Canada, Red Ensign, Unofficial National Flag, 1901, Five Provinces Badge
This Canadian souvenir was collected by Earle R. Forrest (1883-1969) who was a noted author, newspaper reporter, cowboy and photographer. He worked at the CO Bar Ranch as a cowboy for several years in the early 1900's.
Earle R. Forrest was born 29 June 1883, in Washington, Pennsylvania, the son of Joshua Rhodes and Mary Belle Boyle Forrest. His adventures in the West began in 1902, when, at the age of 19, he left Pennsylvania and traveled to southwestern Colorado to work as a cowboy. During slack periods, he went off with his camera to photograph Indians, first at the Navajo Springs Agency of the Southern Utes and then at Meadows Trading Post south of the San Juan River. He remained among the Navajos for about a month, and with the help of Chief Sandoval and a young Navajo named Nicholas, he was able to take many photographs. Forrest's collection is a fine pictorial record of the Navajos and the Southern Utes at the turn of the century.
In September, 1903, Forrest came to Tucson and spent the winter riding along the San Pedro River and in the Santa Catalina Mountains. In the spring of 1904, he went to Flagstaff, Arizona, and rode for the Babbitt Brothers CO Bar Ranch, which at that time covered much of Arizona between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon.
Returning to his home in Pennsylvania in the fall of 1904, Forrest attended Washington and Jefferson College. But in June 1905, he headed for Montana, where he spent summer and early fall at a cow camp in the Upper Gallatin Basin, just a mile from the northwest corner of Yellowstone Park. In 1906, Forrest spent several months in Mexico, returning to Arizona in time to attend the last Hopi Snake Dance at Oraibi on 5 September 1906. This was the last Snake Dance in which both the Antelope and Snake Societies participated. After that, the people of Oraibi split into two separate factions, and the Antelope Society became part of the group which established the village of Hotevilla west of Oraibi.
Again in 1907, he went back to Flagstaff to ride for the CO Bar Ranch. At Flagstaff, he met artist Louis Akin, and together, they went to the Hopi Reservation for the Snake Dance at Mishongnovi and the Flute Dance at Oraibi. Forrest returned in August 1908 to lead a party to the new Snake Dance at Oraibi (the first Snake Dance ever held by the Hopis without Antelope Priests) and the Flute Dance at Mishongnovi.
After graduating from Washington and Jefferson College in 1908, he attended the University of Michigan. On 29 June 1909, he married Margaret Bingham. They had one daughter, Margaret Isobel. From 1910-1913, Forrest worked as a civil engineer in Washington County, Pennsylvania. In 1913, he served with the U.S. Forest Service as a ranger in Montana.
During the ensuing years from 1914-1960, Earl R. Forrest specialized in courthouse reporting and historical feature writing, working for three different newspapers in Washington, Pennsylvania. From time to time, he would return to the West, always taking photographs and gathering material for his writings wherever he went.
Companion Piece to ZFC3158
Text on tag: "Canadian Flag brought back from Canada in 1901 by Earle R. Forrest"
ZFC Significant Flag
Item is Framed
Sources:
Forrest, Earle R (Earle Robert), 1883-1969, Arizona Memory Project, 16 November 2011, from:
http://azmemory.lib.az.us/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=all&CISOBOX1=1900s+%281900-1909%29&CISOFIELD1=coverab&CISOOP2=all&CISOBOX2=jpeg+%28joint+photographic+experts+group%29&CISOFIELD2=format&CISOOP3=all&CISOBOX3=forrest%2C+earle+r+%28earle+robert%29%2C+1883-1969&CISOFIELD3=creato&CISOROOT=all&t=s
Earle Forrest collection, 1881-1971, Arizona Archives Online, 16 November 2011, from: http://www.azarchivesonline.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/mna/EarleForrest.xml;query=;brand=default
Canada - the Red Ensign (flag before 1965), Wikipedia, 16 November 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/ca-reden.html
Fraser, Alistair B., The Flags of Canada, 16 November 2011, from:
http://www.fraser.cc/FlagsCan/
Evolution of the Canadian Red Ensign, Posters of Historical Flags of Canada, Canadian Heritage, 16 November 2011, from:
http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/Flg-Pstrs/post4/Post4-eng.cfm
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
