The Lay of the Land

Shown here is an old map, created by Henry Youle Hind in the middle of the 19th century. At that time, no such province as Saskatchewan existed - it was part of a huge tract of unexplored (by Europeans) land-it was in what was then encompassed by the North West Territory.  I recently read Joan Soggie's book "Looking for Aitkow", (which was the name of both the valley and the creek connecting the Saskatchewan with the Qu'appelle) in which she regales us with stories,  rich with history of the area around the elbow of the South Saskatchewan River.  The map shows how it was in the 1850's, more than a century before the flooding of what is now known as Lake Diefenbaker.  The tale is told of the massive Sacred Stone known as the Mistaseni or Buffalo Child Stone, which was destroyed with the creation of the Gardiner Dam in 1966.  What a sad moment it was, in our province's history,  when this sacred rock was blown to bits. 

Even as a child, I was always fascinated by ancient artifacts, old crumbling buildings, old stories, and the possibility that hundreds of years ago, perhaps someone stood on the same spot that I now stood, and carved a secret signal or mark into a tree or a stone.  At a young age, I thought this to be true, that the marks on the aspens in the forest I used to frequent, was a secret language of the aboriginals who may have lived there.  My imagination knew no bounds.  Arrowheads, spear heads, certain rocks, fossils -treasure!  

Fast forward twenty years, and I now found myself no longer living in bush country, but on the prairie.  But there wasn't just prairie.  Living within walking distance, in 3 directions,  from what used to be the South Saskatchewan River, I was amazed at the topography.  Coulees, bays, cliffs, water runs, dry gullies, and gulches, and even, much farther south,  badlands!  The panoramic view looking from the hills to the Monster lake could take your breath away.  I was lucky enough to spend time walking & hunting in the hills.  One area in particular, slightly South of the Vermilion Hills, and toward the riverbank, (now lake) stole my soul away - the beauty of the inspiring landscape awes even as it humbles.  This is where, when my time is up, (half) my ashes can be flung to the wind, returned to Terra Sancta! 

The Aitkow, (the river that turns both ways) was flooded long before my move to that area.  I never knew of the bridge by the elbow of the river, but I could see the Elbow town elevators from my kitchen window.   (Which, from my calculations, is 11 miles as the crow flies) And I knew the reason that we farmed land owned by an Elbow resident- once the bridge was gone, it was no longer feasible to farm, to drive equipment around the Qu'appelle dam, now being about an hour drive. 

I plan on going back in the fall, and perhaps doing some hiking and cartography myself.  For that it would be helpful if I had my old friend and courier du bois Monsieur De Perreault to accompany me!!