TEAMSTERS…
A teamster’s job was moving drilling rigs and was a very important part of the early years of the Canadian gas industry. In the early 1900’s the pay for moving a drilling rig was $2.00 per day for the man, his wagon and the team of horses. Later in the 1920’s teamsters received $6.00 per day for this service. Some days started as early as three am to feed the horses and leave by four am and may not have ended until eleven pm.
It could take as many as four or six teams to pull the draw-works and tower of the Canadian rigs which were on skids. If the teams were far from home the farmers would put them up for the night but the teamsters had to have their own feed for the horses.
Work could be plenty if there were many rigs working in the same area but sometimes there was no work at all.
This rig weighs 16 tons and would have taken six teams of horses to move it.
The following is a list in recognition of the dedicated teamsters in the Haldimand area :
TEAMSTERS MOVING DRILLING RIGS
Sandy Schweyer 1920’s-1930’s Cheapside
Keith Schweyer 1930’s-1940’s Cheapside
Erv Makey 1930’s-1940’s Cheapside
Sam Penrose South Cayuga Twp.
Howard Sandham Tillsonburg
Louis Moore York-Seneca Twp.
Joe J. Hoover 1910 at $2.00 per day Selkirk
Bill Booth 1930’s-1940’s at $6.00/day Cheapside
Ernest Gurney Norfolk
Tom Doyle Cayuga
Ervin Kellie Niagara
Norman (Shanty) House Stevensville
John Olds Simcoe
Charles Henry Marshall 1914 Port Alma
Harry Roth 1913 Welland
William Armstrong 1921 Cayuga
Arby Soper 1923 Delhi
E. Gibbons 1922 Port Burwell
William Legatt 1910 Rainham Centre
N. West 1923 Woodhouse Twp
Bill Bradshaw Dunnville