zero gaps and every log fully scribed from one end to the other.... it's pine. The Cypress Hills burned in 1886 or 1887. One of the old ranchers down there told me that they were not allowed to cut live trees, so they had to use for building standing deadfall. That would explain why there was no chinking in it, because it was shrunk if it was standing deadfall. That kind of verifies the .time it was built. It's an amazing little cabin."
    2012-08-001-0908-D.tif
  • Milky Way and The Lodge at night, with cabins and Thresherman's wagon at right, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK<br />
<br />
This view looks south, with the original chuckwagon at left, the campfire in foreground, the settlers' cabin at right, and the stairs to the thresherman's wagon at extreme right.<br />
<br />
Yes, the sky really is that bright in Maple Creek, just 25 km north of Cypress Hills Dark Sky Preserve.
    2012-08-001-0904-D.tif
  • Chuckwagon and campfire at night, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK
    2012-08-001-0897-D.tif
  • Trapper's Tent, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. <br />
<br />
Greg Hisey: "That was owned by a guy named Bob Doonan. It was his hunting tent. Bob Doonan died five or six years ago. He lived with Charlie Russell, down at his ranch one winter. Charlie Russell was in south Alberta quite a bit, but he got over here, too. I just got it, because, oh, man if it could talk! The stories it would tell! It's an old one, and probably by the end of this summer in the sun, it's getting to where you can't use it any more. But I wanted to get it up at least once."
    2012-08-001-0881-D.tif
  • The Lodge, which is a former church, with chuckwagon to left, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK
    2012-08-001-0877-D.tif
  • Thresherman's Wagon, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. <br />
<br />
This re-creation of a thresherman's wagon is a modern construction on the running gear of a former thresherman's wagon.<br />
<br />
Greg Hisey: "I've had three of those (thresherman's wagons) given to me. The roofs on them came to the top of that window. This running gear came from Jonas Abramson down the road and he gave it to me if I would put a cook car wagon on it."
    2012-08-001-0876-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Sheep Wagons and re-created sheep herders' camp.<br />
<br />
Greg Hisey, on the stone cairns: "Sheep herders used those up on high ridges to mark their territory. Wwhen I set up this little camp I wanted it to look like a sheep camp."<br />
<br />
"Most of them are still standing around Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho. Nevada had a lot sheep, and they still have a lot of Basque people and Basque sheep herders in Nevada."
    2012-08-001-0986-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Shown: Homestead cabin, Lodge, Chuckwagon.
    2012-08-001-1089-D.tif
  • Sheep wagons under the stars, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Guest gather 'round the campfire by the sheep wagons.
    2012-08-001-1080-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. This is one of two sheep wagons. This wagon required little restoration, as it had been well preserved by a covering that was put over it many years ago. Contents are authentic, including the bed (but with modern mattress), stove, benches, pull-out table, track lamp, shelf, and towel racks. End walls originally were canvas, but Greg replaced with wood because he liked the way it looked. Greg Hisey on the lantern by the door: "That's a CPR coach car light. (It would have been on the) inside of a coach on the CPR railroad, on a passenger car."
    2012-08-001-1073-D.tif
  • Cowboy brunch at the Lodge, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Cowboy brunch is served every Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., during the summer.
    2012-08-001-1041-D.tif
  • Cowboy brunch at the Lodge, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Cowboy brunch is served every Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., during the summer.
    2012-08-001-1039-D.tif
  • Inside the Lodge, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK
    2012-08-001-1034-D.tif
  • Bathroom details, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. There are two elegant, yet not ostentatious, full bathrooms with showers, located in the Lodge, at Ghostown Blues. Two baths have proved amply sufficient for the numbers of guests typically present.
    2012-08-001-1033-D.tif
  • Bathroom details, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. There are two elegant, yet not ostentatious, full bathrooms with showers, located in the Lodge, at Ghostown Blues. Two baths have proved amply sufficient for the numbers of guests typically present.
