#JustCurious Did Regina have naturally occurring trees prior to being settled?

Today, the city of Regina has over 500,000 hand planted trees maintained by city staff, but when settlers arrived to the area in the late 1870s, it was bald prairie. Not a tree in sight.

Let’s take you back to 1883. The Provincial Capital Commission which oversees Wascana Park says the lake was first built by the Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian Government, which created a dam.

That move resulted in a 65 hectare reservoir that was a metre-an-a-half deep and was used for stock watering in 1883. Regina wasn’t formally a city until 1903 and Saskatchewan did not yet have a capital city.

Area residents wanted to be the capital so they devised a plan. They knew impressing the Prime Minister at the time, Sir. John A. MacDonald, would be their best play, so, they transplanted all of the flowers that were growing around Wascana Lake to the nearby Union Station to make the city appear more beautiful. Guess what? That move worked. Regina was officially made the capital city in 1905.

In 1913, nearly 11,000 trees and shrubs were planted in Wascana Centre, all carefully positioned and though out. Wascana was on the outskirts of the city until the legislative assembly was completed in 1912.

From there, residents kept planting and planting until we have what you see today.