March 19, 1999
By Allen Berge
In 1937, three men were trapping in the Doig River area, north of Clear Prairie, Alberta — “Oregon Jack” Cheshire, Ed Lund and Wesley Morgan.
Wes Morgan’s mother and his sister Ruth Lund (Ed’s wife) ran the cafe in the Dawson Hotel in Dawson Creek. The three men decided to come in off the trapline to Dawson Creek for Christmas and Ed was to see his newborn son “Buck” who was born in October.
They each had a dog team, and on the first day, they came to a trapper’s cabin about two miles below where Highway 67 crosses the Clear River in Alberta, which was about a 50-mile trip. They camped there for the night and the next day reached the home of Chauncey and Margy Berge in Cherry Point, about 25 miles. They stayed there overnight playing cards and visiting until one o’clock in the morning. This was a big event to me! I was eight years old at the time.
The next morning they packed up and hooked up the dogs and went right through to Dawson Creek that same day, crossing the Peace River on the ice. It was about a 50-mile trip from the Berges to Dawson Creek. They made the return trip back to the trapline just after New Years, stopping again at the Berge home.
“Oregon Jack” Cheshire was named so because he came from Oregon and was always talking about Oregon. He passed away several years ago. Ed and Ruth Lund farmed in Clear Prairie and Ed continued trapping for several years. Ruth is now living in Peace River, Alberta. Wesley and Agnes Morgan are living north of Barrhead in a little place called Vega. Wesley, at 87 years of age, remembers lots of trapline stories and trips.
These were certainly ‘top notch’ men that could run behind a dog team for 50 miles a day, day after day. You had to be in good shape!
Ed Lund was an excellent ball player, probably one of the best in this country. The Lunds had a large family and the boys were also good players. Through Ed’s coaching and experience, a lot of neighbours became a good player too. The Clear Prairie ball team was known to be the best in the country.
Robin Lund, Ed and Ruth Lund’s grandson, is at this time a batting coach for the Kansas City Royals. He has written a book on the science of batting.
When the Alaska Highway started, Wesley Morgan bought a 1938 two-ton Ford truck and drove on the highway between Dawson Creek and Whitehorse for several years.
Wes and Agnes Morgan later moved to Barrhead where they farmed and Agnes taught school until they retired.
I always respected and admired Wesley Morgan and we named our son after him.