    2012-08-001-1032-D.tif
  • Bathroom details, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. There are two elegant, yet not ostentatious, full bathrooms with showers, located in the Lodge, at Ghostown Blues. Two baths have proved amply sufficient for the numbers of guests typically present.
    2012-08-001-1031-D.tif
  • Sheep wagons under the stars, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Looking south southwest.
    2012-08-001-1024-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Sheep Wagons and re-created sheep herders' camp.<br />
<br />
Greg Hisey, on the stone cairns: "Sheep herders used those up on high ridges to mark their territory. Wwhen I set up this little camp I wanted it to look like a sheep camp."<br />
<br />
"Most of them are still standing around Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho. Nevada had a lot sheep, and they still have a lot of Basque people and Basque sheep herders in Nevada."
    2012-08-001-0984-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. <br />
<br />
This is one of two sheep wagons. This wagon required little restoration, as it had been well preserved by a covering that was put over it many years ago. Contents are authentic, including the bed (but with modern mattress), stove, benches, pull-out table, track lamp, shelf, and towel racks. End walls originally were canvas, but Greg replaced with wood because he liked the way it looked. <br />
<br />
Greg Hisey: "This wagon came from the Capser ranch, Capser, (near) Harlowton, Montana. (The ranch) went from Harlowton to Rygate. Bill Capser was 82 years old  when I got this wagon."<br />
<br />
The wagon was used until about 1939, when the Second World War cut off the ranch's supply of Basque sheep herders. The Studebaker running gear dates to 1896."<br />
<br />
This is a genuine, original sheep wagon stove. Hisey says it had been kept in a barn and never used, so it's in mint condition.<br />
<br />
"Sheep camp stoves had to be tin. They called this a 'Go-to-Hell Stove'. I don't know, someone could tell you why they call it a 'Go-to-Hell Stove', or why that was the name of it, but that's what they called these tin stoves. I think it's because they got so hot!  They wanted them to heat up, quick hot fire and cool down."<br />
<br />
"It's a workable stove, but I fill them with bricks because I don't want people using them."
    2012-08-001-0964-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. <br />
<br />
This is one of two sheep wagons. This wagon required little restoration, as it had been well preserved by a covering that was put over it many years ago. Contents are authentic, including the bed (but with modern mattress), stove, benches, pull-out table, track lamp, shelf, and towel racks. End walls originally were canvas, but Greg replaced with wood because he liked the way it looked. <br />
<br />
Greg Hisey: "This wagon came from the Capser ranch, Capser, (near) Harlowton, Montana. (The ranch) went from Harlowton to Rygate. Bill Capser was 82 years old  when I got this wagon."<br />
<br />
The wagon was used until about 1939, when the Second World War cut off the ranch's supply of Basque sheep herders. The Studebaker running gear dates to 1896."
    2012-08-001-0963-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. This is one of two sheep wagons. This wagon required extensive restoration, with some liberties taken regarding full authenticity. The body of the wagon is original, as is the cabinet shown in some photos.
    2012-08-001-0940-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. This is one of two sheep wagons. This wagon required extensive restoration, with some liberties taken regarding full authenticity. The body of the wagon is original, as is the cabinet shown in some photos.
    2012-08-001-0932-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. This is one of two sheep wagons. This wagon required extensive restoration, with some liberties taken regarding full authenticity. The body of the wagon is original, as is the cabinet shown in some photos.
    2012-08-001-0931-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Dragonfly on rope.
    2012-08-001-0929-D.tif
  • Greg Hisey, owner and proprietor, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Greg is sitting at one of the dining tables in the lodge, a former church from Hatton, Saskatchewan.
    2012-08-001-0920-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. shown, left to right: Historic Log Cabin, Homestead Cabin, Thresherman's Wagon, Lodge.
