View source for Fort Qu'Appelle

{{Short description|Town in Saskatchewan, Canada}}
{{For|the surrounding rural municipality|Rural Municipality of North Qu'Appelle No. 187}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=November 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name                   = Fort Qu'Appelle
|official_name          = Town of Fort Qu'Appelle
|other_name             = 
|settlement_type        = [[List of towns in Saskatchewan|Town]]
|image_skyline          = FortQu'AppelleHBC.JPG
|imagesize              =
|image_caption          = 1897 [[Hudson's Bay Company]] store in Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan
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|nickname               = "the Fort"
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|map_caption            = Location of Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan
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|coordinates            = {{coord|50|45|56|N|103|47|25|W|region:CA-SK_source:http://www4.rncan.gc.ca/search-place-names/unique/HACDD|display=inline,title}}
|subdivision_type       = Country
|subdivision_name       = Canada
|subdivision_type1      = [[Provinces and territories of Canada|Province]]
|subdivision_type2      = [[List of rural municipalities in Saskatchewan|Rural Municipality]]
|subdivision_type3      = 
|subdivision_name1      = [[Saskatchewan]]
|subdivision_name2      = [[Rural Municipality of North Qu'Appelle No. 187|North Qu'Appelle]]
|subdivision_name3      = 
|established_title      = Post office Founded
|established_date       = 1880
|established_title2     = Incorporated (town)
|established_date2      = 1951
|established_title3     =  
|established_date3      = 
|government_footnotes   =
|government_type        =
|leader_title           = Governing body
|leader_name            = Fort Qu'Appelle Town Council
|leader_title1          = Mayor
|leader_name1           = Brian Strong<ref>[http://www.fortquappelle.com/town-office/council-staff Council & Staff]</ref>
|unit_pref                =<!--Enter: Imperial, if Imperial (metric) is desired-->
|area_footnotes           =
|area_magnitude         = 
|area_total_km2           = 5.28
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|elevation_footnotes    = <!--for references: use<ref></ref> tags-->
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|population_total               = 1,919 
|population_as_of               = 2006
|population_footnotes           =
|population_density_km2         = 363.2
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|population_note                = 
|postal_code_type       = [[Postal code]]
|postal_code            = S0G 1S0
|area_code              = 306
|website                = [http://www.fortquappelle.com/ Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan]
|footnotes              = 
{{Designation list |embed=yes |designation1=NHSC |designation1_offname=Fort Qu'Appelle National Historic Site of Canada |designation1_date=1953 }}
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|leader_title2          = Administrator
|leader_name2           = Don R. McLeod
|leader_title3          = 
|leader_name3           =
|leader_title4          =
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|timezone               = [[Central Standard Time|CST]]
|utc_offset             = -06:00 
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|blank1_name            = Waterways
|blank1_info            = Qu'Appelle River
}}

'''Fort Qu'Appelle''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ə|ˈ|p|ɛ|l}}) is a town in the [[Provinces and territories of Canada|Canadian province]] of [[Saskatchewan]] located in the [[Qu'Appelle River]] valley {{convert|70|km|abbr=on}} north-east of [[Regina, Saskatchewan|Regina]], between [[Echo Lake (Saskatchewan)|Echo]] and [[Mission Lake]]s of the [[Fishing Lakes]].<ref name=McLennan>{{cite encyclopedia|last=McLennan|first=David|title=Fort Qu'Appelle|url=http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/fort_quappelle.html|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan|access-date=18 June 2012}}</ref> It is not to be confused with the once-significant nearby town of [[Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan|Qu'Appelle]]. It was originally established in 1864 as a [[Hudson's Bay Company]] [[trading post]]. Fort Qu'Appelle, with its 1,919 residents in 2006, is at the junction of [[Saskatchewan Highway 35|Highway 35]], [[Saskatchewan Highway 10|Highway 10]], [[Saskatchewan Highway 22|Highway 22]], [[Saskatchewan Highway 56|Highway 56]], and Highway 215.<ref name="google">{{Cite web
  | title =Fort Qu'Appelle, SK
 | publisher = Google Maps
  | url =http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=Fort+Qu'Appelle&ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=50.762522,-103.796082&spn=1.221319,2.570801&z=9&iwloc=addr        
  | access-date = 12 August 2007
  }}</ref> The 1897 Hudson's Bay Company store, 1911 [[Grand Trunk Pacific Railway]] station, Fort Qu'Appelle Sanatorium ([[Fort San, Saskatchewan|Fort San]]), and the [[Treaty 4]] Governance Centre in the shape of a [[Tipi|teepee]] are all landmarks of this community.<ref name="fortQ">{{cite encyclopedia
  | last =  McLennan
  | first = David  
  | title =Fort Qu'Appelle
  | encyclopedia =The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan 
  | publisher = CANADIAN PLAINS RESEARCH CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF REGINA 
  | year = 2006
  | url = http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/fort_quappelle.html
| access-date = 15 April 2008}}</ref> 
Additionally, the Noel Pinay sculpture of a man praying commemorates a burial ground, is a life-sized statue in a park beside Segwun Avenue.<ref name="large">{{cite web
 |last        = Redekopp
 |first       = Dale
 |title       = Praying Indian Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan
 |publisher   = LARGE CANADIAN ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS
 |date        = 1999–2006
 |url         = http://www.roadsideattractions.ca/prayingindian.htm
 |access-date  = 15 February 2008
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20071109190702/http://www.roadsideattractions.ca/prayingindian.htm
 |archive-date = 9 November 2007
}}</ref>

