Telegraph

Before the telegraph came to Plamondon, communication with the outside world was very difficult.  Edward Plamondon took on the job of the first mail carrier (1909).  He would do the 22-mile round trip to the Lac La Biche Mission in 4 days depending on the weather, not an easy quest for a lone horseman.  Eventually a new means of transporting the mail was introduced by Arthur Dubé Sr. when he used a horse-drawn caboose. This caboose was also used to transport people to the Plamondon area.

The introduction of the telegraph in 1914 was a great asset to the pioneers, providing them with a quicker way of sending and receiving messages.  Sending a message by telegram usually took two days to reach its destination in comparison with the mail which could take over a week.

Morse code made it possible to transform the letters of a message into electric impulses which were sent over wires through radio or telegraph. 

Our first telegraph operator was Mr. Hamel who was also the postmaster. He worked in a building that was constructed specifically for both purposes.

At one time, according to Elmer Plamondon, you could send a telegram of 20 words across Canada for 75 cents, but now the cost would $5.85.