Scotsguard, Saskatchewan - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Scotsguard is a small hamlet

Hamlet

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

in Bone Creek Rural Municipality No. 108

Bone Creek No. 108, Saskatchewan

The Rural Municipality of Bone Creek No. 108 is a rural municipality in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Bone Creek #108 is located in south western, Saskatchewan, in SARM Division 3 and the Census division No. 4 .-Demographics:...

, Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Located on highway 13

Saskatchewan Highway 13

Highway 13 is a highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from the Alberta border until it transitions into Highway 2 at the Manitoba border near Antler. Highway 13 is about 676 km long.Highway 13 passes through Shaunavon, Assiniboia, Weyburn, Redvers and Carlyle...

also known as the historic Red Coat Trail

Red Coat Trail

The Red Coat Trail is a route that approximates the path taken in 1874 by the North-West Mounted Police in their quest to bring law and order to the Canadian West.-Travel route:...

, about 10 km northeast of Shaunavon, Saskatchewan

Shaunavon, Saskatchewan

The town of Shaunavon is situated in Southwest Saskatchewan at the junction of Highways 37 and 13. It is 110 kilometres from Swift Current, 163 kilometres from the Alberta border and 74 kilometres from the Montana border. Shaunavon was established in 1913 and settled along a railroad line...

Demographics

Scotsguard, like so many other small communities throughout Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

, has struggled to maintain a sturdy population causing it to become a semi ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

with only a population of 3 citizens. Prior to December 31, 1953, Scotsguard was incorporated under village status, but was restructured as a hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

under the jurisdiction of the Rural municipality

Rural municipality

A rural municipality, often abbreviated RM, is a form of municipality in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, perhaps best comparable to counties or townships in the western United States...

of Bone Creek on that date.

History

Taken from ghosttownpix.com by Johnnie Bachusky

For several years after the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

triggered the creation of Scotsguard in 1913, the village was one of the liveliest spots on the prairie

Prairie

Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...

; new restaurants, a dance hall, hotel, pool hall and even a theater. In fact Scotsguard's early boom years earned it the moniker "Little Chicago" - mainly because of the proliferation of gambling joints, and that action kept the law busy.

During the roaring 1920s, Scotsguard's lone policeman, Luke Willy, could be heard shouting all over town, "Stop, in the name of the law!"

For a long time, especially during the Prohibition years

Prohibition

Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...

, there was much to investigate. Bootlegger

Rum-running

Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...

s and rumrunners

Rum-running

Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...

eagerly worked overtime, and their stock was popular at backroom poker

Poker

Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...

games. While the police pursued, novel methods were created to stay one step ahead.

"My dad told me a story that one bootlegger was rumoured to be a woman " says current resident Keith Hagen, born in 1948 near Admiral

Admiral, Saskatchewan

-Infrastructure:Saskatchewan Transportation Company provides intercity bus service to Admiral.-External links:* * * * * * * *...

, six km away. "One night the police raided her place but found her sick in bed. It wasn't until much later they found out that that's where she hid her liquor."

But as with every new community built along the CPR line in the Red Coat Trail

Red Coat Trail

The Red Coat Trail is a route that approximates the path taken in 1874 by the North-West Mounted Police in their quest to bring law and order to the Canadian West.-Travel route:...

region of southwestern Saskatchewan, there were also countless tales of pioneer prairie grit, courage and generosity. When the first settlers came to Scotsguard, there was abundant hope for future prosperity; as the new land was in the heart of a fertile farming district. The village was originally called Notukeu but was changed shortly after to Scotsguard as it was discovered there was already another village named Notukeu in Saskatchewan. The town grew quickly, and from 1916 to 1935, its population reached 350. Business boomed with those early years. The town had a bank, six grain elevators, a large stockyard, three lumber yards, three hardware stores, a pair of busy garages, a drug store, two grocery stores, an insurance business and two livery barns. Scotsguard, which had a mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

from 1926 to 1941, was also the seat for the municipal office

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

of Bone Creek No. 108

Bone Creek No. 108, Saskatchewan

.

When it was time to rest, residents had three churches for spiritual relief; the kids had an ice cream parlor; and everyone could enjoy the local golf course, baseball field, tennis court and curling rink.

The Great Depression

Scotsguard's period of prosperity was short-lived. The depression and drought years hit the town hard. Growing competition from the neighboring communities of Simmie and Shaunavon

Shaunavon, Saskatchewan

squeezed out many local merchants, especially elevator owners as grain was getting marketed to Simmie. The bank closed in 1934 and the municipal office was moved to nearby Instow

Instow, Saskatchewan

Instow is an unincorporated hamlet in Bone Creek Rural Municipality No. 108, Saskatchewan, Canada. The hamlet is located on Highway 13 also known as the historic Red Coat Trail, about 10 km northeast of the town of Shaunavon.-Demographics:...

. To make matters worse, a fire in 1941 destroyed 11 buildings, devastating the town's financial heart.

The decline ultimately saw the town being officially dissolved as a village on December 31, 1953.

Nearly half a century later into the 21st century, Scotsguard's elevators are gone as are most of its residents and the once prosperous business district.

Keith Hagen is one of only three residents left. He has lived with his wife in Scotsguard since 1987, and is often seen from spring to fall grooming lawns and offering visitors a tour of the once bustling "Little Chicago." A farmer and an accountant, Hagen also collects antique cars but his true passion lies in Scotsguard's history.

He plans to erect original streets signs and owns several buildings, including the old jailhouse and the two-sheet curling rink

"In my younger years, the first sight after grain elevators at every whistle stop was a curling rink," says Hagen, a teenage 4-H

4-H

4-H in the United States is a youth organization administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the United States Department of Agriculture , with the mission of "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development." The name represents...

club skip. "It was often very cold but we'd bring sandwiches and put a can of beans on the stove.

"We were very community-minded," adds Hagen. "Scotsguard has always been a welcoming place."

Economy

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

is the top employment

Employment

Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...

field with many surrounding farms and ranches.

Infrastructure

Saskatchewan Transportation Company

The Saskatchewan Transportation Company is a Crown Corporation of the Government of Saskatchewan, created in 1946 by an Order in Council....

provides intercity passenger service to Scotsguard.

Education

Scotsguard no longer has a school, but those who live in Scotsguard are sent to the neighboring town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

of Shaunavon

Shaunavon, Saskatchewan

which has a school that covers Kindergarten

Kindergarten

A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

to Grade 12 serving approximately na students.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Demographics

History

Economy

Infrastructure

Education

See also

External links