This John Deere manure spreader completes the Kettle River Museum's collection of agricultural equipment quite nicely. We refer to this spreader as a John Deere, not because we found a maker's mark anywhere on the machine, which we didn't, but because of the paint colour. The green and yellow paint appears to be original, almost certainly branding this unit as a John Deere.
This spreader, if it is indeed what we believe it to be, was introduced in 1929 and built until at least 1936. After hours (& hours & hours) of sifting through photos of various John Deere spreaders we have come to the conclusion that this is very likely to be a Model D. It was produced after the Model A and the Model B and is completely different in design. It is similar to the Model E, but differs sufficiently to eliminate the Model E as a likelihood. Naturally, this example is not at all like later models, such as the Model HH and the Model K. Soooo, we're going with Model D for this spreader's identity, though the Model D was ostensibly made with a wooden box, as were all models through the Model E. This steel boxed unit may have been an optional variant or have come later in the production run. In any event I give up. If this is NOT a Model D, so be it.
This one is actually in pretty good condition yet, though the box is rusted through at the corners. Ground driven, horse drawn manure spreaders continued be be made by John Deere until the mid 1950s.
Though it's not mounted on this spreader, there was provision for a seat at the front and a platform below it for the farmer to rest his feet. The square bracket in the centre of the front wall is intended to accept a length of flat iron which supports a seat. We only know this because we've seen another John Deere spreader which still had the seat and platform in place.
Kettle River Museum
The first railway to arrive in the area was the Columbia & Western, a subsidiary of the CPR. It was an extension of the CPR's line at Castlegar, intended to eventually link to the main line which ran to the coast. This link, known as the Kettle Valley Railway, was finished, finally, in 1915, linking the interior with the coast. The KVR ran from this point 600 km. west to meet the main line at Hope, BC. Built through rugged, mountainous terrain, it was hailed as an engineering landmark when completed.
The line remained in operation until, due to a changing economic climate, the KVR was abandoned and the tracks removed, beginning in 1991. Fortunately for us history buffs, a few far sighted individuals have managed to rescue this station for posterity.
As well as the station, the museum includes a main building housing smaller historical artifacts and interpretive displays of rail, mining, forestry, and agriculture heritage, an artifacts yard with larger artifacts, a caboose, a section house, a 6 bedroom bunkhouse (newly renovated and available to rent for hikers, cyclists and others) and a machine shed, which houses a plethora of mining, railroading and agricultural machinery. In this building is an old Austin Fire Truck, as well. The museum also has a picnic area shaded by a century old maple tree, grown from a seed planted by the wife of the station master.
The Kettle River Museum opened July 12, 1977 in a smaller building within the Village of Midway. That building housed many, or most, of the artifacts and displays to be found in the present main museum building. Some time after 1985 the museum was relocated to this spot to take advantage of the presence of the turn of the century heritage railway station.