Harvests and Homesteads on the Prairies

Founded in 1882 as the Northwest Cattle Company, the Bar U was one of the first and most enduring of the large corporate ranches established in southern Alberta.

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Photo: Glenbow Archives: CA ACU GBA F1299

Learn how grain was transported across the prairies by visiting two of Alberta’s provincially designated grain elevators, the 1906 Brackman Ker Elevator and 1929 Alberta Wheat Pool Elevator.

Canada’s largest living history museum, with exhibits spanning from the 1860s to the 1950s. Exhibits like Gunn’s Dairy Bar (built in 1930) provide insight of Ranch and farm life at the turn of the twentieth century.

The Canadian Grain Elevator Discovery Centre is a set of 3 wooden crib grain elevators located in the town of Nanton, Alberta, Canada. The centre’s goal is to preserve these early examples of the Canadian agricultural industry, to educate visitors about the town’s, and Alberta’s, agricultural history, and to encourage visitors to experience the elevators in as many unique ways as possible.

Sunnybrook Farm Museum occupies 10 acres of the original 1899 homestead of pioneer farmer James Bower. At its largest the farm encompassed the communities of Sunnybrook, Bower and Westerner. Many of the Museum buildings are original farm buildings, including the Bower’s house, barns and workshop.

The Municipal Heritage elevator in Val Marie was built in 1927 and stands at the top of Centre Street. When it was constructed, it was one of a proud army of approximately 3,300 elevators in Saskatchewan.

Experience land based living as a homesteader in the 1900s an hour’s drive east of Regina. The fertile land of the Qu’Appelle region was an intersection for many different peoples, including First Nations, Métis, and the waves of new Canadian immigrants.

Smithfield is a 1903 stone manor house located in southeastern Saskatchewan. It was originally part of a large draft horse and grain farming operation but the house is all that remains.

Many Russian Doukhobors fled their homeland and settled in the Blaine Lake area of Saskatchewan. They adapted to the harshness of their environment by digging into the North Saskatchewan River ravine, where they built a dugout house, in the style of houses in the Caucasus. These Dugout style houses were used until 1904 when log houses were built and a village established.

Experience the frontier for First Nations, Métis and pioneer society during 1870-1905. The Duck Lake Regional Interpretive Centre is a testimony to the everyday struggles of the pioneers, to the devastating impact that the near extinction of the buffalo had on the First Nations, and the harsh aftermath of the North West Resistance for the Métis.

The Fort la Reine Museum, composed of over 25 heritage buildings, provides insight into prairie living from 1738-1950.

Minnedosa Heritage Village consists of 11 restored buildings including the Agricultural Display Building, built in 1904.