Field of grain looking towards flat horizon in Moose Jaw district

A display created by the Rural Municipality of Humboldt is seen. Samples of grain, spices and other agricultural products are present. A sign is also present to the right stating that the Rural Municipality of Humboldt No. 370 is located 65 miles East and 5 miles North of Saskatoon; Settled in 1904 with a population of 2775; 90% of the settlers were of German nationality. This Municiality is part of St. Peter's Colony, which comprises 50 Townships and is the largest German Catholic Settlement in America.

Bio/historical note: The Community Progress Competitions were conceived by Dr. W. J. Black of the Colonization Department of the C.N.R. to ascertain what contributions people of Continental European origin had made to community life in districts in which they possessed a resident population of 70% or more from the first or second generation, and to what extent they stimulated further community progress and development. They were judged on the basis of their educational efforts; agricultural development; citizenship, co-operation, and social welfare; arts and handicrafts; and general activities. These records were obtained by Dr. W. C. Murray in his capacity as one of the judges of the Community Progress Competitions. The records concentrate mainly on the first two years, 1930 and 1931, of the proposed five year competition for Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta residents. Only records on the Saskatchewan communities are included. They contain the assessments of the judges on community life on the districts that entered the competition. Financial statements and maps of many of the rural municipalities of Saskatchewan that entered the competition are included. Also, photographs of the districts that entered the competition for the years of 1930 and 1931, including many of the Edenwold district are included. The letters included are mainly those from the Western Region of the Department of Colonization and Agriculture of the Canadian National Railways to Dr. W. C. Murray.

On back: "Taken at an Old Timers' picnic on John Mawson's ranch, 1913. Standing (l to r): John Blackley, Robert McCordick, W.H. Holmes a'Court, Thomas Richardson, Archie Wilson, W.S. Fisher, Russel Wilson, E.J. Woolridge, J. Hunsicker. Sitting (l to r): John Mawson, Hon. W.A. Holmes a'Court, Harry Hunsicker, Andrew Blackley, Joseph Proctor, Arthur Prime".

Clippings from the Saskatoon Phoenix describe experiences of early settlers as they arrived in Saskatoon, beginning in the 1880s. The time period covers from 1 April 1911 to 19 April 1921. Also included is an article taken from a book on the settlement of the West by F. Maclure Sclanders, Commissioner of the Saskatoon Board of Trade. Also included is a program of the "Dinner for the '83 Boys", the men who homesteaded the Saskatoon area. Held 3 October 1912; names of participants are written on the inside of the program.

A team of horses hitched to a hay wagon, a threshing crew on the Stafford & Jameson ranch near Melfort, Saskatchewan

A small (12 cm X 18 cm) red hardcover 40-page bank book from the Royal Bank of Canada containing the account records for the Sunny South United Farmers Co-operative Association from 1929 to 1936.

Collection of papers including tax forms, financial statements, correspondence, membership lists and financial policies.

About 100 cancelled cheques and cheque stubs from the Sunny South Farmers Co-operative Association's account at the Royal Bank of Canada. Most of them have 3-cent postage stamps on them.

A display created by the Rural Municipality of Laird is seen. Samples of grain, spices and other agricultural products are present along side local wild flowers and wildlife. A sign is present to the right stating that "Rural Municipality of Laird is located 44 miles North of Saskatoon; Settled in 1901 with a population of [2960?] which was 75% being of Mennonite nationality and Won Second Prize in Community Progress Competitions 1930."

Bio/historical note: The Community Progress Competitions were conceived by Dr. W. J. Black of the Colonization Department of the C.N.R. to ascertain what contributions people of Continental European origin had made to community life in districts in which they possessed a resident population of 70% or more from the first or second generation, and to what extent they stimulated further community progress and development. They were judged on the basis of their educational efforts; agricultural development; citizenship, co-operation, and social welfare; arts and handicrafts; and general activities. These records were obtained by Dr. W. C. Murray in his capacity as one of the judges of the Community Progress Competitions. The records concentrate mainly on the first two years, 1930 and 1931, of the proposed five year competition for Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta residents. Only records on the Saskatchewan communities are included. They contain the assessments of the judges on community life on the districts that entered the competition. Financial statements and maps of many of the rural municipalities of Saskatchewan that entered the competition are included. Also, photographs of the districts that entered the competition for the years of 1930 and 1931, including many of the Edenwold district are included. The letters included are mainly those from the Western Region of the Department of Colonization and Agriculture of the Canadian National Railways to Dr. W. C. Murray.

A farm house is seen from the garden on a prairie homestead near Bekevar, Saskatchewan. A tractor and harvesting machinery are also seen parked near the house.