690 EDMONTON DAILY SEP 21, 1907 BREDIN, Capt. TIDSBURY, Dan SMITH, Donald A. STRATCONA, Lord. McKAY, J. CUSTER, General FRENCH, George General With the padding years the ranks of the old timers of the West grow perceptibly smaller. But there is still a strong corps yet and they form not the least picturesque feature of the Great West. Captain Bredin, who lives at the Castle Hotel, is one of these old timers - real old-timers. He came here recently from Kingston, Ont. but much of his earlier life was spent in the West in the service of the R.N.W.M.P. It was in 71 that he first saw the west when he came out to work with the C.P.R. which was then just being surveyed. He took the contract to supply the provision to the L and M sections and then they reached the Red River in the winter it was he who superintended one most daring pieces of railroad building known in Canada. It became necessary to take an engine from one side of the river to the other. It was proposed that it be taken across the ice, but the regular train crew backed down. Then it was that the captain with the helpof another man, threw the ties on the ice, spiked the rails and ran the engine across. "Wen I reached Winnipeg the first time." Said the captain to a representative of the Bulletin. "it was merely a Hudson's Bay post. Oxen were used exclusively and the runabouts were fine. They were simply carbs, but the most wonderful point about them was that not a scrap of iron was used in their construction and they were good for 1,000 pounds. In 1873 the captain joined the R.N.W.M.P. as a sub inspector and assisted in recruiting the company of adventurous young men who the same year started over what subsequently became the Dawson route for Edmonton. They found the present flourishing city, a fort with a stockade. But even then it was one of the big Hudson Bay posts. At that time the captain acquired the present sit of the city for less than $500 and today it is worth more then $21,000,000. "It was a great country for fur in those days," the captain said," but the imense value of the furs was not properly appreciated. From Edmonton we went to Fort McLeod, where the police were, and entered into active service. In the early days we had many brushes with the Indians, but they were a harmless nature, so long as the Indians loaded their own shells, and used the old flint lock guns. The men we fought were outlaws. The fact is the Indians came to us when they would run from the Americans. They considered the British their friends and the Americans their enemies. And here is a fact not widely known that we were empowered to go over the border in pursuit of outlawed Indians while the American troops, were not allowed to come into Canada. I don't know why it was, but it's a fact all the same. Sometime later, the captain started back again over the rail toward Winnipeg. This time he met the Tidsbury family coming out. Dan the sergeant of the city police, force is one of the family. He was only a boy at the time. Reaching Winnipeg, then Fort Garry, he resigned his commision in the police and went into business. He organized the Merchant's International Steamboat line and was general freight and passenger agent. These boats were built at Moorhead and ran between Winnipeg Fargo and intermediate points. About this time the Winnipeg boom was on and when it broke, the captain experienced all the sensations of a loser. During his varied experiences he met many men and knew well, Donald A. Smith, now Lord Stratcona, J. McKay, who had a price on his head by the American government for furnishing arms to the Indians and General Custer, the renowned Indian fighter. In 1882 he went to California and was away for 25 years. When he returned to the west he found things changed considerably, and much for the better. "In the old days" he said "we rode in a saddle and slept on the soft side of a plank, but now we have carriages and feather beds." There is just one other officer of the captain's time in the R.N.W.M.P. still living. He is General George French of South Africa fame. Captain Bredin although by no means a middle aged man is still hearty and good for some time to come. J.H.O.