== Origins and early history ==
The current site is the third Fort Qu'Appelle. The first was a [[North West Company]] trading post (1801–05), also in the valley but near what is now the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border. The Hudson's Bay Company itself first used the name for a post north of present-day [[Whitewood, Saskatchewan|Whitewood]] (some {{cvt|174|km}} east of Regina on [[Saskatchewan Highway 1|Highway 1]]) from 1813 to 1819.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Prior to the mid-19th century establishment of the more lengthily surviving fur-trading post at the ultimate site of the town, it "was the hub of several historic trails that traversed the northwest".<ref>Garth Pugh. "[https://archive.today/20130203183435/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/fort-quappelle Fort Qu'Appelle]". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Accessed 1 March 2012.</ref> It was the site of a Hudson's Bay Company post from 1852 to 1854. An [[Anglican Church of Canada|Anglican]] mission was established,<ref name="esask.uregina.ca"/><ref>{{cite book
 | title =The American magazine
 | publisher =Crowell-Collier Pub. co.
 | volume=22
 | year =1886
 | pages =525–526
 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=CPEJAAAAIAAJ&q=%22fort+qu%27appelle%22&pg=PA680
 | quote=Suddenly, the prairie road stopped short, and, 400 feet below us, we saw the beautiful Qu'Appelle Valley, with its four shining lakes, and the winding river connecting them, and on either hand the echoing hills.  No wonder it is named Qu'Appelle 'the valley that calls'; the hills are formed in strange winding shapes, in cones and pyramids and serpent-like forms that catch each sound, and sent it back and forth across the placid water.  Some hills look like great walruses and seals, with their smooth brown backs glistening in the sun; upon others, a light growth of trees, now gorgeous with the Autumn colours, follow the lines of the ravines and coulees. We drive down the valley where the little settlement of Fort Qu'Appelle lies; past the stockade of the Hudson Bay Company, which encloses the warehouses and the residence of the chief factor, Archie McDonald; over the little bridge, and past the second of the lakes, four miles to the Government School. ... The buildings of the mission stand on the shore of the lake, and only a short distance from the school. In 1866, Father Ritchot traveled from Winnipeg by dog-train for the purpose of founding this mission, and from that time to this the Fathers have worked faithfully among the Indians and half-breeds. ... the mission buildings consist of the monastery, a little church, a house for the farm-hands, and for cooking purposes, stables, old store-houses, and a great oven made of clay. ... Back of the monastery is the Indian graveyard; some of the graves are marked simply by a rude wooden cross, but many have singular structures of wood, resembling Chinese pagodas, over them; these are painted black with strange decorations in white painted on them, such as 'polka dots', bands and stripes, and there was one with great white drops to represent tears.}}</ref> which still survives as the town's St. John the Evangelist Anglican parish church.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

[[File:Fort Qu'Appelle from the northwest, circa 1910.jpg|left|thumb|Fort Qu'Appelle from the northwest with the eastern shore of Echo Lake, {{circa}} 1905]]
The post was revived again from 1864 to 1911. With the signing of [[Treaty 4]] by [[Cree]] and [[Saulteaux]] peoples at Fort Qu'Appelle the [[North-West Mounted Police]], now the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] (RCMP), arrived<ref name="McLennon">McLennon.</ref>{{full citation needed|date=July 2017}} and have maintained a continuous presence in the town ever since.<ref>{{cite book
 | last =Leggo
 | first =William 
 | title =The history of the administration of the Right Honorable Frederick Temple, Earl of Dufferin ... late Governor General of Canada
 | publisher =Lovell Print. & Pub. Co.
 | year =1878 
 | chapter =Treaty of Qu'Appelle – No. 4 in September 1874 – "Who Calls" – Indian Tradition – Account of proceedins at Fort Qu'Appelle 
 | chapter-url =https://books.google.com/books?id=KC56AAAAMAAJ&q=%22fort+qu%27appelle%22&pg=PA565
 |quote=The Council at Fort Qu'Appelle, a Hudson Bay trading post, at the junction of the Qu'Appelle and Assiniboine, was composed of representatives of the Plain Crees and Salteaux nations.}}</ref>

Substantial transformation of Fort Qu'Appelle occurred when farm development began in the 1880s and farmers required a nearby urban centre for selling their grain and other products, purchasing agricultural and domestic supplies and for social gathering beyond rural schools and churches. It was not anticipated that initial partition of agricultural land into farms of one-quarter section ({{convert|160|acres|disp=sqbr}}) would not last long and farm population would substantially reduce very quickly; the process accelerated in the 1970s when farmers began selling their land and retiring in substantial numbers to Fort Qu'Appelle as the custom of elderly farmers remaining at home with offspring passed into history, and more retired to town.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

[[File:Fort Qu'Appelle cycling club before Hudson's Bay store, 1898.jpg|thumb|left|Fort Qu'Appelle cycling club before Hudson's Bay store, 1898]]
The name "Qu'Appelle" comes from is French for 'who calls' and is derived from its Cree name, kah-tep-was (in Modern [[Plains Cree language|Plains Cree]]: kâ-têpwêt ᑳ ᑌᐻᐟ 'river that calls'). There are several versions of the origin of this name, but the most popular suggests it refers to a Cree legend of two ill-fated lovers."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/quappelle_river.html |title=Lewry, Marilyn. "Qu'Appelle River". The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. CANADIAN PLAINS RESEARCH CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF REGINA. Retrieved 10 December 2011 |access-date=10 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503112830/http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/quappelle_river.html |archive-date=3 May 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The name refers to the once-popular legend of the Qu'Appelle Valley versified by [[E. Pauline Johnson]] and known nation-wide. "Fort Qu'Appelle was the crossroads of a number of historic trails that traversed the North-West Territories."<ref>[http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/fort_quappelle.html McLennan, David. "Fort Qu'Appelle". The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. CANADIAN PLAINS RESEARCH CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF REGINA. Retrieved 3 March 2012]</ref>
{{check quotation}}

The town is immediately adjacent to the site of the original Fort Qu'Appelle [[Hudson's Bay Company]] trading post, whose "factory" is maintained as a historical site and museum. The Hudson's Bay trading post was built in 1864<ref name="esask.uregina.ca">[http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/fort_quappelle.html David McLennon, "Fort Qu'Appelle," ''Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan''.] Retrieved 19 November 2007</ref> when the company's activity was still largely confined to the [[fur trade]] with [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] residents.<ref name="ReferenceB">[http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/fort_quappelle.html McLennan, David. "Fort Qu'Appelle". The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. CANADIAN PLAINS RESEARCH CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF REGINA. Retrieved 14 March 2012]</ref> "[P]emmican was shipped down valley on a Hudson's Bay Company cart trail to supply the paddlers of the fur trade in more forested regions."<ref>Norm Henderson, "Qu'Appelle Valley". ''The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan''. http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/quappelle_valley.html. Retrieved 1 December 2012.</ref>

Despite the once well-known gathering of General Middleton and soldiers at Qu'Appelle, at the westernmost extreme of the still-incomplete [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] (CPR) and some kilometres south of the Qu'Appelle Valley, "[i] Middleton empowered Captain French, an Irish officer who had been in the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), to raise a mounted force in the vicinity of Fort Qu'Appelle. ... This mounted troop ... joined the [[10th Royal Grenadiers]] from Toronto and the Winnipeg Field Battery under the command of artillery officer Lieutenant-Colonel C.E. Montizambert, to form the west-bank column that would march from Qu'Appelle to Batoche",<ref>Peter Borch, Daria Coneghan, "French's Scouts," ''The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan.'' http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/frenchs_scouts.html. Retrieved 18 January 2013.</ref> where the notorious battling would occur.

After ethnic European settlement by farmers had become established in the 1880s—a post office being established in 1880<ref name="ReferenceB"/>—the original Hudson's Bay Company activity was replaced by its department store on Broadway Street in 1897. By this time the fur trade had lapsed but the town community and farmers travelling into town for shopping had substantially increased in number. The store building remains though long disused by the Bay.

