District of Saskatchewan | |
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District of North-West Territories | |
1882–1905 | |
![]() A 1900 map showing the District of Saskatchewan at its greatest extent. | |
History | |
• Established | 1882 |
• Disestablished | 1905 |
Today part of | Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan |
The District of Saskatchewan was a regional administrative district of Canada's North-West Territories. Formed in 1882, it was later enlarged then abolished with the creation of the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1905. [1] [2] [3] Much of the area was incorporated into the province of Saskatchewan. The western part became part of Alberta, and the eastern part (which extended to Lake Winnipeg) is now part of Manitoba.
The conflicts during the North-West Rebellion of 1885 occurred in the District of Saskatchewan. [4]
The District of Saskatchewan in 1888 included the five French speaking settlements of St. Laurent, Fish Creek, Duck Lake, Batoche and St. Louis de Langevin in the area of the South Branch of the Saskatchewan River and the settlements of Green Lake, La Ronge, Red Deer Lake (56-25-W2), Nut Lake (39-23-W2), Birch River, Fort à la Corne, Snake Plains (northwest of Carleton near Muskeg Lake), Birch Hills (46-23-W3), Clarke's Crossing (38-4-W3), Shell River (15 miles northwest of Prince Albert), Carrot River, Cumberland House, The Pas, Grand Rapids, Battleford, Fort Pitt, Frog Lake, Onion Lake, Cold Lake, Fort Carlton, Humboldt, Saskatoon. [5]
The district was home to Cree people of Treaty 4, Treaty 5 and Treaty 6 who lived on Indian reserves and a small band of Dene who lived in the northwest section around Cold Lake.
The population of the District of Saskatchewan in 1885 was 10,595. The Prince Albert sub-district had a population of 5,373 people which included the Southbranch settlements with about 1,300. To the west was the Battleford sub-district with 3,603 people and to the east the Carrot River sub-district with 1,770. [6] [7]
The largest settlement and the capital of the district was Prince Albert with about 800 people followed by Battleford with about 500 people. [8]
Most of the boundaries of the district in 1882 were defined by lines of the Dominion Land Survey. [1]
The southwest corner of the Saskatchewan District is commemorated by a cairn 10 km south of Coronation, Alberta. [9]
The North-West Rebellion, was an armed rebellion by the Métis under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by Cree and Assiniboine of the District of Saskatchewan, North-West Territories, against the Canadian government. Many Métis felt that Canada was not protecting their rights, their land, and their survival as a distinct people. Fighting broke out in late March, and the conflict ended in June. About 91 people were killed in the fighting that occurred that spring before the conflict ended with the capture of Batoche in May 1885.
The Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada. It stretches about 550 kilometres (340 mi) from where it is formed by the joining of the North Saskatchewan River and South Saskatchewan River just east of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. It flows roughly eastward across Saskatchewan and Manitoba to empty into Lake Winnipeg. Through its tributaries the North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan, its watershed encompasses much of the prairie regions of Canada, stretching westward to the Rocky Mountains in Alberta and north-western Montana in the United States.
Prince Albert is the third-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada, after Saskatoon and Regina. It is situated near the centre of the province on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. The city is known as the "Gateway to the North" because it is the last major centre along the route to the resources of northern Saskatchewan. Prince Albert National Park is located 51 km (32 mi) north of the city and contains a wealth of lakes, forest, and wildlife. The city itself is located in a transition zone between the aspen parkland and boreal forest biomes. Prince Albert is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Prince Albert No. 461, of which it is the seat, but is politically separate.
Battleford is a town located across the North Saskatchewan River from the city of North Battleford, in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Assiniboia District refers to two historical districts of Canada's Northwest Territories. The name is taken from the Assiniboine First Nation.
Batoche, Saskatchewan, which lies between Prince Albert and Saskatoon, was the site of the historic Battle of Batoche during the North-West Rebellion of 1885. The battle resulted in the defeat of Louis Riel and his Métis forces by Major General Frederick Middleton and his Northwest Field Force. Batoche was then a small village of some 500 residents. The site has since become depopulated and now has few residents. The 1885 church building and a few other historic buildings have been preserved, and the site is a National Historic Site.
