By Geoff Smith

How did the Battlefords come to be two communities?

Jun 14, 2016 | 5:00 PM

Now that the question has again been raised about whether the Battlefords should amalgamate, some may wonder why they’re separate municipalities to begin with.

The answer involves the railways. Battleford is the older of the two communities, established in 1875 as the capital of the Northwest Territories, along the planned route of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). It was home to a North West Mounted Police fort and a post office.

But then came a series of blows. First, the decision was made to build the CPR along a southern route, closer to the U.S. border. That led to the establishment of Regina as a new territorial capital.

And when the train did come, the Canadian Northern Railway was built on the opposite side of the river from the town of Battleford. Local historian Don Light explains it was a matter of geography and engineering.

“That land from Saskatoon on the north side was level-sloping down to the river. On this side, on the south side, was the Eagle Hills escarpment,” he said. The land south of the North Saskatchewan River included ravines, hills, and waterways draining into the river.

2023-24 Hardware

AAA Stars celebrate best of season with year-end awards

15h ago

Real Estate

Buying or selling a house? Do your homework first

18h ago

NB council

City approves new land sale on Buhler Bay

19h ago

“So it made… a little more sense,” Light said.

Settlers had been homesteading on the future North Battleford site well before that, however, according to the book Skyline: The Panoramic Pattern of a City published in 1955 to celebrate North Battleford’s Golden Jubilee. Contributing author Cecilia Wetton wrote that in 1905 the Saskatchewan Valley Land Company offered lots on the new townsite at a reduced price to residents of Battleford, but most rejected the offer.

The name “North Battleford” was chosen by Canadian Northern Railway. Wetton wrote of fears that this would cause confusion, especially since the name had been applied to a neighbourhood of the older town. In fact, according to Skyline, the legislative assembly of the Northwest Territories demanded another name for the new village.

But the first elected government of the new province of Saskatchewan agreed to incorporate North Battleford – under that name – in early 1906, and by 1913 it was Saskatchewan’s fifth city.

Since that time, the two communities have grown, side-by-side, with their own municipal governments, but working together on initiatives like the river valley that separates the two.

The question of whether Battleford and North Battleford would be better off as one municipality has occasionally been raised, most recently when North Battleford mayor Ian Hamilton suggested during his 2016 state of the city address that perhaps the idea should be studied, an idea flatly rejected by Battleford mayor Derek Mahon.

gsmith@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @smithco