[[File:Fort Qu'Appelle, circa 1910.jpg|thumb|left|Fort Qu'Appelle, circa 1910]]
There was once certain ambiguity as to entitlement to the town-name between the present town and the once-significant regional centre bearing the name "Qu'Appelle"; the matter ceased to be an issue in 1911 when the two communities agreed to deem the then-CPR station site as Qu'Appelle and the town in the valley as Fort Qu'Appelle.<ref name="QuAppelle EofS">{{cite encyclopedia | last = McLennan | first = David | title = Qu'Appelle | encyclopedia = The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. | publisher = CANADIAN PLAINS RESEARCH CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF REGINA | url = http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/quappelle.html | access-date = 13 July 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170730044128/http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/quappelle.html | archive-date = 30 July 2017 | url-status = dead }}</ref> As did the town of Qu'Appelle, Fort Qu'Appelle early-on had "a bid to succeed Battleford as the territorial capital" but "lost out to Regina ... in 1882".<ref>Garth Pugh. "[https://archive.today/20130203183435/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/fort-quappelle Fort Qu'Appelle]". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica-Dominion. Retrieved 16 March 2012.</ref>

The name Fort Qu'Appelle was given to a number of trading posts in the Qu'Appelle valley. Near [[Fort Espérance]] both the Hudson's Bay Company and the [[North West Company]] had temporary posts that were apparently called Fort Qu'Appelle. (The Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company merged in 1821.) From 1855 until 1864 the Hudson's Bay Company had a Fort Qu'Appelle a little south of where [[McLean, Saskatchewan|McLean]] was later established. It was an outpost of [[Fort Ellice]] and was mainly a source of [[pemmican]]. In 1864 it was moved to the present site of Fort Qu'Appelle.<ref>Elizabeth Brown Losey. "Let Them be Remembered: The Story of the Fur Trade Forts", 1999, page 659-667</ref>

Three industrial boarding schools for First Nations adolescents were established in 1883, including one on the south side of Mission Lake across from [[Lebret, Saskatchewan|Lebret]] on the north side of the lake, as well as [[Battleford]] and High River.<ref>Blair Stonechild. "[http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/aboriginal_peoplesof_saskatchewan.html Aboriginal Peoples of Saskatchewan]". ''The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan''. Retrieved 1 December 2012.</ref>

It was often claimed that colonial administration of Canada, once [[British North America]], was very different from that in other British colonies. But it has been alleged to have been corruption on the part of [[Edgar Dewdney]] when he was [[Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories]] to place the capital in Buffalo Bones rather than Fort Qu'Appelle or Qu'Appelle. On the other hand, Fort Qu'Appelle is strikingly similar to [[Murree]], northeast of [[Rawalpindi]] and once the summer capital of [[British India]], and [[Pyin Oo Lwin|Maymyo]], [[Burma]] highlands. It was in 1915 that "Sir Robert Borden has been invited by the Saskatchewan Art Society to unveil a memorial at Ft. Qu'Appelle to the signing of the first treaty in 1874 between the Dominion and the plains Indians."<ref>{{cite web
 | title =Qu'Appelle Memorial
 | work =The Christian Science Monitor
 | date =23 October 1915
 | url =https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/213177652.html?dids=213177652:213177652&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Oct+23%2C+1915&author=&pub=Christian+Science+Monitor&desc=QU%27APPELLE+MEMORIAL&pqatl=google
 | archive-url =https://archive.today/20130411165732/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/213177652.html?dids=213177652:213177652&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Oct+23,+1915&author=&pub=Christian+Science+Monitor&desc=QU'APPELLE+MEMORIAL&pqatl=google
 | url-status =dead
 | archive-date =11 April 2013
 | access-date = 2013-02-10
}}</ref> The site of the fort was designated a [[national historic site of Canada]] in 1953.<ref>{{CRHP|18988|Fort Qu'Appelle|12 August 2012}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Qu Appalle Valley 1885 Rebellion.jpg|Troops on the march, [[North-West Rebellion]], Qu'Appelle Valley, 1885
File:Police parade before Fort mainstreat shop.gif|Police parade before Hudson's Bay Company shop, built before the town developed
File:Hudson's Bay post pre-1914.jpg|Hudson's Bay post, pre-1914. Today a museum
File:Treaty 4 monument.jpg|Monument to Treaty 4 signing
</gallery>

== Demographics ==
In the [[2021 Canadian census|2021 Census of Population]] conducted by [[Statistics Canada]], Fort Qu'Appelle had a population of {{val|1972|fmt=commas}} living in {{val|850|fmt=commas}} of its {{val|936|fmt=commas}} total private dwellings, a change of {{percentage|{{#expr:1972-2042}}|2042|1}} from its 2016 population of {{val|2042|fmt=commas}}. With a land area of {{convert|5.09|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, it had a population density of {{Pop density|1972|5.09|km2|sqmi|prec=1}} in 2021.<ref name=2021census>{{cite web | url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810000203&geocode=A000247 | title=Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Saskatchewan | publisher=[[Statistics Canada]] | date=9 February 2022 | accessdate=1 April 2022}}</ref>
{{canada census
 |location = Fort Qu'Appelle
 |2021_population=1,972 | 2021_pop_delta=-3.4  | 2021_land_area=5.09 | 2021_pop_density=387.2
 |2021_median_age=46.8 | 2021_median_age_m=44.0 | 2021_median_age_f=48.4
 |2021_total_pvt_dwell=936 |2021_occ_pvt_dwell=850 |2021_mean_hh_income=66,500 
 |2021_geocode=2021A00054706051 | 2021_access_date=2023-10-19
|2006_population=1,919
|2006_pop_delta=−1.1
|2006_land_area=5.28
|2006_pop_density=363.2
|2006_pop_rank=
|2006_median_age=45.1 
|2006_median_age_m=41.6
|2006_median_age_f=47.1
|2006_total_pvt_dwell=815
|2006_total_pvt_dwell_usual=
|2006_mean_hh_income=48,116
|2006_access_date=24 February 2009
|2011_population= 2,034
|2011_pop_delta=6.0
|2011_land_area=5.28
|2011_pop_density=385.0
|2011_pop_rank=
|2011_median_age=48.0
|2011_median_age_m=45.2
|2011_median_age_f=50.5
|2011_total_pvt_dwell=926
|2011_total_pvt_dwell_usual=887
|2011_mean_hh_income=N/A
|2011_access_date=11 August 2012
|2016_population= 1,920
|2016_pop_delta=−5.6
|2016_land_area=2.14
|2016_pop_density=898.9
|2016_pop_rank=
|2016_median_age=44.7
|2016_median_age_m=42.6
|2016_median_age_f=46.5
|2016_total_pvt_dwell=906
|2016_total_pvt_dwell_usual=856
|2016_mean_hh_income=N/A
|2016_access_date=19 June 2017
}}

== Development ==
[[File:Fort Qu'Appelle Broadway Street circa 1948.jpg|thumbnail|left|Fort Qu'Appelle Broadway Street circa 1948: Fort Hotel at the far end of the street with the north side of the valley above Mission Lake beyond it]]
[[File:Fort drugstore.gif|thumbnail|right|Fort Qu'Appelle drugstore circa World War I]]
[[File:Fort bank.gif|thumbnail|right|Fort bank circa World War I. Donald H. McDonald, whose name is on the building, was the last Hudson's Bay Company factor until 1911. Presently it serves as the Town of Fort Qu'Appelle Office and Council Chambers.]]

