Saskatchewan Highway 641 is a highway in the province of

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 ...

, Canada, beginning at Highway 39 near Rouleau, and traveling north ending at Highway 15 at Semans. The highway intersects the

Trans Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean on ...

Saskatchewan Highway 1 Highway 1 is the Saskatchewan section of the Trans-Canada Highway mainland route. The total distance of the Trans-Canada Highway in Saskatchewan is . The highway traverses Saskatchewan from the western border with Alberta, from Highway 1, to t ...

south of Pense and east of Belle Plaine,

Highway 20 Route 20, or Highway 20, may refer to: International * European route E20 Australia * Sturt Highway (NSW/VIC/SA) * Yarra Bank Highway Brazil * BR-020 Canada * Alberta Highway 20 * British Columbia Highway 20 * Manitoba Highway 20 *New B ...

at Lumsden, and Highway 22 at

Earl Grey Earl Grey is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1806 for General Charles Grey, 1st Baron Grey. In 1801, he was given the title Baron Grey of Howick in the County of Northumberland, and in 1806 he was created Viscou ...

. Local Improvement Districts were the precursors of rural municipalities which initially established and maintained roads in their area. Early settlers helped to construct and maintain the route and would get paid road improvement wages from the local

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 ...

. The

concurrency Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

between

and Highway 641 was constructed in 1927 following the removal of the Canadian National Railway line between Lumsden and

Craven Craven may refer to: * Craven in the Domesday Book, an area of Yorkshire, England, larger area than the district ** Craven District, a local government district of North Yorkshire formed in 1974 Places * Craven, New South Wales, Australia, see ...

. The remainder of the road followed Dominion land survey township and range lines.

Route description

Highway 641 begins near Rouleau and extends north to the

Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered ...

intersection. The

(RM) of Reburn number 130 office is located in Rouleau and administers to a population of 245. This area is part of the Regina Plain landscape area of the Moist Mixed Grassland

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

featuring mainly cereal crops in the dark brown soils. The RM of Pense is located between the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians ...

and the provincial capital city of Regina. At km 24.6 Highway 641 enters the village Pense. At km 25.4, it intersects Saskatchewan Highway 730. Highway 730 connects to Regina, Saskatchewan east of this intersection. Lumsden is located at the km 55.9 intersection with Highway 11 in the

Qu'Appelle Valley The Qu'Appelle River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba that flows east from Lake Diefenbaker in south-western Saskatchewan to join the Assiniboine River in Manitoba, just south of Lake of the Prairies, near t ...

created by the

Qu'Appelle River The Qu'Appelle River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba that flows east from Lake Diefenbaker in south-western Saskatchewan to join the Assiniboine River in Manitoba, just south of Lake of the Prairies, near t ...

The town of Lumsden features the Lumsden Museum which is home to several restored heritage buildings. The Lumsden Trans Canada Trail Committee helped establish of the Trans Canada trail. The trail has been groomed for walking, hiking, cycling, skiing, horseback riding, canoeing and snowmobiling.

, the home of the Craven Country Jamboree, is located at the

Highway 99 International * European route E99 Australia * Springbrook Road, Queensland Canada * British Columbia Highway 99 * Ontario Highway 99 (former) * Saskatchewan Highway 99 China * G99 Expressway India * National Highway 99 (India) ...

and

junctions. Highway 641 continues north for and then turns east before again continuing northerly. This final stretch of the highway is part of the Strasbourg Plain landscape area of the Moist Mixed Grassland

featuring small trembling aspen (''Populus tremuloides '') bluffs around the occasional slough.

is located at the intersection with Highway 22. There are no localities located at the intersection with the secondary Highway 731. Last Mountain House Provincial Park protects the heritage site of the Hudson's Bay Company post Last Mountain House established in 1869. The terminus of Highway 641 is at the

Saskatchewan Highway 15 Highway 15 is a highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from Highway 4, south of Rosetown, to Highway 16, southeast of Bredenbury. Highway 15 is about long. The Outlook Bridge carries Highway 15 across the South Saskatch ...

intersection at Semans.

History

Between 1897 and 1909, municipal administration affairs were handled by Local Improvement District (LID) Number 165. The LID changed its boundaries on December 13, 1909, and on January 1, 1913, the LID was renamed Pense No. 160. During the 1940s work was undertaken on paving roadways, a man could earn 35 cents an hour or $ today a man and two horses could be employed at a rate of 65 cents an hour $ today, a horse drawn drag would earn 37.5 cents an hour $ today, and if a farmer owned a tractor, a tractor drawn drag could earn as much as 50 cents per hour $ today. Rationale to use US currency conversion template. $10 Canadian was equivalent to US$10 gold eagle 1851-1867. 1879-1914 the US and Canadian dollar traded again at par. Rationale to use US currency conversion template. Bank of Canada notes that from 1854-1914 the US and Canadian dollar traded at par. The Saskatchewan Highway Act was established in 1922, in compliance with the 1919 Canadian highway act. At the initial stages of the Saskatchewan Highway Act, of provincial highways were gravel and the rest were earth roads. The

road allowances The Dominion Land Survey (DLS; french: links=no, arpentage des terres fédérales, ATF) is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile (2.6 km2) sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout ...

were laid out as a part of the Dominion Land survey system for homesteading. Travel along the Provincial Highway 641 before the 1940s would have been traveling on the ''square'' following the township road allowances, barbed wire fencing and the Canadian Northern rail line. As the surveyed township roads were the easiest to travel, the first

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

was designed on 90-degree, right-angle corners as the distance traversed the prairie along range roads and township roads. There is a historical monument erected along the highway which states that the early railway was established along the east side of the Last Mountain Lake (Long Lake) in 1907, and constructed on the west side in 1911. The monument documents as well the "Lady of the Lake" sternwheeler which was used on Long Lake. Local historians clarify that the rail came to the east of the Lake in 1911, and to the west in 1912. The "Lady of the Lake" began as a sternwheeler, but was modified to a screw propeller. Also on the Lake the "S.S. Qu'Appelle", a luxurious steamer, towed a barge across the lake. Lumsden was initially served by the Canadian National Railway CNR, however the Canadian Pacific Railway CPR was built through Craven in 1910. The new line brought freight to Lumsden infrequently and the elevator was torn down in 1927, and the CNR track removed the next year. The highway went through where the CNR bridge had been built. Highway 20 is marked on an early 1926 and 1955 maps, but highway 641 is unmarked - showing up as surveyed township and range roads only.

Intersections

References

External links

LumsdenLumsden No. 189Pense No. 160Pense
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saskatchewan Highway 641

641 __NOTOC__ Year 641 ( DCXLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 641 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...