HUMBOLDT — A Humboldt author has written a book documenting the ghost towns of Saskatchewan.
Terry Brown started writing his book, Blowing in the Wind: Ghost Towns in the Saskatchewan Grid, with a tank of gas and a road trip in search of ghost towns in Saskatchewan. Driving over 10,000 kilometres on the grid roads, Brown has discovered 137 listed ghost towns in Wikipedia, but said there is likely closer to 150 in Saskatchewan. He’s compiled over 10,000 images of many of the uninhabited settlements and villages throughout Saskatchewan.
He will be at the Reid Thompson Public Library in Humboldt discussing his book on Wednesday, April 19 at 6:30 p.m.
Brown grew up in Saskatchewan, and after marrying his wife, Rita, moved to the Northwest Territories, where they raised their family for many years. In 2010 they returned to the prairies settling in Humboldt to be closer to family. Brown developed a passion for historical and military research. He has also been instrumental in assisting people in finding the whereabouts of several Second World War veterans who were listed as missing in action.
He was an accountant by trade but Brown said he always liked writing and often wrote poems. In early retirement, he took an interest in researching various topics on the internet, mostly pertaining to my family history and military research.
“My interest in photography began once we started to travel the grid roads of Saskatchewan in seeking adventures, which led to searching for ghost towns and cemeteries.”
From a few old and abandoned buildings and crumbling foundations, one cannot help but wonder why the early settlers chose to build up a community in a particular location and then have the entire population disappear years later, Brown said. Some of these communities are still occupied by residents who have chosen to stay on, without the convenience of a grocery store, post office or gas station, prairie peacefulness and solitude at its best.
The idea for the book came from him googling Saskatchewan ghost towns and a list of 137 names popped up. He printed off this list, got a Saskatchewan highway map and started to circle all the names he could find.
“The closest ghost town to Humboldt on the map was Romance, just 40 minutes away. On a sunny summer day, Rita and I hopped in our car and went to look for it. We were very excited to see the few remaining uninhabited buildings that were once a town. It was also sad to see but it sparked an interest.”
Six years passed by before he got serious about putting a book together. He credits his daughters for really pushing him towards getting the book actually published and said they were instrumental in encouraging him to take this next step.
Specifically in the Northeast, in terms of ghost towns there are Romance, Stornoway, Handsworth, Tate, Jasmin, Jedburgh, Insinger, West Bend, Reynaud, Tarnopol, Smuts, Tiny, and Sinnett, to name a few.
Brown said since over the period of one year, he sold over 200 books. He is already thinking of his next project and has already written his second book, a sequel, titled Blowing in the Wind: Tombstones on the Saskatchewan Grid, which was just published on April 10.
It covers the same roads, this hardcover coffee table book contains 388 coloured photographs of tombstones and grave markers from 176 prairie cemeteries, the final resting place to over 300 early settlers born in the 1800s. Historical accounts are written about the Métis heritage at Round Prairie, Lebret, Lindsay and Batoche.
“My next project is to complete a commemorative book of photographs of gravestones of the pioneers born in the 1800s where I grew up in Indian Head and Wolseley and District. Wolseley is celebrating its 125 anniversary this August.”
Brown also developed a passion for historical and military research. He has also been instrumental in assisting people in finding the whereabouts of several Second World War veterans who were listed as missing in action. Brown had the spotlight on him in 2019 in a Saskatoon StarPhoenix article about his uncle who is a Second World War veteran whose Vickers Wellington plane vanished over the Bay of Biscay on summer morning during the middle of the war. When he found out what happened to his uncle's bomber – he tracked down the families of the other six crew members who went missing.
