Touchwood Hills | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 754 m (2,474 ft) [1] |
Coordinates | 51°18′38″N104°11′21″W / 51.31056°N 104.18917°W |
Geography | |
Location | South-central Saskatchewan, Canada |
Parent range | Touchwood Uplands |
Touchwood Hills are a range of hills in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The hills are composed of the "Big" Touchwood Hills [2] and the Little Touchwood Hills. [3] Together they are referred to as the Touchwood Uplands. [4] The hills are in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and five U.S. states, and within Palliser's Triangle and the Great Plains ecoregion of Canada. [5]
The hills make up a large plateau that is north-east of Saskatchewan's capital city, Regina. To the west of the hills is Last Mountain Lake; to the north are the Quill Lakes, Foam Lake, and Fishing Lake; to the east is Good Spirit Lake; and to the south is the Qu'Appelle Valley. Several rivers flow out of the hills, such as the south flowing Qu'Appelle River tributaries of East Loon Creek (via Loon Creek), Jumping Deer Creek, Pheasant Creek, and Pearl Creek. To the north, rivers such as Dafoe Brook, Birch Creek, Bevcar Brook, Beckett Brook, and Milligan Creek work their way into the Quill Lakes. Milligan Creek and its tributaries are the primary inflows for Foam Lake and the Quill Lakes. [6]
Highway 35 cuts across the plateau in a north to south direction and Highway 15 heads in an east to west direction cutting between Big Touchwood and Little Touchwood Hills. To the north and east of the hills is Highway 16, also known as the Yellowhead Highway, and to the south is Highway 10. Highway 6 runs past the western side of the plateau.
In 2005, Ducks Unlimited Canada announced a ten-year study of how nesting success of prairie waterfowl varies in relation to the landscape types of the prairie pothole region, to be conducted in the Touchwood Hills area. [7]
The Touchwood Hills Regional Economic Development Authority (REDA) was created in 1995, and was the tenth REDA created in the province. It included the rural municipalities of Tullymet, Lipton, Cupar, Garry, Ituna Bon Accord, Kellross, Touchwood, Emerald and Kutawa; the towns of Cupar, Ituna, and Southey; and the villages of Dysart, Hubbard, Kelliher, and Leross; the Crossroads Rural Development Corporation and the Carlton Trail Regional College. [8]
Touchwood Hills Post was a Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) trading post in the Touchwood Hills from 1852 to 1909. It was one of the few HBC posts not built on a river and supplied by canoe. Rather it was a resupply point and stopping place on the part of the Carlton Trail [9] that ran from Fort Ellice on the Assiniboine River north-west to Fort Carlton on the North Saskatchewan River. The section of the Carlton Trail that runs from the Touchwood Hills to the Fishing Lakes is called the Fort Qu'Appelle-Touchwood Hills Trail. [10]
All that remains of the original fort is the cellar depression and a segment of the Carlton Trail with Red River cart tracks. In 1986, the Touchwood Hills Post historic park was designated a Provincial Park. [11]
The Touchwood Hills People, or Pusakawatciwiyiniwak were part of a larger group known as the Downstream People, or Mamihkiyiniwak, who occupied the south-eastern plains and utilized the Assiniboine River, Red River, and Lake Winnipeg waterways. The Touchwood Hills People consisted of four bands under the leadership of chief Kawacatoose (Poorman or Lean Man): Kawacatoose, Kaneonuskatew (One that walks on four claws or George Gordon), Muscowequan (Hard Quill), and Kisecawchuck (Daystar). Kawacatoose and the other chiefs signed Treaty 4, which created the Kawacatoose First Nation, Gordon First Nation, Muskowekwan First Nation, and Day Star First Nation. Along with the Fishing Lake First Nation, these bands are collectively a part of the Touchwood Agency Tribal Chiefs (TATC). [12] [13]
Henry Kelsey was an English fur trader, explorer, and sailor who played an important role in establishing the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada.
