Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

S ituated in south-central Saskatchewan on the Moose Jaw Riv- er, this city of some 35,000 modern Moose Javians was first settled by the Cree and Assiniboine people as a winter en- campment. They called the place moose gaw, meaning “warm breezes”– indicative of the protection from the weather that the Coteau Range plateau provides to the river valley. Europe- an immigrants, mainly from Britain, as well as from eastern Canada, began to settle the area in the late 19th century, and Moose Jaw became a city in 1902. The railways have always played an important role in the early develop- ment of Moose Jaw, with the city having both a Canadian Pacific Railway Station and a Canadian National Railway Station. Over the years, and with Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Surprisingly unexpected the addition of major highways, such as the TransCanada Highway running east and west through town, its strategic location has helped make Moose Jaw a transportation hub for Sas- katchewan’s huge output of agricultural prod- ucts, including chickpeas, lentils, flax seed, dry peas, canola, mustard seed, and durum. Today, the City of Moose Jaw aspires to be more by capitalizing on the area’s agricultural bounty and adding value to it. According to Deb Thorn, Economic Development Officer for the City, the region’s crops have traditionally been