Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina is the provincial capital of Saskatchewan, Canada and was incorporated as a city on June 19, 1903. Regina was proclaimed the capital on May 23, 1906 by the first provincial government led by Premier Walter Scott.

History

Regina was founded in 1882 when the Canadian Pacific Railway constructed a transcontinental railroad line through the region. The Dominion Lands Act encouraged homesteaders to come to the area where they could purchase 160 acres (647,000 m²) of land for $10. The city was originally known as the "Pile of Bones", because of the large amounts of buffalo bones in the area.

Related Topics:
1882 - Canadian Pacific Railway - Dominion Lands Act - Acre - Buffalo

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The hamlet of Pile of Bones was renamed in 1882 to Regina (Latin for queen) by Princess Louise, the wife of Canada's Governor General, in honour of her mother Queen Victoria, the British monarch at the time. Reginans commonly refer to Regina as the "Queen City".

Related Topics:
Hamlet - 1882 - Latin - Princess Louise - Canada's Governor General - Queen Victoria - British monarch

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In 1883 Regina was chosen as the new capital of the Northwest Territories over Battleford, given its close proximity to the railroad. Regina remained the territorial capital until 1905 when Saskatchewan became a province. On December 1, 1883, Regina was officially declared a town. The town's first mayor, David Scott, was elected on January 10, 1884.

Related Topics:
1883 - Northwest Territories - 1905 - December 1 - Mayor - January 10 - 1884

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In one of the sombre notes of the city's history, Louis Riel was brought to Regina after being defeated by government forces in the North-West Rebellion. Riel was found guilty of treason and hanged on November 16, 1885. The trial was re-enacted each summer by local actors in the Trial of Louis Riel for many years, but was not presented in 2004 and the production's future is in doubt.

Related Topics:
Louis Riel - North-West Rebellion - Treason - November 16 - 1885

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From 1892 to 1920, Regina was the headquarters of the North West Mounted Police, and it is now western headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and home of the RCMP Training Academy.

Related Topics:
1892 - 1920 - North West Mounted Police - Royal Canadian Mounted Police - RCMP Training Academy

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With a population of more than 3,000, Regina was incorporated as a city on June 19, 1903, with Jacob W. Smith serving as the first mayor. After Saskatchewan became a province on September 1, 1905, Regina was officially decreed the capital on May 23, 1906. In 1908 the first city hall was completed on the current site of the Galleria in downtown Regina while work commenced on constructing the province's legislative buildings beside Wascana Lake.

Related Topics:
June 19 - 1903 - September 1 - 1905 - May 23 - 1906 - 1908

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The city is home of the first commercial airport and was the location for the first air mail flight in Canada.

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On June 30, 1912, a tornado devastated the city, killing 28, injuring hundreds and destroying more than 400 buildings. The estimated $5 million dollars in damage took more than two years to repair. Future horror film star Boris Karloff, who was in Regina at the time appearing in a play, served as a rescue worker after the disaster. The Regina Cyclone, as it came to be known, remains the deadliest tornado event in Canadian history.

Related Topics:
June 30 - 1912 - Tornado - Boris Karloff - Regina Cyclone

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In July 1933, a group of farmers, labour and social organizations met in Regina to form the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation or CCF. In 1944, the CCF would go on in Saskatchewan to form North America's first socialist government and provide Canada's first example of a publicly funded health care system. The CCF health care model was later adopted across all of Canada.

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Regina was a great contributor to the Canadian War effort in both World Wars. Young men from Regina volunteered for service forming the Regina Rifles (infantry) as well as the HMCS Regina and the HMCS Wascana regiments of the Canadian Navy. Hundreds of Regina men flew for the Royal Air Force and ultimately the Royal Canadian Airforce during 1939 through 1945. During the war years, Regina became the hub of training activity for Allied Forces as pilots and navigators from Australia, New Zealand and England trained in Commonwealth Air Training Bases in the surrounding communities.

