15 July 08

15 July 08, Tuesday

We thought there was not much to see at Swift Current, Sask. But just before leaving we stopped at the visitor centre and found a very interesting museum showing the life on the prairies. Especially new to me was the Hudson Bay Company actually owned all the land east of the Rockies and the trappers were working for them in a way.Only British citizens could own land.

It was also interesting to see the huge root system the prairie grass has and how it is able to survive the draughts and the wind erosion. No wonder, farmers are going more into grazing the lands even raising buffalo who are kinder to the plants than cattle is.

The Mennonite Heritage Village was closed but we did get invited to come inside and see the customary cleanliness and the artefacts the second generations used when they settled in Saskatchewan.

Moose Jaw, along our route, has very interesting underground tunnels. They were used to hide the illegal activities from Al Capone; and another tunnel system which gave very many Chinese immigrants a chance to work unseen by the white public. I am happy that Prime Minister Harper finally acknowledged the wrong we Canadians did to those people.

Evening came to us in Regina, Sask. I went to Princess Auto, a store I had never visited before. I found a thermostat with enough range to try to build an incubator for baby birds from Harry who does not know how to feed his offspring.  N 50º 26.740   W 104º 32.149’