Saskatoon

Sister cities

• Shijiazhuang
• Umeå Municipality
• Chernivtsi

History

In 1882, the Toronto-based Temperance Colonization Society was granted 21 sections of land straddling the South Saskatchewan River, between what is now Warman and Dundurn. The aim of the group was to escape the liquor trade in Toronto and set up a "dry" community in the Prairie region. The following year settlers, led by John Neilson Lake, arrived on the site of what is now "Saskatoon" and established the first permanent settlement. The settlers travelled by railway from Ontario to Moose Jaw and then completed the final leg via horse-drawn cart, as the railway had yet to be completed to Saskatoon. In 1885 the North-West Rebellion affected the tiny community in a variety of ways. Chief Whitecap and Charles Trottier passed through the present day University campus on their way to join Louis Riel's armed forces at Batoche, Saskatchewan. Following the fighting at the Battle of Fish Creek, and the Battle of Batoche, wounded Canadian soldiers convalesced at the Marr Residence which is today a historic site. A few died in care and were buried in the Pioneer Cemetery near the Exhibition Grounds. A town charter for the west side of the river was obtained in 1903, and this settlement adopted the name Saskatoon; the original townsite, which became a village that year, was renamed Nutana. In 1906 Saskatoon became a city with a population of 4,500, which included the communities of Saskatoon, Riversdale and Nutana. In 1955, a newly established community west of the city, Montgomery Place, was annexed, followed by the neighbouring town of Sutherland in 1956. Saskatoon serves as a regional center for the northern prairies and for central and northern Saskatchewan.

Geography

Saskatoon lies on a long belt of rich, potassic chernozem in middle-southern Saskatchewan, northwest of Regina, northeast of Calgary, and east of Edmonton, and is found in the aspen parkland biome. The lack of surrounding mountainous topography gives the city a relatively flat grid, though the city does sprawl over a few hills and into a few valleys. The lowest point in the city is the river, while the highest point is in the Sutherland-College Park area. Saskatoon, on a cross-section from west to east, has a general decline in elevation above sea level heading towards the river, and on the east bank of the river, the terrain is mostly level until outside the city, where it begins to decrease in elevation again. Saskatoon is divided into east and west sides by the South Saskatchewan River. It is then divided into Suburban Development Areas (SDA) which are composed of neighbourhoods. Street addresses are demarcated into north and south (for avenues aligned in those directions) and similar east and west (for streets aligned in those directions). West of the river, the demarcation line for north and south addresses is 22nd Street, while east and west are divided by Idylwyld Drive (north of 20th Street) and Avenue A (south of 20th). On the east side, in order to line up with 22nd/Idylwyld, Lorne Avenue demarcates east and west while Aird Street, a minor residential road, marks the north–south boundary, except in the Sutherland community where a separate east/west demarcation takes place with Central Avenue as the boundary (there is, however, no separate north–south divide). As a result of the unusual demarcation on the east side, few streets there actually carry a "North" or "West" designation, and only a few streets in Sutherland are demarcated "East" and "West". A…

Most-observed species

• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  17,141
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16,518
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  16,464
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  12,207
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  10,460
• Red-breasted Nuthatch

  Sitta canadensis Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  10,254
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  9,612
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,521

Most recent

• M 3.1 — 2001-11-29
  24 km SSW of Langham, Canada