White Bear, Saskatchewan

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White Bear is a small hamlet located approximately 55 miles (88.51 kilometres) northwest of Swift Current on the north side of the South Saskatchewan River, in Saskatchewan, Canada. Its name comes from the sighting of a probable but now extirpated white prairie grizzly bear by an Assiniboine warrior on the shores of a neighboring lake during the Palliser Expedition of the 1850’s. Records from early Metis settlers and the NWMP state the last roaming herd of American buffalo being slaughtered in the hills of the Missouri Coteau located 25 miles northeast around 1879.

During the 1930’s White Bear was a bustling community of approximately 250 residents with two grocery stores, a school, four elevators and three garages servicing an area of 200 families, but has since dwindled to a population of 13 in 2006. Part of the death is attributed to federal policy CN Rail line in that area of Saskatchewan. It is interesting to note that the region rarely suffered poor crops, except during the droughts of the Great Depression and 1988. It is connected to the rest of the province through Highway 342, albeit a now-decrepit road featuring signs with Imperial units in portions. Farmers from the area played prominently in the socialism that would later define Saskatchewan then Canada through the introduction of Medicare and state-ran insurance. The White Bear Hotel remains the only business in operation, noted for its hot wings and hospitality.