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 (47% of workforce), federal government (Grasslands National Park), and a significant natural gas compressor relay station at the USA border.

1 History
2 Notable Val Marieans
3 Statistics
4 External links
5 References and notes

[edit] History

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 (40 km²) 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 died in 1981. By 2000 the population had dropped below 135, and many stores and businesses had closed. The Grasslands National Park has attracted some new people into the area, but emigration and an aging population has resulted in continued net loss. According to Statistics Canada, the village population was reduced by 21 people in the past 10 years.^[1] Val Marie now has 137 people in 79 dwellings. Val Marie has a few services, including a bank, a gas station, a hotel/bar, a cafe, a country inn/restaurant, and even a community owned grocery store. Most of these businesses are open restricted hours. The nearest full-service centre is the city of Swift Current, located 100 kilometres north.

Grasslands National Park 10 kilometres west of Val Marie, Saskatchewan is the only place in Canada where black-tailed prairie dogs colonies and prairie rattlesnakes are found. In 2006, Plains Bison were re-introduced into the park. Hiking in the badlands and viewing wildlife in the park are primary visiting activities.

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 since 1937.^[2]. It can be a harsh climate, cold and windswept in the winter and often very dry for prolonged periods, broken sometimes by extremely intense rainfalls during the summer. Val Marie is sometimes the national hotspot in Canada on a given summer day.

Val Marie gets more days of sunlight per year than anywhere else in Canada.

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, which came to close to being broken on July 23, 2007, when the temperature rose to 40.6ºC (105 F).

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 2006 Census^[3]:

• Population:	137 (2.2% from 2001)
• Land area:	0.42 km² (0.16 sq mi)
• Population density:	326.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (846 /sq mi)
• Median age:	43.5 (males: 40.5, females: 43.8)
• Total private dwellings:	79
• Dwellings occupied by permanent residents:	65
• Mean household income:	$50,000