The Wonderful Territories Circuit

(Saskatoon-Lloydminster) (Suggested duration: 2-5 days, depending on the addition of excursions)

As paved as it is today, the Yellowhead Highway replaces the 1,450-kilometre track that once connected Upper Fort Garry in Winnipeg to Upper Fort des Prairies in Edmonton. This highway combines the Carlton Trail and other trails to supply communities with pemmican and support the Red River cart trade. The Saskatchewan route of the Yellow Head Highway lends itself to fascinating discoveries where the present is linked to the past. There is so much to see and do to experience the Francophones of the Plains' hospitality. Highway #16 between Saskatoon and Lloydminster evokes the establishment of the Government of the Northwest Territories like no other place. While Regina became the capital of the NWT in 1883, the seat of government was first established at Battleford for present-day Alberta, Saskatchewan, part of Manitoba, northern Quebec and Ontario as early as 1876. It included a territorial building, a land titles office, the beginnings of a civil service and the Catholic parish of Saint-Vital. Battleford was expected to become a permanent capital on the banks of the "Battle River," as the famous buffalo hunter and Metis Gabriel Dumont called it. Many hoped that the Canadian Pacific Railway would pass nearby. Regina, though, received this privilege in 1883.

When you hit the road, adopt a geographer's lens. Imagine a plain with landscapes cut out by ravines and valleys, interspersed with land for pasture and cleared for plowing, with streams and rivers full of fish, like the North Saskatchewan River. The region is the natural habitat of the freshwater sturgeon, this aquatic monster from another era that can weigh more than 150 kilos and live 150 years.

Reach for the beautiful territories and imagine animals roaming freely at each curve along your route, vital to traditional societies before colonization. Imagine the courage of those who listened to the call of colonizing priests inviting French speakers from America and Europe to come and conquer the wild West in search of prosperity. Imagine the encounter between these people whose aspirations were not as complementary as the history books of recent generations may have led us to believe, with the consequences that we know. So you are invited today to relive in these marvellous territories an era that is sometimes glorious – sometimes less so – and to take the pulse of the land, the places, and the unique experiences offered in the Wonderful Territories.

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