Regina and Saskatchewan
Regina is a beautiful city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. In your travels in Canada, you’ll find that almost everybody is fascinated with this province, and this city in general.
It began in an almost quirky way, with the Native Americans using the area as an area to stockpile the bones that they collected from their buffalo hunts, giving the area the name “Pile o’ Bones.”
In the 1800s, the railroads finally reached the region and the settlers started to trickle in very slowly. Their numbers grew quite gradually, more because of the great distance of the area from any form of populated area.
The climate lent itself readily to an agricultural industry, which is still thriving up to this day. One high point in the city’s history is the establishment of the North West Mounted Police of their headquarters in this city. After they became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, they still maintained their training academy in the city as well as a museum cataloging the history of the Mounties.
Because of the importance the city was gaining in the province and the country, it was renamed “Regina” for Britain’s then reigning Queen Victoria.
The citizens wanted to beautify the city physically, as well as with the name of their city. They planted upwards of 350,000 trees, dug up a man-made lake, and virtually transformed the landscape of the city overnight. Landscaped gardens and tranquil green spaces still adorn the city, Wascana Centre.
The Centre is where the Legislative Building, the Saskatchewan Science Centre, and the Mackenzie Art Gallery are located. It also hosts the Royal Saskatchewan Museum where the history of the area, including the combining of the European and Native American cultures are detailed.
If the visitor wants to try their luck at gaming, then they should head to Casino Regina, housed in a historic train station that has been refurbished to fit the casino and the gamers that flock to it. The Queen City still lives up to its name.