Nick and Erena Woronuk

At the turn of the century, the economic conditions of peasant farmers in some areas of Central Europe had deteriorated to the poverty level. Small uneconomic plots of farm land were destined to foster family fragmentation as the farmers worked for wealthy landlords under the feudal system. In order to escape this hopeless situation many of the families hastened to emigrate to Canada where a homestead could be purchased for $10.00.

The Woronuk families that lived in the small village of Onut in the province of Bukovina, Austria, now a part of the Ukraine, joined the mass exodus. First John Woronuk (Nick Woronuk's uncle) and family pulled up stakes in the late 1890's and departed for this land of promise. Upon his arrival in Canada, John was guided to Southern Manitoba and permitted to settle on the Laurentian Plateau, near Gardenton, adjacent to the United States border and to the fertile Red River Valley. Being a tenacious worker, John, in a matter of just three or four years, had established himself well enough to become the envy of the relatives back home. This prompted Nick Woronuk's two older sisters and their husbands to emigrate in 1903, and George Woronuk (Nick's father and John's brother) to follow in 1904. In two years George earned enough money to provide passage for his youngest son, Nicholas (Nick), who was born in Onut on May 1, 1889 and was, therefore, seventeen years of age. Nick arrived in Canada on May 6, 1906. He was full of enthusiasm. His excitement was short-lived, however; sometime later he discovered that, due to his lengthy passage across the Atlantic which took twenty-six days and a three week delay at the Embarkation Port of Trieste, it was falsely rumored in the village of Onut that he died and was buried at sea. His mother could not bear the grief and died of shock.

In 1910, the remainder of the George Woronuk family consisting of the oldest son, Simon, and two younger daughters arrived in Canada and settled in the Gardenton-Arbaka District. After his arrival in Canada, Nick applied himself resourcefully to various jobs; in logging camps, on railroads and on farms to the extent that in five or six years he had saved $700.00 in cash. On November 12, 1911, he married Erena Lazoruk from Arbaka. Erena was born in the village of Towtri, Bukovina, Austria, on November 16, 1894 and came to Canada with her parents in 1903, at the age of eight years.

Nick Woronuk and his brother-in-law, Mike Lazoruk became close companions. After unsuccessfully attempting for nine or ten years to establish themselves on the rocky and marshy homesteads at Arbaka, they decided there was no real future for them in Southern Manitoba. They declared the Laurentian Plateau the winner, and set out to prospect for new land, first in 1912 and then again in the spring of 1913. It was at this time that they discovered river lots in the South Peace near the present Rycroft town site. Their subsequent courageous, hazardous and at times near tragic trek over the Edson-Grande Prairie Trail to yet another land of promise is described in the Edson Trail story located elsewhere in this book. Nick Woronuk traversed the trail from Rycroft to Edson a total of seven times; four trips on foot and three with oxen.

When the Woronuk family, Nick, Erena and their one year old son, George, arrived at their homestead site in late November, 1913, they were elated at being home at last. It was such a relief to know that they would not have to further endure the rigors of the Edson Trail. One can understand the euphoria that was experienced at the conclusion of such an ordeal, especially with the realization that they had reached their utopia - fertile black soil, free of rocks and swamps and the presence of an excellent water supply. The Spirit River, at that time, ran twelve months of the year. They set up a tent on a small flat above the water, but within earshot of the musical trickling of the water under the ice. It was ironic, however, that while they thought the worst was all over, in actual fact, the future looked bleak and the worst was yet to come. They had come to a wilderness, a frozen landscape covered with snow and trees and dotted with an occasional small patch of prairie. The cold northern winter had arrived before them and they had no house or shelter. Their only milk cow, an excellent Jersey, perished in the quagmire of the Edson Trail leaving them without a milk supply for their child. They had no food, as all of their supplies had been consumed and, furthermore, most of their money had been spent on the train fare and the purchase of essentials for the move to the Peace. The small amount of cash that remained was completely depleted when they purchased a cow from Charlie Bremner in addition to purchasing two or three sacks of wheat for food from William Alexander who was an established settler. Thus, even though there were three stores: The Hudson's Bay, The Revillion Freres and the Calkin and English store, at or in the vicinity of the Spirit River Settlement. The Woronuks had no cash left to buy even the most needed items. The Woronuk family had to survive almost entirely on what little they could glean from the wilderness. Although the cow they had purchased appeared to be a good milker when they bought her, they were indeed disappointed to find out that she was a wild range animal and next to impossible to get close to, let alone milk. The cow went insane and did head stands to kick at anything within reach. The only way they could subdue the beast was to confine her forcefully with a ladder against the earthen wall of the animal shelter which was dug into the bank of the Spirit River. Even then a cup or two of milk was all that could be coaxed from her, not enough to sustain a child severely weakened by to two month trek and already suffering from malnutrition. George had just started to walk before they left Manitoba but after their arrival at the homestead site in Rycroft he did not walk for several months. Fortunately, Mrs. Chalus' cow, being stronger, had survived the Edson Trail and Erena periodically received additional milk from her. Mrs. Chalus willingly shared the milk, though she could have used it for her own child, William. Willingness to share enabled George to survive that difficult winter.

Lack of food was not only a problem for the child, but for the adults as well. They ground the wheat that they had purchased from William Alexander with a coffee grinder. The fine particles were used as flour to bake a type of bread. The coarse particles were utilized for a porridge and a small amount of the coarser grounds were roasted for coffee. The medium grind was made into a gravy of sorts. Thus the wheat products constituted a very important part of their diet. The balance of the menu was either rabbit or partridge. Fortunately, the rabbits were plentiful that winter. For shelter, Nick and Erena hastily erected a shack of green logs just before Christmas, but it was impossible to complete the cabin properly, so it became an ice box. It dripped continuously during the winter, ice covered the walls and icicles hung from the ceiling. The Lazoruk families, on the other hand, elected to winter in tents. They were far more comfortable.

The Woronuk's are very grateful to the Alexander's, not only for the wheat that was made available to them, but in addition, this fine family gave the destitute Nick and Erena hay and straw for feeding and bedding the oxen and cow. Some of the straw was used as a mattress on their own beds, replacing the spruce boughs to which they had become accustomed. They also knew that in the event of dire need there was at least one family, the Alexander's, that would understand their plight and would not turn them away.

Having survived the first winter, Nick and Erena looked to spring with optimism. Hopes turned to disappointment when they realized that for some unknown reason they had very little strength. Even a light gust of wind threw them off balance. At first they attributed the condition to climatic change. They soon became aware of the true nature of the problem. Starvation had insidiously overtaken them. The situation was compounded by the facet that the rabbits were infested with ticks and cysts and that the females of both rabbits and wild fowl (hens) were in their reproductive stages and were, therefore, inedible. The only available food was the Alexander's wheat and this had to be used very sparingly.

Determination, the conviction that conditions would improve, and confidence in the future potential of their homestead land kept the pioneer couple going. As soon as the snow disappeared and the frost was out of the ground, their first undertaking was to finish the cabin. They sodded the roof, chinked the crevices between the logs, lathed the outside walls, and plastered them with a good combination of soil, chaff and straw - utilizing their background knowledge and skills to complete the house "Ukrainian style". This completed, one stove was more than adequate to keep the home warm.

The prairie sod was broken with a walking plow and oxen for the first garden and several acres for oats. Sufficient garden seeds had been brought from Manitoba. The seed potatoes were protected from freezing until spring by placing them under the covers at the foot of the bed.

In spring they had a set back when the wild cow broke loose, swam across the raging Spirit River at high water and returned to the Bremner herd from whence she came. This beast was so wild that no attempt was made to bring her back until a year or two later when she was slaughtered and most of the meat hauled one hundred miles by oxen to McLennan to be sold to the railway gang.

Erena was anxious to raise a flock of chickens. She purchased eggs, but could not arrange the purchase of a setting hen. A compromise was reached when Mr. St. Pierre Ferguson agreed to rent her a hen for an agreed number of days as he needed the hen for his own hatching purposes. A problem arose at the very beginning; the hen refused to sit on the eggs, therefore, there was a loss of several days in the hatching time. Just about the time the eggs were ready to hatch, Erena had to return the hen to Mr. Ferguson as originally agreed. Determined to have her chicks, Erena tied the eggs around her waist in a flour sack and with her own body heat, succeeded in completing the hatch. Despite her ingenious method of hatching her first brood of chicks, the results were disappointing; the hawks picked off about half of the hatch even though every precaution was taken to protect the chicks. The hawks were deadly accurate; they would suddenly appear from nowhere and in one lightning dive snatch a chick.

An early frost in 1914 blackened the garden and the oats, but enough of the growth was salvaged to provide some relief. The satisfaction that a start had been made rekindled Nick and Erena's hopes for the next year. The year 1915 was better and in 1916 the ED:BC Railway was laid from McLennan. This was a fortunate occurrence as it had been anticipated that the railway might be destined for Dunvegan or possible an area closer to Grande Prairie. This was also the year that Nick and Erena's second son, William was born.