Dreams are the stuff of which reality is fashioned. I had one of those dreams not long ago. It was about the women who came first to this great lone land we call Saskatchewan. Early explorers reported it was not fit for human habitation.
Nevertheless these women came, some single, most together with their male partners with the hope they would be able to create a new world in which their children and their grandchildren would experience a life better than they had known back home from wherever they came.
Little did they have any idea of the courage and the sacrifice it would take for their dream to come true. I have heard their stories personally that involved adversity, heartbreak, isolation and loss mixed with not a little joy and satisfaction.
Despite all their problems they experienced, they came and gave of their best and their all, so that we who came after could be benefactors of their dream, their love, their tears and toil. Thinking about my dream some time later I got to wondering about what we could do to express our thanks for “the legacy od hope” they left buried in the prairie soil – the same soil that has served us well in life and will one day cradle is in its embrace come the day when it’s our time to die.”
– An excerpt from “A Dream Come True” by Ross McMurtry
… and so the Pioneer Woman Sculpture came to be.
A dedicated group of individuals formed a committee and worked very hard to collect the stories, raise the funds, and tell the story of the Pioneer Woman.
The sculpture created by Shirley & Don Begg is now located at the green space near the Weyburn Leisure Centre at the intersection of 5th St. NE and 1st Ave.
If you are interested in reading the Weyburn Pioneer Woman Stories, or have a story you would to add, please visit the website at www.weyburnsculpture.com.
A dedication to the PAST ~ That honours the PRESENT ~ and brings hope to the FUTURE