Cypress Hills and Fort Walsh

Dad has a busy schedule on the road for Living Books, but he did manage to take some time off the road while we were in Canada. One of these times was towards the end of our stay, we went camping together in Cypress Hills.

The majority of Saskatchewan is quite flat and is farmland, commonly called "the Prairies". Cypress Hills is an exception to this rule. Where as most of Saskatchewan is a plateau at 500m above sea level, Cypress Hills are over 1000m above sea level. Also in contrast to the rest of southern Saskatchewan, Cypress Hills is forested. 

This contrast makes for a very popular camping spot. It was a little too popular for our liking. Upon getting there we managed to get a camping site, only to be told that we would have to move the next night, because many of the sites were booked out. We even had to pay a booking fee on top of the regular camping fee.

We prefer something a little quieter for camping, but enjoyed ourselves none the less.

PJ enjoying his Kraft Dinner (macaroni and cheese).

Abigail has become quite the sudoku officianado.

Camping with Mom and Dad. 

Another wild flower on our drive through the back of the provincial park.

For our full day at Cypress Hills together, Dad suggested that we go to a place called Fort Walsh. We drove on back road to get there. The scenery was remote and spectacular. It was quite special to arrive where the fort was reconstructed. As there was nothing else around, it felt like we really had stepped back in time to the 1870s.

The unpaved road through a very remote part of south western Saskatchewan.

Fort Walsh is in the background.

The fort was constructed for a few reasons. Canada had recently become an independent Dominion within the British Empire. As an independent country they wanted to protect their borders. So Fort Walsh was constructed close to the US border to maintain the integrity of their borders, and not allow USA to claim the land for themselves.

There was a lot of illegal whisky trade going on in the region. It was extremely lucrative. The North West Mounted Police ran the fort and were busy keeping the illegal whisky trade down.

But the saddest part of the story is that a massacre of indigenous Cree people occurred here. The history is some what disputed, but can not be avoided.

Sitting Bull and his alliance escaped the USA to come to Canada as refugees. In the end they were rejected and many died. The whole story is a big historical shame. Learning history first hand is still enjoyable none the less.

We had walked to the fort, but we caught the bus back to the car park with the tour group. The bus was one of those yellow school buses. It was the first time I have ever sat on such a bus.