The History

The first European explorers and trappers to visit Saskatchewan found established settlements of Aboriginal people. The Chipewyan Indians lived in the north; the Assiniboine inhabited the eastern plains, while the nomadic Blackfoot roamed the west. The territory of the Cree, who were long-time residents of the north, also extended southward to the plains.

The earliest explorer was Henry Kelsey, a Hudson's Bay Company agent, who in about 1690 followed the Saskatchewan River to the southern plains of Saskatchewan. On the heels of the trappers came fur-trading companies and trading posts, which became the foundation of many present-day settlements. For 200 years, the Hudson's Bay Company owned and administered the vast Northwest Territories.

Realizing their agricultural potential and the opportunities for colonization, the Government of Canada acquired the Territories in 1870. After the Dominion Lands Act of 1872, which encouraged

homesteaders, and another Act to stimulate immigration, the new railway began bringing settlers in to farm these rich lands.

In 1905, Saskatchewan separated from the Northwest Territories and was established as a province. Regina became the provincial capital. The years following were years of prosperity, until the 1929 economic crash, combined with a decade of drought and bad harvests, brought the lean years of the Great Depression to the province.

In 1944, the Co-operative Common-wealth Federation (CCF) became the first socialist government elected in North America. Its leader, Tommy Douglas, led the fight for public hospitalization and medicare, earning Saskatchewan the reputation as the "social laboratory of North America."

The recovery of the 1940s and 1950s saw the economy, once dependent solely on agriculture, become more diversified with the development of oil, uranium, potash, coal and other minerals.