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Jamie Brown rolled over and sighed. He was bored. Well, really he was sick; at 

least that is what he had told his mother this morning before she rushed out the 

door to her job in Calgary. Since Jamie's dad was also working, he had been 

sent to his Grandmother's house. Gram's house didn't have an Xbox or any 

good channels and Gram was too busy sewing a quilt for her quilt club to 

entertain Jamie. Feeling better than he had been this morning, Jamie had 

decided to explore Gram's house. He had been in the living room, kitchen, and 

spare bedroom and now was trying to figure out where to go next. "I know," 

thought Jamie, "the attic." Gram's attic was full to the brim with stuff and 

boxes. "I am sure I will find something interesting up there. It sure beats 

watching Gram sew another square unto her quilt." 

Jamie walked up the stairs, turned on the attic light and promptly sneezed. 

"Geez, doesn't anyone ever dust up here," he grumbled as he pushed past 

Christmas decorations and boxes labeled, "clothes for donation". Jamie continued 

to make his way to the back of the attic, as more and more dust continued to 

swirl. Finding it hard to breathe, he decided to sit down on an old rocking horse. 

He remembered this from when he was a child. Looking around, Jamie spotted a 

corner of something brown. Curious, he pushed away two boxes and found 

himself looking at a pile of old suitcases. Maybe there is something interesting 

here. Jamie's mind began to race with all the possibilities, money, jewels, "I had 

better look," he thought. 

Lifting the lid of the suitcase, Jamie peered inside. The first thing that caught his 

eye was an old hat. "This is cool," he exclaimed as he tried it on. "I wonder what 

else I can find." He began to pull things out, a pair of old pants, one high heeled 

shoe, a bracelet. Jamie had reached the bottom and all that was left was a pile of 

pictures, a journal and letters held together by an elastic. 

"I might as well look at these," he thought, "I have nothing better to do." The first 

picture Jamie picked up was of some boys sitting on horses. "I wonder who these 

people are?" Next Jamie picked up the stack of letters. "I wonder who wrote these 

letters?" Jamie read, "Dear Fergus." "Who is Fergus?" Jamie wondered. 

Running to the top of the stairs, Jamie yelled down at Gram, "Hey Gram, I found 

some letters to a guy named Fergus. Who's that?" 

"Jamie, don't make a mess up there," Gram shouted back. "Fergus Campbell is 

your great-grandfather. He came from Scotland to Carstairs in 1910. He was 

probably about your age when he immigrated to Canada." 

"Wow," Jamie considered, "1910, that's like a million years ago. I wonder what 

Carstairs was like back then?" Jamie picked up the letters, journal and photos and 

settled himself on a big stack of blankets. 

The first thing Jamie 

picked up was an old 

photograph of a 

family. He turned it 

over. There was faint 

writing on the back. 

He could make out 

some of the names, 

Mary, Angus, Donald, 

Iona, Cora, Maggie, 

Fraser and Fergus. 

Jamie found his 

great-grandfather. 

"He looks about 8 

years old in this 

picture," he said. 

Looking closer, Jamie 

saw a date and the 

name of a place, 

Bogside, Scotland, 

1906. 

Back row: Iona, Donald, Cora, Fergus

Front row: Maggie, Angus, Fraser, Isabelle, Mary, Chrissy

Bogside, Scotland, 1906

Next Jamie picked up the pile of letters. He decided to start 

from the bottom. The letter was addressed to Fergus and 

signed your friend, Alistair McCloud. Jamie could only make 

out a bit of the letter but this is what it said, 

"Dear Fergus, I miss you. Things haven't been the same since 

you left to go to Canada. There is no one to go fishing with. 

Da is still struggling to make the farm work. It has been hard 

here. Lots of people have left to go to Edinburgh and Glasgow 

because there is no work. Da says maybe we should try 

Canada. He has heard there is lots of land for people. Here 

there is no land for anyone. Everyone wants land but there is 

not enough to go around. 

Ma doesn't want to leave Scotland. She says Canada will be 

lawless. If conditions don't improve here we also will be 

forced to leave Bogside. I am hoping we will go on an 

adventure like you but more likely we will head to Glasgow 

where Da will try and find work. The cities are crawling with 

people and conditions are horrible there, little work and poor 

housing. Conditions there are wretched. Write me more 

letters and tell me about your train ride across Canada and 

what it is like in Carstairs. Any good fishing holes there?"

Living conditions in Scotland.

Factory workers 

in Scotland.

"Life seemed really difficult back then in Scotland. I am glad I live in 2012," Jamie 

concluded. Jamie thought for a moment, something was triggering his memory. 

What was it? Something that his social studies teacher had said. Oh right, quality 

of life. 

Yesterday his teacher had talked to the class about quality of life. I wonder about 

Fergus's quality of life in Scotland? Jamie knew that his social studeis binder was in 

his backpack so he raced down the stairs to grab it. Jamie's teacher had made 

them copy down a definition of quality of life. 

