District of Saskatchewan


The District of Saskatchewan was a regional administrative district of Canada's Northwest Territories. It was formed in 1882 was later enlarged then abolished with the creation of the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1905.
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.
The conflicts during the North-West Rebellion of 1885 occurred in the District of Saskatchewan.

Settlements

The District of Saskatchewan in 1888 included the five French speaking settlements of St. Laurent, Fish Creek, Duck Lake, Batoche and St. Louis de Langevin in the area of the South Branch of the Saskatchewan River and the settlements of Green Lake, La Ronge, Red Deer Lake, Nut Lake, Birch River, Fort à la Corne, Snake Plains, Birch Hills, Clarke's Crossing, Shell River, Carrot River, Cumberland House, The Pas, Grand Rapids, Battleford, Fort Pitt, Frog Lake, Onion Lake, Cold Lake, Fort Carlton, Humboldt, Saskatoon.
The district was home to Cree people of Treaty 4, Treaty 5 and Treaty 6 who lived on Indian reserves and a small band of Dene who lived in the northwest section around Cold Lake.

Population

The population of the District of Saskatchewan in 1885 was 10,595. The Prince Albert sub-district had a population of 5,373 people which included the Southbranch settlements with about 1,300. To the west was the Battleford sub-district with 3,603 people and to the east the Carrot River sub-district with 1,770.
The largest settlement and the capital of the district was Prince Albert with about 800 people followed by Battleford with about 500 people.

Boundaries

Most of the boundaries of the district in 1882 were defined by lines of the Dominion Land Survey.