The town's substantial growth beyond its status as a Hudson's Bay Company "factory" first occurred in the 1880s and 1890s when European settlement began in the region as the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] moved westwards: a post office opened in 1880.<ref name="ReferenceA">[http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/fort_quappelle.html David McLennan. "Fort Qu'Appelle." The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. CANADIAN PLAINS RESEARCH CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF REGINA. Retrieved 10 July 2012]</ref> This coincided with the first development of British India after the seizing of control of India from the [[East India Company]] by [[The Crown]] after the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|1857 Indian Mutiny]], and the town of Fort Qu'Appelle's striking similarity to the Indian hill stations of the early Raj has been widely commented upon by anyone who has seen both. Although the North-West Mounted Police headquarters was established in Regina once it was named capital of the North-West Territories in 1882, the substantial police station at the western end of the town of Fort Qu'Appelle remained significant as centre of service within the valley and in rural communities and to farms in the plains region: this became more important though less as nearby towns declined from the beginning of the [[Great Depression in Canada|Great Depression]] in 1929 and continuing after World War II.

Older residences and commercial premises together with the town's Anglican and [[United Church of Canada|United (formerly Presbyterian)]] churches are quintessentially of the 19th century hinterland [[British Empire]], a matter which local civic boosters and cultivators of tourism appear not yet to have capitalised upon. "In 1913, construction began on a fish culture station near Fort Qu'Appelle and, to date, the facility has supplied more than 2 billion fish to stock water bodies throughout the province....[T]he Fort Qu'Appelle Sanatorium ([[Fort San, Saskatchewan|Fort San]]) for tuberculosis patients...[opened in] 1917."<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

[[File:Fort Qu'Appelle hotel.gif|thumbnail|left|Fort Hotel in the 1920s, destroyed by fire in the 1960s]]
The commercial shops, being grocery and supply centres for the ample number of area farms, were substantially busier than they would have been if merely for town residents; the Fort Hotel of the early 20th century through the 1960s had a well-attended pub with its parking lot full late Friday afternoons through evenings. A large drive-in movie theatre stood on Bay Avenue south of the railway track just before the entry into the [[coulee]] on Highway 36 to leave the valley; it had lively attendance by townspeople, cottagers and farmers until the 1960s when home television significantly improved and the drive-in closed.

Despite the accelerating decline of rural Saskatchewanian population in the post-World War II years as farms needed to be larger and therefore fewer in number for economic viability, the town grew through most of the 1950s and 1960s as a cottage community serving the Qu'Appelle Lakes summer-cottage country in the valley up- and down-river from the town.  Cottagers from Regina and other southern Saskatchewan communities used Fort Qu'Appelle as a base from which to explore the scenic and historic river valley, purchase hardware and groceries and contract services; the town also benefited [[Urbanization|urban drift]] as farms and other towns steadily depopulated.

This process was precipitately accelerated in the early 1960s. Highway 35 had reached Fort Qu'Appelle by branching off the [[Trans-Canada Highway]] at the once-significant town Qu'Appelle and somewhat laboriously proceeding into the Qu'Appelle Valley by winding through an un-occupied coulee. The old highway was supplemented and effectively replaced by Highway 10, leaving the Trans-Canada at [[Balgonie]] and taking a straight route from the plain into the valley. This vastly eased access from the southwest and increased Fort Qu'Appelle's attraction over other market-places for farmers.

[[File:Original Springbrook School, 1970.jpg|thumb|19th-century country school building elsewhere shown while still in use; here photographed in 1970, seven years after closure of successor across the road, from site of teacher's residence: demonstrating steady depopulation of farm neighbourhoods.]]
In 1963, with steadily decreasing density of farm neighbourhood populations and increasing quality of highways, the rural school districts were abolished and farm primary and high school children—taught in one building with one or two classrooms—were thereafter bused to town schools. Rural churches having largely closed in the 1950s, the collapse of rural farming communities was now assured, to the benefit of minor metro-poles such as Fort Qu'Appelle though arguably to the impoverishment of the community as a whole. With the building of Highway 10 making access to Fort Qu'Appelle from outside the valley easier and faster, the process of farmers using it rather than previously substantial towns such as Qu'Appelle, [[Edgeley, Saskatchewan|Edgeley]] and [[Balcarres, Saskatchewan|Balcarres]] for selling grain and buying groceries further increased its size and vitality. The town itself is today "a shopping, service, and institutional centre serving the surrounding [f]arming community, neighbouring resort villages, cottagers and summer vacationers."<ref>[http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/fort_quappelle.html  David McLennan. "Fort Qu'Appelle." The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. CANADIAN PLAINS RESEARCH CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF REGINA. Retrieved 15 February 2012]</ref> Many traditional lake summer cottages have become year-round residences, together with winter skiing further expanding demand for the town's shopping facilities.

== Historic and current medical facilities ==
[[File:Fort San, 1920s.jpg|left|thumb|Fort San, 1920s with view of the Fort]]
[[File:FtQu'AppelleBldg.JPG|thumb|Former Indian Hospital, Fort Qu'Appelle]]
[[Maurice Macdonald Seymour]], Commissioner of Public Health, was a [[physician]] and [[surgeon]] of the early [[Territorial evolution of Canada|North-West Territories]] in Canada.{{ref label|Winnipeg|B|B}} He founded the Saskatchewan Anti-Tuberculosis League which incorporated and constructed the Fort Qu'Appelle sanitarium.<ref name="PP">{{Cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cansk/P-PP-SK/113.html|title=Pioneers and Prominent People of Saskatchewan – SGW transcription project|work=SEYMOUR: Maurice MacDonald, M.D.|author=CANADIAN PUBLICITY.CO Publishers|publisher= Adamson, Julia E|date=25 July 2005|access-date=21 March 2009}} 
</ref><ref name="SKPeople">{{Cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cansk/SaskatchewanAndItsPeople/VolumeIII/SeymourMauriceMacdonald.html|title=Saskatchewan Gen Web Project – Saskatchewan and Its People by John Hawkes Vol III 1924|work=Maurice MacDonald Seymour, M.D., C.M., D.P.H. Fellow Royal Institute Public Health, England Fellow American Public Health Association|author=CANADIAN PUBLICITY.CO Publishers|publisher= Adamson, Julia E|date=6 January 2003|access-date=21 March 2009}}</ref><ref name="MHS">{{cite web
| url         = http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/seymour_mm.shtml
| title       = Maurice Macdonald Seymour (1857-?) 
| access-date  =22 March 2009
| date        = 2002–2009 
| publisher   = Manitoba Historical Society
}}</ref> This [[tuberculosis]] sanatorium was operated by the provincial department of public health under the direction of [[R.G. Ferguson]] and opened in 1917 at nearby [[Fort San, Saskatchewan|Fort San]];<ref name="McLennon"/> when tuberculosis ceased to be a public health problem the facility was turned into a fine arts complex where a substantial summer program was operated 1967-91 when the provincial government terminated its funding: latterly it has become a resort village housing the Echo Valley Conference Centre. In addition to the ample summer lake cottages—in later years many occupied throughout the year—and the successive uses of the former Fort San tuberculosis, for many years the Regina [[YMCA]] operated a summer camp on the north shore of Echo Lake just west of Fort San; the Anglican Church continues to maintain a similar summer camp on the south shore of Mission Lake the other, east side of the town.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://campharding.ca// |title=campharding.ca |access-date=8 January 2012}}{{title missing|date=May 2022}}{{dead link|date=September 2023}}</ref>

