33. Buffalo coat

33 - buffalo robe coat

ca. 1910

Sexsmith and District Museum

This coat is believed to be over 100 years old and belonged to J. L. Warren, who came west to Saskatchewan from PEI on a harvest excursion in 1910. He was left with instructions to return east when the harvesting was finished, but decided he would stay in the west after the harvest. He eventually found himself working in Clyde, Alberta for H.W. Nickerson, who ran a store and outfitted many settlers on their way to the Peace Country. After working several odd jobs for farmers and railway companies, J.L. moved to Sexsmith with his father, who had moved from PEI to Clyde, to take on its flour mill. In 1922 he married Gladys Barker. They ran the flour mill until it burned down in 1946 and the government made it too expensive to maintain. These coats were very popular from about the 1880s-1930s. They were both fashionable and practical, being very warm.