Moose Jaw

History

Cree and Assiniboine people used the Moose Jaw area as a winter encampment. The Missouri Coteau sheltered the valley and gave it warm breezes. The narrow river crossing and abundant water and game made it a good location for settlement. Traditional native fur traders and Métis buffalo hunters created the first permanent settlement at a place called "the turn", at present-day Kingsway Park, also known as the Kai Gauthier Park. The confluence of the Moose Jaw River and Thunder Creek was chosen and registered in 1881 as a site for a division point for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), whose construction was significant in the Confederation of Canada. The water supply there was significant for steam locomotives. Settlement began there in 1882, and the city was incorporated in 1903. The railways played an important role in the early development of Moose Jaw, with the city having both a Canadian Pacific Railway Station and a Canadian National Railway Station. A dam was built on the river in 1883 to create a year-round water supply. Marked on a map as Moose Jaw Bone Creek in an 1857 survey by surveyor John Palliser, two theories exist regarding how the city was named. The first is it comes from the Plains Cree name moscâstani-sîpiy meaning "a warm place by the river", indicative of the protection from the weather the Coteau range provides to the river valley containing the city and also the Plains Cree word moscâs, meaning warm breezes. The other is that the section of the Moose Jaw River that runs through the city is shaped like a moose's jaw. There is also an untrue story of the name being inspired by the Earl of Dunmore, for whom Dunmore, Alberta is named, repairing his cart with the jawbone of a moose during his travels there. The city was the site of the 1954…

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,181
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,022
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  950
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  807
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  750
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  698
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  613
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  584