Waldheim is a town of 1,035 residents in the Rural Municipality of Laird No. 404, in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, north of Saskatoon. Waldheim is located on Highway 312 in central Saskatchewan, the "Heart of the Old North-Wes".

Fort Carlton Fort Carlton was a Hudson's Bay Company fur trading post from 1795 until 1885. It was located along the North Saskatchewan River not far from Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, Duck Lake, in what is now the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The fort wa ...

Batoche Batoche, which lies between Prince Albert and Saskatoon in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, was the site of the historic Battle of Batoche during the North-West Rebellion of 1885. The battle resulted in the defeat of Louis Riel and his M ...

Battle of Fish Creek The Battle of Fish Creek (also known as the Battle of Tourond's Coulée), fought April 24, 1885 at Fish Creek, Saskatchewan, was a major Métis victory over the Canadian forces attempting to quell Louis Riel's North-West Rebellion. Although the ...

, and Seager Wheeler's Maple Grove Farm are all near Waldheim.

History

Mennonites from

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

and

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

arrived here to settle and farm in 1893. The

Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canada, Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonto ...

arrived in 1908. Particularly in the 1870s, Mennonites of Dutch-German origins residing in colonies in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

region of present-day

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

became alarmed at the rising nationalism in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. Along with land shortages in these growing colonies, pressure toward

Russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

of minorities was threatening

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

values in education. Similarly, the promise made by

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

to exempt them from military service was quite clearly being challenged and rewritten by the then current Russian government. Canada was seeking farming immigrants, and about 7,000 Mennonites chose to immigrate to

where the government of Canada set aside two reserves for their resettlement. In the early 1890s, some of these families decided to move on to

District of Saskatchewan The District of Saskatchewan was a regional administrative district of Canada's North-West Territories. Formed in 1882, it was later enlarged then abolished with the creation of the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1905. Much of the are ...

, thereby establishing a trend that would see considerable Mennonite immigration to the

Saskatchewan Valley The Saskatchewan Valley is a geographic area in Saskatchewan, Canada encompassing generally a triangle from North Battleford, to Saskatoon, north to the Saskatchewan River Forks east of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Historically home to the Cree ab ...

area before the turn of the century. Many came from Manitoba, but others arrived directly from colonies in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, from the Danzig region of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

and from

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, and

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

where they had settled in the 1870s. Thriving Mennonite farming communities were quickly established in the Saskatchewan Valley area in the vicinities of Aberdeen, Laird, Waldheim, Langham, Dalmeny, and Rosthern particularly. Churches were established, land was broken and cropped, and roads were built.

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 Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Waldheim 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.

Recreation and attractions

Waldheim features a green space in its downtown area: Sam Wendland Heritage Park. This park was created in 2000, and was dedicated to Sam Wendland for his many years of serving as mayor. The Waldheim Pine Ridge Golf and Country Club is a neighbour to the recreational facility built in 1976 (containing an arena and a curling rink). Westview Jubilee Seniors Centre offers events and services to Waldheim's senior population. Fort Carlton Hockey League serves a large area in the vicinity of Waldheim, such as Rosthern, Warman, Dalmeny, Shellbrook, Bruno, Martensville, Aberdeen, Blaine Lake, and Cudworth. Sask Valley Minor Hockey League offers level of hockey for Novice, Atoms, Pee Wee, Bantams and Midget. Waldheim Library Museum 2011

Waldheim station is a former

station that closed in 1976. It is now a library and museum.

Waldheim Valley Regional Park

Waldheim Valley Regional Park () is a

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distr ...

on the east side of Waldheim. The park has a 13-site campground, picnic area, ball diamonds, and the 9-hole Pine Ridge Golf and Country Club. The golf course has a licensed clubhouse, grass greens, is a par 33, and 2,870 total yards. Access is from Highway 312.

Notable people

Jennifer Bowes Jennifer Bowes is a Canadian politician. Bowes was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in the 2020 Saskatchewan general election. She represented the electoral district of Saskatoon University as a member of the Saskatchewan New ...

, politician * Howard Dirks, politician * Dustin Friesen, hockey player * Ben Heppner (politician), politician *

Henry Feyerabend Henry Feyerabend (1931 – December 12, 2006) was a Canadian Seventh-day Adventist evangelist, singer, and author, who is best known in Canada for his work with It Is Written, and in Brazil as a singer with the Arautos do Rei (Portuguese: ...

, evangelist * Dave Schultz (ice hockey), hockey player

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Mennonitism in Saskatchewan Towns in Saskatchewan Laird No. 404, Saskatchewan Russian Mennonite diaspora in Canada