In memory of Henry Kelsey
N 52° 08.644 W 106° 41.323
13U E 384445 N 5778407
This Cairn is located by Henry Kelsey School, Saskatoon.
Waymark Code: WM7B8Y
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Date Posted: 09/30/2009
Views: 8
Dedicated to the memory of Henry Kelsey, intrepid explorer, trader and friend of the Indians. On the 12th of June, 1690, Henry Kelsey, A lad of 20, left York Factory with a band of Assiniboine Indians returning to their homes on the prairie. He was an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company and the purpose of his trip was to encourage other plains indians to bring their furs to the bay. He reached the "Saskatchewan" and wintered on the plains. He was the first white man to see the Great Grass Lands, hunt the buffalo, and record its description. In 1928 the original of Kelsey 128 page diary turned up in a castle in Norhtern Ireland. In it he had written:
"They are ill-shaped beast biggar than English ox, horns growing ye same but black and short."
Close to this cairn is a buffalo rub. These stones were used by the great beasts to remove winter hair and in general to get relief from burrs and ticks which infested their thick shaggy coats. Constant rubbing against the stone smoothed and pollished the surface and in the process of tramping and pawing around the buffalo created a wallow.
This stone was found at Floral on the land of the Honourable Charles Agar. It was placed here by the Parks and Recreation board in 1965.
Marker type: Cairn
Marker placement date: Not listed
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