|
Settling in, making friends
“In the good ol' summer-time (the mosquitoes don't show up very well, tho').” Mary tends her garden in 1930.
Yukon Archives: #7959
Almost immediately upon the Tidds’ arrival at Ross River, Mary set out to transform the RCMP cabin, previously inhabited by a young bachelor Mountie, into a suitable home. The pin-ups of Claude’s "dashing young predecessor" were replaced with stenciled birds, and chintz curtains adorned the windows. Mary also planted a garden, which was a source of immense pride and pleasure to her. Meanwhile, Claude wrote reassuring letters to Mary’s family, ensuring them that she was happy, gaining weight, sleeping better, and not at all suffering from the isolation.
John Martin, a Gwitchin man from Peel River, had also been a guide for the Mounted Police patrols. May 1930.
Yukon Archives: #7387
Living in a small community where the economy depended on furs and trapping, the Tidds lived closer to the First Nation families of the area than was ever possible or permissible in Dawson City. There the Han people were segregated into an Indian village called Moosehide. At Ross River, Mary found herself alternately charmed, then alarmed, by visits from local women and children. At the same time, Mary learned to braid horse hair and to make porcupine quill trimming from the women. When the Martin family arrived in Ross River, Mary and Claude forged a complicated, but lasting bond with the entire family.
One of the Martin children, one year old. ca. 1930
Yukon Archives: 91/112 #565
Claude had first known the NWT-born John Martin when he acted as Special Constable for the Mounted Police, guiding arctic patrols from New Rampart House to Fort McPherson. He later became an ordained Minister for the Anglican church. The Martins and the Tidds became close during their years at Ross River. Mary Martin Moses credited Sergeant Tidd with teaching her to type and to play the organ. [Gold and Galena, page 302] Letters from Mary Tidd to her family sometimes seemed to suggest that the Martin children visited her home so often that she felt overwhelmed. But she could also rely on the Martin family to help her out when Claude was away on police patrols. The children helped her string popcorn at Christmas, and one summer while Mary was away, she was delighted to return to find her garden flourishing under the care of young Mary Martin.
|