Fort Espérance was a North West Company trading post near Rocanville, Saskatchewan from 1787 until 1819. It was moved three times and was called Fort John from 1814 to 1816. There was a competing XY Company post from 1801 to 1805 and a Hudson's Bay post nearby from 1813 to 1816. It was on the Qu'Appelle River about 20 km from that river's junction with the Assiniboine River and about 7 km west of the Manitoba border. It was on the prairie in buffalo country and was mainly used as a source of pemmican which was sent down the river to Fort Bas de la Rivière at the mouth of the Winnipeg River.
The Fishing Lakes, also called the Calling Lakes or the Qu'Appelle Lakes, are a chain of four lakes in the Qu'Appelle Valley cottage country about 40 miles (64 km) to the north-east of Regina in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The lakes are in a region called the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and five U.S. states. It is also within Palliser's Triangle and the Great Plains ecoregion. The Fishing Lakes all follow the course of the Qu'Appelle River, which flows from the west to the east and is part of the Hudson Bay drainage basin. The lakes sit in the deep-cut Qu'Appelle Valley that was formed about 14,000 years ago during the last ice age. Meltwater from the glaciers carved out the valley and as water levels rose and fell, alluvium was left in the wake. These piles of alluvium are what created the separations between the lakes.
Treaty 4 is a treaty established between Queen Victoria and the Cree and Saulteaux First Nation band governments. The area covered by Treaty 4 represents most of current day southern Saskatchewan, plus small portions of what are today western Manitoba and southeastern Alberta. This treaty is also called the Qu'Appelle Treaty, as its first signings were conducted at Fort Qu'Appelle, North-West Territories, on 15 September 1874. Additional signings or adhesions continued until September 1877. This treaty is the only indigenous treaty in Canada that has a corresponding indigenous interpretation.
Fort Ellice was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post that operated from 1794 to 1892. It was first established in February 1794 by John Sutherland on the Qu'Appelle River about 20 kilometres (12 mi) upstream from its mouth at the Assiniboine River, and known as the Qu'Appelle River Post until it was destroyed by the North West Company in 1816.
Saskatchewan, the middle of Canada's three prairie provinces, has an area of 588,276.09 square kilometres (227,134.67 sq mi) and population of 1,150,632, mostly living in the southern half of the province.
Highway 35 is a paved undivided provincial highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.. It runs from the US Border near Port of Oungre to a dead end near the north shore of Tobin Lake. Saskatchewan Highway 35 (SK Hwy 35) is about 569 kilometres (354 mi) long. The CanAm Highway comprises Saskatchewan Highways 35, SK Hwy 39, SK Hwy 6, SK Hwy 3, SK Hwy 2 and U.S. Route 85. 74.6 kilometres (46.4 mi) of SK Hwy 35 contribute to the CanAm Highway between Port of Oungre on the Canada – United States border and Weyburn. Mudslides, and spring flooding were huge road building and maintenance problems around Nipawin as well as along the southern portion of the route named the Greater Yellow Grass Marsh. Over 20 early dams were built until the problem was addressed with the Rafferty-Alameda Project on the Souris River and the construction of the Qu'Appelle River Dam which have helped to eliminate washed out roads and flooded communities. The highway through the homesteading community followed the Dominion Land Survey on the square until reaching the Saskatchewan River at Nipawin. The completion of the combined railway and traffic bridge over the Saskatchewan River at Nipawin in the late 1920s retired the ferry and basket crossing for traffic north of Nipawin. The E.B. Campbell Dam built in 1963 northeast of Nipawin created Tobin Lake, and Codette Lake was formed with the construction of the Francois-Finlay Hydroelectric dam at Nipawin. The railway/traffic bridge that formed part of Highway 35 was the only crossing utilized at Nipawin until a new traffic bridge was constructed in 1974. The new bridge then became part of the combined Highway 35 and 55 until the highway parts just east of White Fox. Highway 35 then continued north along the west side of Tobin Lake. The railway/traffic bridge continues to be utilized for one lane vehicle traffic controlled by traffic lights, and continues as the "old highway 35" on the west side of the river until it joins with the current Highway 35/55.
