Efforts
of the Luse Land Co. to reserve homestead lands for members of the German Lutheran
Church-On Sept. 23, 1907, S.J. Luse wrote the Hon. Frank Oliver, Minister of
the Interior, with a proposal to purchase the odd sections and even ones, if
possible, to establish a church and bring in 60-100 families for one community
within the next two years. They would put up a bond and pay for the land in
five to eight years.- He stated that all German Lutheran denominations in the
U.S. would back them. On Oct. 8, 1907 a further correspondence marked "Personal"
informed Mr. Oliver that they could secure lands from the Canadian Northern
and had arranged to make a deal for the odd sections, providing they could secure
the remaining homesteads in Twp 35, and 36, Rge 24, 25 and Twp 36, Rge 26. They
wanted as much as possible to have an exclusive German Lutheran settlement.
At this time a letter to Mr. Oliver from Rev. Beuchner, Secretary of the Lutheran
Colonization Co., stated that they had been to Saskatchewan and selected five
townships in the Battleford District and asked that the homesteads left be reserved
for their people for at least a year. On Nov. 15, 1907, the Commission of Dominion
Lands reported that the above requests has been given careful consideration
and they had no doubt that the German Lutherans would make very desirable settlers
but it was contrary to regulations to reserve homestead lands in the manner
suggested.
On Jan. 15, 1908 Mr. S.F. St. John, the Canadian representative for the Company,
wrote to Mr. Oliver that he had closed a deal for 100,000 acres in Twp. 35 and
36 Reg. 17-27 inclusive W3 and also a deal with the Evangelical German Lutheran
Church for settlement of a colony of their people therein. He requested that
all homesteads within the townships named be set apart to June 1, 1908. The
Co. had been assured by the Grand Trunk Railway in Winnipeg that they could
have all the settlers to the area by that time. However, Jan. 22, 1908, Mr.
Oliver wrote to the Luse Land Co. that they had to refuse their request to reserve
homestead lands for the company as, according to regulations, any suitable application
must be allowed. Regardless of the decision the Luseland area was indeed fortunate
that these same people did arrive, took their chances and were many of the first
settlers. Theophiel Meier is reported as the first baby to be born after their
arrival.
Mr. Luse made it a practice to bring his prospective purchasers out to view
a homestead at no cost to them and where they could visit with a pioneer farmer
and ask questions. The Company built the first building in Scott before the
Grand Trunk Pacific reached there. Here the would-be purchasers were met by
a dozen Reo Chain cars and some double seated buggies which the company used
for showing the land. It was not their policy to sell a man more than he could
pay for nor did they encourage sale of land for speculation. They were colonizers
and much preferred the man who would move onto his land and improve it, for
then they knew the land would eventually be paid for.
Land was sold on a five years contract, 115 cash, the balance in five equal
annual payments with the privilege of paying any part, or all, at anytime. If
a purchaser was unable to carry out his agreement the land was taken off his hands at no
loss to him. It was their policy to give the purchaser every assistance possible.
Early each spring they arranged to have all the cars of settlers' effects
gathered in St. Paul to be consolidated into a fast train, frequently as many
as three such trains leaving at the same time. They left St. Paul on the first
and third Tuesday of each month. On arrival in Canada each car would be left
at the point nearest the land purchased by the settler. The settlers going
into a district travelled together so by the time they arrived they were acquainted
with those who would be their neighbors, which was excellent psychology for
people coming to a new way of living in a sparsely settled area.
The Company settled nearly 3,000,000 acres of land. A large portion of their
land was purchased from the Railroad Co. at $3 to $8 an acre. They were unable
to buy land from the government which preferred to throw the land open to
homesteaders; this in later years proved very expensive for the taxpayers
of Canada. The Company advertised lands in Saskatchewan for sale through the
publication of a small monthly magazine "The Last West". It had
such sales pitches as;
-Man is made from dust
Dust settles
Be a man
Settle in Saskatchewan."
or
"Reap golden harvest at $1 per bushel from $15 land."
These small magazines gave persuasive descriptions of the geography, soil,
climate and markets as well as carrying testimonies from those already settled
in the new land such as Fred Dean and Harlow Bros.
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on picture to enlarge 
