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William McArthur
William “Peter” McArthur was born at Viking, Alberta, on October 17th, 1938 and as the third son of Peter S. McArthur and Olive (Boraas); both parents of whom had older half-siblings, the eldest of...view moreWilliam “Peter” McArthur was born at Viking, Alberta, on October 17th, 1938 and as the third son of Peter S. McArthur and Olive (Boraas); both parents of whom had older half-siblings, the eldest of those having been born in 1872. Thus; at a very young age, Peter became very interested in history. He attended the Old Viking School until 1953 when he joined a Survey Crew as a Chainman, prior to operating a Grain Cleaner in Saskatchewan for three seasons; when he got started on pipelining prior to entering the Electrical Trade; he learned Basic Electronics and completed his apprenticeship to become a Journeyman and Master Electrician with his Inter-provincial Red Seal Certificate.After working a broad variety of Electrical Jobs; including much Industrial Maintenance; Peter left the Electrical Trade to become a leading Real Estate Salesman as a Canada Trust Realtor; becoming the top award winner in Medicine Hat, for some 17 consecutive months; an accomplishment that also vaulted him to a Third Place Award in the Prairie Region; as a Canada Trust Realtor. Throughout this time: he married Violet, and they raised four children; three boys and one girl; all of whom were educated in Taber and Medicine Hat; and they all continue to live in southern Alberta, where during their young years; Peter served as a Boy Scout Leader and also served as a member of the District Commissioners Staff in both Flatlands District and Medicine Hat District.It was his attention to detail that culminated in him being selected to serve as Treasurer for the Medicine Hat City Police Youth Band; with about 140 members; who operated a Marching Brass Band that toured across western Canada and had a special performing trip to Southern California in 1978; with 10 performances booked for the Band; including the Mickey Mouse Parade (40th Anniversary). These three busloads served as great ambassadors for Medicine Hat.Later Peter started his own Cabinet Business; building cabinets of solid oak; much like his Great Grandfather had done at McArthur’s Mills, Ontario. Peter has traced his roots to Peter McArthur who married Mary Cameron in 1723; perhaps being what led him to become a genealogist for Clan McArthur for eastern Canada and also led him to design a special Family Sheet Form that enables greater certainty to the flow of past generations. In 1990 he returned to Viking, Alberta to care for his mother in her final decade of life and he joined the Viking Senior Citizens Club, became a Director of Zone 7 in Eastern Alberta; he joined the Alberta Council on Aging and was the founding President of Zone 9, when it was formed. In 2020, after searching for all the possibilities surrounding Anthony Henday and having been into many archives and libraries; he had determined that in fact Anthony Henday had been enabled by his bedmate; whom Peter calls Pearl as she was a gem to him. It was Henday’s fine descriptions of each camp; his distance of travel and direction of travel that pulled at Peter since 1969, to complete his book Pearl of the West in 2020. Peter has been informed that a Documentary that has begun around his Anthony Henday Trek West 1754-55 is scheduled as a Two-Year Project.view less
Books by William McArthur
My Many Hats Pearl of the West: Anthony Henday's Bedmate in 1754-55 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings