Dearest Mother Pt 2: In a Continual Downpour

Postcards from a Métis Trooper in the First World War

In 2024, my father shared with me some postcards he had kept. They were passed down by his great-grandmother, Eliza Scheer (nee Desmarais) a Métis midwife who ran a boarding house in Fort MacLeod in the early decades of the 20th century. Most were from her son George, who enlisted for the First World War.

**George Schee**r, 1914
(Courtesy of Fort Macleod Archives, FMP.80.3.3)

"Group at Pincher Creek, Alberta.", [ca. 1910s], (CU1104041) by Unknown. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary. — **George Schee**r, 1914
(Courtesy of Fort Macleod Archives, FMP.80.3.3)

Now that they have come to me, I want to share them so that these words and pictures can connect family and friends across time as well as distance.

An English Winter

George’s regiment arrived in England just in time for the worst weather the island has to offer.

George Scheer and his fellow troopers in Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) arrived in England in the Fall of 1914. They were stationed at Pewsey, west of London. However, the mobilization of the Empire was far outstripping its ability to house the thousands of soldiers. By December, the troops were still under canvas in a miserable English winter.

Back home, Eliza would have faced winter quite differently. The Alberta winter is snowy, but dry and crisp. Having grown up with dry winters before moving to Vancouver and New Zealand, I can tell you that a wet one is quite a shock.

Postcards from George

Training in Pewsey and trying to stay dry.

To Eliza, Dec 9, 1914

Yes mother, steadily shoulder to shoulder we drill during the days in a continual downpour. It isn’t at all pleasant when one can never be dry but we keep up our spirits George.

Mrs. E Scheer. Macleod. Alta. Canada

The rainy winter became so miserable that the troops en route from New Zealand and Australia chose to stop at Egypt and spent the winter there instead of England. Canadian generals requested that their troops be allowed to move to Egypt too, to no avail. Many of the troops were eventually moved into billets (housed among the local populace). George would join them.

To Michael Scheer, Dec 9, 1914

Dearest Father, We’re still preparing to retake Alsace-Lorraine but the weather here is rather wet. All the boys send you best wishes and [they will?] drop you a card from Straussberg [sic]. George.

Mr. M Scheer. Macleod. Alta. Canada.

George is still in England, but hoping to be sent soon to fight in his father’s homeland. He is referring to modern Strasbourg in Alsace-Lorraine (not Straussberg in Northern Germany). George’s father Michael Scheer was born in Strasbourg in 1848. He was a blacksmith before ill health forced him to retire.

My grandfather Laurence Long wrote “Michael Scheer was an intense and patriotic Frenchman…I remember [him] as a kindly man, fond of his grandchildren, with a French accent, a deep hearty laugh and a penchant for singing the Marseillaise, or having my mother play it for him on the piano. It always brought a tear to his eye.”

(Image cropped from “Round-up camp, Oxley ranch, Willow Creek, near Fort Macleod, Alberta.”, 1901-07-01, (CU1109771) by Steele and Company.)

To Eliza, Dec 9, 1914

Dearest Mother. Went down to this town last night on mounted picket. We stayed at the place, the Bear Hotel, that you see in the picture. Town is a quaint and lovely place. George.

Mrs. E Scheer. Macleod. Alta. Canada.

Lord Strathcona’s Horse, despite its name, tended to switch back and forth between infantry and cavalry, thus the mounted picket. For a Métis born in small-town Fort Macleod, the rural villages of western England must have indeed seemed “quaint and lovely.” The Bear Hotel is thought to date back to 1559.

While George and Eliza’s Cree and Saulteaux ancestors were living and building structures on the prairies at that time, they were designed to fade into the landscape – not to persist. The permanence of stone structures like this have a power of their own.

Not only does the hotel still exist, but the interior, at least, probably looks not too dissimilar.

To Eliza, Feb 13, 1915

This is an interior view of the church which we attend every Sunday. The P.C. gives you but a poor idea of the splendor of the architecture and pictures. I prayed for the welfare of all the family at home George.

Mrs E Scheer. MacLeod. Alta. Canada.

St. John the Baptist Church in Pewsey is the image. This church still stands today. George and his siblings were all baptised as Catholics, and the family was close with famous Missionary Father Lacombe. My grandfather, George’s nephew, broke with the Catholic Church and took his family to the Anglican community of St. Barnabas. George obviously felt comfortable praying for his family in an Anglican Church.

Given that he had just returned from leave to London, I hope he didn’t have too much to ask forgiveness for!

Laurence Long quoted in Fort Macleod History Book Committee (Alberta). 19771990. Fort Macleod–our Colorful Past. Fort Macleod History Book Committee. Pgs 439-443.

I am a descendant of Eliza (Desmarais) Scheer through her daughter Mary, grandson Laurence, and great-grandson Richard. I am a storyteller and amateur historian. This story is part of my online exhibition Dearest Mother: Postcards from a Métis Trooper in the First World War.

Chapter 1: Hurrying us Through

Chapter 2: In a Continual Downpour

Chapter 3: Imagine me walking about this place

Chapter 4: In strange contrast to the prairies

Chapter 5: Up hear near the firing line

Chapter 6: I have received no letter from you lately

Chapter 7: Cards from Family

Chapter 8: Cards from Friends

Appendix 1: A Royal Desmarais Lineage

Appendix 2: The Life of Eliza (Desmarais) Scheer

Appendix 3: Mrs. Scheer and the Browns