John Deafortsagamohock 282675 Private 219th Highland Battalion, Nova Scotia March 25, 1892 Saratoga, Manitoba (as listed on attestation form signed March 11, 1916) Winnipeg, Manitoba (as listed on his medical record of March 4, 1916) March 11, 1916 25 Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Yarmouth, Nova Scotia 5 feet, 5 inches Dark Dark Brown Brown 29th Battery Canadian Field Artillery, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Sharpshooter, Scout with the Texas Rangers Cowboy Roman Catholic Single Harris (Mother), Winnipeg, MB John Deafortsagamohock was most likely an Aboriginal Canadian. Little is know of his family or origin in Manitoba. He enlisted at Yarmouth on March 11, 1916 with the 219th Highland Overseas Battalion. His medical had been completed in Yarmouth on March 4, 1916 and he was determined to be fit for service. His weight was 123 lbs. and his record lists a tendency to flat feet. His attestation records indicate he was a sharpshooter and scout with the Texas Rangers. One can only speculate on how an aboriginal man from Manitoba found his way to Texas or the southern United States, but with the end of the Indian wars in the United States and the general establishment of law and order, the duties and responsibilities of the rangers had evolved. In the 1910’s and 1920’s rangers guarded the Mexico-Texas border from Mexican revolutionaries, enforced prohibition laws, and policed oil boom towns. His record indicates he served with the 29th Battery of the Canadian Field Artillery in Yarmouth, NS prior to enlistment. He began training at Aldershot, Nova Scotia in March, 1916. The 219th Battalion, based in Aldershot, began recruiting in early 1916 as part of a four-battalion "Nova Scotia Highland Brigade". The 219th recruited personnel from the counties of Halifax, Lunenburg, Queens, Shelburne, Yarmouth, Digby, Annapolis and Kings. John served until he was struck off strength at Aldershot, NS on June 19, 1916; having only served for some three months. His records indicate he deserted; the circumstances of which are unknown. His last pay record of July 22, 1916 lists his service pay due him at $41.80. This was given up to public funds.

John Deafortsagamohock

Signature on Attestation Form