The former [[Indian hospital|Fort Qu'Appelle Indian Hospital]] was replaced in 2004 by the All Nations Healing Hospital.  The hospital is one of the first health care facilities in Canada owned and operated by First Nations governments. There are sixteen in total, five from Touchwood Agency Tribal Council and eleven from File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council. The surrounding area both north and south but also to minor extent within the valley is site of grain and cattle farms, nowadays larger in size and smaller in number and population than in past years, small rural communities and sixteen [[Indian reserve]]s.

== Education ==
[[File:FortQu'appelleBuilding.JPG|left|thumb|1911 public Central School]]
[[File:Springbrook School.jpg|thumb|1892 first Springbrook School building (second and no longer-used building) erected in the 20th century, copies of this photo held in the Hudson Bay museum in Fort Qu'Appelle as well as numerous newspaper prints and copies held by former residents of the rural neighbourhood.<ref>"One-room Schools in the Fort Qu'Appelle Area." http://www.fortquappelle.com/hist_m11.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100123010215/http://www.fortquappelle.com/hist_m11.html |date=23 January 2010}} 18 January 2013.</ref>]]
The town has one high school, Bert Fox Community High School, and one elementary school, Fort Qu'Appelle Elementary Community School. The former Central School, built in 1911, was converted to the Qu'Appelle Valley Centre for the Arts. Parklands College is located at the Treaty 4 Governance Centre. Schooling in Fort Qu'Appelle radically expanded immediately after the end of academic year 1962-63 when close by rural schools, which had pupils from kindergarten to grade 12, universally closed and their attendees were thereafter driven for school to the Fort. Such element in school pupils and students vastly diminished in subsequent decades, however, as farm population steadily declined.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

From 1967 through 1991 the closed tuberculosis sanatorium at [[Fort San, Saskatchewan|Fort San]] was the location of the Saskatchewan Summer School of the Arts covering dance, music, visual art, writing and theatre.<ref>{{cite web
|url =http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/saskatchewan_summer_school_of_the_arts.html
|title =SASKATCHEWAN SUMMER SCHOOL OF THE ARTS (Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan)
|publisher =[[University of Regina]]
|access-date = 6 March 2011}}</ref> This drew a great many summer visitors to Fort San but also Fort Qu'Appelle and [[Lebret, Saskatchewan|Lebret]], whose Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church was site for liturgical music presentations; the School of the Arts closed due to elimination of provincial government funding.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070810215846/http://quappelle.mendel.ca/en/fortsan/index.html Qu'Appelle – Stories From the San<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

== Places of worship ==
[[File:St Andrew's Presbyterian (United since 1925) Church pre-World War I.jpg|thumb|left|Pre-World War I photo of St Andrew's Presbyterian (United since 1925) Church with next-door manse on Bay Avenue, immediately across side-street from St. John the Evangelist Anglican, also on Bay Avenue.]]
[[File:St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church Fort Qu'Appelle Saskatchewan.jpg|thumb|St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church]]
Churches with long histories by local standards survive in nearby [[Lebret, Saskatchewan|Lebret]]'s Sacred Heart Roman [[Catholic Church in Canada|Catholic Church]]; St. John the Evangelist [[Anglican Church of Canada|Anglican]], being today's heir of the 1854 Church of England mission (Anglican Camp Knowles on Mission Lake continues to operate in summers); and St. Andrew's [[United Church of Canada|United Church]] (Presbyterian until mid-1925). As in many if not most Canadian communities, church attendance in all traditional denominations has significantly declined, certainly in the Roman Catholic, United, Anglican and [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] churches, being the first- through fourth-largest Christian denominations in Canada.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

This perhaps especially noticeably affects traditionally dominant denominations among the area's farm communities of Roman Catholic, Presbyterian (cum-United Church in Fort Qu'Appelle albeit not universally in neighbouring Qu'Appelle and Indian Head) and Methodist (universally cum-United in 1925 hereabouts.)

But the historic church buildings are nonetheless supplemented latterly by the more recently constructed Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church,<ref>{{cite book
 | title =Archdiocese of Regina : a history
 | publisher =Archdiocese of Regina
 | year =1988
 | location =Regina, Saskatchewan
 | pages =261–262
 | format =digitize online by Our Roots / Nos Racines
 | url =http://www.ourroots.ca/e/page.aspx?id=526948
 | quote =Fort Qu'Appelle was built about 1852 by the Hudson's Bay company as an outpost of Fort Ellice ... On 27 August 1864 Bishop Tache of St. Boniface celebrated the first mass in Fort Qu'Appelle, ministered to the Catholics at the post.... the bishop returned to Fort Qu'Appelle in October 1865 and chose a site for a Catholic mission four miles east of Fort Qu'Appelle. The following year Rev. Norbert Ritchot came to build a house-chapel and administer the sacraments.
 | access-date =10 March 2012
 | archive-date =26 October 2007
 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20071026004538/http://www.ourroots.ca/e/page.aspx?id=526948
 | url-status =dead
 }}</ref> Our Saviour Lutheran Church, and the more recently arrived denominations' Valley Alliance Church and Kingdom Hall of [[Jehovah's Witnesses]]. Once-thriving rural United Churches survived until the 1950s but closed when farmers' regular access to town increased and more fundamentalist at-home meetings acquired some favour.

