| The Dirt Hills | |
|---|---|
  The Dirt Hills The Dirt Hills (Canada) Show map of Canada | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 880 m (2,890 ft) |
| Coordinates | 49°59′39″N105°11′18″W / 49.99417°N 105.18833°W /49.99417; -105.18833 |
| Geography | |
| Location | Missouri Coteau,Saskatchewan,Canada |
The Dirt Hills[1] and neighbouringCactus Hills,[2] are an arcuatemoraine and the largestglacial push in the world. The hills were formed during the deglaciation of thelast ice age over 10,000 years ago. They are located in the southern region of theCanadian province ofSaskatchewan, east ofOld Wives Lake and about 60 kilometres (37 mi) south-east ofMoose Jaw and are part of theBearpaw Formation withinPalliser's Triangle and theGreat Plains ecoregion.[3]
As the last ice age was ending, there was a lot of glacial movement and the compressive flow of the ice sheet forced the glaciers to re-advance up theMissouri Coteau escarpment. The advancing ice sheet acted like a bulldozer pushing, moving, and uplifting earth until in ran into the upward slope of the escarpment. The Dirt Hills are composed mostly ofbedrock anddrift that was stacked up to form a single block 215 metres (705 ft) thick where the ice sheet ended its advance.[4]
The moraine has an area of almost 1,000 square kilometres (390 sq mi) with a height of 880 metres (2,890 ft)above sea level. The Dirt and Cactus Hills form anamphitheatre-shapedlandform. The north-western side of the amphitheatre-shaped moraine is called the Cactus Hills and the eastern and southern portion is The Dirt Hills. During the deglaciation of that last ice age, there was a glacial sub-lobe, also known as a tongue, between the hills named Spring Valley ice tongue. It is named after the community ofSpring Valley that sits at the head of where the ice tongue was. The Dirt Hills are 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) wide, 40 kilometres (25 mi) long, and rise 120 metres (390 ft) above the surrounding prairie. They stretch fromClaybank in the east toGalilee in the west. The Cactus Hills rise to a height of 737 metres (2,418 ft) above sea level.[5]
Evidence ofFirst Nations living among the hills is shown byteepee rings and burial markers throughout the hills. About 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) away from the Avonlea Badlands at the eastern end of The Dirt Hills, is abuffalo jump. The 1874March West by theNorth-West Mounted Police passed by the hills on the way toFort Macleod,North-West Territories (in modern-daySouthern Alberta).[6]
In 1886 Thomas McWilliams, a homesteader from theMoose Jaw River area, discovered clay at the north-east corner of The Dirt Hills while out looking for lost cattle and pickingSaskatoon berries. Recognising the value of this clay, he travelled toMoose Jaw to theland titles office to lay claim to the clay-rick land. He later moved his family to the new homestead. Near the same time, he sought permission from the federal government to mine the refractory clay on his land. This is the first official record of theClaybank clay. By 1914 a brick plant was built and bricks from the area were being sold around Canada and the United States. Now the site is aNational Historic Site calledClaybank Brick Plant.
In 2001, the Claybank Brick Plant and Historical Society bought 256 acres of the adjacentMassold Clay Canyons from Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management to create aprotected historic and wildlife area.
The Avonlea Badlands are located about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) west of the village ofAvonlea at the easternmost edge of The Dirt Hills, south-east of Claybank nearHighway 339. The total area of thebadlands is about 1 square kilometre (0.39 sq mi). Millions of years ago, much of Saskatchewan was covered in an inland sea. Sedimentary deposits from this sea can be seen in the layers in the badlands.[7] The first Avonlea Arrowhead[8] was found at these badlands during an excavation.
The badlands are on private property and only open to the public through guided tours.[9]
The Dirt Hills and Cactus Hills are sparsely populated. Threerural municipalities encompass the hills, includingElmsthorpe No. 100,Terrell No. 101, andBaildon No. 131. Communities in the hills includeClaybank,Bayard,Spring Valley, andGalilee.
The following is a list of highways and airports throughout The Dirt and Cactus Hills:
