Val Marie, Saskatchewan

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Val Marie Grain Elevator

Val Marie is a prairie village located in the southwestern region of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is only a few kilometres from the Canada-USA border.

Considered the gateway to the Grasslands National Park, Val Marie's economy is largely based on wheat farming, ranching, and tourism. Minor amounts of natural gas have been found nearby. Employment includes agriculture, federal government (Grasslands National Park), and a significant natural gas compressor relay station at the USA border.

The first European investigation of the area was conducted by the Palliser Expedition (1857-1859), supported by the Royal Geographical Society and the British Government, and led by John Palliser, a wealthy Irish landowner. He was accompanied by geologist James Hector, and various cartographers and botanists. They studied the natural resources and agricultural potential of the Palliser area - including Val Marie - and reported the place as dismally dry, prone to drought, and unfit for habitation. The dismissive conclusions slowed settlement in the area for decades.

Artifacts of native civilization are significant. In 1877, Tatanka Iyotake – Sitting Bull- crossed from the USA into Canada along the Frenchman River (which flows through Val Marie) after his victory over General Custer at Little Big Horn.

The village of Val Marie - Valley of Mary - was founded in 1910 by Father Passaplan, Louis Denniel, and the brothers François and Léon Pinel. Most of the early settlers were ranchers and farmers from Quebec and France. By 1939, two irrigation reservoirs were built near Val Marie by the PFRA (Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Agency) in coordination with Ducks Unlimited. Over ten thousand acres are irrigated through the system which provides some stabilization through droughts which plague the area. Originally settled by French ranchers, the village remained largely ethnically French and by the 1950s had 450 people. Amenities then included 3 petrol stations, a hospital, convent, bakery, several cafes, bank, and stores. The population declined significantly with low commodity prices and droughts in the 1980s. English is now universally spoken - the last person mono-lingually French passed away in 1981. By 2005, population had dropped to about 150 and most stores and businesses had closed. The nearest community with significant services (banking, medical, hotels) is Swift Current, located 100 kilometres north.

The dry short-grass prairie 10 kilometres southwest of Val Marie, Saskatchewan is the only place in Canada where black-tailed prairie dogs colonies are found.

Four books are known to have been written about Val Marie and the nearby south Saskatchewan grasslands:

Wallace Stegner: Wolf Willow, 1955
Wayne Lynch: Married to the Wind: A Study of the Prairie Grasslands, 1984
Jean Stav: A Barefoot Boy from Val Marie, 2000
Ron Miksha: Bad Beekeeping, 2004

On August 14, 2004, Grasslands - Where Heaven Meets Earth, a site specific art performance, was held in the community and park. The event was a collaboration of Canadian artists including Bill Coleman, Edward Poitras, Gordon Monahan, and Margie Gillis.

[edit] Notable Val Marieans

Will James - cowboy novelist
Louise Moine - 102 year-old author and native rights activist
Bryan Trottier - former NHL player turned coach

[edit] Statistics

Val Marie has a weather station with daily records going back to 1937. On the web, it is at Val Marie weather. It can be a harsh climate, often very dry and during the summer, Val Marie is sometimes the hotspot in Canada on a given day. Recent examples were 39 C (102 F) on July 31, 2005 and 38.2 C on July 12, 2006.

The coldest temperature ever recorded in Val Marie is -49.4 (-57 F) on January 20, 1954. The hottest is 41.1 (106 F) on July 4, 1937.

The record one-day rainfall is 86.4 mm (3.5 inches) on July 3, 2000. The record one-day snowfall is 45.7 cm (18 inches) on April 2, 1940.

According to the Canada 2001 Census:

Population:	134 (-14.6% from 1996)
Land area:	0.42 km²
Population density:	319.4 people/km²
Median age:	49 (males: 47.5, females: 49.5)
Total private dwellings:	84
Mean household income:	$49,264