On Thursday, October 26, two members of the Canadian Armed Forces Governor General’s Foot Guards (Ottawa) and two members of the North Saskatchewan Regiment (Saskatoon) toured the Museum. They had travelled to the area to meet with Eric Tootoosis and other representatives of Poundmaker Cree Nation regarding potential Reconciliation activities in 2024. Eric then referred them to the Museum and Randy S. was available to tour them through the exhibits.
GOVERNOR GENERAL’S FOOT GUARDS
The Governor General’s Foot Guards (GGFG) was established in 1872 in Ottawa and is still headquartered there. Currently, the GGFG provide operational support to regular CAF deployments around the world including United Nations and NATO activities. It also has emergency response capabilities that assist Canadians during natural disasters or emergencies like the 1998 Ice Storm, floods, and the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Members of the Regiment… provided a company of sharpshooters to the Battleford column during the North West Rebellion, where the Regiment suffered its first two casualties at the battle of Cut Knife Hill.
Lieutenant Colonel Jaime Bell (Commanding Officer) and Chief Warrant Officer Greg Witol (Regimental Sargeant Major) of the Governor General’s Foot Guards, and Chief Warrant Officer Jason Balcaen (Regimental Sargeant Major) and Master Warrant Officer Robert Brown (Indigenous Advisor to the Commander of the Canadian Army) of the North Saskatchewan Regiment enjoyed their tour. Of special note in the Exhibits building was the display of stone tools, the information on the 1885 Northwest Resistance, and from a military perspective, finding that the artillery used at the time had rifling on the projectile rather than the barrel of the gun. The group also spent some time going over the railway history of the North-West Territories, and the story of Bert Martin’s Cabin produced a chuckle.
Left to right: CWO Greg Witol, LCol Jaime Bell, MWO Robert Brown & CWO Jason Balcaen
The leaves in Tomahawk Park are falling fast and furious as we finish up this season’s To-Do List. We welcomed 300 visitors this year, about one third of whom, visited on Canada Day! In-between tours, cleaning the buildings, and the ongoing process of cataloguing artifacts, we completed a few new projects (photos below):
The original Ovenstown Gift Shop was hastily packed up and put away prior to the demolition of the building in 2020. This summer, we set up a mini-gift shop in the Duvall House with displays of local history books, crafts, and Tomahawk Park souvenirs.
The depression where the Ovenstown building had been located was filled with topsoil, harrowed, and grass seed was planted.
The Transportation Shed and the outdoor Machinery Display received new signage. The original artifact labels and descriptions had faded over time, and most had been lost to the weather.
Located on both sides of the Duvall House front steps, newly planted flower beds, with a small rock garden, welcome visitors.
The Elizabeth McLain Memorial Garden and the shrubbery bed at the beginning of the walking path each received a face lift with new mulch and a trim.
Many thanks to Sherri Solomko for her write-up in Sask Today about the vandalism at the CMMM this past week. Unfortunately, Facebook is preventing us from sharing it on our feed. We encourage you to support local news outlets by visiting their pages directly.
Clayton McLain Memorial Museum 