==Climate==
Fort Qu'Appelle has a [[Semi-arid climate|semi-arid]], highland [[continental climate]] with dry winters and cool summers ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''BSk''),<ref name="Atlas">{{Cite book
  | last1 = Fung
  | first1 = Ka-iu
  | last2 = Barry
  | first2 = Bill
  | title = Atlas of Saskatchewan
  | place = Saskatoon, SK
  | publisher = University of Saskatchewan
  | year = 1999
  | edition = Celebrating the Millennium
  | url = http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cansk/maps/groupsettlements.html
  | isbn = 0-88880-387-7
  | page=95
  }}</ref> Fort Qu'Appelle's winters can be uncomfortably cold; but warm, dry [[Chinook wind]]s routinely blow into the city from the [[Pacific Ocean]] during the winter months, providing the occasional break from the cold especially during the times of [[El Niño–Southern Oscillation]]. These winds have been known to raise the winter temperature by up to {{convert|15|C-change|0}} in just a few hours.

Fort Qu'Appelle is a town of extremes, and temperatures have ranged anywhere from a record low of {{convert|-47.2|C}} in January 1916 to a record high of {{convert|44.4|C}} on 5 July 1937.<ref name="January 1916"/><ref name="July 1937"/> The closest weather station recording historic climate temperatures is at Qu'Appelle, {{convert|27.28|km|abbr=on}} south south-east on [[Saskatchewan Highway 35|Highway 35]]. According to [[Environment and Climate Change Canada]], the average temperature in Qu'Appelle ranges from a January daily average of {{convert|-14.2|C}} to a July daily average of {{convert|18.5|C}}.<ref name="climate">{{cite web
 | title = Qu'Appelle 1
 | work = Canadian Climate Normals 1981-2010
 | publisher = Environment Canada
 | date = 22 September 2015
 | url = http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?stnID=2992&autofwd=1
 | access-date = 8 May 2016 }}
</ref>

As a consequence of Fort Qu'Appelle's relative dryness, summer evenings can be very cool, the average summer minimum temperature drops to {{convert|10.6|C}}.  Fort Qu'Appelle has a [[semi-arid climate]] typical of other cities in the Western [[Great Plains]] and [[Canadian Prairies]].

Fort Qu'Appelle receives an average of {{convert|455.4|mm|abbr=on|2}} of precipitation annually, with {{convert|342.5|mm|abbr=on|2}} of that occurring in the form of rain, and the remaining precipitation as {{convert|113.0|cm|abbr=on|1}} of snow.<ref name="climate"/> Most of the precipitation occurs from May to August, with June and July averaging the most monthly rainfall.  Droughts are not uncommon and may occur at any time of the year, lasting sometimes for months or even several years.

{{Weather box
|location = Fort Qu'Appelle, 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1912–1972{{efn|1981–2010 normals are from Environment and Climate Change Canada's closest climate station, located at nearby [[Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan|Qu'Appelle]]. Extreme high and low temperatures were recorded at Fort Qu'Appelle from 1912 to 1972.}}
|metric first = yes
|single line = yes
|Jan record high C = 11.1
|Feb record high C = 13.3
|Mar record high C = 22.8
|Apr record high C = 33.3
|May record high C = 37.8
|Jun record high C = 42.2
|Jul record high C = 44.4
|Aug record high C = 41.1
|Sep record high C = 36.7
|Oct record high C = 32.8
|Nov record high C = 21.7
|Dec record high C = 16.1
|year record high C = 44.4
|Jan high C = -9.4
|Feb high C = -6.7
|Mar high C = -0.0
|Apr high C = 11.0
|May high C = 17.7
|Jun high C = 21.7
|Jul high C = 25.0
|Aug high C = 24.5
|Sep high C = 18.2
|Oct high C = 10.1
|Nov high C = -0.8
|Dec high C = -7.5
|year high C = 8.7
|Jan mean C = -14.2
|Feb mean C = -11.4
|Mar mean C = -4.9
|Apr mean C = 4.6
|May mean C = 11.0
|Jun mean C = 15.6
|Jul mean C = 18.5
|Aug mean C = 17.7
|Sep mean C = 11.8
|Oct mean C = 4.5
|Nov mean C = -5.1
|Dec mean C = -12.0
|year mean C = 3.0
|Jan low C = -18.9
|Feb low C = -16.1
|Mar low C = -9.8
|Apr low C = -1.9
|May low C = 4.3
|Jun low C = 9.5
|Jul low C = 12.0
|Aug low C = 10.9
|Sep low C = 5.3
|Oct low C = -1.2
|Nov low C = -9.4
|Dec low C = -16.4
|year low C = -2.7
|Jan record low C = -47.2
|Feb record low C = -46.7
|Mar record low C = -40.6
|Apr record low C = -27.8
|May record low C = -12.8
|Jun record low C = -4.4
|Jul record low C = -2.2
|Aug record low C = -2.8
|Sep record low C = -13.3
|Oct record low C = -25.0
|Nov record low C = -37.2
|Dec record low C = -42.8
|year record low C = -47.2
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 15.6
|Feb precipitation mm = 11.5
|Mar precipitation mm = 23.1
|Apr precipitation mm = 26.9
|May precipitation mm = 60.6
|Jun precipitation mm = 83.2
|Jul precipitation mm = 74.7
|Aug precipitation mm = 57.8
|Sep precipitation mm = 38.2
|Oct precipitation mm = 26.4
|Nov precipitation mm = 18.0
|Dec precipitation mm = 19.5
|year precipitation mm = 455.4
|rain colour = green
|Jan rain mm = 0.5
|Feb rain mm = 0.5
|Mar rain mm = 3.8
|Apr rain mm = 14.8
|May rain mm = 52.0
|Jun rain mm = 82.9
|Jul rain mm = 74.7
|Aug rain mm = 57.8
|Sep rain mm = 35.5
|Oct rain mm = 17.5
|Nov rain mm = 1.8
|Dec rain mm = 0.6
|year rain mm = 342.5
|snow colour = green
|Jan snow cm = 15.1
|Feb snow cm = 11.0
|Mar snow cm = 19.4
|Apr snow cm = 12.1
|May snow cm = 8.6
|Jun snow cm = 0.2
|Jul snow cm = 0.0
|Aug snow cm = 0.0
|Sep snow cm = 2.7
|Oct snow cm = 8.9
|Nov snow cm = 16.2
|Dec snow cm = 18.9
|year snow cm = 113.0
|source 1 = [[Environment Canada]]<ref name="January 1916">{{cite web
 | title = Daily Data Report for January 1916 
 | work = Canadian Climate Data
 | publisher = Environment and Climate Change Canada
 | date = 22 September 2015
 | url = http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/daily_data_e.html?hlyRange=%7C&dlyRange=1911-11-01%7C1973-04-30&mlyRange=1911-01-01%7C1973-12-01&StationID=2906&Prov=SK&urlExtension=_e.html&searchType=stnName&optLimit=yearRange&StartYear=1840&EndYear=2016&selRowPerPage=25&Line=0&searchMethod=contains&txtStationName=fort+qu%27appelle&timeframe=2&Year=1916&Month=1
 | access-date = 29 June 2016 }}
</ref><ref name="July 1937">{{cite web
 | title = Daily Data Report for July 1937 
 | work = Canadian Climate Data
 | publisher = Environment and Climate Change Canada
 | date = 22 September 2015
 | url = http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/daily_data_e.html?hlyRange=%7C&dlyRange=1911-11-01%7C1973-04-30&mlyRange=1911-01-01%7C1973-12-01&StationID=2906&Prov=SK&urlExtension=_e.html&searchType=stnName&optLimit=yearRange&StartYear=1840&EndYear=2016&selRowPerPage=25&Line=0&searchMethod=contains&txtStationName=fort+qu%27appelle&timeframe=2&Year=1937&Month=7
 | access-date = 29 June 2016 }}
</ref><ref name= "climate"/><ref name="Fort Qu'Appelle">{{cite web
 | title = Fort Qu'Appelle 
 | work = Canadian Climate Data
 | publisher = Environment and Climate Change Canada
 | date = 22 September 2015
 | url = http://climate.weather.gc.ca/historical_data/search_historic_data_stations_e.html?searchType=stnName&timeframe=1&txtStationName=fort+qu%27appelle&searchMethod=contains&optLimit=yearRange&StartYear=1840&EndYear=2016&Year=2016&Month=6&Day=29&selRowPerPage=25
 | access-date = 29 June 2016 }}
</ref>
|date=December 2010
}}

