Roche Percée ( 2016 population: ) is a village in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nort ...

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 ...

within the

Rural Municipality of Coalfields No. 4 The Rural Municipality of Coalfields No. 4 ( 2016 population: ) is a rural municipality (RM) in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within Census Division No. 1 and Division No. 1. Located in the southeast portion of the province, it is ad ...

and Census Division No. 1. The village is situated near the

Canada–United States border The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Can ...

just off of Highway 39. Roche Percée is east of

Estevan Estevan is the eighth-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is approximately north of the Canada–United States border. The Souris River runs by the city. This city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5. History The ...

in the valley of the

Souris River The Souris River (; french: rivière Souris) or Mouse River (as it is alternatively known in the U.S., a calque of its French name) is a river in central North America. It is about in length and drains about . It rises in the Yellow Grass Mar ...

History

In 1872 the

Boundary Commission A boundary commission is a legal entity that determines borders of nations, states, constituencies. Notable boundary commissions have included: * Afghan Boundary Commission, an Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission, of 1885 and 1893, delineated the n ...

travelled through this area while surveying the border between Canada and the United States. During the 1874

March West The March West was the initial journey of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) to the Canadian prairies, made between July 8 and October 9, 1874. It was the result of the force being deployed to what is now southern Alberta in response to the Cy ...

trek of the

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 Territory ...

, the force established its first camp (called Short Creek Camp) at this location. The community began being served by the Soo Line in 1893, permitting the

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron fro ...

s in the region to become operational. Roche Percée incorporated as a village on January 12, 1909. In 2010, the provincial government signed an agreement with Southeast Tour & Trails Inc. to restore Roche Percée Park after being closed for over a decade. In 2011, flooding on the Souris River inundated the village, forcing its residents to evacuate. Of the 64 homes in Roche Percée, 28 were damaged beyond repair, and had to be demolished. ;Historical properties Roche Percée Provincial Historic Site is located nearby. Referred to by local residents as "the Rocks", it has large

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

deposits in which some caves have formed. The name of the village comes from the Métis French name of the rock formations, which means "pierced rock" in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

. Another similar formation Rocher Percé is located in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

. Roche Percée Gallery File:Plaque at Roche Percee Saskatchewan.jpg, Plaque at Roche Percée File:Boundary Commission Trail.jpg, Boundary Commission Trail plaque near Roche Percée File:Entry at Roche Percee Saskatchewan.jpg, Entry at Roche Percée File:Cave at Roche Percee Saskatchewan.jpg, Cave at Roche Percée File:View from the top at Roche Percee Saskatchewan.jpg, View from the top at Roche Percée

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by Statistics Canada, Roche Percée had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population, the Village of Roche Percée recorded a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

References

{{SKDivision1 Villages in Saskatchewan Coalfields No. 4, Saskatchewan Division No. 1, Saskatchewan