Housed in a relatively small building, the museum houses a collection of artefacts, documents and photographs. They have managed to squeeze an amazing number of interesting displays into the building. They have pictorial and textual displays on the Swiss Guides in Golden, the first Sikh People, Explorer and Cartographer David Thompson, Riverboats on the Columbia River, Red River Carts (with a replica cart), Metis people, Early Settlers and the Stolen church of Windermere. Artefacts include many household items and appliances, gold mining paraphernalia, and, outside, a collection of farm implements.
In the middle of the equipment lineup, along with a sickle mower, hay tedder and a hay rake is this ground driven hay loader, AKA hay elevator. Doubtless when this implement hit the market a great many farmers cheered loudly. This machine was able to automate half of the hay gathering and stacking chore, cutting the labour, and even the time required to gather hay in half. The loader was pulled behind the hay wagon, picking the hay up directly off the ground and elevating it onto the wagon. Mind you, there was still a lot of pitch fork work required, first pitching it forward on the wagon in order to get a full load, then unloading by hand. Also, at least one more horse was required on the wagon because of the extra load created by the hay loader. Many loaders, though, were mounted behind wagons pulled by gasoline powered tractors.
The stencil on the side of the unit reads "
Sold by John Deere Plow Co. Limited". After 1852 the company was run under various names, such as John Deere, John Deere & Company, Deere & Company, and Moline Plow Manufactory. We're not sure when and where the
John Deere Plow Co. Limited came into being. It appears to have been a subsidiary of Deere & Company, located in Omaha, NB.
NEW DEERE HAY LOADER
Rake Cleanest — Handle Hay Gentlest
THE NEW DEERE HAY LOADER saves your hay because of of its unlimited capacity and gentle loading. Saves your horses because it is light draft—all working parts are slow driven. Saves your time because of its greater capacity, clean raking and high delivery. All these things are important in the economical handling of your crop. An examination of this loader, and an explanation of the principles on which it operates, will convince you that the New Deere Loader is right, and it is the Loader you want. It is not built for merely one or two seasons work, and if you have had experience with other makes you will be surprised to find how long-lived the New Deere Loader is. It has the famous wheelbarrow mount which prevents sagging. even after long continued use. The gathering drum is floated and will neither dig into the ground nor gather trash. There are no changes required in going from swath to windrow work or back again. Come in and see our sample machine.
From a John Deere newspaper ad