The Rural Municipality of Mountain View No. 318 ( 2016 population: ) is a

rural municipality A rural municipality is a classification of municipality, a type of local government, found in several countries. These include: * Rural municipality (Canada), Rural municipalities in Canada, a Lists of municipalities in Canada, type of municipa ...

(RM) 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 North ...

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 ...

within Census Division No. 12 and Division No. 6.

History

The RM of Mountain View No. 318 incorporated as a rural municipality on December 13, 1909. Its incorporation was triggered by a petition compiled by a municipal committee and sent to the Municipal Commissioner for Saskatchewan on May 19, 1909. It asked for the authority to proceed with an election whereby local residents would vote on whether to proceed with the establishment of an official RM. At the same time, a list of potential names for the RM was submitted. In all there were seven suggestions including Glengarry, Bramley and Newbury but it was the name Mountain View that prevailed. Prior to incorporation, the area was known as the Mountain View Local Improvement District (No. 16-N-3). Councillors elected to the Local Improvement District included: *Division 1: Charles T. Ramsey; *Division 2: Frank Cutten; *Division 3: Alex Walker; *Division 4: William J. Heatherington (Chairman); *Division 5: D. Dubrueil; and *Division 6: M. J. McMillan. Charles Lawrence, Notary Public, Berkshire Farm, of Wiggins was Secretary-Treasurer. On June 15, 1909, the Municipal Commissioner agreed to hold elections for the new RM on July 20, 1909. 52 voters turned out that day to cast their ballots. The results of the election were clear. 36 people voted in favour of establishing a new RM, while 16 people voted against the proposal. A letter dated August 16 from the Deputy Municipal Commissioner officially established the RM of Mountain View No. 318 on December 13, 1909. In the early years of the RM, large areas of land in the municipality were taken up by large farms. The Engen farm of 1909 contained 9 sections; the Lamborn farm of 1910 contained 5 sections (sold later to a group of Mennonite settlers in 1925) and the Bellamy farm of 1912 contained 17 sections. The Engen and Bellamy farms were later broken up into smaller farms. Now history is reversing itself; the smaller farms are being taken over by larger farming units.

Geography

The RM is drained by Eagle Creek which flows in a southeasterly direction. The valley of this creek is approximately one mile wide, and in most places is more than 100 feet deep. The ground surface on the uplands varies from gently undulating to quite hilly. The elevations a long the valley vary from approximately 1,950 feet at Lake Opuntia to 1,900 feet where the stream leaves the municipality. The elevation rises to the southwest and northeast of the valley. A portion of the area is mantled by moraine deposits. The remainder of the area is covered by

glacial till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

boulder clay Boulder clay is an unsorted agglomeration of clastic sediment that is unstratified and structureless and contains gravel of various sizes, shapes, and compositions distributed at random in a fine-grained matrix. The fine-grained matrix consists ...

Communities and localities

The following unincorporated communities are within the RM. ;

Special service area Communities in the Province of Saskatchewan, Canada include Incorporation (municipal government), incorporated municipalities, Unincorporated community, unincorporated communities and First Nations in Canada, First Nations communities. Types of ...

s * Herschel (restructured to hamlet, December 31, 2006) ;Localities *

Downe Downe, formerly Down, () is a village in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley but beyond the London urban sprawl. Downe is south west of Orpington and south east of Charing Cross. Downe lies on a hill, and ...

* Glenellen * Kingsland *

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

(dissolved as a village)

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, the RM of Mountain View No. 318 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 RM of Mountain View No. 318 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.

Economy

With the coming of the homesteaders, the

plough A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...

turned land that once produced grass to support vast herds of

plains bison The Plains bison (''Bison bison bison'') is one of two subspecies/ecotypes of the American bison, the other being the wood bison (''B. b. athabascae''). A natural population of Plains bison survives in Yellowstone National Park (the Yellowstone ...

, now it has become some of the best agricultural land in Saskatchewan. This is due in part to the RM being located in the Dark Brown Soil Region of the province. This has resulted in very high

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

yields over the years. There is also an abundance of good ranch land in the RM as the fertile flat land in the middle of the municipality is bordered on the north by the Bear Hills and on the south by the Bad Hills. The hill regions of the area are idea for grazing livestock. Today, agriculture is the primary economic activity in the RM. In the 1930s soft coal began to be mined a small valley just south of Herschel, which lead to the valley being named, the Coal Mine Ravine. Today the ravine is no longer mined for coal but it is home to the

Ancient Echoes Interpretive Centre Ancient Echoes Interpretive Centre is a community-based museum and interpretive centre, founded in 1994, that educates, conserves, protects, and promotes the history, the peoples and the assets of the land forming the Eagle Creek Valley and Coal ...

