Chimney Coulee - Saskatchewan Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

As the Plaque reads:

Chimney Coulee
The piles of stone and mud scattered along the valley are the remains of chimneys which stood for many years to mark the sites of Metis cabins, trading posts and a police post. From the middle decades of the nineteenth century Metis hunters and traders regularly wintered here, where a chapel was maintained for their use.

Some of the chimneys mark the location of a Hudson's Bay Company outpost operated by Isaac Cowie in the winter of 1871-72. in this season Cowie collected 750 grizzly bear pelts, 1500 elk hides and hundreds of smaller skins. Despite such success he never returned to this no-mans's-land where Cree, Assiniboine and Blackfoot often clashed.

In 1876, the North West Mounted Police established here an outpost of Fort Walsh known as Eastend Post because of its position at the East end of Cypress Hills.

As the boards read:

Chimney Coulee

"We had not gone, at a lope, more than a quarter of a mile, when we heard a sputtering volley, evidently from a large party. . . not one of the nine Stonies escaped."

In the winter of 1871-1872, Isaac Cowie established a Hudson Bay Trading post in this coulee. In one season, he traded 750 grizzly bear and 1500 elk hides. But tension between the Blackfoot and other Indian tribes in the area was mounting. There was even a Blackfoot raiding party camped in the hills.

Cowie was a experienced trader. He knew whiskey traders were adding to the unrest, and he sensed trouble brewing. Come Spring Cowie decided to abandon the post, and began preparing for the long journey back to Fort Qu'Appelle. Ge relieved to be going and anxious to be gone. On the day of departure nine Assiniboine Indians cames riding in to scavenge for goods. Cowie warned them about the Blackfoot party, then rode off.

He had only gone about a quarter mile when sounds of gunfire broke the silence, he saw smoke rising from the coulee. In June, a party of Metis hunters discovered the post burned to the ground. . . and the bodies of the nine Assiniboine, all scalped.

This was not the first time Indian tribes had fought here. Stories of other skirmishes were told to early settlers. And the North-West Mounted Police found the remains of a band of Cree who were killed by the Blackfoot.

In 1873, 60 Metis families established the settlement of Chapel Coulee. It consisted of a Roman Catholic church, a cemetery with six known graves, and several cabins. The cabins measured about 14 feet wide and 30 to 40 feet long. They were partitioned every 10 to 12 feet to form separate living quarters, each with a stone fireplace and chimney. These chimneys stood long after the settlement had been abandoned.

In 1877 the North West Mounted Police located a three-man detachment here. It stood at the east end of Cypress Hills so they called it "East End". The post functioned mainly as stop-over point between Fort Walsh and Wood Mountain to the East.

Long buildings were erected in 1878 or 1879, and the detachment was increased to six men. By this time they had an important new task; keeping an eye on Sitting Bull. Under Sitting Bull's leadership, the Sioux nation had defeated General Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. Fearing reprisal from the American Calvary, Sitting Bull and thousands of Sioux fled into North into Canada. Their most extensive camp is believed to have been South of Chimney Coulee, on the Frenchman River near present-day Eastend. Life for men stationed at the East End post was a daily routine of patrols and chores. They lived on simple provisions.

When the East End post was moved in 1887, the coulee seemed strangely quiet. Cowie, Blackfoot, Assiniboine, Metis settlers, Sioux, even Mountie - all were gone. Even game was scarce. The hills were hunted bare, and the great buffalo was all but extinct.

When white settlers began arriving in the late 1880's and 1890's they camped in the deserted coulee. It became known as Chimney Coulee after the remaining stone chimney from the Metis settlement. The last chimney coulee collapsed in 1915.

Corky Jones, a local pioneer and historian who ranched here for many years, collected stories of the coulee. In helping preserve its colourful history, he became part of it.

Marker type: Plaque cairn, and boards Marker placement date: Not listed

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