Last Mountain Lake, also known as Long Lake, is a prairie lake formed from glaciation 11,000 years ago. It is located in south central Saskatchewan, Canada, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north-west of the city of Regina. It flows into the Qu'Appelle River via Last Mountain Creek, which flows past Craven. It is approximately 93 km (58 mi) long, and 3 km (1.9 mi) wide at its widest point. It is the largest naturally occurring body of water in southern Saskatchewan. Only Lake Diefenbaker, which is man-made, is larger. The lake is a popular resort area for residents of south-eastern Saskatchewan.
Touchwood Hills Post Provincial Park is the location of a former Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) fur trading post that existed from 1879 to 1909 in the Touchwood Uplands of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. In 1986, the site was designated a provincial park. It is located along Highway 15 in the RM of Kellross No. 247, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of Lestock and 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) east of Punnichy.
The Rural Municipality of Lipton No. 217 is a rural municipality (RM) in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within Census Division No. 6 and SARM Division No. 1.
Fur trading on the Assiniboine River and the general area west of Lake Winnipeg, in what is now Manitoba, Canada, began as early as 1731.
The Iron Confederacy or Iron Confederation was a political and military alliance of Plains Indians of what is now Western Canada and the northern United States. This confederacy included various individual bands that formed political, hunting and military alliances in defense against common enemies. The ethnic groups that made up the Confederacy were the branches of the Cree that moved onto the Great Plains around 1740, the Saulteaux, the Nakoda or Stoney people also called Pwat or Assiniboine, and the Métis and Haudenosaunee. The Confederacy rose to predominance on the northern Plains during the height of the North American fur trade when they operated as middlemen controlling the flow of European goods, particularly guns and ammunition, to other Indigenous nations, and the flow of furs to the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and North West Company (NWC) trading posts. Its peoples later also played a major part in the bison (buffalo) hunt, and the pemmican trade. The decline of the fur trade and the collapse of the bison herds sapped the power of the Confederacy after the 1860s, and it could no longer act as a barrier to U.S. and Canadian expansion.
The Treaty Four Reserve Grounds 77 are an Indian reserve in Saskatchewan, Canada, shared by 33 band governments from Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Reserve Grounds are located adjacent to and west of Fort Qu'Appelle. In the 2016 Canadian Census, they recorded a population of 15 living in 6 of their 8 total private dwellings.
Moose Mountain Upland, Moose Mountain Uplands, or commonly Moose Mountain, is a hilly plateau located in the south-east corner of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, that covers an area of about 13,000 km2 (5,000 sq mi). The upland rises about 200 m (660 ft) above the broad, flat prairie which is about 600 m (2,000 ft) above sea level. The highest peak is "Moose Mountain" at 830 m (2,720 ft) above sea level. The area was named Moose Mountain because of the large number of moose that lived in the area. When it was originally used by fur traders, Métis, and the Indigenous peoples, the plateau was called Montagne a la Bosse, which is French for "The Mountain of The Bump or Knob."
Pipestone Creek is a river in the Souris River watershed. Its flow begins in southeastern Saskatchewan, just south of the town of Grenfell and travels in a southeastern direction into Manitoba in the Westman Region where it empties into Oak Lake through the Oak Lake Marsh.
Last Mountain Creek is a river in south-central Saskatchewan. It is a tributary of the Qu'Appelle River in a region called the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and five U.S. states. It is also within Palliser's Triangle and the Great Plains ecoregion.
Lanigan Creek is a river in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is located in the south central part of the province in a region called the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and five U.S. states. It is also within Palliser's Triangle and the Great Plains ecoregion.
Arm River is a river in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is located in the south central part of the province in a region called the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and five U.S. states. It is also within Palliser's Triangle and the Great Plains ecoregion.
Avonlea Creek is a river in the southern part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is in a region called the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and five U.S. states. It is also within Palliser's Triangle and the Great Plains ecoregion. Avonlea Creek is a main tributary of the Moose Jaw River, which is part of the Upper Qu'Appelle Watershed and the Hudson Bay drainage basin.