== Sports ==
The Mission Ridge Ski Hill, located just south of the town near the Treaty 4 Grounds, is open during the winter and is patronised by ski-enthusiasts from the valley and environs and from Regina and elsewhere in the region.  On the July long weekend Mission Ridge plays host to Rockin' the Ridge, a one-day country/rock music festival.

Recently, Fort Qu'Appelle and area were host to the 2007 [[Keystone Cup]] during 12–15 April. The Keystone Cup is the Junior "B" ice hockey championship and trophy for [[Western Canada]]. The home town host, Fort Knox hockey club, placed 2nd and won the silver medal in the event. The town accommodated players, coaches, parents, and fans during the event. "The Fort Qu'Appelle Falcons, a midget-level team made up of 16- and 17-year-olds," finished the 2008–2009 season in first place and without any major infractions.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Weidlich
 | first = John
 | title = Sask. hockey team plays clean, and cleans up in league play Fort Qu'Appelle Falcons did not fight all season long
 | publisher = CBC News 
 | date = 11 February 2009
 | url =https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/sask-hockey-team-plays-clean-and-cleans-up-in-league-play-1.851117
 | access-date = 3 September 2012}}
</ref> The Fort Qu'Appelle Senior C team brought home the Jack Abbott Memorial Trophy in 1957, 2004 saw the Fort Qu'Appelle Flyers win the Female Pee wee A provincial championship.  In 2004 and 2005, the fort Qu'Appelle Falcons Midge A team earned the Harold Jones Cup, 2006 saw the Female Bantam A team, the Fort Qu'Appelle Flyers rise to provincial championship level, and in 2007 provincial champions arose from Fort Qu'Appelle again when the Falcons Bantam A team achieved the honour of the John Maddia Cup.
<ref>{{cite book
 |title       = Saskatchewan Hockey Association – Past Provincial Winners
 |publisher   = Saskatchewan Hockey Association
 |format      = Website by Look Matters
 |date        = 2007–2012
 |url         = http://www.sha.sk.ca/provincials/past-provincial-winners
 |access-date  = 3 September 2012
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20100627063553/http://www.sha.sk.ca/provincials/past-provincial-winners
 |archive-date = 27 June 2010
}}
</ref> Starting his career in 1970–71 with the Fort Qu'Appelle Silver Foxes, Glen Burdon was selected in both the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association drafts.<ref>{{Citation
 | last =Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum
 | title =NHL player search Glen William Burdon
 | year =1997–2012
 | url =http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=12149
 | access-date = 3 September 2012}}</ref>
The Fort Qu'Appelle curling club was established 1894.  the first rink was north of the Canadian Pacific Railway line on Boundary Avenue North with one sheet of ice.  The curling club competed with Lebret and the Sanitorium clubs during the 1940s. The curling club expanded in 1947 moving the Dafoe air force hangar into town.<ref>{{cite book
 | last =Argan
 | first =William P
 | title =Saskatchewan curling : heartland tradition
 | chapter =Fort Qu'Appelle Goes It Alone
 | publisher =Saskatchewan Curling Association
 | year =1991
 | location =Regina, Saskatchewan
 }}</ref>
Fort Qu'Appelle Sioux Indians belonged to the Southern Baseball League.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Gent
 | first =Doug
 | title =Estevan Maple Leaf Baseball team
 | date =7 May 2011
 | url =http://gent-family.com/Estevan/estevanmapleleafs.html
}}</ref> In 1961, Duane Ring of the Fort Qu'Appelle Sioux Indians was runner up for the hitting crown. He fell just .057 percentage points behind Lionel Ruhr.<ref>{{cite book
 | title =Western Canada Baseball 1961
 | publisher = JDM. 
 | year =2010
 | url =http://www.attheplate.com/wcbl/1961_1.html
 }}</ref>

== Recreation, holidaying and tourism ==
[[File:1904 lakeside horse and wagon-riding.png|thumb|left|Lakeside horse and wagon riding southeast of the Fort in 1904]]
[[File:Fort Qu'Appelle Beach, Echo Lake.jpg|thumb|Fort Qu'Appelle Beach on Echo Lake]]
Fort Qu'Appelle and nearby Qu'Appelle Valley sites have almost from the beginning of township provided ample recreational sites and are a notable tourist destination both in summer and winter. "[I]in the years prior to World War I ...the recreational potential of the district began to be exploited and numerous cottages began to appear on the area lakes."
<ref>David McLennan, "Fort Qu'Appelle." ''The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan''. http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/fort_quappelle.html 20 August 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | title =Qu'Appelle valley is big attraction for visitors
 | work =The Leader-Post
 | date =23 June 1959
 | url =https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Rq9UAAAAIBAJ&pg=5508,4442284&dq=qu-appelle+sask&hl=en
 | access-date = 10 February 2013}}</ref> The lakes afford swimming, boating and other water related activities in summer and [[cross-country skiing]], snowmobiling and [[ice fishing]] in winter. There is also [[Echo Valley Provincial Park]] located between [[Echo Lake (Saskatchewan)|Echo Lake]] and Pasqua Lake. The park provides an [[RV park]], [[camping]], [[swimming (sport)|swimming]], [[boating]], and [[fishing]].<ref>{{cite book
 | last =Clancy
 | first =Michael T.
 |author2 = Anna Clancy
 | title = A User's Guide to Saskatchewan Parks
 |volume= 5 of Discover Saskatchewan Series
 |editor = Anna Clancy
 |edition = illustrated
 |isbn= 9780889771987
 | publisher =University of Regina. Canadian Plains Research Center
 | year =2006
 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=VmOvkPNog9AC&q=qu%27appelle&pg=PA433
 | access-date = 10 February 2013}}</ref>

