Saskatoon Attractions

Saskatoon

Location

Saskatoon is a melting pot of different cultures. It lies on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River. Known as "the city of bridges" it has wide tree-lined streets and 1620 ha / 4000 acres of parks and green spaces. It is the acknowledged "mining capital" of Canada and is often referred to as a mini Silicon Valley because of its leading role in Canada's high-tec and mining industries. It is also the home of the highly respected University of Saskatchewan.

History

Before the arrival of Europeans this area was inhabited by Cree Indians, the dominant prairie tribe. Each spring and summer they hunted buffalo on the Great Plains, setting up camp in the vicinity of Saskatoon.

The town itself was founded in 1882 by Methodists from Ontario who, led by John Lake, intended to establish a temperance colony. In due course the settlement was named Saskatoon (from "misakwatomin", the Indian word for the red berries which grew locally). Already by this time the great buffalo herds had disappeared and the days of the Indians' nomadic existence were numbered. For the new arrivals life was far from easy. Floods, blizzards, prairie fires and mosquitoes exacerbated the normal hardships of the daily round, instilling into the early pioneers a stubborn determination to overcome adversity.

The temperance ideal attracted few settlers however, and 20 years on the township could still only claim 113 inhabitants. This soon changed, partly because by 1901 agricultural production was on the increase, and partly because, with the opening of the railway in 1908, the entire region saw an influx of new immigrants. The result was that people of many different nationalities - Germans, Scandinavians, Ukrainians and Britons - have all contributed to the development of the town. By 1911 Saskatoon had a population of more than 11,000. In the years that followed both population and economy continued to grow, slowly but steadily.