Dearest Mother Pt 7: Cards from Family

Postcards to a Métis Matriarch

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, but not all, were from her son George, who enlisted for the First World War.

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.

The Scheers

A large Catholic family of Métis and Alsatian descent, rooted in the prairie of Fort Macleod.

Eliza and Michael had seven children survive to adulthood: Arthur, George, Margaret, Alfred, Mary, Wilbert. 

John, Nancy, and Michael (two of whom I believe are pictured above) did not survive past childhood, despite Eliza’s nursing skills. This was the sad reality for many families at the time.

This Métis family generally stayed around Southern Alberta, with Mary living for a time in Nelson and Kelowna in BC, and George losing touch. Thus postcards might be relatively rare, because the family could connect in person.

Nonetheless those surviving show a very warm and familiar family who seemed to enjoy staying connected. I’m glad to say that tradition continues today in Eliza’s descendants. 

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Postcards from Mary

In 1902 she married William Long and had three children: Robert, Rita, and Laurence (from whom I am descended).

Mary To Wilbert, December 1909

Wilbert (b. 1901) is Mary’s younger brother. He would have been only 8 or so when he received this postcard, while his sister was about 27. It is postmarked from Cut Bank, Montana.

Mary To Eliza, June 11, 1914

It isn’t clear why a second hand in pen has added the “To” and “From” again.

More on Mary (Scheer) Long:

William [Long] died in 1917. 

In 1923, [Mary] married Arthur Nash and resided in Milk River for a short time, returning to Macleod where Mr. Nash was involved in the carpentry business. Upon his retirement, they moved to Nelson, then later moved to Kelowna.

In 1962, they moved to Medicine Hat to be closer to the children and lived there until their deaths. …

Mary died in 1967. Arthur Nash died in 1969. 

My mother often told me exciting stories of the early days, such as the arrival of settlers, the pranks of the cowboys, colorful stories of Kootenai Brown, Johnny Franklin, La Marr, NWMP, the Maunsell Brothers and many other tales that I should have recorded.

Laurence Long, as told in Fort Macleod: our colorful past

Postcards from A. Scheer

There are two A. Scheers in the family! Arthur (b. 1879), the eldest, and Alfred (b. 1887). This could be either one of them. 

I have no idea what A Scheer is doing at Fort William (now Thunder Bay). Perhaps it is Arthur doing some stock/cowboy work? Or Alfred on a holiday? The postcard depicts a Central School in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.

While no clear adult photos of the two A Scheers are available to me, Arthur, a stockman who often worked at Standoff, is present in this photo fifth from the right. Interestingly he is identified as Arthur “Yellow Kid” Scheer. This nickname might be a reference to a popular contemporary cartoon character. He would have been about sixteen or seventeen.

My grandfather writes more about both Arthur and Albert in Fort Macleod: Our Colourful Past.

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Postcards from Bert

This is likely Robert “Bert” Long, Eliza’s grandson by her daughter Mary. If this is Bert Long, he would be only 7, which fits with the simple message.

(Other possibilities include Wilbert Scheer and Bert Desmarais. Wilbert doesn’t seem to have gone by “Bert” at all. The Scheers had a cousin, Bert Desmarais, in Medicine Hat.)

[Bert Long] attended school and spent most of his life in Fort Macleod, except for brief periods in Milk River and Everett, Washington.

A victim of the “Hungry Thirties,” he worked on farms wherever he could.

Laurence Long, as told in Fort Macleod: our colorful past

My father remembers his Uncle Bert as having come out of some form of Residential or Day School a very angry young man. He was told that Bert would often walk down back alleys looking for fights. My father remembers being told about similarly bad experiences for Laurence and Rita at school, with his father being beaten for going to visit his sister in the girl’s ward. Laurence mentions none of this in his own writing.

Neither postcards nor civic histories are the places such stories were told.

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

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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.