Here it is, "'Quality of life’ is a term used to measure well-being. Well-being 

describes how well people feel about their environment. To assess quality of life, 

indicators are used to represent the most important aspects of a person’s life, 

which include, for example, housing, education, employment and household 

finances." 

"So when I think about my quality of life now, I think it is pretty good," Jamie 

thought to himself. "My parents have jobs, we have a house, I go to school and I 

get a lot of things that I want (although I could always get more). Fergus's quality 

of life didn't sound that great. It sounded like they were struggling for land and it 

was difficult to find jobs. I guess that is why my family may have come to Canada. 

They were looking for a better quality of life."

Jamie 

thinking 

about his 

quality of 

life 

compared 

to his 

ancestors.  

Jamie thinking about his quality of 

life compared to his ancestors. 

Jamie decided to put the letters to the side 

for a moment and look at what else was in 

the suitcase. He saw a piece of folded paper. 

Opening it up, Jamie found a poster. 

"This must be a poster advertising farmland 

in Canada," Jamie declared. Looking closer, 

he began to examine the poster. It talked 

about rich farmland where you could grow 

wheat or raise cattle. My family must have 

come to Canada because they knew there 

was farmland. Turning the poster over, 

Jamie glanced at the back, written in pencil 

was the statement, "Pay $10 and get a 

homestead, 160 acres for free. You have to 

stay on the land for three years." 

Jamie was making a habit of talking to 

himself, "My family must have seen this 

advertised in Scotland and then were drawn 

to Alberta because of the government's offer. 

That's a lot of land. The natural resources 

here must have been really abundant to get 

so many people to come."

September 15, 1910, Excerpt from Fergus's journal: 

After a horrible week at sea we have arrived in Canada. It took us a week to journey from 

Bogside to Campbeltown. When we arrived in Campbeltown, Da found us passage on the ship, 

Edinburgh.

We left Campbeltown on September 6. The voyage was cramped and uncomfortable. Maggie 

and baby Mary were sea sick. Ma also had a hard time with cooking as there was no stove. All 

we could eat was a little bread and cheese we had brought with us. On the fourth day, Donald 

showed up with some dried meat. I don't know where he got it. To get away from the smell, 

Chrissy, Fraser and I went up to the decks as much as we could.

Finally after 7 days at sea, we landed in Quebec. We were all excited to get off the boat, 

especially with the little ones who were so sick. I couldn't wait to get into Canada, unfortunately 

the officials told us that we had to go to an island called Grosse Ile. There we would have to go 

into quarantine to make sure we weren't carrying diseases into Canada.

I have never been more bored. We are hoping we can leave quarantine tomorrow as none of us 

are sick. My siblings have gotten over their sea sickness. Quarantine is horrible and I have seen 

things I won't soon forget.

I look forward to our journey from this place. Da says we are heading west on a train. It will take 

many days. We are going to a place called Carstairs. Da and Ma know people from Bogside who 

are there. This will be a grand adventure. 

Now Jamie was really excited about what he had found. "That boat ride sounded 

miserable." He pulled out a picture of a man driving two oxen. Using his critical 

thinking skills, he made an assumption that Fergus's family must have been 

farmers. Going back to the journal, Jamie flipped through until a date caught his 

eye, October 10, 1910. Jamie settled in to read Fergus's entry. 

Today was an exhausting day. We spent all day hauling wood and building up some walls. Da 

thinks it will take a week because we have to haul all our supplies from Carstairs. Da has 

rented a wagon and some horses to do the job of hauling. There are no roads so we are 

praying that it doesn't snow and we don't get bogged down in mud. 

Besides that we are happy to be here. We have our own land and Da has decided to grow 

wheat, since it seems so plentiful here. Today I caught a prairie chicken. Da built up a fire and 

we roasted it up for dinner. Da was careful to make sure the fire was out before we headed 

back to Carstairs and to the hotel. People in town have told him about the danger of prairie 

fires and how they can wipe everything out for miles. Hopefully tomorrow Ma will bring the 

girls out and we can explore.

"Life was sure different back then," Jamie said aloud. Comparing his own life to his 

ancestors and how the natural environment affected them both, Jamie began to 

realize that natural resources play a big part in why people live where they do. 

Jamie's father works in the oil field and was often gone from home to work. Jamie's 

mother works in downtown Calgary at the Agri-Environment Services Branch, 

where she focuses on farming and the environment. "I guess natural resources 

have always played an important role in where my family lives. They brought my 

great-great-grandparents to Alberta and they give my parents jobs." 

Jamie's dad 

at work.

As Jamie was thinking about the resources Alberta has, he happened to glance down 

into the suitcase and two old black and white pictures caught his eye. "What's this," 

he said as he picked up the pictures. "Carstairs, 1910. Cool, this is what Carstairs 

looked like when my great-grandfather arrived," Jamie remarked. "This is Main 

Street. It looks pretty different than it does today. 

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