Ghost Towns of SW Saskatchewan

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  • Опубліковано 16 чер 2024
  • A trip down Ghost Town Trail in SW Saskatchewan along highway 13 and 18 checking all some of the abandoned places along the way. #ghosttowns
    0:00 Introduction
    0:22 Consul, SK
    0:54 Robsart, SK
    2:48 Vidora, SK
    2:57 Ravenscrag Valley
    4:12 Eastend, SK
    4:44 Dollard, SK
    6:27 Shaunavon, SK
    6:42 Abandoned Bridge
    7:05 Scotsguard, SK
    9:14 Admiral, SK
    10:44 Cadillac, SK
    13:18 Maxstone, SK
    14:23 Wood Mountain, SK
    17:16 Fir Mountain, SK
    19:36 Glentworth, SK
    20:04 McCord, SK
    21:17 Val Marie, SK
    22:00 Masefield, SK
    23:40 Climax, SK
    24:50 Claydon, SK
  • Навчання та стиль

КОМЕНТАРІ • 783

  • @clearsailing7993
    @clearsailing7993 10 місяців тому +81

    I worked with a Canadian engineer here in Detroit about 30 years ago. He grew up in the wheat growing areas of western Canada. They used an enclosed wagon to go to town. It was so cold that the wagon had its own heater to burn wood (I think coal too). He was in the Canadian Air Force in ww2 in England. He was a really smart guy with an incredible memory. He told me many interesting stories about Canada and England.

  • @joansolomon1194
    @joansolomon1194 10 місяців тому +35

    It's amazing to think how the houses, the schools, the cars, the tractors, the machinery, all cost people their lives in time and money, and are now abandoned...

    • @deepblueacc
      @deepblueacc 7 місяців тому +2

      That's why they call it earthly things. Some people worked their whole live just to afford only one of those things.

    • @dougrobbins5367
      @dougrobbins5367 Місяць тому

      Yes, the passage of time has a way of being unpleasant

  • @JensSchraeder
    @JensSchraeder 3 місяці тому +3

    I find these small Saskatchewan towns so peaceful. My dad grew up just north of there. In a small town called Gouldtown on a farm. Rest in Peace Dad.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  3 місяці тому

      I been there!

  • @morganahoff2242
    @morganahoff2242 10 місяців тому +27

    It really makes you feel like you're livin' on a ball. I took a guitar building course 30 years ago in a small town in Saskatchewan, and it has since become a town full of artisans. Because you can buy a house for $60,000, and put a kiln in the back yard if you want to. People have time to explore their creativity, not distracted by lots of other people, and things.

    • @TheMrCC21
      @TheMrCC21 9 місяців тому

      "Small town Saskatchewan" is quite vague. Just say the place.

    • @dawnwennberg9884
      @dawnwennberg9884 9 місяців тому +1

      @@TheMrCC21 pick one buddy. You can be free to walk around naked. Winter sucks though.

    • @suefrench8721
      @suefrench8721 9 місяців тому +1

      Sounds like a wonderful place. Don't say the name; you'll be inundated with so many new neighbors that your magical place will change forever!

    • @benjaminnjeru879
      @benjaminnjeru879 9 місяців тому

      The homeless people should be relocated here

    • @minkorrh
      @minkorrh 7 місяців тому

      Freaking paradise.

  • @joelgrosschmidt5507
    @joelgrosschmidt5507 9 місяців тому +19

    Thank you for making this. I am fascinated by abandoned towns in the prairies. These old houses that had children running around barefoot, mothers cooking over wood fired stoves, men coming in for lunch from working. I cant describe the feeling it gives me.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  9 місяців тому

      Glad you enjoyed it

    • @minkorrh
      @minkorrh 7 місяців тому

      You're going back way over 100 years with thoughts like that. Just because people were rural doesn't mean they're living in abject poverty ffs. Some of the wealthiest people you will meet are farmers...maybe not back then, but these days.....

    • @joelgrosschmidt5507
      @joelgrosschmidt5507 7 місяців тому

      @@minkorrh dumbest reply I’ve ever seen. The scenario I described was the daily life of my father as a child. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t over 100 years ago. Plenty of central albertans in the 50s lived that way. The way you blast stupidity with such confidence might be sign of a malignant tumour. Go get checked out.

    • @brianhdueck3372
      @brianhdueck3372 17 днів тому +1

      That is exactly the imaging running through my mind. Where have all the children gone… the smells of fresh break… chicken dinners…. Vibrancy and hope. Oddly sad and lonely, yet intriguing and warm. I love these historic throw back videos.

  • @rustyscrapper
    @rustyscrapper 10 місяців тому +5

    The church at 5:50 is mint. That's what you want to buy dirt cheap. The structure is probably still good if you replace the roof and address any water leak issues, then pressure wash the old paint off tbe wood, and re paint the wood. New Windows probably, then the building will not continue to degrade into a pile of shit.
    Then you address the interior, it's probably high quality custom wood. Sand and stain it.
    Then build interior units that have upper levels within the church, so it's all non structural interior additions. And you got yourself a 4 plex.

    • @billfarley9167
      @billfarley9167 7 днів тому

      A four plex for what? Electrical source? heat? food? medical issues? transportation? gas and vehicle maintenance? Etc, etc,eEtc.

  • @higgy04
    @higgy04 9 місяців тому +4

    Dollard was Wanda's last name on Corner Gas. Most of the characters last names were towns and villages throughout the province.
    Val Marie is the birthplace of six-time Stanley Cup winner Bryan Trottier.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  9 місяців тому

      Oh yeah I forgot about that!