    2012-08-001-0884-D.tif
  • Inside the Lodge, a former church, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. <br />
<br />
The church was built in the town of Hatton in 1912. Before Hatton was almost entirely destroyed by fire in 1921, followed by the CPR's decision to bypass the town in 1928, the town had become one of the most prosperous in Western Canada.<br />
<br />
"More grain was shipped out of Hatton Saskatchewan than any other town in Canada in 1915," says Greg Hisey, owner of Ghostown Blues. "They had nine wooden grain elevators there. It was quite a thriving little community."<br />
<br />
The Dirty Thirties all but sealed the fate of Hatton. By 1949, there were only six parishioners left to support the church. The Lutheran Church in Maple Creek bought the building for the remaining value of the mortgage on it, about $400, and moved it to Maple Creek. When the Trans Canada Highway pushed through the prairies, bypassing Hatton for Maple Creek, the town didn't stand much of a chance.<br />
<br />
In 1970, the Lutherans built a new church, sending this building across the railroad tracks to be used as a storage shed.
    2012-08-001-0871-D.tif
  • Historic log cabin (L) and Homestead cabin (R), Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. <br />
<br />
This cabin was originally a cowboy's line shack. On the big ranches, cowboys would stay at these shacks on the prairie when they couldn't make it home at night, Greg Hisey says.<br />
<br />
This cabin stood on the big ranch run by the Ramsay family.<br />
<br />
"Bill Ramsay . . . said his great granddad moved this off the prairies in the 1920s. He thinks it was built around 1912."<br />
<br />
"The Cypress Hills burned in 1886 or 1887. One of the old ranchers down there told me that they were not allowed to cut live trees, so they had to use for building standing deadfall. That would explain why there was no chinking in it, because it was shrunk if it was standing deadfall. That kind of verifies the time it was built."
    2012-08-001-0863-D.tif
  • Homestead Cabin, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. <br />
<br />
Ghostown Blues owner Greg Hisey says this was originally a settlers' cabin from northeast of town. Greg says the most recent owner before he moved it to Ghostown Blues believes the cabin was moved to a school and the schoolmarm lived in it. <br />
<br />
"In Maple Creek and all these little communities, there's these little shacks that they've moved off, settlers' shacks that they've moved into town. This one was not big enough to put garage doors in, but that's what most of them became. It was kept like this. Of course it didn't look like that when I got it. That's the original siding. I put the window in the end and you can see where I spliced in the boards there. That's an old clapboard type siding. It's a neat little old building. There's some carvings on it." <br />
<br />
During Maple Creek's annual cowboy poetry gathering, the cabin may be used to billet cowboy poets. The cabin is also used as the "green room" for the folk and blues bands that Greg brings to perform at the lodge (outside, if the weather is nice), four times a year.
    2012-08-001-0861-D.tif
  • Sheep wagons under the stars, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Guest gather 'round the campfire by the sheep wagons.
    2012-08-001-1082-D.tif
  • Bathroom details, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. There are two elegant, yet not ostentatious, full bathrooms with showers, located in the Lodge, at Ghostown Blues. Two baths have proved amply sufficient for the numbers of guests typically present.
    2012-08-001-1030-D.tif
  • Historic Log Cabin, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Reading the Maple Creek News, Saturday morning.
    2012-08-001-1029-D.tif
  • Sheep wagons under the stars, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. Looking south southwest.
    2012-08-001-1026-D.tif
  • ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. <br />
<br />
This is one of two sheep wagons. This wagon required little restoration, as it had been well preserved by a covering that was put over it many years ago. Contents are authentic, including the bed (but with modern mattress), stove, benches, pull-out table, track lamp, shelf, and towel racks. End walls originally were canvas, but Greg replaced with wood because he liked the way it looked. <br />
<br />
Greg Hisey: "There's a trunk on the back on the outside. This one had doors here (under the bed) and they went to the back storage under the bed. Usually the dog slept under the bed, your saddle went in the trunk. That window has a maker's stamp on the inside of it. You can't see it installed, but when I took it out to do it, it actually has the woodworker maker's stamp. Somebody took a lot of care with this wagon. It's quarter inch glass. They're pretty sturdy old vessels."