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After the war, Regina grew as a regional distribution centre for farming and rural activity. Not until the 1970's did the economy begin to shift from agri-base to industrial based activity, although agriculture continues to dominate the economy of the city and province. In 1971, Jack Walker, a former RCAF bomber pilot, real estate developer and city alderman took control of the industrial development of the city and began to diversify the local economy by encouraging light industrial business. In 1973 Deere & Co International selected Regina as the Western Distribution Centre for all John Deere equipment. This vote of confidence in the young city combined with the expansion of the Imperial Oil Refinery; the development of the Coop Refinery; and the development of the Inter Provincial Steel Plant began to lessen the city's dependence on agricultural employment.

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Regina Riot

The Great Depression of the 1930s caused massive unemployment in western Canada. As frustrations grew among the unemployed, 1,300 men boarded trains in Vancouver bound for Ottawa to demand work from the federal government. The issue came to a boiling point in Regina, where the numbers had swelled to 1,800 by the time the Prime Minister intervened and ordered the protest to be disbanded.

Related Topics:
Great Depression - 1930s - Unemployment - Vancouver - Ottawa - Prime Minister

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On the evening of July 1, 1935, a public meeting was called for in Market Square to bring the public up to date on what had happened so far. It was attended by 1500 to 2000 people, of whom only 300 were trekkers. The main body of the trekkers had decided to stay at the exibition grounds.

Related Topics:
July 1 - 1935

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Three large vans were parked on the sides of the square concealing RCMP riot squads. Regina police concealed themselves in a nearby garage. At 8:00pm a whistle was blown and the police charged from their concealment, clubbing everyone within reach indiscriminately.

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The attack caught the people at the meeting by surprise, but then anger took over. They began to fight back with anything at hand, sticks, stones, and anything at hand.

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RCMP mounted on horseback then charged into the crowd and attacked with clubs.

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Driven from the Square,the battle continued in the surrounding streets for four hours.

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Trekkers on the speakers' platform were arrested by a body of police in plain clothes.

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The police began firing their revolvers above and into groups of people. Tear gas bombs were thrown at any groups that gathered together.

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Plate glass windows in stores and offices were smashed. There was no looting, with one exception, however.

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People covered their faces with wet handkerchiefs to counter the effects of the tear gas and barricaded streets with cars.

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Finally the Trekkers who had attended the meeting made their way individually or in small groups back to the exibition stadium where the main body of trekkers were quartered.

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When it was over, 120 trekkers and citizens had been arrested. One plain clothes policeman killed. Hundreds of local citizens and Trekkers who had been wounded by police gunfire or otherwise injured were taken to hospitals or private homes. Those taken to hospital were also arrested.

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Property damage was considerable.

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The police claimed 39 injuries in addition to the one in plain clothes who had been killed.

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The Stadium was surrounded by constables armed with revolvers and machine guns. The next day a barbed wire stockade was erected around the stadium. The Trekkers in the stadium were denied any food or water

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News of the police-inspired riot made the front page in newspapers across Canada.

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About midnight one of the Trek leaders telephoned Premier Gardiner who agreed to meet their delegation the next morning. The RCMP were livid when they heard of this. They took the men to the police station for interrogation but finally released them so they could see the premier.

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Premier Gardiner sent a wire to Prime Minister Bennett accusing the police of "precipitating a riot" while he had been negotiating a settlement with the Trekkers. He also told the prime minister the "men should be fed where they are and sent back to camp and homes as they request" and stated his government was prepared to "undertake this work of disbanding the men." An agreement to this effect was subsequently negotiated.

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Bennett was satisfied that he had smashed the Trek and taught the citizens of Regina a lesson. Gardiner was happy that he was getting rid of the strikers from Regina and the province.

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The federal minister of justice made the false statement in the House of Commons on July 2 that "shots were fired by the strikers and the fire was replied to with shots from the city police."

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During the long course of the trials that followed no evidence was ever produced by the Crown that strikers had ever fired any shots.

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Bennett further added to the misrepresentation by stating in the House of Commons the same day that the Trek was "not a mere uprising against law and order but a definite revolutionary effort on the part of a group of men to usurp authority and destroy government."

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Little did they know what the political repercussions of their forcible suppression of a protest movement against the relief camps would be. The Conservatives lost the October 1935 election

Related Topics:
Conservatives - October 1935 election

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