  • @MySpitfire19
    @MySpitfire19 10 місяців тому +2

    We use to have our 4-H meetings at the old community hall in Robsart and that riding arena behind those swings is where we would ride. That was only 20 years ago.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +1

      Wow I was there my first time in 2003

  • @danielomalley4394
    @danielomalley4394 9 місяців тому +4

    My Mom, Gisèle Beaudoin, was the one of the daughters of Arthur and Clara, who answered the call of Abbé Louis-Pierre Gravel,for whom Gravelbourg is named, to move from Québec to homestead in Saskathcewan circa 1911 shortly after their wedding. Mom told us about seeing dust storms blackening the sky sweeping away so much top-soil that fence-posts were left swaying in the wind. And locusts. Such was life in the 1930,S Dust Bowl. After his eldest son died of blood poisoning, a cut whilst haying, he gave up, moving his daughters and young sons to Québec. Thus uprooted, my Mom , age 14, was to miss her home for the rest of her life. Such is life.

    • @heatherchambers1609
      @heatherchambers1609 9 місяців тому +1

      Still 30% Francophone in Gravelbourg with associated cultural services according to Wikipedia. Definitely not a ghost town here

    • @attrell
      @attrell  9 місяців тому

      TOo bad she had to move, it was really bad in that area of Saskatchewan

  • @fuzzywuzzy5749
    @fuzzywuzzy5749 9 місяців тому +2

    As someone with roots in SK, my eyes are filled with tears . RIP Mildred SK

  • @mercsport
    @mercsport 10 місяців тому +16

    That was fascinating: you have a good eye for framing a picture. The emptiness of the flatlands twixt Winnipeg and the Rockies was tangible throughout. Over 50+ yrs ago and as a penniless bum from Britain and fresh from a winter trawling for fish out of Reykjavik, and hitchhiking my way across Canada in '64 looking to find a fishing boat out of Vancouver, a work crew from a Manitoba grain company picked me up, and I ended up for a couple of months working, shingling the company's grain elevators in Alberta S of Calgary down to the U.S. border. It was interesting in the sense that you didn't want to fall off, and like deep sea fishing where you were fully engaged in not drowning, there was a wee bit of danger too: If you slipped there was only a rope to grab if you were quick enough. I don't think Health and Safety had quite the power back then it has today.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +1

      Safety was not a huge concern that is for sure, I believe that!

  • @Xean45
    @Xean45 10 місяців тому +8

    I'm lucky enough to live in Sask and visit many old ghost towns while trompsing around the back roads. Just bought a piece of history myself: The Nolan School House that earlier this year was at the intersection of Hwy 4 North and the hamlet of Hamlin Rd. Moved it three miles down the road to my property. Glad I got to save a bit of history :)

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +1

      wow! amazing!

  • @merccrewlcab2385
    @merccrewlcab2385 9 місяців тому +2

    Wow! Thanks for the tour! I am from the Cowichan Valley, born and raised. I really got to get out there and cruise around and look for 1932 Ford car body parts and pieces. And enjoy the scenery of course! Thanks eh!

    • @attrell
      @attrell  9 місяців тому

      Glad you enjoyed it!

  • @Cliff2548
    @Cliff2548 10 місяців тому +2

    Really interesting trip through these Sask. Ghost Towns however, it leaves an ache in the pit of my stomach!

  • @samgagner5200
    @samgagner5200 10 місяців тому +7

    Robsart is where my wife's dad was raised; born on his grandparent's farm. My 5 year old son and I were with the last family members farming in the area. Aunt Rose and Uncle Frank were driving slowly through the old town telling stories about the old days. A small house had yellow curtains blowing through a slightly open window. We stopped. Looking through the window the place looked like someone had stepped out for a moment. We entered carefully, looking with respect at this two room shack that had been the home of a man named Manfred Smith. Uncle Frank said Manfred had felt unwell, went to the hospital and never returned home. The wood stove was ready to be lit, a handmade table cloth adorned the small table. A shaving kit sat on a shelf. The man had no family. A box of old photos was in the bedroom beside the bed.
    My son was amazed that someone lived in the little house. We left everything as is.

  • @davidrobins4025
    @davidrobins4025 10 місяців тому +6

    My dad, Rev. Kenneth Robins, was raised on a farm outside Ponteix. When we were children (early 50's) dad and mom brought us to his old home. And my father who was an ordained minister held meetings in the church in Aneroid every night for a whole week. My sister, brother and I were the "special music" at each of the church services. Many years later, I returned to Aneroid with my cousin to attend the funeral service of her father, Gerald Robins. My dad spoke at his funeral service in that church.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Very nice town, Aneroid is much smaller now

    • @brianhdueck3372
      @brianhdueck3372 17 днів тому

      @@attrellI understand, as only a fellow PK could.

  • @dani40338
    @dani40338 10 місяців тому +2

    Great video-- I thoroughly enjoyed it. I downloaded it to show my 92 year old neighbor (he does not have internet access), hence the download. He will enjoy this video as he once lived and farmed in Sask. many years ago as youngster. I bet he will recognize a lot of the towns in this video.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      I hope he enjoys it!

