Everything about Cypress Hills Canada totally explained
The
Cypress Hills are a region of
hills in southwestern
Saskatchewan and southeastern
Alberta,
Canada.
The highest point in Saskatchewan at 1,468
metres (4,816 feet) is located at an unnamed point in the Cypress Hills. They get their name from the presence of
Jack pine (
Pinus banksiana), traditionally called
cyprès in
Canadian French.
Geology
The hills are not true
mountains, but are rather the remnants of erosion of a
Tertiary plateau of
sediment formed during the
initial uplift of the
Rocky Mountains. This uplift caused the plain above which the hills now rise to be elevated, with the result that
rivers flowing to the north and south eroded most of the softer sediments onto the lower part of the
Great Plains. Today, the Cypress Hills form a major
drainage divide separating rivers draining to the
Gulf of Mexico (via the
Missouri River) from those draining to
Hudson Bay and
James Bay via the
Nelson River; thus the Cypress Hills form a
water divide. There is a ranch northwest of Eastend, Saskatchewan called Dividing Springs Ranch, the water from this spring goes both south to
Gulf of Mexico and north to
Hudson Bay.
Because they formed a suture zone between the
Laurentide and
Cordilleran ice sheets, the Cypress Hills are the northernmost point in
North America that remained south of the continental ice sheets during the
Wisconsin glaciation. In fact, along with northern
Yukon,
Banks Island, some
nunataks (eg on the
Gaspé Peninsula and western
Newfoundland) and possibly the
Brooks Peninsula the hills and their southern slopes are the
only unglaciated land in present-day Canada. This gives them an appearance very different from the typical "alpine" mountains of most of Canada, with a flat top and steep sides. This suggests that during the very severe
Kansan Glaciation the hills would have become a true nunatak, like the
serpentine hills of Newfoundland.
Ecology
The hills, because of the higher
precipitation they receive, support extensive
forest and also some rare
fescue grassland. Most of the flora is shared with the mountains in states such as
Montana and
Wyoming rather than with the rest of Canada.
History
Historically the Cypress Hills were a meeting and conflict area for various
American Indian and
First Nations peoples including the
Cree,
Assiniboine,
Atsina,
Blackfoot,
Saulteaux,
Sioux,
Crow, and others. During the nineteenth century
Metis settled in the hills, hunting and often wintering there. The
Cypress Hills Massacre, a key event in Canadian History leading to the creation of the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police occurred in the Hills when a group of American wolvers from Montana massacred an Assiniboine encampment.
Fort Walsh was established to bring law and order to the Canadian border region.
Interprovincial park
The
Cypress Hills Provincial Park was established in 1951 in this area, and it was extended into
Saskatchewan in 1989, as
Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park.
The Alberta portion of the Cypress Hills contains the popular tourist destination of
Elkwater, a community with campground facilities located on the southern shore of
Elkwater Lake. The townsite is mainly made up of summer cabins. Elkwater is located about 70 km southeast of
Medicine Hat.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Cypress Hills Canada'.
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