Original Humboldt hosted an information session on Apr. 14 at the Humboldt & District Museum.
The event gave the Original Humboldt committee an opportunity to hear about what happened in 2015 and what is planned for the coming year.
It also gave them an opportunity to be involved in the planning process, which is important, says Director of Cultural Services Jennifer Hoesgen.
“We have a lot of community support and we want to make sure that the plans that we’re thinking of doing for Canada’s 150th anniversary are really what the community wants so if there’s more ideas out there, if they think that our plans need a little work, we want to hear from them.”
Last year the committee was hard at work as they republished the Original Humboldt publication and spent a small portion of the summer doing some archeological work out at the site. They also installed a walkway and are in the process of turning the entire 80 acre plot of land back into a natural grass surface.
Making the site more tourist friendly was another big part of their year as they have also prepared the site to do a number of art installations.
“It’s hard to share a story when you only have the land left and so we need to help the public understand what the significance of that land is in Canadian history,” Hoesgen said.
Looking ahead, the committee plans to continue making the site more tourist friendly by adding more storyboards to the site and are going to continue preparing the site for more art installations.
They are also working with the Whitecap Dakota First Nations to do some additional work at the site.
A lot of the work that the committee is doing is in preparation for the big Canada 150 celebration to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary.
Part of their plans is to bring Canada’s Governor General to the event to celebrate the sites great history as well.
The history of the site also includes the City of Humboldt. The site was originally named Humboldt in 1876 and the name was carried over to the village when it was created in the early 1900’s.
Humboldt also has the unique distinction as being the only place in Canada where building the dominion telegraph line is marked.
“We have a plaque out there and this project is a big deal. People don’t understand the significance of that to Canadian history… when you talk about the history of Canada, Original Humboldt is never mentioned and so we want to make sure people understand how significant the development of western Canada was impacted by the events that happened at this site,” said Hoesgen.
Hoesgen says the community has been a great help in recovering some of the history from the site.
“A lot of people in that area just have such a passion and a connection for this land and they’re really willing to share information…so especially for my team of volunteers you’re really humbled by how much people are willing to support it.”
The committee is still looking for more help from the public in recovering more history and finding out more about the site and what has happened there in the past so Hoesgen encourages anyone with any information to visit the museum and to let them know.
“We know that there are people who have been around that site for a long time, lived in the area and we also know that there are many stories that we probably don’t know…we know there were 460 soldiers there in 1885, we’re looking for diaries of some of those soldiers that probably ended up going back east after but there’s lots to be discovered yet.”