    2012-08-001-0973-D.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. <br />
<br />
This is one of two sheep wagons. This wagon required little restoration, as it had been well preserved by a covering that was put over it many years ago. Contents are authentic, including the bed (but with modern mattress), stove, benches, pull-out table, track lamp, shelf, and towel racks. End walls originally were canvas, but Greg replaced with wood because he liked the way it looked. <br />
<br />
Greg Hisey: "This wagon came from the Capser ranch, Capser, (near) Harlowton, Montana. (The ranch) went from Harlowton to Rygate. Bill Capser was 82 years old  when I got this wagon."<br />
<br />
The wagon was used until about 1939, when the Second World War cut off the ranch's supply of Basque sheep herders. The Studebaker running gear dates to 1896."
    2012-08-001-0956-D_blend.tif
  • Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK. This is one of two sheep wagons. This wagon required extensive restoration, with some liberties taken regarding full authenticity. The body of the wagon is original, as is the cabinet shown in some photos.
    2012-08-001-0933-D.tif
  • Inside the Historic Log Cabin, Ghostown Blues Bed & Breakfast, Highway 271, 1 km west of Maple Creek, SK<br />
<br />
100-year-old cabin (built in 1912), looks pretty modern after Greg Hisey has finished with it. On a rainy night in August, the place was warm and cozy. The queen-sized bed, adapted to a vintage double frame, provides a super-comfortable place to rest your head. High-speed wireless Internet is available, thanks to a router in the lodge, next door.
    2012-08-001-0888-D.tif
  • Cowboy crossing, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan.
    2012-08-001-1068-D.tif
  • Mural, near Centre Street and Railway Avenue, downtown Consul, Saskatchewan
    2012-08-001-1057-D.tif
  • Fort Walsh National Historic Site, Saskatchewan.<br />
<br />
We arrived in time to take a bus from the interpretive centre to the fort, instead of walking. The bus travels slowly, with the driver describing historical events and pointing out locations such as the cemetery and the original townsite. The cemetery is still there, but there is little sign of the former town. It was never expected to be permanent, so most buildings were built on log foundations, which quickly rotted away. The town was abandonned when the railway went through Maple Creek.<br />
<br />
At the fort, guides dress in period costume and tell stories of NWMP life, and the Cypress Hills Massacre. Younger visitors receive uniforms representing NWMP constables. They're given tasks similar to what recruits would have done in the late 1800s, and they are asked to round up and "arrest" "fugitives" identified among the adult visitors. Everyone then participates in a mock trial.
    2012-08-001-0990-D.tif
  • Sign showing Maple Creek summer events, posted on the door of the Maple Creek Visitor Centre, 114 Jasper Street, Maple Creek, SK. There's plenty to do in Maple Creek and area throughout the summer, including events in Cypress Hills Provincial Park. Spectacular places, such as The Great Sand Hills and Eastend's T.Rex Centre and Wallace Stegner House, also make good day trips.
    2012-08-001-0849-D.tif
  • Cowboy crossing, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan.
    2012-08-001-1066-D.tif
  • Mural, near Centre Street and Railway Avenue, downtown Consul, Saskatchewan
    2012-08-001-1063-D.tif
  • View from Bald Butte, Centre Block, Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Saskatchewan
    2012-08-001-1056-D.tif
  • View from Lookout Point, Centre Block, Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Saskatchewan
    2012-08-001-1045-D.tif
  • Downtown Maple Creek on a sunny summer afternoon, 100 block Jasper Street, east side
    2012-08-001-0845-D.tif
  • Mural, near Centre Street and Railway Avenue, downtown Consul, Saskatchewan
    2012-08-001-1062-D.tif
  • View from Lookout Point, Centre Block, Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Saskatchewan
    2012-08-001-1050-D.tif
  • View from Lookout Point, Centre Block, Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Saskatchewan
    2012-08-001-1047-D.tif
  • Cypress Hills Vineyard and Winery.<br />
<br />
We tried the following wines:<br />
Rhubarb;<br />
Sour Cherry, available at the LCB, serve chilled;<br />
Spring, serve chilled, very sweet;<br />
Mead, sweet, serve chilled;<br />
Chinook 2010;<br />
Black Currant and Honey, available at the LCB.
