The sister communities of Battleford and North Battleford, Saskatchewan, present a rich collection of the province's history. From 1876 to 1882, Battleford, located 85 mi/140 km northwest of Saskatoon, was the original seat of government for the old Northwest Territories. While you're in Battleford, be sure to see the Fred Light Museum, which has a collection of military uniforms, firearms and mustache cups that date from the 1880s.
Southeast of the city is Fort Battleford National Historic Park, a reconstructed North West Mounted Police post with a stockade, officers' quarters, stable and jail. After the 1885 rebellion, it was the site of the largest mass hanging in Canadian history. The eight Native Americans slain that day lie in the valley below in a peaceful grave marked by teepee poles.
North Battleford sits across the North Saskatchewan River (the bridge connecting the two is the longest in the province). We especially recommend the Western Development Museum with its Heritage Farm and Village, dating to the 1920s and with agricultural demonstrations in the summer. North Battleford is also home to the Allen Sapp Gallery, devoted to the life and work of the acclaimed Cree artist.
If you're in need of a little exercise, check out the Battlefords Provincial Park, where activities include golf, horseback riding, swimming and parasailing. In April, Battleford hosts the Svoboda Ukrainian Dance Festival. Every July, Battleford's Saskatchewan Handcraft Festival brings craft artists together to display and sell their work.
North of the Battlefords is St. Walburg, where the talented German Count Berthold John Von Imhoff settled and built a studio, which is now a museum. His paintings are reminiscent of old-world masters and grace many rural churches around the province. In August, St. Walburg hosts a blueberry festival.
East of the Battlefords is Hafford, with two items of note: Redberry Lake and the interpretive center where the pelicans nest and raise their young, and the crazy twisted trees that some believe were created by supernatural forces (but it's really just a mutant gene).
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