"To the visitor, southern Saskatchewan Qu'Appelle Valley might, at first glance, appear to be a mirage. Bordered by seemingly-endless farmland flatness, the dramatic physical features of the valley appear somewhat out of place.<ref>{{cite web
{{check quotation}} | last =Peterson
 | first =Bill
 | title =Qu'Appelle Covered in Book
 | work =The Phoenix
 | date =12 June 1978
 | url =https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_5NjAAAAIBAJ&pg=4863,3520940&dq=qu-appelle+sask&hl=en
 | access-date =10 February 2013}}</ref>

[[File:FortQuAppelleTrainStation.jpg|thumb|[[Fort Qu'Appelle station]], ceasing use as a station in 1978 but maintained as a visitor site]]
The long-closed [[Fort Qu'Appelle station]] was originally built by the [[Grand Trunk Pacific Railway]], "incorporated in 1903 as a subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway" and "[b]y 1923, [with] the Grand Trunk Railway, and the National Transcontinental merged with the [[Canadian Northern Railway]] to form the new Canadian National Railway."<ref>Iain Stewart, "[http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/grand_trunk_pacific_railway.html Grand Trunk Pacific Railway] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917104529/http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/grand_trunk_pacific_railway.html |date=17 September 2011}}" in ''The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan''</ref> "[M]any prairie branch lines closed after 1945; the passenger service was terminated in 1978."<ref>Iain Stewart, "[http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/canadian_national_railway.html Canadian National Railway]" in ''The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan''</ref> immediately to the west of Fort Qu'Appelle, approximately halfway along the south shore of the lake; a popular holiday resort and commuter community since the 1880s. The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway station nonetheless continues to stand, maintained as a site for current information on attractions and activities. After closure as a medical facility, Fort San was used as a summer musical facility until the 1990s with choir concerts in the nearby Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Lebret.

The most notable tourist event is [[Treaty 4]] Gathering, a week-long event celebrating the signing of Treaty 4. The event is held in September, during the week of the 15th. [[Pow wow]]s are held daily during the week.

Aforementioned winter downhill skiing, currently at the [[Mission Ridge Winter Park|Mission Ridge Ski Hill]], attracts skiers not only from the town but elsewhere in the region including the city of Regina.

== Notable people ==
*[[Walter Dieter]], the founding chief of the National Indian Brotherhood in 1968, which is today known as the [[Assembly of First Nations]].
* [[James Henderson (artist)|James Henderson]], "Saskatchewan's pre-eminent first-generation artist" spent much of his career working in Fort Qu'Appelle.<ref>[http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/henderson_james_1871-1951.html James E. Lanigan, "James Henderson," Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan.] Retrieved 19 November 2007.</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | title =Canadian Art Receives Impetus with Opening of Ottawa exhibition – Landscapes by James Henderson of fort Qu'Appelle and G. Kenderdine, are worthy of note, other westerners contribute
 | work =Canadian Press
 | publisher =Saskatoon Star Phoenix
 | date = 29 January 1931
 | url =https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HNBkAAAAIBAJ&pg=1642,2008088&dq=fort-qu-appelle&hl=en
 | format =digitised online by Google news
 | access-date = 3 July 2012}}</ref>
* [[Mel Hill|Mel "Sudden Death" Hill]], [[National Hockey League]] forward.
* [[ice hockey|Hockey]] star and [[Hockey Hall of Fame]] member [[Eddie Shore]] was born in Fort Qu'Appelle.<ref>{{cite news
 | title =Shore's Latest Holdout Ends. N.H.L. maximum of %$7,000 announced as his salary for 1938-9 season: No penalty for missing first four games
 | newspaper =Windsor Daily Star
 | date =16 November 1938
 | url =https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FBs_AAAAIBAJ&pg=2132,1302363&dq=fort-qu-appelle&hl=en
 | format =digitised online by Google news
 | access-date = 3 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | title =Eddie Shore Recovering From Illness
 | work =Ottawa Citizen
 | date =5 October 1960
 | url =https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0NMxAAAAIBAJ&pg=4494,993260&dq=qu-appelle+sask&hl=en
 | access-date =10 February 2013}}</ref>
*[[Noel Starblanket]], the third chief of the National Indian Brotherhood.

== Media ==
*The town's weekly community newspaper, the ''Fort Qu'Appelle Times.'' 
*The town has 3 television re-transmitters. The transmitters are used by [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]] (channel 4), [[Global Television Network|Global]] (channel 6), and [[CTV Television Network|CTV]] (channel 7).

== Television and film location ==
* The movie ''[[Skipped Parts]]'', set in [[Wyoming]], had scenes filmed in Fort Qu'Appelle and in nearby towns as well as the city of [[Regina, Saskatchewan|Regina]]
* The [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]] movie ''Betrayed'' was filmed primarily in Fort Qu'Appelle, with notable sites including the old hospital (both in and out).
* The television series ''Life Without Borders'' is filmed and produced in the Fort Qu'Appelle area.

== See also ==
* [[List of towns in Saskatchewan]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{notelist}}

== External links ==
*{{Official website|http://www.fortquappelle.com/}}
*{{commons category-inline}}

{{Geographic location
| North=[[Fort San, Saskatchewan|Fort San]]
| Northeast = [[Balcarres, Saskatchewan|Fort Qu'Appelle]]
| West=[[Edgeley, Saskatchewan|Edgeley]]<br />[[Mclean, Saskatchewan|Mclean]]
| Center=Fort Qu'Appelle
| East=[[Lebret, Saskatchewan|Lebret]], [[Esterhazy, Saskatchewan|Winro]], [[Indian Head, Saskatchewan|Indian Head]]
| South=[[Indian Head, Saskatchewan|Indian Head]], [[Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan]]
| Southwest = [[Balgonie, Saskatchewan|Balgonie]]
| Southeast = [[Indian Head, Saskatchewan]]
}}
{{Subdivisions of Saskatchewan|towns=yes}}
{{SKDivision6}}
{{Saskatchewan parks}}
{{NHSC}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Qu'appelle, Saskatchewan}}
[[Category:Fort Qu'Appelle| ]]
[[Category:North Qu'Appelle No. 187, Saskatchewan]]
[[Category:Towns in Saskatchewan]]
[[Category:Hudson's Bay Company forts]]
[[Category:National Historic Sites in Saskatchewan]]
[[Category:Division No. 6, Saskatchewan]]