, several archaeological sites, as well as being home to several endangered species of plants and the remains of a former First Nations/

Metis Metis or Métis may refer to: Ethnic groups * Métis, recognized Indigenous communities in Canada and America whose distinct culture and language emerged after early intermarriage between First Nations peoples and early European settlers, prima ...

/pioneer

Red River Cart The Red River cart is a large two-wheeled cart made entirely of non-metallic materials. Often drawn by oxen, though also by horses or mules, these carts were used throughout most of the 19th century in the fur trade and in westward expansion in Ca ...

trail.

Attractions

- a museum, First Nations ceremonial site and interpretive centre in Herschel, designated as a provincial Municipal Heritage Property. *Stranraer United Church - a history church constructed in

between 1926 and 1929, designated as a provincial Municipal Heritage Property. *Stranraer School 651 - a former school, completed in 1927 and a monument to dedicated to all school districts in the RM of Mountain View No. 318. *Herschel Retreat House *Herschel Memorial Hall *Herschel Memorial Rink *Herschel Museum *Herschel Ebenfeld Mennonite Church *Stranraer Commemorative Library * Opuntia Lake Bird Sanctuary

Government

The RM of Mountain View No. 318 is governed by an elected municipal council and an appointed administrator that meets on the second Tuesday of every month. The reeve of the RM is Rodney G. Wiens while its administrator is Rachel Deobald. The RM's office is located in Herschel.

Transportation

In 1911 the rail line from

Macklin Macklin or MacKlin may refer to: ;Places * Macklin, Saskatchewan, a town in Canada People with the surname Macklin or MacKlin: * Macklin (surname) See also * Maclean MacLean, also spelt Maclean and McLean, is a Gaelic surname Mac Gille Eath ...

to Rosetown was formally opened for traffic through the RM. The branch line of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

follows the Eagle Creek valley through the southwest corner of the municipality, and on it were situated the villages of Herschel and

. *

Saskatchewan Highway 31 Highway 31 is a highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from Highway 14 in Macklin Macklin or MacKlin may refer to: ;Places * Macklin, Saskatchewan, a town in Canada People with the surname Macklin or MacKlin: * Macklin (surna ...

* Saskatchewan Highway 656 *

Kerrobert Kerrobert is a town in west central Saskatchewan. It has a population of 970 (2021) Kerrobert is served by Highway 21, Highway 31 and Highway 51 as well as the Canadian Pacific Railway. It is approximately east of the Saskatchewan/Alberta bord ...

- Rosetown spur of the

Remnants of the historic Swift Current - Battleford Trail can be found in the RM as well as several other trails.

Gallery

File:Stranraer Saskatchewan School and students.jpg, Teacher and students outside of Wynona school near Stranraer in1909 File:Stranraer Saskatchewan School outside.jpg, Teacher outside of Wynona school, near Stranraer Saskatchewan 1909 File:Stranraer Saskatchewan School.jpg, Stranraer, Saskatchewan school File:Stranraer Saskatchewan School 02.jpg, Stranraer, Saskatchewan school File:Stranraer Saskatchewan School 06.jpg, Stranraer, Saskatchewan school File:Stranraer Saskatchewan School 04.jpg, Stranraer, Saskatchewan school File:Stranraer Saskatchewan School 05.jpg, Stranraer, Saskatchewan school File:Stranraer Saskatchewan School 03.jpg, Stranraer, Saskatchewan school File:Stranraer Saskatchewan United Church.jpg, Stranraer, Saskatchewan

United Church A united church, also called a uniting church, is a church formed from the merger or other form of church union of two or more different Protestant Christian denominations. Historically, unions of Protestant churches were enforced by the state ...

File:Full Moon rising over Ancient Echoes Interpretive Centre in Herschel, Saskatchewan.jpg, Full moon over Herschel File:Image of the buffalo jump at Ancient Echoes Interpretive Centre in 2017.jpg, A

buffalo jump A buffalo jump, or sometimes bison jump, is a cliff formation which Indigenous peoples of North America historically used to hunt and kill plains bison in mass quantities. The broader term game jump refers to a man-made jump or cliff used for hun ...

and

pemmican Pemmican (also pemican in older sources) is a mixture of tallow, dried meat, and sometimes dried berries. A calorie-rich food, it can be used as a key component in prepared meals or eaten raw. Historically, it was an important part of indigenous ...

processing site in the Coalmine Ravine near Herschel File:Dolichorhynchops herschelensis vertebrae.jpg, Fossilized vertebrae of a unique species of short-necked

plesiosaur The Plesiosauria (; Greek: πλησίος, ''plesios'', meaning "near to" and ''sauros'', meaning "lizard") or plesiosaurs are an order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appeared ...

discovered near Herschel

References

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