James Isbister was a Canadian Métis leader of the 19th century. Prominent among the Anglo-Métis of the area, he is considered to be the founder of the city of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
Southbranch Settlement was the name ascribed to a series of French Métis settlements on the Canadian prairies in the 19th century, in what is today the province of Saskatchewan. Métis settlers began making homes here in the 1860s and 1870s, many of them fleeing economic and social dislocation from Red River, Manitoba. The settlements became the centre of Métis resistance during the North-West Resistance when in March 1885, Louis Riel, Gabriel Dumont, Honoré Jackson, and others set up the Provisional Government of Saskatchewan with their headquarters at Batoche.
Highway 16 is a provincial highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is the Saskatchewan section of the Yellowhead Highway, and also the Trans-Canada Highway Yellowhead section. The main purpose of this highway is to connect Saskatchewan with Canadian cities such as Edmonton and Winnipeg. The highway runs from the Alberta boundary in Lloydminster to the Manitoba boundary near Marchwell. Major cities it passes through are Saskatoon, North Battleford in the central part of the province, Yorkton in the far east and Lloydminster to the far west.
The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows eventually into the Hudson Bay.
Duck Lake is a town in the boreal forest of central Saskatchewan, Canada. Its location is 88 kilometres (55 mi) north of Saskatoon and 44 kilometres (27 mi) south of Prince Albert on Highway 11, in the Rural Municipality of Duck Lake No. 463. Immediately to the north of Duck Lake is the south block of the Nisbet Provincial Forest.
The history of Saskatoon began with the first permanent non-indigenous settlement of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1883 when Toronto Methodists, wanting to escape the liquor trade in that city, decided to set up a "dry" community in the rapidly growing prairie region. As of 1882 this area was a part of the provisional district named Saskatchewan, North-West Territories (NWT). Their organization, the Temperance Colonization Society, first examined this area in 1882 and found that it would make an excellent location to found their community based on the ideals of the temperance movement; Saskatoon traditionally considers 1882 its founding year and thus marked its centennial in 1982. The settlers, led by John Neilson Lake, arrived on the site of what is now Saskatoon by traveling by railway from Ontario to Moose Jaw, Assiniboia, NWT, and then completing the final leg via horse-drawn cart. The plan for the Temperance Colony soon failed as the group was unable to obtain a large block of land within the community. Nonetheless, John Lake is commonly identified as the founder of Saskatoon; a public school, a park and two streets are named after him.
Highway 40 is a provincial highway in the north-west portion of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan connecting Alberta to Highway 3, four kilometres (2.5 mi) west of Shellbrook, Saskatchewan. Areas of this highway between the Alberta border and North Battleford are called the Poundmaker Trail. Poundmaker, also known as Pitikwahanapiwiyin, was a Plains Cree chief known as a peacemaker and defender of his people. This is a primary Saskatchewan highway maintained by the provincial government. The highway is about 280 kilometres (174 mi) long and is entirely paved.
Charles Borromée Rouleau was a 19th-century Canadian politician, lawyer, judge and writer. He served as stipendiary magistrate and justice of the Supreme Court of the North-West Territories, as well as legal advisor to the Northwest Territories Legislature.
Saskatchewan has a transportation infrastructure system of roads, highways, freeways, airports, ferries, pipelines, trails, waterways, and railway systems serving a population of approximately 1,132,505 inhabitants year-round.
St. Laurent de Grandin is an area of Métis settlement along the South Saskatchewan River. It is just east of Duck Lake, and at present is the site of the St. Laurent Ferry, as well as the Roman Catholic Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes. The shrine is a popular destination for Catholics in central Saskatchewan, and was historically associated with the Métis and Cree people of the area. St. Laurent was part of the Southbranch Settlement and is found downstream from Batoche. It is also a short distance upstream from St. Louis. It is situated in Aspen parkland roughly near the edge of the Nisbet Provincial Forest. Although never a town, St. Laurent was an important area of settlement and of spiritual significance in the area during the late 19th century. St. Laurent's picturesque scenery continues to attract tourists to the shrine along the Louis Riel Trail today.
The Looting of Battleford began at the end of March, 1885, during the North-West Rebellion, in the town of Battleford, Saskatchewan, then a part of the Northwest Territories.
The siege of Battleford was a siege during the North-West Rebellion that lasted from 28 March to 26 May, 1885.