Saskatchewan Ancestors: "Saskatchewan History" Magazine

 Once you delve into Canadian sources, you\’ll find that some provinces are absolute gold mines for online records. Saskatchewan is not one of those provinces. It\’s a combination of the Province\’s privacy laws and the youth of the Province compared to some others. Only becoming a province in 1905 means there isn\’t the long history that you see in Provinces like Ontario or British Columbia. Because those essential BMD records aren\’t as readily available as in a province like Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, those with Saskatchewan ancestry have to be a little more \”out of the box\” on resources.

This week I found a great resource on Internet Archive that will appeal to both genealogists and history lovers in general. Saskatchewan History is a magazine that was published by the Saskatchewan Archives Board. Internet Archive has issues from 1948 to 1957. It was published 3 times a year. History lovers and those wanting to know what their ancestor\’s life was like will find it a great read. 

Each issue has articles on different aspects of early pioneer life. The articles are well sourced, complete with citations.In the very first issue (Winter 1948) there is a small article highlighting a problem early settlers had that was unique to the Prairies: readily available water.

 There were also book reviews on the latest history books written about the province. This can give you new avenues of research to track down. Here\’s a review on Fifty Golden Years. A Brief History of the Order of St. Benedict in the Abbey Nullius of St. Peter, Muenster, Sask (Winter 1955 issue)

And here\’s a useful article on how Saskatchewan Places got their names (Winter 1950 issue). This section appeared regularly in the magazine