disambiguation for saints named St. Louis and other uses see Saint Louis
St. Louis is a Canadian village in the province of
SaskatchewanSaskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of and a population of 1,023,810 , mostly living in the southern half of the province. Of these, 233,923 live in the province's largest city, Saskatoon, while 194,971 live in the provincial capital, Regina...
, south of
Prince AlbertPrince Albert is the third-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is situated in the centre of the province on the banks along the North Saskatchewan River. The city is known as the "Gateway to the North" because it is the last major centre along the route to the resources of northern Saskatchewan...
and northeast of
BatocheBatoche, Saskatchewan was the site of the historic Battle of Batoche during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885. The battle resulted in the defeat of Louis Riel and his Métis forces by Major General Frederick Middleton and his Northwest Field Force.-History:...
. It was founded by
MétisItalic textA Métis is a person born to parents who belong to different groups defined by visible physical differences, regarded as racial, or the descendant of such persons. The term is of French origin, and also is a cognate of mestizo in Spanish, mestiço in Portuguese, and mestee in English...
settlers in the late 19th century, and is the northernmost
Southbranch SettlementSouthbranch Settlement was the name ascribed to a series of French Metis settlements on the Canadian prairies in the 19th Century, in what is today the province of Saskatchewan...
, a series of communities which range from
Fish CreekFish Creek is a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatchewan, Canada, northeast of Saskatoon.It is most famous as the site of the Battle of Fish Creek during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885 between General Frederick Middleton of the Canadian Militia and Gabriel Dumont, adjutant general...
in the south along the
South Saskatchewan RiverThe South Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada that flows through the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan....
through Batoche and St. Laurent to St. Louis. St. Louis is within the boundaries of the
rural municipalityA rural municipality, often abbreviated RM, is a form of municipality in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, perhaps best comparable to counties or townships in the western United States.- History :...
St. Louis No. 431. The village has a
mayor"Mayor" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government....
to govern civic infrastructure and municipal policy. St. Louis is also within
SARM Division No. 5SARM Division No. 5 is a division of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities within the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located in the north central area of the province. There are 57 rural municipalities in this division. The current Director for Division 5 is Murray...
and
CensusA "census" is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
Division No. 15, SaskatchewanDivision No. 15, Saskatchewan, Canada, is one of the eighteen census divisions within the province, as defined by Statistics Canada. It is located in the north-central part of the province. The most populous community in this division is Prince Albert....
. St. Louis is located in the
aspen parklandAspen parkland refers to a transitional biome between prairie and boreal forest stretching from northeastern British Columbia through central and northwestern Alberta, central Saskatchewan to central and southern Manitoba. Aspen parkland consists of groves of aspen poplars and spruce interspersed...
biome.
History
St. Louis is home to a large archaeological site of aboriginal artifacts predating those found at Wanuskewin near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Key discoveries at the site have included new species of wolf and buffalo approximately 25% larger than modern species and a bead that indicates decoration of clothing about 1000 years earlier than previously thought.
St. Louis is just northeast of Southbranch House, one of many small trading posts from fur trading days; this post was attacked and burnt by the Atsina in the 1700s in retaliation for the company's supplying their enemies the
CreeCree is one of the largest group of First Nations/Aboriginals in North America, located mainly across Canada and historically in the United States from Minnesota westward but are found today in Montana....
and
AssiniboineThe Assiniboine or Hohe, also known by the Ojibwe name Asiniibwaan "Stone Sioux", and by the endonyms Nakota-Nakoda-Nakona, are a Siouan Native American/First Nations people originally from the Northern Great Plains of the United States and Canada, centered in present-day Saskatchewan; they also...
with guns and goods.
The first post office was founded under the name of Boucher,
SaskatchewanThe District of Saskatchewan was a regional administrative district of Canada's Northwest Territories. Much of the area was incorporated into the province of Saskatchewan. The western part became part of Alberta, and the eastern part is now part of Manitoba. Its capital was Prince Albert...
NWTCanada became an independent nation in 1867 when three provinces of British North America were united to form the new nation. One of these colonies split into two new provinces, three other provinces joined later, and three new provinces were carved from the large interior of the country that was...
on with the first post master being Reverend Eugene Lecoq. The post master was succeeded by Jean Baptiste Boucher Sr who homesteaded at Sec.11, Twp.45, R.27, W2 which happened to also be the location of the post office.
In 1897-05-01 the post office changed names to St. Louis,
SaskatchewanThe District of Saskatchewan was a regional administrative district of Canada's Northwest Territories. Much of the area was incorporated into the province of Saskatchewan. The western part became part of Alberta, and the eastern part is now part of Manitoba. Its capital was Prince Albert...
NWTCanada became an independent nation in 1867 when three provinces of British North America were united to form the new nation. One of these colonies split into two new provinces, three other provinces joined later, and three new provinces were carved from the large interior of the country that was...
.
Historically it was bordered by the
Anglo-MétisA 19th Century community of the Métis people of Canada, the Anglo-Métis, more commonly known as Countryborn, were children of the fur trade; typically of Orcadian, Scottish, or English paternal descent and Aboriginal maternal descent. Their first languages would have been aboriginal and English...
settlements of
HalcroHalcro or St. Andrew's is a district in Saskatchewan, Canada north of St. Louis and south of Prince Albert. Adjacent to the South Saskatchewan River, it was initially settled by Anglo-Metis from Manitoba in the 1870s. Halcro is located in the aspen parkland biome.-Education:Red Deer Hill has an...
and
Red Deer HillAaskana, Saskatchewan re-directs here. Red Deer Hill is a community in Saskatchewan, Canada south of Prince Albert and north of St. Louis. First settlement occurred in the 1870s and 1880s by Anglo-Metis from Manitoba, and the area took its name from a large hill which in the early days was...
to the north.
Geography
The nearest community of size is
Prince AlbertPrince Albert is the third-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is situated in the centre of the province on the banks along the North Saskatchewan River. The city is known as the "Gateway to the North" because it is the last major centre along the route to the resources of northern Saskatchewan...
a twenty-minute drive to the north. St. Louis is located at an intersection of
Highway 2Highway 2 is a provincial highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is the longest Saskatchewan Highway, at 809 km . The highway is partially divided and undivided. However, only about near Moose Jaw, near Chamberlain, and near Prince Albert are divided highway...
north/south and
Highway 25Highway 25 is a provincial highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is 29 km long and runs from Highway 2 in St. Louis to Highway 3 near Birch Hills.-External links:* -- Scroll down to find Highway 25....
. The grid road
Highway 782Highway 782 is a highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from Highway 11 near Duck Lake to Highway 2 near St. Louis. Highway 782 is about 38 km long....
continues westerly along the
South Saskatchewan RiverThe South Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada that flows through the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan....
to arrive at
Duck LakeDuck Lake is a town in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located 88 kilometres north of Saskatoon and 44 kilometres south of Prince Albert on highway 11, in the rural municipality of Duck Lake...
.
Area statistics
- Lat (DMS) 52° 55' 00" N
- Long (DMS) 105° 49' 00" W
- Dominion Land Survey Section 11 - Township 45 - Range 27 West of the 2nd Meridian
- Time zone (cst) UTC-6
Locally it is known also for the
St. Louis LightThe St. Louis Light or the St. Louis Ghost Train is the name of a paranormal phenomenon reported to be seen in Saskatchewan, Canada. The phenomenon has been featured on the television series Unsolved Mysteries....
, an allegedly
paranormalParanormal is a general term that describes unusual experiences that lack a scientific explanation, or phenomena alleged to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
phenomenon, and the picturesque beauty of the
South Saskatchewan RiverThe South Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada that flows through the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan....
.