  • @garyposehn9129
    @garyposehn9129 10 місяців тому +5

    As a young geologist with SaskOil Corporation in the early 1970's I well sat many oil wells in this area. One would get use to people talking about you at the local cafes and wondering what the drilling rig will find on someone's land. Winters were brutal as there was usually no snow and strong blustery winds. As a geologist the area surrounding the Cypress Hills is mind boggling and with landform-expressions like the Ravenscrag Valley tells of the mighty affects of continental glaciation. I truly enjoyed this video and my days in this part of the province. One must not miss the restaurant in Eastend (Jack's; we use to drive for hours to eat at this establishment) and the T-Rex Museum!! What I do not miss is the grasshoppers!

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Grasshoppers are bad this year!

  • @user-ex3ql8ke8m
    @user-ex3ql8ke8m 10 місяців тому +3

    I was born & raised in Saskatchewan. East of Regina. I joined the Royal Bank in 1961 and started in Aneroid , SK. Last I was through over 10 years ago it was a ghost town but the old bank building was on main st as was the old hotel, to bad you hadn’t filmed them. I recall so many of those towns, Kincaide, Vanguard , Gravelberg and so many more. So many fond memories of playing hockey along that line. Also had relatives at Robsart spent many good times there.

    • @pugnacious6290
      @pugnacious6290 8 місяців тому +2

      My best friend growing up was from Aneroid, my wife is from Vanguard, we went to school in Kincaid and my dad is from Gravelbourg 😁

  • @magcs6233
    @magcs6233 9 місяців тому +7

    I've lived in SK my whole life and can't understand how people don't find it beautiful, From Leader to Moosomin, Estevan to La Ronge its an amazing province. Growing up around Moose Jaw, Briercrest, Avonlea and Leader was the best childhood I could have ever asked for, thanks for the video, more places to shoot up next spring!

    • @attrell
      @attrell  9 місяців тому +1

      Thank you!!

    • @davidrussell8795
      @davidrussell8795 3 місяці тому

      You see beauty, but others see a baren landscape devoid of trees! Flowers etc,except for Northern Saskatchewan, trees lakes ,something to look at and appreciate!
      The praires are like seeing your Breafast pancake everyday!I
      So if you see a pancake as beutiful,we'll,you need to broaden your horizons,go see the mountains, get off the pancake 😅!!!
      Well there is some beauty out there,but you have yo get used to staring at open fields, and a few animals.

    • @davidrussell8795
      @davidrussell8795 3 місяці тому

      R.I.P SASKATCHEWAN!

    • @JensSchraeder
      @JensSchraeder 3 місяці тому +1

      I absolutely love Saskatchewan. It’s my home and always will be.

    • @JensSchraeder
      @JensSchraeder 3 місяці тому +1

      @@davidrussell8795that’s what I love about Saskatchewan. The northern lakes and forests all the way down to the open grasslands. It’s my home and always will be.

  • @c.morees9698
    @c.morees9698 10 місяців тому +4

    Nice video..i've been in Saskatchewan in 1981.
    I was picked up from the Regina airport by my Canadian uncle who married my Dutch aunt just after Workd War 2.
    I my memory we came trough Assinaboi(?) were we did some shoppings and went on to Rockglen(n?) were they lived.
    I enjoyed Saskatchewan in the summer and worked on several farms(most milking cows) while the farmers were harvesting the crops.
    Cornelis Morees,
    The Netherlands🇨🇦🇳🇱

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +1

      Things have changed a lot since then. Most grain elevators are now gone. Thanks for watching, pretty exciting you are from The Netherlands and watching!

  • @herstory911
    @herstory911 10 місяців тому +19

    Thanks so much. My grandparents met in Star City in southern Saskatchewan...both new immigrants, Grandpa from the states and grandma from Norway. My dad was born in star city on Easter Sunday in 1939. They met at a dance hall. It is nice to see my roots in Canadian history.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +3

      Thanks for posting, glad you enjoyed the video!

    • @charlottecampbell4327
      @charlottecampbell4327 10 місяців тому

      I know only of a Star City in the north-central area of Saskatchewan near Melfort., off highway 3, along highway 681. Amazing that your grandparents from so far apart met in small-town Saskatchewan. Maybe at a school dance?

    • @herstory911
      @herstory911 10 місяців тому +1

      Well my grandmother only had grade one back in the early 1900s so I doubt it was a school dance but it was a dance lol

    • @abrahamdozer6273
      @abrahamdozer6273 10 місяців тому +2

      My aunt and uncle lived in Star City 1940s to 1970s and I visited there as a child. My aunt taught school there to a couple of generations.

    • @nigellee9824
      @nigellee9824 10 місяців тому

      Who cares…

  • @glentomkins8044
    @glentomkins8044 10 місяців тому +20

    Thanks Chris, looks like farming towns all over the western world. There are plenty of abandoned or semi-abandoned towns in Australia too, sadly. It has happened as farms got bigger and people moved into cities.

    • @spectrumofreality
      @spectrumofreality 10 місяців тому +2

      More than enough vacant farm land in Canada to feed the world!

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +1

      Some folks are moving back to small towns now here

    • @4thlinemaniac356
      @4thlinemaniac356 10 місяців тому

      False History real history @ Spacebusters Comets and Cataclysyms series @ John Levi & Michell Gibsonn channels. Ever heard of Tartaria?

