For many prairie workers, exploitative employers, poor wages and seasonal and dangerous work could be endured; the greatest problem to overcome was loneliness. Many came to the Prairies alone and found themselves in a place where female companionship was in short supply. Some men sent for sweethearts or wives and children later, but meanwhile they had to content themselves with memories and male companionship. Of course, not everyone was so easily contented; some of the other popular ways of handling life on the frontier are described in James Gray's entertaining books, Booze and Red Lights on the Prairies.
Unattached single men coped as best they could; and single girls were seldom at a loss for suitors. These young dandies posing before "The Hornet's Nest" chose to advertise their predicament. The fact that they were residing in a tent located near Saskatoon's Avenue H between 17th and 18th Streets is indicative of the housing conditions that faced newcomers in the rapidly expanding prairie cities.
Courtesy: Local History Department, Frances Morrison Library, Saskatoon
