Waldheim, Saskatchewan
Encyclopedia
History
Mennonites from ManitobaManitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
and South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
arrived here to settle and farm in 1893. The Canadian Northern Railway
Canadian Northern Railway
The Canadian Northern Railway is a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its demise in 1923, when it was merged into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton.-Manitoba beginnings:CNoR had its start in...
arrived in 1908.
Mennonites arrive in Canada
Particularly in the 1870s, Mennonites of Dutch-German origins residing in colonies in the Black SeaBlack Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
region of present day Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
became alarmed at the rising nationalism in the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. Along with land shortages in these growing colonies, pressure toward Russification
Russification
Russification is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attributes by non-Russian communities...
of minorities was threatening Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
values in education. Similarly, the promise made by Catherine the Great 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 Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
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
District of Saskatchewan
The District of Saskatchewan was a regional administrative district of Canada's Northwest Territories. Much of the area was incorporated into the province of Saskatchewan. The western part became part of Alberta, and the eastern part is now part of Manitoba. Its capital was Prince Albert...
, thereby establishing a trend that would see considerable Mennonite immigration to the Saskatchewan Valley
Saskatchewan Valley
The name of 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...
area before the turn of the century. Many came from Manitoba, but others arrived directly from colonies in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, from the Danzig region of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
and from Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
and Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
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.
Sports teams
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.Recreational facilities
Waldheim features a green space in its downtown area: Sam Wendland Heritage Park. The Waldheim Pineridge Golf and Country Club is a neighbour to the recreational facility. Westview Jubilee Seniors Centre offers events and services to Waldheim's senior population.Area statistics
- Latitude 52°39′ N
- Longitude 106°37′ W
- Dominion Land SurveyDominion Land SurveyThe Dominion Land Survey is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United States, but has several differences...
Section16, Township 42, Range 5 West of the 3rd Meridian106th meridian westThe meridian 106° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.... - Time zone (CST) UTC−6
Geography
- Valley Regional Park offers a 9 hole sand green golf course as well as camping facilities.
- Valley - Waldheim regional park
- Valley - Rosthern regional park
- Martins Lake regional park
Provincial parks in the area of Waldheim are:
- Fort CarltonFort CarltonFort Carlton was a Hudson's Bay Company fur trade post from 1810 until 1885. It was rebuilt by the Saskatchewan government as a provincial historic park and can be visited today...
- Batoche
- Battle of Fish CreekBattle of Fish CreekThe Battle of Fish Creek , fought April 24, 1885 at Fish Creek, Saskatchewan, was a major Métis victory over the Dominion forces attempting to quell Louis Riel's North-West Rebellion...
- Seager Wheeler's Maple Grove FarmSeager Wheeler's Maple Grove FarmSeager Wheeler's Maple Grove Farm is a National Historic Site of Canada. Seager Wheeler's Maple Grove Farm was a farm owned and operated by agronomist Seager Wheeler "Wheat King of the prairies or "The Wheat Wizard of Rosthern who developed dry land farming techniques as well as fruit and...
Camps and retreats near Waldheim are:
- Shekinah Retreat Centre
- Redberry Bible Camp
- Camp Kadesh
Location
See also
- Highway 312Saskatchewan Highway 312Highway 312 is a highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from Highway 12 to Highway 2 near Wakaw. Highway 312 is about 78 km long....
- List of communities in Saskatchewan
- Eigenheim Mennonite ChurchEigenheim Mennonite ChurchEigenheim Mennonite Church is the first Mennonite Church structure in Saskatchewan.Located west of Rosthern, Saskatchewan, Canada, on Highway 312, the Eigenheim Mennonite Church has been a local landmark since 1896, when the first Mennonite Church structure in Saskatchewan was completed on the...
- Hepburn, SaskatchewanHepburn, Saskatchewan-Today:Hepburn today is at 500 residents and is trying to expand itself. In 2000, the village developed some old railroad land into a new subdivision. Only 8 lots were made and 3 were sold. Hepburn residents also enjoy the local bowling alley...
- Warman, SaskatchewanWarman, Saskatchewan-History:The town of Warman was born when the Canadian National Railway running from Humboldt to North Battleford intersected with the Canadian Pacific Railway running from Regina to Prince Albert. This took place in the fall of 1904....
- Martensville, SaskatchewanMartensville, SaskatchewanMartensville is a city located in Saskatchewan, Canada, just north of Saskatoon, and south west of Clarkboro Ferry which crosses the South Saskatchewan River. Martensville is one of the fastest growing communities in Saskatchewan, with the population growing 25% between 1996 and 2001. It is...
- Rosthern Junior CollegeRosthern Junior CollegeRosthern Junior College, an independent high school, has been a landmark institution in the town of Rosthern, Saskatchewan, Canada since 1905. Opening in that year as the German-English Academy, it was founded by Mennonite settlers in response to a need for trained teachers to work in the schools...
- CensusCensusA census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
Division No. 15, SaskatchewanDivision No. 15, SaskatchewanDivision No. 15, Saskatchewan, Canada, is one of the eighteen census divisions within the province, as defined by Statistics Canada. It is located in the north-central part of the province. The most populous community in this division is Prince Albert....