Joe and Mattie Mayes led a group of black families from Oklahoma to the north in 1910. The Mayes family purchased a quarter section of land, about 49 hectares, for $10. They led a group of 1000 that spread throughout Battleford, Lloyd Minister district, Maidstone and Eldon. In Eldon they built the baptist shiloh church which is now a provincial historical site, graveyard and and a school.
Matriarch Mattie Mayes was a midwife and well known member of her community while her husband Murray owned a bodyshop and taught many folks in his community about mechanics.
Crystal Mayes,great granddaughter of Joe and Mattie, is an advocate for black history in Saskatchewan and hopes to change the curriculum to include the history of black cowboys in Canada.