Dawn CarlsonDawn Carlson is looking for information on her grandfather, Lew Spanks, in order to write a book.

Carlson posted on the Moose Jaw Dayz Facebook page looking for information and photos from Moose Jaw between 1917 and 1927.

In particular, she is looking for information about the Moose Jaw Arcade (also known as the James Small Arcade) and the James Small Shooting Gallery that were located at 41 River St. W.

She’s also looking for what life was like during that time period, the CPR and its station, train travel, railway construction camps, prohibition and the underground tunnels.

Carlson said her grandfather was originally from Nova Scotia but moved to Winnipeg for work. After Winnipeg, she describes how Spanks ended up in Moose Jaw.

“He took his wife and four children back home to Nova Scotia, left them on the family farm, and he came out west to Moose jaw and he went to work with James Small in the Moose Jaw Arcade,” Carlson explained.

Her grandparents eventually moved to 812 Sixth Ave. N.W. and she heard family stories about the house being haunted.

In a Facebook post, Carlson said her aunt told stories her clothes in her closet being on the floor every morning, she would hang them up just to find them on the floor again.

She also heard stories of when her dad was young and he’d be playing with his piggy bank on the floor in his bedroom. When his family came in, he’d be asleep on the floor with coins placed around his arms and legs in a fashion he couldn’t have done himself, although he was the only one in the room.

Spanks would continue to work at the arcade until around 1920 when the James Small Shooting Gallery opened at that location.

The shooting gallery would close in 1924, around the time prohibition came to an end.

“Based on some stories, family lore, I suspect the Moose Jaw Arcade and the shooting gallery both had other lines of business that may not have been legitimate,” Carlson said.

More information can be found at the Moose Jaw Dayz Facebook page.