Fonds F3072 - Hamilton family fonds

William Allen Hamilton, 1849-1941, was born at Princeton, Missouri, USA and after the Civil War moved to the American west. In 1874 he travelled to Fort Macleod, Alberta and remained in Canada for the rest of his life. He served in the Northwest Rebellion (1885 Riel Rebellion) as a Mounted Police scout. In 1888 he married Vernie Dumont, ?-1913, adopted daughter of Gabriel Dumont and they had six children, Clara, Lloyd, ?-1892, George Ray, 1891-1972, Allen James, Sadie Elizabeth (Brooks) and Myrtle Grace (Sounds). For several years the Hamiltons lived in Edmonton but in 1896 they established a ranch in the Porcupine Hills near Fort Macleod.

After Vernie's death William retired first to Fort Macleod and then in 1919 to Calgary. George was a long-time rodeo competitor and he worked on the David J. Bell farm near High River for several years. In 1914 he joined the Canadian Army. In the 1920s he worked for Peter Welsh's Alberta Stampede and Rodeo organization. George first married Doris Wright in 1918 (divorced 1925) and they had two daughters, Audrey and Clarice (Flemming). He then married Catherine "Tina" Epp and they had five sons and one daughter, Lloyd, 1931-2018, Kenneth, Mildred (Sereda), Christopher, Robert and Vernon.

For further information see the article by Lloyd Hamilton, "George Hamilton, A Pioneer" in Field, Horse and Rodeo, December 1963, p. 14.