On the trail of Billy Beal

 © 2020, Christian Cassidy

Beal's Self Portrait (Click for source information)

For one of my stay-cations this summer I drove up to Swan River to find out more about the life of William "Billy" Beal. I first came across Beal's name in 2017 and wrote a column about him in early 2018.

Beal was an an early Black American settler who came to Manitoba's Swan River Valley and had a huge impact on his community. A steam engineer by trade, he was a photographer, doctor's assistant, amateur astronomer, the driving force behind the region's dramatic society, the school board secretary for nearly 40 years, and his vast and varied book collection became the region's first lending library.

It took a few months to pull the column together.

I met with Robert Barrow, co-author of Billy: The Life and Photographs of William S.A. Beal, who was gracious enough to give me a copy of the long out-of-print book that features many of his photographs that Barrow developed from glass negatives as well as interviews of those who knew him and excerpts from his journals.

I also had the chance to do telephone interviews with a number of people whose families had close connections to Beal, one who even knew him!

The one thing that I didn't get to do during that time was visit where he was from and I'm happy to have checked that off my list.

The Swan Valley Historical Museum at Swan River has a large collection of Beal's artefacts. Personal items like his medical tools, some books, his camera, and, of course, many of his photographs of the people and places of the region.

I was lucky enough to be met by a trio of local historians whose families had direct connection with Beal. They showed me around and provided context for some of the items. One woman knew Beal as a child and recalled the regular visits of who by then was a rather elderly gentleman.

After the museum, I was brought out to the Big Woody District west of Swan River where Beal had his homestead. Visits there included the Fairdale Cemetery where there is a memorial to Beal erected by community members. (He is actually buried in The Pas where he spent his his last years in a nursing home. Initially buried in an unmarked grave, community members made a headstone for him.)

Also in the Big Woody District, which is quite a beautiful part of the province, I saw the site of his first home, which was not on his land but near the school, now Big Woody Community Hall, and the site of his second and final home, which was on his land, off of Provincial Road 588.

It was really interesting to find out more about the man in the community where he lived. There is a real feeling of respect for Beal and all that he did for his community.

For the photo album of my Billy Beal visit.