The Elkwater District and its early history

The first mention of the Cypress Hills in Canadian history comes courtesy of John Palliser, who came through the area in 1859 and marvelled at the landscape.

The name itself comes from the French explorers who though the lodgepole pines were jack pines, giving them the name Cypres, which became Cypress Hills.

In a few decades time, the North West Mounted Police came through and established Fort Walsh on the future Saskatchewan side.

The name Elkwater comes from the Blackfoot, who used the name ponokiokwe to describe the many species of deer in the area.

In 1880, J.J. English became one of the first settlers to the area when he established a farm at Head of the Mountain.

It would fail in short order due to very early frosts destroying his crops. In 1883, Louis Sands established a sawmill on the north side of the lake and when conditions were favorable, the logs were floated across the lake to the sawmill. This business ran until 1898 when the sawmill was bought by William Smibert. He operated the sawmill until 1919.

In 1907, the first coal mine in the Elkwater area was opened and operated by Happy Jack Hart. Eight years later, Hart would help Charles Vieger open his own coal mine. A third mine would open soon after and operate until the 1920s. Mines would operate in the area until the 1950s when they slowly died out. The Cypress Hills Forest Reserve itself was initially created in 1906 and covered 18 square miles of land. In 1910, that reserve was expanded in both Alberta and Saskatchewan and was now 190 square miles in size.

The first forest ranger of that reserve was a Mr. Wright, who served from 1910 to 1911. J.Y. Surrey would serve as forest ranger from 1918 to 1926. During his tenure, grazing permits would be issued in the park and in 1921, 11 permits were issued for the hunting of wolves in the park.

Eventually, things shifted into a more tourist focus in the Elkwater area. By 1928, the renting of boats on the lake was becoming big business and Louis Kajewski brought in some rowboats and a motorboat for the tourists to use.

Percy Kennard and his wife built a store and restaurant at the lake and cottages were soon built and were sold for between $300 and $1,500.

While there is much more to the history of the area, including schools, telephones and dams, we will look at that in another column.

From these early beginnings, a wonderful and vibrant community that has become a favourite place to visit for many, was born.

Suggestions for columns or questions? E-mail Craig at crwbaird@gmail.com. Listen to his podcast by searching for “Canadian History Ehx” on your podcast platform. Find his show on YouTube by searching for “Canadian History Ehx”.