Dr. Sigridur (Sigga) Christianson Houston and her husband Dr. Clarence Joseph (CJ) Houston operated a medical practice in Yorkton for nearly 50 years, after a year in Watfort City, North Dakota. Both were graduates of the University of Manitoba College of Medicine.
In their practice in Yorkton, she had a well-known and well-deserved reputation to make babies thrive, which brought mothers and children from a hundred or more miles away.
What most people at the time did not know was this: when she graduated medical school in 1925, she was only the fourth woman of Icelandic descent to become a doctor, and the first Icelandic-Canadian woman to achieve that. Although we haven’t been able to verify this, she was very likely also the first female doctor to practice in Yorkton.
Not to forget about the secret she kept for most of her life. And the bean soup recipe.
Search for Yorkton Stories to find our podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Podcasts (formerly Google Podcasts), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, TuneIn + Alexa, Podcast Index, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Pocket Cast, Deezer, Listen Notes and Player FM. Our podcasts are published on our website at least once a month and they will generally be available in podcast directories within 24 hours.
These are stories about people and events in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada, which has been on the map since 1882 when a small group of men from Ontario, and originally from Britain, came to the District of Assiniboia, still largely unsettled prairie and aspen woodlands.
There are many stories -- and perhaps some myths and mysteries -- to be explored.
We publish a new podcast at least once a month. All are available on this website, as well as all podcast directories. Simply search for Yorkton Stories.
These podcasts are a labour of love and respect for those who came before us, and who make Yorkton what it is today. As a former newspaper owner and editor, former city councillor, still-active community volunteer and local history buff, I know many of us have stories to tell. If you have one we should know about, get in touch.
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I just listened to your podcast with Perry (Ehrlich). Perry is such a wonderful person. I went to high school with Perry, performed in The Troubadours with him and participated in music festivals in Yorkton.
Another thing Perry and I share in common, as well as life long friendship, is that we both played piano/dinner entertainment at The Holiday Inn/The Mustache while attending high school at The Regional.
My career since 1976 has involved teaching music in Canada, Alaska, Germany and The Netherlands.
Just wanted to say, wonderful podcast with Perry Ehrlich. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you! You're doing great work!
--Kathleen (Kitty) Fournier (nee Reese), Ottawa
In Nebraska, bierock is referred to as runza, apparently a state treasure! They were a special treat in our family with my mom competing with our granny to see who was best.
My granny would make a pan full of nothing but Spanish onions as a filling which was my dads favorite. We don’t eat chicken noodle soup without butterballs.
--Kenn Propp, Yorkton
I find so many common threads and connections as I listen that bring back many fond memories. Less than six degrees of separation in Yorkton. Rick and I are products for example of Mrs. Ingham’s Blended Sound-Sight program at Columbia School and, if memory serves, of Mr. Vermette’s AV program at the Composite Jr High.
Taking that a step further, Curt Keilback’s wife was my art teacher at the Composite. My best friend in grade school was Bob Ries. Bob’s mom Sandra worked for many years at the Gladstone Inn, having previously owned it with her husband Bert (both originally from Rhein). I was briefly in a car club in Yorkton that had some meetings in the basement of the Balmoral (but I didn’t see any tunnels either).
My wife’s family farm (Stachura) was the next quarter in from Harris’s on Highway 9 South, not far from Vermettes.
As far as Gunn’s and Good Spirit - it is basically where we grew up. We spent every weekend from the time I was about eight years old at our cabin at Burgis Beach. Or as it was known then- Sunnyside Beach at Devil’s Lake. Likely some ways to connect us all to the Bronfmans, Levi Beck, etc. if we dig back far enough as well, but who knows.
--Dean Bradshaw, Kelowna
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