The highest point in Saskatchewan, an officially unnamed
elevation in the Cypress Hills, rises to 1,392 metres near
the Alberta border. (The Cypress Hills rise even higher,
to 1,465 metres, farther west in Alberta.) Early French
voyageurs identified the jack pine as a cyprès, and
this was rendered as "Cypress" on the map of the
Palliser report of 1857-60.
The highest spot (1392 metres or 4567 ft. above sea level)
is in the Cypress Hills in the southwest corner of the province.
The Cypress Hills are the highest point in Canada between
the Rocky Mountains & Labrador.
Cypress Hills has always been a lush retreat, rich in wildlife.
For at least 7,000 years, nomadic Plains Indians wintered
here because the hills were an excellent source of food,
fuel, furs and building materials – lodgepole pines
made excellent travois, teepee poles and, as their name
implies, lodges. An additional attraction for the Indians
was the Chinook breeze from the west, which made for a much
milder winter than the one experienced on the Great Plains
below.
Fort
Walsh National Historic Site of Canada
