Grandma Butters at 17

One of the great delights of this hobby is spending extended periods of time with an ancestor.

Grandma Bessie (Bullis) Butters was born in 1899, a few months before the end of the second-last century. I was born in 1949, a few months before the middle of the last century.

Grandma compiled a photo album at age 17, presented here. I compiled a photo album at age 17, presented elsewhere in this web-museum. For each of us childhood is in the past. The future is a scary, optimistic, anticipated adventure.

In 1917 Grandma explores: 1) her own town, Weyburn; 2) the big city, Regina, and 3) a plethora of teenage haunts and adventures: Halbrite, Trossachs, Rainton, Carlyle, Whitewood, Qu’Appelle.

The snowball fight.

The group of teenagers preening and posing on a scenic bridge.

Constant reminders of an ever-present-war (World War 1).

The adventure of the new transportation technology.

The beauty of the old transportation technology.

While we often focus on the things that have changed, it is fascinating to consider the things that have NOT changed: The Water Tower, The Hospital on the Hill, The Badlands … (The Badlands is a geological oddity along the Souris River near Halbrite. This museum contains photos of the same location taken by every generation of Boyle/Butters photographers. Watch for a future compilation.)

(A note from Chris on the quality of photos: some of these amaze me; some were lousy the moment they were taken; some have not aged well. I have included them all for the possibility that someone, sometime will spot a detail of significance to them.)