The Big Muddy Badlands are a series of
badlands
Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, m ...
in southern
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
and northern
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
in the Big Muddy Valley and along
Big Muddy Creek. Big Muddy Valley is a cleft of erosion and sandstone that is long, wide, and deep.
Big Muddy Valley and Big Muddy Badlands were formed over 12,000 years ago near the end of the
last ice age when a
glacial lake outburst flood
A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a type of outburst flood caused by the failure of a dam containing a glacial lake. An event similar to a GLOF, where a body of water contained by a glacier melts or overflows the glacier, is called a jà ...
occurred from a pre-historic
glacial lake located at present-day
Old Wives Lake.
Big Muddy Lake is a large
salt lake at the heart of the badlands. Two other notable lakes,
Willow Bunch Lake and
Lake of the Rivers are farther upstream in the valley.
A prominent feature of the badlands is Castle Butte (), which is an outcrop of sandstone and compressed clay that protrudes above the flat prairie. It has a height of and a circumference of . It is located south of
Bengough on
Highway 34, about halfway between Big Muddy Lake and Willow Bunch Lake.
Ranching and tourism are important industries in the sparsely populated area.
Canada's Historic Places
Sam Kelly Sites
In the nineteenth and early twentieth century the Badlands formed the northern end of the "Outlaw Trail", a series of trails and stopping areas utilized by outlaws in the American West spanning from Canada to
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. Outlaws such as Henry Borne and his brother Coyote Pete, Sam Kelly, the Pigeon Toed Kid, and the notorious
Sundance Kid turned up in the area.
In 1999, of land was set aside as the Sam Kelly Sites () in the Canadian part of the badlands and put on the
Canadian Register of Historic Places. The historical site contains nine archaeological sites, including stone rings and effigies, caves, and homestead remains.
Buffalo Effigy
The Buffalo Effigy () was constructed by local
Indigenous people
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
from
fieldstone overlooking West Beaver Creek near the border with Montana. The 64-hectare site was formally recognized in 1999. Besides the Buffalo Effigy, there is a stone cairn and at least eight stone rings.
Minton Turtle Effigy
The Minton Turtle Effigy () is located on a hill overlooking Big Muddy Badlands and Big Muddy Lake. The
effigy is long and wide. It was first identified by Thomas Kehoe in 1965. He believed it represented a
turtle
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...
, yet others, including
Indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
elders, believe it represents a
badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...
. The site is a protected area and is fenced off with an informative plaque describing the turtle.
Gallery
File:Big Muddy NWMP Post.jpg, alt=Photograph of the old Big Muddy North West Mounted Police (NWMP) post (1902-1917). Building originally built by James Marshall, then traded to the Mounties for a larger barracks located across the road., NWMP Post in the Big Muddy Badlands, circa 1902
File:Hole in the Wall Coulee Big Muddy.jpg, Entrance to Hole in the Wall Coulee
File:Castle Butte Panorama.jpg, Panorama of Castle Butte
See also
*
Geography of Saskatchewan
The geography of Saskatchewan is unique among the provinces and territories of Canada in some respects. It is one of only two landlocked regions (Alberta is the other) and it is the only region whose borders are not based on natural features li ...
*
History of Saskatchewan
History of Saskatchewan encompasses the study of past human events and activities of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, the middle of Canada's three prairie provinces. Archaeological studies give some clues as to the history and lifesty ...
*
*
List of protected areas of Saskatchewan
This is a list of protected areas of Saskatchewan.
National parks
Provincial parks
The federal government transferred control of natural resources to the western provinces in 1930 with the Natural Resources Acts. At that time, ...
References
External links
The Minton Turtle Effigy*
{{Authority control
Badlands of Canada
Geography of Saskatchewan
Natural history of Saskatchewan
Landforms of Saskatchewan
Happy Valley No. 10, Saskatchewan
Canadian folklore