Touchwood Hills are a range of hills located 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 ...
of
Saskatchewan. The hills are composed of the "Big" Touchwood Hills and the Little Touchwood Hills. Together they are referred to as the Touchwood Uplands. The hills are in the
Prairie Pothole Region of
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and five
U.S. states, and within
Palliser's Triangle and the
Great Plains ecoregion The ecology of the Great Plains is diverse, largely owing to their great size. Differences in rainfall, elevation, and latitude create a variety of habitats including short grass, mixed grass, and tall-grass prairies, and riparian ecosystems.
Th ...
of Canada.
The hills make up a large plateau that is north-east of Saskatchewan's capital city,
Regina. To the west of the hills is
Last Mountain Lake; to the north are the
Quill Lakes,
Foam Lake
Foam Lake is a town in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. It had a population of 1,123 in 2006.
It is located in a mixed agricultural area approximately 220 km south-east of Saskatoon on the Yellowhead Highway. Foam Lake, the lake for ...
, and
Fishing Lake; to the east is
Good Spirit Lake
Good Spirit Lake is a lake on the eastern side of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is a shallow lake notable for its naturally sandy beaches, parks, and sand dunes. One of Saskatchewan's six founding provincial parks, Good Spirit Lak ...
; and to the south is the
Qu'Appelle Valley. Several rivers flow out of the hills, such as the south flowing Qu'Appelle River tributaries of East Loon Creek (via Loon Creek), Jumping Deer Creek,
Pheasant Creek
Pheasant Creek is a creek that runs along the bottom of one of the many coulees that branch off the Qu'Appelle Valley and empties into the Qu'Appelle River in southern Saskatchewan. The creek starts between the communities of Ituna and Jasmin ...
, and Pearl Creek. To the north, rivers such as Dafoe Brook, Birch Creek, Bevcar Brook, Beckett Brook, and Milligan Creek work their way into the Quill Lakes. Milligan Creek and its tributaries are the primary inflows for Foam Lake and the Quill Lakes.
Highway 35 cuts across the plateau in a north to south direction and
Highway 15 heads in an east to west direction cutting between Big Touchwood and Little Touchwood Hills. To the north and east of the hills is
Highway 16
Route 16, or Highway 16, can refer to:
International
* Asian Highway 16
* European route E16
* European route E016
Australia
- Thompsons Road (Victoria)
- South Australia
Canada
;Parts of the Trans-Canada Highway:
* Yellowhead ...
, also known as the Yellowhead Highway, and to the south is
Highway 10
Route 10, or Highway 10, can refer to routes in the following countries:
International
* European route E10
* European route E010
Argentina
* La Pampa Provincial Route 10
Australia Queensland
* Smith Street Motorway (Queensland)
* Scenic ...
.
Highway 6 runs past the western side of the plateau.
In 2005,
Ducks Unlimited Canada announced a ten-year study of how nesting success of prairie waterfowl varies in relation to the landscape types of the prairie pothole region, to be conducted in the Touchwood Hills area.
Touchwood Hills Regional Economic Development Authority
The Touchwood Hills Regional Economic Development Authority (REDA) was created in 1995, and was the tenth REDA created in the province. It included the
rural municipalities of
Tullymet,
Lipton
Lipton is a British brand of tea, owned by Ekaterra. Lipton was also a supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, later sold to Argyll Foods, after which the company sold only tea. The company is named after its founder, Sir Thomas Lipton, who fo ...
,
Cupar,
Garry,
Ituna Bon Accord,
Kellross,
Touchwood,
Emerald
Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...
and
Kutawa; the towns of
Cupar,
Ituna, and
Southey; and the villages of
Dysart,
Hubbard Hubbard may refer to:
Places Canada
*Hubbard, Saskatchewan
*Hubbards, Nova Scotia
Canada/United States
* Mount Hubbard, a mountain on the Alaska/Yukon border
*Hubbard Glacier, a large freshwater glacier in Alaska and Yukon
Greenland
*Hubbard Gla ...
,
Kelliher, and
Leross; the Crossroads Rural Development Corporation and the Carlton Trail Regional College.
Touchwood Hills Post
Touchwood Hills Post was a
Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) trading post in the Touchwood Hills from 1852 to 1909. It was one of the few HBC posts not built on a river and supplied by canoe. Rather it was a resupply point and stopping place on the part of the
Carlton Trail that ran from
Fort Ellice on the
Assiniboine River north-west to
Fort Carlton on the
North Saskatchewan River. The section of the Carlton Trail that runs from the Touchwood Hills to the
Fishing Lakes
The Fishing Lakes, also called the Calling Lakes or the Qu'Appelle Lakes, are a chain of four lakes in the Qu'Appelle Valley cottage country about 40 miles (64 km) to the north-east of Regina in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. T ...
is called the
Fort Qu'Appelle-Touchwood Hills Trail.
All that remains of the original fort is the cellar depression and a segment of the Carlton Trail with
Red River cart tracks. In 1986, the Touchwood Hills Post historic park was designated a Provincial Park.
Touchwood Hills People
The Touchwood Hills People, or ''Pusakawatciwiyiniwak'' were part of a larger group known as the Downstream People, or ''Mamihkiyiniwak'', who occupied the south-eastern plains and utilized the
Assiniboine River,
Red River, and
Lake Winnipeg waterways. The Touchwood Hills People consisted of four bands under the leadership of chief ''Kawacatoose'' (Poorman or Lean Man): ''Kawacatoose'', ''Kaneonuskatew'' (One that walks on four claws or George Gordon), ''Muscowequan'' (Hard Quill), and ''Kisecawchuck ''(Daystar). ''Kawacatoose'' and the other chiefs signed
Treaty 4, which created the
Kawacatoose First Nation,
Gordon First Nation
The George Gordon First Nation ( cr, ᐳᓵᑲᓇᒌᕽ ''posâkanacîhk'') is a First Nations band government located near the village of Punnichy, Saskatchewan, in Canada. The nation has an enrolled population of 3,752 people, 1,191 of whom liv ...
,
Muskowekwan First Nation, and
Day Star First Nation. Along with the
Fishing Lake First Nation, these bands are collectively a part of the Touchwood Agency Tribal Chiefs (TATC).
Lost Harvests: Prairie Indian Reserve Farmers and Government Policy.
Sarah Carter. McGill-Queen's Press: 1993.
See also
* List of protected areas of Saskatchewan
* Geography of Saskatchewan
* Palliser's Triangle
References
*Elizabeth Browne Losey,"Let Them be Remembered:The Story of the Fur Trade Forts, 1999,page 655-658
{{Authority control
Landforms of Saskatchewan
Hills of Saskatchewan
First Nations in Saskatchewan