    • @missourimongoose8858
      @missourimongoose8858 10 місяців тому +1

      ​@@spectrumofrealityexcept Justin won't let yall have enough fertilizer for something like that to much climate change lol

  • @wdobni
    @wdobni 10 місяців тому +7

    most of these villages were built by immigrants from europe who came over between 1900 and 1920 in relation to the great migrations of the WW1 era...they came to free land and pristine unopened prairie and were pioneer homesteaders, most of them ..... all of Saskatchewan was a collection of farming villages identical to these every 20 miles grouped around a grain collection elevator attached to a railroad spur line ..... by 1950 you started to see widespread rural electrification and paved roads were starting to appear.....................the land was bountiful in grain if you were young and very hardy and didn't mind isolation, but the weather was brutal with long cold winters and short dry summers...a good safe place to raise a family but far away from the culture and thrills of fast paced urban life....much of Saskatchewan 120 years ago was like the garden of eden before the expulsion of adam and eve.
    now all this is gone, replaced by high intensity socialism and cookie cutter suburbia in a couple cities and a few centralized big towns

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +1

      Small towns are making a comeback!

    • @billfarley9167
      @billfarley9167 7 днів тому

      What the hell is "high intensity socialism?" You one of those "high intensity fascists?"

  • @palco22
    @palco22 10 місяців тому +8

    It does make me sad to see some of these towns like this. I knew these places back in the 1960's. As a teenager, life was so good in southern Saskatchewan.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      I agree.

    • @billfarley9167
      @billfarley9167 10 місяців тому +1

      Saskatchewan produced a lot of NHL players back in the day. Learned how to skate and play shinny hockey on sloughs before they hit the big time.

  • @grantfahlman1815
    @grantfahlman1815 Рік тому +42

    Chris, thanks for another ride along. Great to see, and sad at the same time, the general area where my Mom's side of the family is from. It's amazing to think how nature takes its toll and slowly returns things to their original state. If the walls in all these areas could speak of the brave souls/pioneers/families who made their lives in such places before "moving on". 😢

    • @attrell
      @attrell  Рік тому +4

      Way back in teh day I got so many stories, I wish I had written them down!

    • @grantfahlman1815
      @grantfahlman1815 Рік тому +2

      @@attrell No kidding. You might have been able to write a book that could have sold well; at least locally.

    • @dlwdaddyo1
      @dlwdaddyo1 9 місяців тому

      Did you forget Govenlock? There is only a sign and one building the last time I was there, maybe 1992? My dad and I had sold oats and hay to lodge creek ranch. My neighbor (see UA-cam: Riverview Ranch) sold hay to another place down there and I delivered it

  • @robertodebeers2551
    @robertodebeers2551 10 місяців тому +25

    Excellent road-trip video of some interesting towns and landscapes. I'm from Montana, so some of these scenes look pretty familiar. Hope to see more of your work here.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +1

      I used to live in Sidney. Montana is my fav state!

  • @SpencerStreichert
    @SpencerStreichert 9 місяців тому +2

    This was wild to watch. I grew up on a ranch near Ravenscraig, went to school in Eastend, played football in Shaunavon, won the rodeos in McCord, Wood Mountain, and Val Marie, played hockey and volley ball in counsol, its weird seeing how much has changed in 12 years. Wood Mountain used to have an awesome bar that played live music and let me drink at 14 (lol its Saskatchewan). Ravenscraig was owned entirely by one family minus a couple plots of land. Dollard population has been the same. Great video 👍🏼

    • @attrell
      @attrell  9 місяців тому

      Thanks! Yes it has changed a lot since I moved to Shaunavon in 2006

  • @createone100
    @createone100 10 місяців тому +3

    Curling rinks ‘used to be popular’ in rural Saskatchewan! News flash, they still are!

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +1

      Not as popular as they were in 1950.

  • @myautobiography9711
    @myautobiography9711 10 місяців тому +13

    It's hard to believe these places must have been full of hope, newly settled barely over a century ago. These prairie towns are more significant than other places because those times must be so close from today that early settlers were still alive during my infant years. I thought rural Ontario was fun, boy was I wrong.

  • @brianhdueck3372
    @brianhdueck3372 10 місяців тому +4

    Thanks for the ride! Loved the tour. Makes one appreciate the ones who came and paved the way before us.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Glad you enjoyed it!

  • @gopherholehotel
    @gopherholehotel 10 місяців тому +6

    Thanks for adding your great video. I lived in a few of these towns through the 1950's and 60's . Admiral , Frontier and Shaunavon . It made for a great upbringing with good friends . It is sad to see a lot of towns returned to nature . Once were busy towns . It brings back lots of memories for me.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Glad you enjoyed it

  • @alexdetrojan4534
    @alexdetrojan4534 10 місяців тому +8

    ...I might add that I travelled through that particular part of Saskatchewan back in the late 70's and fell in love with it. I always promised myself I would return there when I retired...I'm months away from retirement...so time to fulfill my promise. 🙂

    • @ItsNotMeItsYou007
      @ItsNotMeItsYou007 10 місяців тому +2

      Kind of thinking about that myself.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +2

      Happy retirement!!

    • @brianhdueck3372
      @brianhdueck3372 17 днів тому

      @@ItsNotMeItsYou007do it guys! It’s so worth it! She’s a harsh but beautiful land.

  • @ronkuzyk3836
    @ronkuzyk3836 10 місяців тому +1

    Thanks for the tour! Looks like a lot of great movie sets.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      They are!

  • @tonynicholson2697
    @tonynicholson2697 10 місяців тому +6

    This is amazing! We moved to Medicine Hat last year and we have been exploring since we got here. I'll be driving us several of these locations in the next few weeks. Thank you for sharing this with us.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +1

      Have a fun trip!

  • @barrysims9906
    @barrysims9906 10 місяців тому +7

    this was an impressive view into a part of Canada I have never been but always wanted to go. Thank you.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      I hope you get to visit!