Infrastructure
As is the case with many small towns in Saskatchewan, the lack of economic growth is a concern. The province has announced that the bridge will be closed down in the future and a new bridge will be constructed. The new bridge, however, will be located more than a mile from the edge of the village. Thus, many residents and businesses are concerned about the possible financial impact on the village.
St. Louis remains a vibrant community. It has:
- an elementary school
- a high school
- a gas station / corner store
- a bar
- a health spa
- a car wash
- 2 retirement homes
- an alcohol treatment centre
- a local butcher shop
- a picnic ground and several campsites (Free!)
- the French Cultural Centre
- hockey rink
- curling rink
- large bison sculpture of an extinct species that was 25% larger than modern bison.
- E-Bay store
- A grocery store (under construction)
- An arcade (under construction)
- Internet Based Sign Business WholesaleSigns.com
The community sponsors many events throughout the year. These include:
- an annual community barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, with the heat and hot gases of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of charcoal or a propane gas grill, and may...
- New Years fireworks and hot chocolate
- a community garage sale
A garage sale, also known as a yard sale, rummage sale, tag sale, attic sale, moving sale, or junk sale, is an informal, irregularly scheduled event for the sale of used goods by private individuals, in which "block sales" are allowed, so that sellers are not required to obtain business licenses or...
day
Demographics
-
-
- N/A = Data Not Available
Although English is the predominant language in the community now, there is still a large Métis and
FrenchFrench people can refer to:* The legal residents and citizens of France, regardless of ancestry. For a legal discussion, see French nationality law.* People whose ancestors lived in France or the area that later became France....
population today.
Notable people from St. Louis
- Howard Adams
Howard Adams was an influential twentieth century Metis academic and activist. He was born in St. Louis, Saskatchewan, Canada, on September 8, 1921, the son of a French Metis mother and an English Metis father. In his youth he briefly joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police...
, 1960s Metis Marxist academic and writer who taught at the University of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines...
and wrote Prison of Grass: Canada from a Native Point of View.
- Maxime Lepine
Maxime Lépine was a Canadian businessman and political figure of Métis origin. He represented St. Francois Xavier East in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1874 to 1878....
, Metis friend of Louis Riel's, Northwest Rebellion participant and counsellor in the ExovedateExovedate is the name coined by Métis leader Louis Riel and given by him to his council of the Provisional Government of Saskatchewan during the North-West Rebellion in Canada. Ten years prior to this date on December 8, 1875 after attending a mass in Washington, D. C., Riel had a religious vision...
.
- Louis Schmidt, French Metis bureaucrat, intellectual and community leader who supported his friend Louis Riel
Louis David Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and its first post-Confederation Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald...
in the Red River RebellionThe Red River Rebellion or Red River Resistance are names given to the events surrounding the actions of a provisional government established by Métis leader Louis Riel in 1869 at the Red River Settlement in what is now the Canadian province of Manitoba....
of 1869-70 but stayed in Prince Albert and backed the government in the Northwest Rebellion of 1885.
- Marcel Lussier, Saskatchewan provincial and Canadian karate champion
- Rich Pilon
Richard Pilon is a retired NHL ice hockey player. A stay-at-home defenceman, Pilon played for three teams throughout his 15-year NHL career, the New York Islanders, New York Rangers and St...
, retired NHL hockey player
- Joey Tetarenko
Joey Tetarenko is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player.Tetarenko was drafted by the Florida Panthers 82nd overall in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. He made his NHL debut for Florida during the 2000–01 NHL season and went on to play 69 games over three seasons before he was traded to the...
, NHL hockey player
- John Boucher, Metis senator, who attracted attention to the Metis cause by publicly tying a ceinture fléchée
The ceinture fléchée is a type of colorful sash, a traditional piece of French-Canadian clothing of the 19th century...
on Nelson MandelaNelson Rolihlahla Mandela is a former President of South Africa, the first to be elected in a fully representative democratic election, who held office from 1994–99. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of the African National Congress's armed wing Umkhonto...
during his visit to Canada in the 1990s.
See also
External links