48. The Trip to Canada

            Finally word came that the Canadian Pacific Railway Company would give Peter and Anna and their family passage on a ship to go to Canada.  Everyone had to have the address of where they would reside in Canada in order to be allowed on the ship, and they were thankful they had relatives in Alberta willing to take them in.  And everything was done on credit, called the "Reise Schuldt" which would need to be paid back after they arrived in Canada. 

            The caption on the back of this postcard is "The Cruiser Montcalm, 

embarked 30 April and disembarked 11 May 1930"

            There were two other Mennonite families and 18 single Mennonites in their group sailing for Canada.  They were not in the first class level of the ship, they were all in one very small cabin with beds from floor to ceiling.  At that time of the year in May there were many icebergs in the water and Mary remembers one night when the ship did not move because of ice flows.  There was ice all around and the ship's horn blew all night.  This was same location as where the Titanic had gone down. 

            After 10 days at sea they finally arrived in Quebec City.  Here they disembarked and were put in quarantine for three weeks.  Anna and children Katherine, Peter Jr., and Jack went to the hospital.  Peter, Betty, Mary and Anne went to the immigration center.  The girls went to the women's section in a large building, but they could eat with their Father during the meals.  This was another very long and tedious time of waiting.  They could look out their window and see ships coming up the St. Lawrence River, and they could see the large Le Château Frontenac castle-like hotel on top of the high hill above them.  

            Finally they were all well enough to move on, and they boarded a train for Coaldale, Alberta.  It took many days to cross Canada but finally they arrived at the farm of Anna's relatives in Coaldale, Alberta.