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Daniel Baldwin, M.D. From granddaughter Joanne Felstrom and great grandniece Brenda Lesyk’s collection.
The Canadian West was a medical wilderness. Arran did not have a clinic or hospital, nor did the neighboring village of Benito where Dr Baldwin had built his office. He belonged to that special breed of people known as country doctors, whose closest hospital was two or three days away. Daniel Baldwin was born in Ontario's Dundas County in 1872. His parents John and Priscilla, together with sons Daniel and Joseph and daughter Margaret, came west to Brandon when Daniel was seventeen. His first ambition for what he'd do when he grew up was to be a teacher. He taught school for several years at Cypress River near the U.S. border. His income was limited, but with the loyal support of his wife Rose Lynch, whom he married in 1903, he was able to attend medical school in Winnipeg. He graduated in 1907, and had a medical office in Durban for three years. They lived the rest of their lives in Benito. He rapidly earned a reputation of being a dedicated country doctor. His patients were spread over a huge territory that included Arran and district, but he took care of them all when they took sick. Patients that couldn't be seen during regular office hours were met at his home office. He saw them through years of drought and rust and hail and the many dust storms that plagued the dry land farmers. Daniel and Rose raised two sons, John and Russell.
Life on the edge of the frontier was hard, and a trip wasn't made to "Dr Dan's" office unless the illness was acute. Often it resulted in an urgent house call. The kitchen became his delivery room, and the dining table his operating table. The closest stand-by tall enough to reach was recruited to assist in administering chloroform. The next stop was another house call. A late return had the doctor bundled in his buffalo robe seated in his buggy or cutter (sled) catching up on sleep while his team of horses plodded safely home in the darkness of night. Road maps did not exist. The horses didn't need them. Payment of his fee was often delayed until after harvest, or would consist of a pail full of wild strawberries, or a chicken, or fresh vegetables in season. When confronted by a little girl recovering from an emergency appendectomy who wouldn't drink water unless it came from her grandfather's well, he met the little one's wish by procuring a cream can full of the preferred drink for her. No detail was too small for the doctor's attention.
On a sunny morning in April, 1929 that dawned mild and balmy, Dr Baldwin received an ugent message from a midwife that a young mother was in labor, and was having a difficult time. He was requested to come. But 15 km of quagmired road separated him from the farmhouse. The challenge appeared insurmountable. The early-spring prairie conditions had made the roads impassable. By good fortune the mother's husband was a former steam-driving man on CNR locomotives, and continued a close relationship with "the men on the line". His S.O.S. telegraphed to the maintenance crew resulted in Dr Baldwin being dispatched aboard the crew's motorized railway car, known as a jigger, to within reach of the farm. He was met at track-side by the farmer on a pioneer-fashioned portable platform, known as a stone-boat that could be horse-drawn over virtually any surface, including the muddy plowed field that lay ahead. The doctor's skill and expertise resulted in the successful delivery of twin baby boys; a situation that the mother did not contemplate, having chosen only one name. Dr Baldwin suggested that one of them be named Russell. She liked the name. In later years her grandson and great grandson would also be named Russell.
Travelling the good old way by horse and buggy was gradually replaced by the venerable Model A Ford. Its light 1200-kg weight and high clearance enabled passage on unimproved grid roads. Its showroom price was $385; a rear-view mirror was optional. Its bouncing ride on rough roads and tumbleweed trails made it known as the Grasshopper. Daniel Baldwin adopted a Model A Coupe in 1931 for use in fair weather. They were in production from 1928 to 1932.
A propeller-driven four-seat snowplane, known as the Fudge Snow Sedan, was designed and built by Fudge Industries in Moosomin, Sask. Inventor Robert Fudge constructed 600 planes in all from 1929 to 1956. Initially powered by small Ford motors, they were later equipped with Chrysler six-cylinder engines, some with Ford V8's, and some with aircraft engines. The 1942 sticker price was $1120. Rocketing over snowdrifts on roads or open fields and meadows at speeds up to 80 kph with Phillip Wainwright at the controls, the noise and flying snow was a sight to behold. Heard over long distances in the frosty winters it was a welcome signal that medical help was on the way.
Daniel Baldwin's passing came on May 17, 1949 at age 76. Much of his history has faded into the wallpaper, but those who knew him, or know of him, praise him for the great man that this country doctor was. A notable landmark in the town commemorates Moosomin-born General McNaughton who earned fame in World Wars I and II. Major George Mullin (1891-1963), who was awarded a Victoria Cross at Vimy Ridge in 1917, now lies buried in Moosomin.
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