BRESAYLOR — For many, the Battleford to Fort Pitt historic trail walk started at Battleford with a tour of different sites and museums in the area. The group camped at Battleford the evening of Aug. 8 and 9. I had the privilege of joining them at Delmas and guiding them as far as Hillmond.
Thirty people participated in the walk, 10 repeat walkers from other trail walks and 20 new walkers who walked for part or all of the days. The walkers came from Meota, Metinota, Baldwinton, Delmas, Bresaylor, Paynton, St. Denis, Battleford, North Battleford, Swift Current, Regina and Saskatoon. Their ages ranged from under 15 to 75, with 21 of them between 60 and 75. Most days they walked 12 miles per day.
At Delmas, Martin Prince gave a tour of the Catholic church and elevator. On Friday, we walked from Delmas to Bresaylor through what had been the Bresaylor settlement from 1882, learning about the Bresaylor settlers and the many stories of that time, as well as the Father Cochin story.
That evening the walkers toured the Bresaylor Heritage Museum followed by a meal of stew, bannock and saskatoon tarts served by our local caterer, Doris, and sponsored by Farm Credit Corporation. During the meal, many stories were shared. That night and the following night, the group camped at the Paynton Seniors’ Centre.
The next day, I guided them from Paynton to halfway to Silver Lake Regional Park. Local beekeepers, the Bartholomews, who were tending their beehives at the side of the road, explained honey production. Later as we passed the Cenovus steam injection plant and the Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL) saltwater disposal site, I told them about those facilities and heavy oil production. As we walked further north and from a hill, I pointed out the pine in the distance and told them about what the locals called “the swamp” and the paint mines south of “the swamp.” That night we went to Cut Knife Hill on Poundmaker First Nation and toured the battle site.
The following day took us to Silver Lake Regional Park where the group camped for two nights. Along the way, I arranged with a local pumper to obtain a small jar of oil so I could show them what heavy crude is like at room temperature. As we walked by a herd of Speckle Park cattle, I explained that this registered breed of cattle was developed by the Lamonts at Maidstone. That night, Christine Pike took us to Pine Island lookout and gave the area history dating back to the 1700s and the setting aside of the property as historic land.
The next morning, we walked to the Wesson Memorial, and in the afternoon, we toured the Pike’s Peak Country Church and the Kenderdine homestead, with its cairn about the artist Kenderdine and two grave cairns with the names of a couple killed by the Gros Ventres in the 1700s. The view from that hill is exceptional. We then finished the day touring Shiloh Church, commemorating the Black settlement there. Christine gave a wonderful tour of all four places and Mrs. Paton talked about the Black settlement. As a child, she went to school with the Black children and as an adult taught many of the children in the local country school.
In the morning, we started from the Kenderdine site and travelled through the Tangleflag Hills to Hillmond. From the top of one high hill, we could see Frenchman Butte on the horizon. While crossing Husky’s pipeline north of there, I commented on the 2016 oil spill from that line into the North Saskatchewan River, a spill that caused problems for the Battlefords and Prince Albert downstream and cost Husky a lot of money.
Because of other commitments, I left the group there. They would have spent the next two nights at the seniors’ centre in Hillmond and the last night at the village of Frenchman Butte. During that time, in the evenings, they planned to tour the Frenchman Butte Museum, Imhoff’s church paintings at Paradise Hill and the battle site at Frenchman Butte. Friday, Aug. 18, the group planned to reach Fort Pitt.
The time I spent with the walkers was an enjoyable learning experience I will never forget. The hospitality the group met along the way was exceptional.
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