The Cypress Hills and Frenchman River Valley Written by Belinda Riehl-Fitzsimmons Introduction

The Cypress Hills and Frenchman River Valley Written by Belinda Riehl-Fitzsimmons Introduction The Cypress Hills and Frenchman River Valley are found in the southwestern corner of the province. The area includes communities such as Maple Creek, Shaunavon, Ponteix and Val Marie. Past geological events shaped the land, and people have adapted to its diverse environments since the retreat of the glaciers. Some of the beautiful exposed rock formations throughout the area are about 80 million years old (Upper Cretaceous), with the bedrock of the Cypress Hills being between 16 and 65 million years old (Miocene). The last glacier, called the Laurentide, flowed around the Cypress Hills, leaving it untouched. At an elevation of about 1,392 m, it is the highest point of land in the province. The Cypress Hills area, found in southwestern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta, is a very unique location for many reasons. First, it was the only area in the province not covered by glaciers during the last Ice Age. Second, it contains some of the oldest archaeological sites in the province. Third, it had and still has an exclusive landscape and climate due to its elevation. Fourth, because of its elevation and unique resources, it was a popular area for humans to live. The Frenchman River Valley extends from the south side of the Cypress Hills through Grasslands National Park and into northern Montana. The Frenchman River is part of the Missouri-Mississippi River drainage system and is over 300 km long. The river formed as a glacial meltwater channel. The locals call the river by another name, based on the white clay in the area. Do you know the other name? The Frenchman River Valley is also an area rich in palaeontological resources. Palaeontologists, who use some of the same excavation and research methods as archaeologists do, have discovered hundreds of dinosaur fossils in this area. Many of them are on display in Eastend, SK at the T. Rex Discovery Centre and at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina. The most well-known find is Scotty, who is the largest female Tyrannosaurus Rex in the world. Of course, the dinosaurs died a very long time ago, long before humans were here. A tree specific to the Cypress Hills is the lodgepole pine (a very straight growing tree favoured by First Nations groups for tipi poles). Many flowering plants found growing in mountainous regions can also be found here. Other vegetation common to this area and the Frenchman River Valley is shrubby cinquefoil, wolf willow, saskatoon and snowberry. Mixed medium and short grasses dominate the landscape. Because of the diverse plant species, the animals are also diverse. Antelope, deer, elk and moose are common in the Cypress Hills, while rodents, small mammals and predators as well as a high number of bird species are found in the area extending to the Frenchman River Valley. Precontact Period A few sites have been discovered in this area that date to about 11,000 years old, just after the glaciers had retreated. Since that time, people have been living here. People from 11,000 years ago would have hunted the last of the megafauna like the mammoths. As bison moved into the area as the environment changed, they became the preferred game. The Stampede Site, on the Alberta side of Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, has been inhabited for about 8,500 years. The site was near a water source that flooded the area periodically, covering up previous campsites. The Napao and Niska Sites near Ponteix, Saskatchewan are two of the oldest undisturbed sites in the province, dating back to more than 7,000 years ago. They were campsites located near seasonal ponds, where the inhabitants had access to game, water and plant resources. Archaeologists determined the people made stone tools, cooked food and used a rock pigment for some type of art activity here. Grasslands National Park can be included in this region. Here too there is evidence of early peoples living and using the land. Numerous tipi rings and stone tools have been found in this treeless landscape. Contact Period Several First Nations groups inhabited the area, and with the coming of the Europeans, trade routes were established. Chimney Coulee is one of the first fur trade posts in the area. It dates to 1871. Research also shows the area was a Métis winter campground in the mid 1800s. The Cypress Hills Massacre occurred in 1873 between American wolf hunters, whiskey traders, Métis traders and Nakota peoples over a misunderstanding about a missing horse. Twenty-four people were killed and the fur trade post was burned. Fort Walsh was established as a result of this incident, bringing the Northwest Mounted Police into the region to provide policing for the First Nations, Métis and pioneers as the west opened up. Parts of Fort Walsh and two trading posts have been excavated and reconstructed as part of Fort Walsh National Historic Site. Another event of historic significance is when Chief Sitting Bull came to Canada along the Frenchman River after defeating General Custer at Little Bighorn in 1877. He went on to Wood Mountain to live in exile for several years before returning to the United States. References Acton, D.F., G.A. Padbury, and C.T. Stushnoff 1998 The Ecoregions of Saskatchewan. Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina, Regina. Canadian Plains Research Center 2005 The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan: A Living Legacy. University of Regina, Regina. Dyck, Ian 1983 The Prehistory of Southern Saskatchewan. In Tracking Ancient Hunters: Prehistoric Archaeology in Saskatchewan, edited by Henry T. Epp and Ian Dyck, pp. 63-139. Saskatchewan Archaeological Society, Regina. Fung, Ka-iu (ed.) 1999 Atlas of Saskatchewan: Celebrating the Millennium. University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon. Saskatchewan Association of Professional Archaeologists 2005 A Map of Saskatchewan Archaeology. http://heritageapp.cyr.gov.sk.ca/assets/pdf/2242.pdf http://heritageapp.cyr.gov.sk.ca/assets/pdf/2243.pdf .

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