  • @corystarkiller
    @corystarkiller 9 місяців тому

    Thanks for your channel. I'm glad that UA-cam is finally giving some good recs.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  9 місяців тому

      WOW thank you!

    • @corystarkiller
      @corystarkiller 9 місяців тому

      @@attrell Your videos are showing parts of western Canada and USA, that are so rarely talked about, or shown to the world. It's an under-appreciated service that you're doing, but I appreciate it, because these places are home.

  • @seanfrank4158
    @seanfrank4158 10 місяців тому +8

    I toured that area a few years ago now. I'm from BC where mountains are the norm around here so being in southern Saskatchewan is like being on another planet for me. I really enjoyed it. I need to go back I think....

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      I am glad you enjoyed your trip!!

    • @annmorgana2848
      @annmorgana2848 10 місяців тому

      me too! born and raised on the bc coast, the ocean of rolling grass on the prairies was a revelation. cant wait to go back!

    • @pugnacious6290
      @pugnacious6290 8 місяців тому

      As someone who grew up in this exact area, trust me it goes both ways 😅. I get excited any time I see a decently-sized hill or a patch of trees. Driving through BC is absolutely mind-blowing.

    • @genesisknight9948
      @genesisknight9948 4 місяці тому

      Meanwhile, its the other way around for me. I'm so used to the flat prairies that after a few days in the B.C area I start longing for the prairie views again. Idk, I just find being surrounded by mountains on all sides a bit suffocating. But granted that I've seen nothing but flat lands for my whole life, it makes sense why its hard to adjust to a complete change in environment.

  • @robertdesmeules6099
    @robertdesmeules6099 10 місяців тому

    Excellent video Chris,keep up the good work

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Thanks, will do!

  • @garymacdonald2549
    @garymacdonald2549 10 місяців тому +4

    Wow! Great video! These little towns slowly die and just fade away. My dad grew up in Weldon, Sask. It was created just after the turn of the century and in its heyday had numerous restaurants, two pool halls, multiple stores, several implement dealers, two schools, and five grain elevators. My uncle ran one of two service stations. All that's left now is some residences, a post office and two decaying elevators.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Kind of sad how some towns just faded away like that.

  • @robswystun2766
    @robswystun2766 Місяць тому +2

    Cool video. I love old, abandoned places, especially churches.

  • @dwayneharris3874
    @dwayneharris3874 10 місяців тому

    Thanks for the tour. My Father was born in Wood Mountain. I have relatives who live near Consul. I am from BC but I get back to see Saskatchewan semi-regularly.

  • @greathodgy22
    @greathodgy22 10 місяців тому +8

    I don't think you could find a handful of people who are tough enough to homestead that country today. Gives me shivers to think of that area on a January day.

    • @pugnacious6290
      @pugnacious6290 8 місяців тому

      I grew up on a farm in this area, about 20 minutes from Aneroid, shown in this video. Can confirm it gets cold as hell in the winter.

  • @markmoore2625
    @markmoore2625 9 місяців тому +1

    Wow!!! So many photogenic places to visit, I would need another suitcase full of colour slide and black and white film to capture all these cool towns. Greetings from the U.K.

  • @keith2599
    @keith2599 Рік тому +11

    Good day to you Chris' Again another epic trail across SK and those old cars and churches look amazing' Most of the churches there seem to have the same quality built theme and shape along with white paint also, This video is thrilling to watch and really enjoyed the walk around" So photogenic and serene... Take care Chris to yourself and your family and look forward to all the videos you post and many thanks for your time doing these....Best 73s from the uk 😊❤

    • @attrell
      @attrell  Рік тому

      Thank you so much!

  • @kananaskiscountry8191
    @kananaskiscountry8191 8 місяців тому +1

    wow, it has been years since i have been to climax where my sister lived at one time
    thanks for a tour Chris, alot of this brings back memories 👍🏼🎶🎶⛩🦉

    • @attrell
      @attrell  8 місяців тому +1

      Glad you enjoyed it!

  • @papa606
    @papa606 10 місяців тому +2

    So quiet you can fall asleep standing in place. Very enjoyable trip, thanks for the ride. It is sad that the people left, wonder were they all went.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +1

      Glad you enjoyed it! They went to bigger towns and cities.

  • @garyhusband3395
    @garyhusband3395 10 місяців тому

    Thank you for this video Chris.
    I was raised on a farm just outside of Robsart from 1950 to 1970.
    All of the area from Consul to Shaunavon was my stomping grounds.
    This video sure brought back a lot of good memories.
    It is sad to see these places now but there is a lot history around that whole region.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Wow must have been different back on those days. Robsart especially!

    • @garyhusband3395
      @garyhusband3395 10 місяців тому +1

      @@attrell Yes it sure was Chris. It was very vibrant then.
      There was a nice community hall. We had our wedding reception and dance in the hall in 1979.
      There was a modern school from grade 1-8 and then we bussed to Consul for high school.
      There was a very active curling rink. There were three grain elevators.
      The General Store was a store that had Everything as well as the Post Office.
      The garage was an International Harvester dealer, a blacksmith shop, a repair shop and a seniors hangout bench where I used to love to listen to many stories.
      The Beaver Lumber had already closed by then.
      Oh, the great memories.
      Thank you again.

  • @richardbaxter2057
    @richardbaxter2057 10 місяців тому

    Truly the land of the big sky....beautiful in it’s sad emptiness.....❤️

  • @billhosko7723
    @billhosko7723 11 місяців тому +2

    WELL done. Truly.
    Thank you!

