Our original plan had us traveling to Regina (rhymes with Vagina), SK next, but we thought a city called Moose Jaw sounded even funnier than Saskatoon and was just as satisfying to say, so we detoured there. We believed the name must have something to do with a moose or a jaw or both, but we couldn’t have been more wrong. The name comes from the white man’s mispronunciation and misinterpretation of the Cree phrase moscâstani-sîpiy, which means a “warm place by the river.” The first two syllables, moscâs, when spoken in First People tongue, sounds remarkably like Moose Jaw. So there you have it!
We stayed in an unremarkable campground called Prairie Oasis Tourist Complex on the north end of town. As we pulled in, couldn’t help but notice the huge statue of a moose in front of a building nearby. Checking it out later, we learned this is Mac, the world’s, tallest moose. Of course, there was a back story here.
Mac was the idea of Saskatoon artist Don Foulds to bring more tourists. Construction was completed in May 1985, and it became Moose Jaws first attraction, billed as the world’s tallest moose. Thirty-one years later, another moose statue was erected in Stor-Elvdal, Norway and stole the tallest title by 12 inches. Moose Jaw was initially OK with having world’s second tallest moose, but after four years, two Canadian comedians campaigned for Moose Jaw to modify Mac and take back the title. News outlets worldwide picked up the contested title story and within no time the two cities were momentarily famous. In less than a year, Mac’s antlers were enlarged, and Moose Jaw once again had the world’s tallest moose at 10.36 meters or 34 feet. As a fortunate side effect, mayors of the two cities signed a proclamation whereby each agreed to host a community celebration of the other’s country on alternating years. They transformed the silly contest into a win-win situation. Frankly, between you and me, Mac looks a bit Bullwinkel-esque, while the Stor-Elvdal moose is sci-fi realistic and cool. You be the judge!
Mac is no longer the city’s main tourist attraction. That honor undisputably goes to The Tunnels of Moose Jaw. But I’m getting ahead of myself. In the early 1900’s, utility tunnels were often constructed to place power, steam, water, and sewer lines underground. Particularly in northern cities exposed to cold winter temperatures, having the utilities in underground tunnels provided engineers and maintenance personnel warm passageways and easy access to their work. The first Moose Jaw utility tunnel was constructed from the Candian Pacific Railway Station to the Maple Leaf Hotel and under Main Street. The claim is there were many more tunnels built, the full extent of which remains an unknown mystery today. Do you hear eerie music playing in the background? I’m skeptical of this extensive tunnel claim, but I’m certain it helps keep the tourists interested.
The Tunnels of Moose Jaw offers three 50-minute tunnel tours multiple times daily. We took all three and enjoyed each one. Unfortunately, photography was prohibited, so written descriptions will have to suffice. The first and likely the most popular was called The Chicago Connection. This tour was based on the rumors that Chicago gangster, Al Capone, used the tunnels as a hideout for his bootlegging operations during prohibition. Our guides (young amateur actors) said we were interested buyers of alcohol, and as such, had come to learn the business while avoiding contact with the local police. The tour began in Miss Fanny’s Club, then walked us through Capone’s business office, his private living quarters, and into the tunnels where he maintained a room for his personal barber, a secure place to dine, and rooms for storing and shipping his illegal elixir. The local police raided the tunnels, and we were hustled out to safety in a hail of gunfire (blanks of course, but nonetheless loud and exhilarating). Our guides provided signifciant amounts of historical information throughout the tour.
Our second tour was Passage to Fortune, where we learned about the sad and often heartbreaking story of Chinese immigrants to Canada in the early 20th century. It began with an historical movie about immigration, and the movie included an emotional tribute by a modern-day ancestor. Chinese men came to Canada in hope of making money to improve the lives of families left behind. They worked as servants, railway laborers, miners, or laundry workers but were discriminating against, mistreated, abused, and sometimes killed. Canada had passed legislation, which required they pay an expensive “Head Tax,” with the intention of discouraging immigration. Immigrants hid underground to avoid paying the tax. Our guide suddenly changed demeanor and made us assume the roll of new immigrants under the brutal employment of Mr. Burrows, the mean (and he really was) owner of Burrows and Sons Laundry. We were led through our dark, cramped quarters, the blistering hot laundry equipment, and the underground kitchen of Mr. Wong’s Cafe. Some of our fellow immigrants were also forced to cook for the above ground restaurant. Historically, we learned about the importance of Chinese medicine and the immigrant doctors who practiced secretly to help their fellow countrymen survive, and the fact that immigrants were already paying Chinese entrepaneurs with whom they were under contract for being provided passage to Canada. They left China as indentured servants regardless of the jobs they found in Canada.
