Bonne Madone is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

founded in

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's f ...

in the Rural Municipality of Hoodoo No. 401, in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, 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 t ...

History

The area of Bonne Madone was granted by the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

to French settlers, the main contingent of which arrived in 1902 from

Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...

and

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...

, led by fathers Laurent Voisin and Jean Garnier. A convent run by the Sisters of Providence was established there in 1905. A school was built there in 1908, and the town's chapel was first built in 1910. Later in that decade was built a Wood-framed church, which burned in 1918, but was rebuilt in 1920. A

Royal North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian para-military police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territor ...

station and a Post office were also located there, the latter closing in 1963. It was an active community in the 1920s and the 1930s, but its population dwindled due to farm size adjustments. It was designated as heritage property in 1982, and became a municipal heritage property on June 15, 2004.

References

Unincorporated communities in Saskatchewan Hoodoo No. 401, Saskatchewan Division No. 15, Saskatchewan {{SKDivision15-geo-stub