    • @attrell
      @attrell  11 місяців тому

      Thank you!

  • @stanleykachuik2589
    @stanleykachuik2589 10 місяців тому +1

    Great vid Chris! My family farmed for more than a hundred years. 10 min away from Limerick. I still have fond memories of the original house my grandfather built out there.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Thank you!

  • @bobelliott2748
    @bobelliott2748 10 місяців тому +2

    I have done both of these roads twice. hope to do it again. there is no one else around. many thanks for this video

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Thanks for watching!

  • @jessemurray2236
    @jessemurray2236 9 місяців тому

    So many great barn finds!

  • @VirtualTravelFilms
    @VirtualTravelFilms 5 місяців тому +1

    Thank you so much! You have very interesting videos! I really enjoyed exploring Saskatchewan. I've never been there, but I had a great tour with you!

    • @attrell
      @attrell  5 місяців тому +1

      Thank you!

  • @toriwolf5978
    @toriwolf5978 8 місяців тому +1

    Just found your channel loving it ❤ please keep these videos coming so interesting to watch ….

    • @attrell
      @attrell  8 місяців тому

      Thank you!

  • @brucesmith9144
    @brucesmith9144 10 місяців тому +5

    Great scenery. Really enjoyed the grain elevator during the thunderstorm. That is something worth spending time doing.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      It's a really nice area!

  • @jaysmoke3132
    @jaysmoke3132 9 місяців тому +1

    10:54 Spent way to much time here when I was young. Hey Steve H and Don H. I miss this place. Great video Chris.

  • @RedcoatsReturn
    @RedcoatsReturn 10 місяців тому +5

    Thanks myol mate….I enjoyed the tour very much 😊👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👍👍 So much place…so much land…wilderness…a huge blue sky….Canada is…like a giant planet on its own 😲😲😲 It makes the UK look like a miniature toy model 😄😉🇨🇦

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +1

      THank you! Yeah you can see storms 300 kms away from here.

    • @billfarley9167
      @billfarley9167 10 місяців тому +1

      Dude, it is a miniature toy model that punched way over its weight and spent a few hundred years trashing inhabitants all over the world. Right here in Canada we have the experience of the Acadians. Look it up. Your countrymen.

  • @luckyguy600
    @luckyguy600 Рік тому +19

    Just depressing and my whole family were basically from Waldron.
    After the war/ the railways disappeared/ the grain elevators were disused, and the whole place went back to what it once was. Wild grass is for buffalo and native Indian bands from hundreds of years ago.
    Your videos are great, for sure, but it saddens me when I used to visit the area.
    My grandparents were railway men from the turn of the century/ and homesteading.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  Рік тому +1

      It is kind of sad, especially when you read the local history book and see photos from the towns heydays!

    • @4thlinemaniac356
      @4thlinemaniac356 10 місяців тому

      False History Ever heard of Tartaria? A video essay on you tube title There are no Forests on flat Earth English dubbed version before @Spacebusters & John Levi & Michelle Gibson channels

    • @dlwdaddyo1
      @dlwdaddyo1 9 місяців тому +2

      We had a cowboy poetry gathering in Taber Alberta last spring. One of our board members suggested we do a benefit for a young bronc rider from Consul, who got his neck broken in a rodeo wreck at Brooks over the Christmas season. Cowboy poets, western story tellers and western musicians from all over the west, a wood carver and a children/youth author from New Hampshire and local businesses all sent merchandise to be auctioned off for the benefit for Sandy the cowboy from Consul

  • @juanitahardy8583
    @juanitahardy8583 10 місяців тому +1

    Great video ......not a placeI would have thought of visiting but reconsidering

  • @caelumwebcitizen
    @caelumwebcitizen 5 місяців тому +1

    Masefield is the prettiest ghost town i have visited. The nature and the old buildings to together so nice.

  • @heavensmountains323
    @heavensmountains323 10 місяців тому

    That was great! Thanks for sharing. I would love to do that trip as a little tour.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      It's fun!

  • @frankgutjahr8188
    @frankgutjahr8188 10 місяців тому +1

    Love this area. Travel it often. Even got to help out with the tourist train in Eastend. The locomotives there which are f7 and F9 are my favorite locomotives. Great video, thanks.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      I can't wait until that train is running!

    • @frankgutjahr8188
      @frankgutjahr8188 10 місяців тому

      @@attrell You should see the inside of that gas station where that old truck is parked. It is like a 50s diner! So cool!

  • @billgraham8354
    @billgraham8354 10 місяців тому

    Thanks for the trip Chris.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Glad you enjoyed it

  • @thehamachekco9132
    @thehamachekco9132 10 місяців тому +2

    Derek Ace sent me here. Good stuff!!! Will watch more!

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +1

      Oh wow, he does amazing work. Thank you!

  • @kengeddert5375
    @kengeddert5375 10 місяців тому +2

    I lived in Wood Mountain from 1991-1994. I was a teacher in the school the last three years before it closed. At that time the hotel was still in business, and the church in town was still used occasionally. The old curling rink was used for storage, but a restaurant was in business at one end of the curling rink.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Wow that Church is in very very bad shape now

  • @bobcunningham5288
    @bobcunningham5288 10 місяців тому +2

    Hi Chris. Thanks for the video tour of a part of my home province. The colour at that time of year may look bleak to some, but to me it is the colour of the season to come.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Thanks for watching!