Tour three was called Bunker 24, which told the story of Canada’s development coming out of the depression and World War II. We were new military recruits assigned to the bunker to help Canada in her fight against the Cold War nuclear threat. If you can imagine a self-sufficient underground bunker, then it would come as no surprize that we were toured through communications rooms, decontamination areas, sleeping facilities, a dining room and lounge, and finally the command post complete with wall-sized screens showing nuclear missile activity. The tour ended with a an aborted reaction to incoming Soviet missiles portending World War III. Red lights were flashing and klaxons blaring. Because I have military life and job experience with this sort of scenario, I found it a bit hokey, although still entertaining. We subsequently learned that Royal Canadian Air Force Station Moose Jaw was only four miles from downtown, and it boasts of a pilot training history dating back to the start of WW II.
We discovered the best coffee house in town both as we started the first tour and emerged from the third. The Bee Hive was right on Main Street across from The Tunnels of Moose Jaw enterprise.
Another interesting feature of the downtown were the large murals, most often seen on the exterior walls of buildings. There are 47 of them, and while most are paintings, others appear as bas-relief and glassworks. We only saw a few, but their sheer size made them amazing. Pitctured here is #5, Stormin’ Main Street – 1883. This 18′ X 80′ perspective was painted by Dale Cline in 1991 and depicts a view north on Main Street as a prairie thunderstorm approaches. The purpose of the murals was to capture scenes from the city’s history and provide observers with a grander view of what Moose Jaw was all about. Many communities across Canada created similar murals, and Canada encouraged and provided funding for many of them for the celebration of its 150th year birthday. We saw this mural after having breakfast, before knowing anything about the community murals program. I considered the “24 Hour Reserved Parking Only” sign to be an abuse of public art property.
Moose Jaw also turned out to be a great place for hiking. I found some great locations on my AllTrails app. MFI dropped me off in the morning and picked me up when finished so we could go and enjoy coffee and breakfast. The river where the “warm places” were found was the Moose Jaw River, a tributary of the Qu’Appella, curving through the Wakamow Valley in southwest Moose Jaw. The trails were a fun mix of scenic river views, Grand Prairie terrain, well-groomed parks, single-lane paths, manicured walkways, and invigorating hills.
Since Regina is the capital of Saskatchewan and because we were so close, we drove 50 miles east and spent a day there. We arrived hungry. so we had a terrific lunch at Victoria’s Tavern Downtown. While the place was crazy busy and loud, we were seated in a small, quaint, and quiet space that had once been a walk-in bank vault. We treated ourselves to dessert and absolutely delighted in crushing their Deep-Fried Vanilla Cheesecake with Saskatoon Berry Compote.
We took a quick look around downtown, then drove south to Wascana Lake and the huge surrounding parkland. While MFI enjoyed her usual post-lunch coma, I seized the opportunity to hike along the lake, get some exercise, and enjoy some sites. The parklands were also home to The University of Regina, Luther College, Wascana Lake Migratory Bird Sanctuary, Conexus Art Center, and the Saskatchewan Science Center.
After my hike and MFI’s nap, we visited the Saskatchewan Science Center and were excited to see Scotty on display, the largest T-Rex skeleton discovered to date and the first one to ever be unearthed in Saskatchewan. Yes, definitely bigger than SUE (the huge T-Rex in Chicago’s Field Museum), being almost bone for bone much bulkier. In fact, Scotty was a 28-year old female, 6 meters tall, and 12 meters long. Paleontologist’s found 70% of her bones in 1991 along with the first ever known T-Rex coprolite or turd (size and weight not provided). During the Cretaceous Period 65 million years ago, central Canada was a tropical forest with an inland sea stretching coast to coast. As a result, the Grand Prairie has been rich with dinosaur fossils. We found the Canadian geological history section of the center to be most interesting.
We departed Regina late in the afternoon with a fresh cup of Starbucks coffee. The road back was the Transcanadian Saskatchewan Highway 1 straight westbound into Moose Jaw. I mention this only because we encountered a stretch of highway that was one of the worst washboard roads we’ve experienced on our journey. You know the type of road I mean. Every joint in the pavement has differential settlement such that your tires sing “da-duh, da-duh, da-duh” until your teeth are about to rattle loose and you’re close to slitting your wrists.
Are trek into Canada for 2022 was about to come to end as we’d be back in the US in just three days. We’ve now visited seven provinces and have thoroughly enjoyed almost every stop. So before we left Moose Jaw, we went downtown one more time to “Shop the Jaw.” We found a coffee mug in the “Chocolate Moose Fudge Factory” that we just had to buy. It perfectly summed up how we felt…