    2012-08-001-0997-D.tif
  • Fort Walsh National Historic Site, Saskatchewan
    2012-08-001-0996-D.tif
  • Eldon Wilkinson. Portraits at campsite at Hudson Bay Regional Park, end of Day 6.<br />
How many GASP tours have you been on? 2.<br />
What was the first tour you have been on? When was it? GASP, 2014.<br />
What is the longest tour you have been on? When was it? GASP, 2015.<br />
What advice would you give someone on their first tour? Bring everything you think you might need: plastic bags, variety of zip-loc to garbage bags. You'll need something to put your inevitably sopping wet tent into.<br />
What do you like to eat on tour? Not picky, but egs and porridge for breakfast is preferred.<br />
What is your favourite place to go on your bike? Why is it your favourite? Christie's Il Secondo coffee shop and pizzeria in Saskatoon - my book, and coffee, and many relaxing times.<br />
Tell us about your first bike. Single speed, age 7, 1965.<br />
If you could go anywhere on your bike, where would you go? Saskatchewan can't be beat.<br />
If you could ride your bike with anybody in history, who would it be? Where would you go with them, and why? Theodore Roosevelt, Africa, because it would include some big game hunting.
    2015-07-001-0774-D.jpg
  • Winter Camping, Paignton Beach, Prince Albert National Park. Trip with Colleen Gnyp, weekend following my trip with Mark Nicholson. This whiskey jack (grey jay) was pretty crafty, luring us away from the stove with its antics, then swooping past us to try to steal our breakfast. They're so cute, how could we resist?
    2010-03-002-0135-D.JPG
  • Winter Camping, Paignton Beach, Prince Albert National Park. A camping trip, usually in winter, is about the only time I'll prepare bacon and eggs for breakfast. There's just something about bacon and eggs in camp that make it more delicious than at any other occasion. It also provides calories that keep you warm.
    2010-03-001-0130-D.JPG
  • Winter Camping, Paignton Beach, Prince Albert National Park. A camping trip, usually in winter, is about the only time I'll prepare bacon and eggs for breakfast. There's just something about bacon and eggs in camp that make it more delicious than at any other occasion. It also provides calories that keep you warm.
    2010-03-001-0128-D.JPG
  • Winter Camping, Paignton Beach, Prince Albert National Park. A camping trip, usually in winter, is about the only time I'll prepare bacon and eggs for breakfast. There's just something about bacon and eggs in camp that make it more delicious than at any other occasion. It also provides calories that keep you warm.
    2010-03-001-0125-D.JPG
  • Winter Camping, Paignton Beach, Prince Albert National Park. A camping trip, usually in winter, is about the only time I'll prepare bacon and eggs for breakfast. There's just something about bacon and eggs in camp that make it more delicious than at any other occasion. It also provides calories that keep you warm.
    2010-03-001-0127-D.JPG
  • Gord Kerfoot. Portraits at campsite at Hudson Bay Regional Park, end of Day 6.<br />
How many GASP tours have you been on? 8.<br />
What was the first tour you have been on? When was it? Wascana Freewheelers, two weeks, Saskatoon north to Waskesiu.<br />
What is the longest tour you have been on? Whe was it? RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Big Ride Across Iowa), Missouri River to Mississippi River.<br />
What advice would you give someone on their first tour? Get your bike checked, have good equipment. Bee in good enough shape to enjoy yourself. Get some miles/km on your bike before the tour.<br />
What do you like to eat on tour? I cook my own breakfast in camp, carry my own road food. Suppers can be in camp or at restaurants. I like all foods.<br />
What is your favourite place to go on your bike? Why is it your favourite? Wascana Freewheelers Wednesday night ice cream rides.<br />
Tell us about your first bike. Gravel roads to country school, 2 miles.
    2015-07-001-0759-D.jpg
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