  • @craigm6878
    @craigm6878 10 місяців тому

    Fascinating journey, beautiful and sad.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Glad you enjoyed it

  • @cashoyboy
    @cashoyboy 6 місяців тому +1

    Awesome video thank you for sharing!!

    • @attrell
      @attrell  6 місяців тому

      Thanks for watching!

  • @frankdaeran352
    @frankdaeran352 10 місяців тому +2

    I lived in Sask (PA & Regina) for 18 years (60's & 70's) and had never even heard of Ravenascrag valley! Looks beautiful, reminds me of the Quapelle valley area

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      I hope the passenger rail service will be up and ready for that trip next spring!

  • @bigdoglogging8584
    @bigdoglogging8584 10 місяців тому

    Very nice video. One side of my family left southern Saskatchewan in the mid 30s and the other left mortlack in the late 50s both for BC. One day looking forward to a tour like this myself

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      I hope you get to, it is rather nice part of Saskatchewan!

  • @steevebouchard8927
    @steevebouchard8927 10 місяців тому

    beautiful - my kind of place

  • @aero9009
    @aero9009 10 місяців тому +1

    Excellent. I really enjoyed this.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Thank you!

  • @bigdansplan9262
    @bigdansplan9262 10 місяців тому +25

    Great footage. The one thing that immediately stuck out to me in these towns was that there is no grafiti. One of the USA’s traits is to deface anything when possible. A demographic rundown would probably explain this. Thank you.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +5

      There isn't many people who live in these areas, that might be why.

    • @barryrahn5957
      @barryrahn5957 10 місяців тому +1

      I hadn't noticed, but yes, no graffiti! How refreshing! Alas it's a worldwide phenomenon.

    • @abrahamdozer6273
      @abrahamdozer6273 10 місяців тому +3

      Canadian culture is generally a bit different and for the most part, the urban areas are much cleaner and safer in Canada, too.

    • @barryrahn5957
      @barryrahn5957 10 місяців тому +3

      @@abrahamdozer6273 I think in Canada the culture is generally more reserved and respectful and not quite so self promoting. A nosegay from south of the border.

    • @abrahamdozer6273
      @abrahamdozer6273 10 місяців тому +3

      @@devoniangardens2974 Are you really a grown man?

  • @garionporter5961
    @garionporter5961 10 місяців тому +1

    wow magical I could watch this for hours :) *BUT* gotta get some work done lol thanx and keep up the great work! love my prairies.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +1

      Thanks for the visit

    • @garionporter5961
      @garionporter5961 10 місяців тому

      Have you been out to that weird museum/old "town" that old guy made near whitewood SK? -old George's place? I've fantasized about doing a slightly spooky quiet slow (non narrated) video of that place in the evening - fall maybe. creepy but beautiful place.

  • @Pond6
    @Pond6 9 місяців тому +1

    This is a great video and I hope you continue to document other abandoned places in Canada. I subbed!.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  9 місяців тому

      Thank you! Will do!

  • @snorrejnnevaldhalvorsen6548
    @snorrejnnevaldhalvorsen6548 10 місяців тому +1

    Good music, nice pictures, sad stories !

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Many thanks

  • @MrGaryRoberton
    @MrGaryRoberton 8 місяців тому +2

    As the radio personality, Bob Arnold said of Wood Mountain, "Our town was so small, on Saturday night we would go down to main street, and watch the GIRL" RIP Bob.

  • @dyannejohnson6184
    @dyannejohnson6184 10 місяців тому +1

    Wonderful trip thanks

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Glad you enjoyed it

  • @_Lazare
    @_Lazare 8 місяців тому

    Awesome time well spent and remembered
    Well done

    • @attrell
      @attrell  8 місяців тому

      Thank you!

  • @robertlyon8876
    @robertlyon8876 10 місяців тому +2

    I grew up in a very small town on the prairies. I was a great place to be as a child . So much is gone now sadly.

  • @rickrathy5404
    @rickrathy5404 10 місяців тому

    Thanks for the video....great 'tour'. For those who go to Val Marie, check out Grasslands National Park. There are some great hikes in the area and as well, an Ecotour drive in the Park itself.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      70 Mile Butte is amazing!

  • @citibear57
    @citibear57 10 місяців тому +1

    Great day for a drive to the small villages, towns, and ghost towns. My dad grew up on a farm near Truax. It has probably been 50+ years since I was out there (I was just a little kid). The 'house' was already gone by then, so I would have no idea where to look for the farm. We have a grainy, old b&w photo of the two-room farmhouse. I know how bad our winters are, but being born and raised in the provincial capital, I have no idea how miserable life was. I only heard a few stories. It seemed that no one wanted to talk about that. This is the first of your videos I have watched, but I have already subscribed and look forward to seeing more drives through my home province!

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Thanks for joining!

  • @djdj500dr
    @djdj500dr 10 місяців тому

    The topography is amazing

  • @adamwelsh9372
    @adamwelsh9372 10 місяців тому +6

    Dollard was founded by the father of novelist Gabrielle Roy. It was originally called Valroy, valley of the Roys but renamed,

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      I did not know that. thank you!

  • @ledwallet1944
    @ledwallet1944 9 місяців тому +1

    Love your videos...Subscribed!

    • @attrell
      @attrell  9 місяців тому +1

      Thank you!

  • @bobelliott2748
    @bobelliott2748 10 місяців тому +3

    I'm glad you included Orkney. I stop for lunch there

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Must have been a long long time ago!

    • @bobelliott2748
      @bobelliott2748 10 місяців тому

      Lol. good response to my comment! Both times lunch was on the tail gate of my truck. When you travel in that country you bring your own provender and spare gas. I wanted to avoid Shaunavan and Eastend and stick to the south roads. I have done the Dempster highway and there is always gas at three places. South west Sask is pretty thin for gas on a weekend and in that regard is more remote. The nearest is Milk River AB

  • @djoldskool5763
    @djoldskool5763 11 місяців тому +2

    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Outstanding!

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Thank you! Cheers!

  • @marianne52
    @marianne52 10 місяців тому +3

    My first home was Wood Mountain (mid-50's). It was a thriving little community back then. We visited 4 yrs ago. My father was the RCMP officer at that time and his detachment office as well as our home were still there across from the school.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      That is one of my fav towns!

    • @rockwellrhodes7703
      @rockwellrhodes7703 10 місяців тому

      @@attrell The little red house (14:52) housed my cousins, for a short time. My uncle grew up on a ranch south of town in the hills. He told me the old-timers told him Sitting Bull wasn't at the Big Horn debacle, but sitting with his "old friends" the NWMP at Old Post, south of town, during the battle. Old Post was the NWMP detachment at that time.

  • @coocookachoo2806
    @coocookachoo2806 10 місяців тому

    I have cycled that route a couple times and always go off the beaten path to get pictures of the old grain elevators. They were such a integral part of prairie life.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Still lots in SW Saskatchewan!

  • @trainrover
    @trainrover 10 місяців тому

    that was cool, recognising some mightily enchanting North Dakotan Painted Canyonesqueness towards the beginning here 🍸

  • @suefrench8721
    @suefrench8721 10 місяців тому +3

    I was born here in Cadillac. Ponteix was just down the road and also Willow Bunch nearby. There was a large French settlement along the road in various little villages. This was what we Canadians called the "baldass prairie".

    • @merccrewlcab2385
      @merccrewlcab2385 9 місяців тому

      A friend here in the Cowichan Valley (Chemainus) owns a house and a church in Cadillac.

    • @suefrench8721
      @suefrench8721 9 місяців тому +1

      @@merccrewlcab2385 Chemainus is such a beautiful place. If I had to choose between Chemainus or Cadillac I'm afraid that I would have to say goodbye to the birthplace and head for Chemainus. What does he do with the two places? With homelessness and the real estate market it's hard to know which way to jump. Enjoy the coast, both of you.

    • @merccrewlcab2385
      @merccrewlcab2385 9 місяців тому

      @@suefrench8721 Thanks again for the reply. Doug stores old car, tractor parts and other cool old keepsakes in one of the places and lives part time in the other.
      I enjoy the beauty of our island but not how busy and greedy it is these days. Really debating on moving out to Alberta Sask.
      Do you know of any 1932 Ford cars, bodies or pieces out your way? Haha

  • @darrellcarrigan9995
    @darrellcarrigan9995 10 місяців тому

    Several years ago, my wife and I visited this area of Saskatchewan, visiting several of the towns in this video. Upon watching this video. I was saddened by the demise of so much of the area. Still a great place to visit.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому +1

      Some places are making a comback

  • @christopherhenderson4820
    @christopherhenderson4820 11 місяців тому +8

    So cool and beautiful, and sad. This is happening in rural Illinois USA.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  11 місяців тому

      Yes it is kind of sad.

    • @harrytpk
      @harrytpk 10 місяців тому

      Ya I live in Illinois too and I’ve been to Saskatchewan and your right the small farm towns on the plaines and prairies in North America are emptying out.

    • @Gfysimpletons
      @Gfysimpletons 10 місяців тому +1

      @@harrytpkall per plan…..

    • @WildWillysProductions428
      @WildWillysProductions428 10 місяців тому

      That’s Canada not USA

    • @newfic2290
      @newfic2290 9 місяців тому

      ​@@Gfysimpletonsда😢. Это и в России происходит😢

  • @genesisknight9948
    @genesisknight9948 4 місяці тому +1

    I honestly didn't know there were this many ghost towns in Saskatchewan, and I've lived in this province my whole life. Good to know that just when I think I know everything about my home province, something new presents itself.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  4 місяці тому

      Thanks for watching!

  • @darrelgoulet29
    @darrelgoulet29 10 місяців тому +1

    My house is in this video! Great video, Chris!

    • @attrell
      @attrell  10 місяців тому

      Thank you!!!

  • @chihuahuaman7025
    @chihuahuaman7025 9 місяців тому

    Great job!

  • @I_LOVE_THE_SUNCOAST
    @I_LOVE_THE_SUNCOAST 6 місяців тому +2

    Greetings from USA, I am liking these videos.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  5 місяців тому +1

      Awesome, thank you!

  • @4z94
    @4z94 4 місяці тому +1

    Very nice Chris.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  4 місяці тому

      Thank you!

  • @bruced1429
    @bruced1429 4 місяці тому +1

    I have been to most of the towns you have showed on this very great video. Some how I missed Robsart and Scotdale and Limeric. I enjoyed just travelling along exploring. Since our daughter moved to Moosjaw last year we made a few more trips south to the Big Muddy and Castle Butte. Our two favourite places on the video which we have been to are Caddilac and Eastend. Eastend has a great dinosaur museum , you did not mention that, and Caddilac has all the streets named after old cars, and a wonderful still in use school.
    Hope you have some new videos coming out.

    • @attrell
      @attrell  4 місяці тому

      THank you! I hope the train service in Eastend is able to get up and running this year!