Roche Percee ( 2021 population: ) is a village in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

within the RM of Coalfields No. 4 and Census Division No. 1. The village is near the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

, just off Highway 39. Roche Percee is about east of

Estevan Estevan is the eleventh-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is approximately north of the Canada–United States border. The Souris River runs by the city. This city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5. History The ...

in the

Souris River The Souris River (; ) or Mouse River (as it is alternatively known in the U.S., a translation of its French name) is a river in central North America. Approximately in length, it drains about in Canada and the United States. Rising in sout ...

valley.

History

Early settlement

In 1872, the Boundary Commission travelled through this area while surveying the Canada–United States border between Canada and the United States. During the 1874

March West The March West was the initial journey of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) to the Canadian prairies, made between July 8 and October 9, 1874. It was the result of the force being deployed to what is now southern Alberta in response to the ...

trek of the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian paramilitary police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory to ...

, the force established its first camp (called Short Creek Camp) at this location. Short Creek is a tributary of the Souris River and it meets the river on the west side of Roche Percee. In 1890, the federal government opened a post office serving the Roche Percee area, under the name of "Coalfields". Renamed "Roche Percée" in 1896, it closed in 1897, but re-opened in 1905. It permanently closed in 1970. The community began being served by the Soo Line in 1893, permitting the

coal mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

s in the region to become operational. Roche Percee incorporated as a village on January 12, 1909.

Rock formations

La Roche Percee Provincial Historic Site is located nearby. Referred to by local residents as "the Rocks", it has large

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

deposits in which some caves have formed. The name of the village comes from the

Métis French Métis French () is one of the traditional languages of the Métis people along with Michif and Bungi, and is the French-dialect source of Michif. Features Métis French is a variety of Canadian French with some added characters such as Ññ ...

name of the rock formations. Another similar formation

Percé Rock Percé Rock (, , ) is a huge sheer rock formation in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence on the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula in Québec, Canada, off Percé Bay. Percé Rock appears from a distance like a ship under sail. It is one of the world's largest ...

is in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. In 2010, the provincial government signed an agreement with Southeast Tour & Trails Inc. to restore Roche Percee Park after being closed for over a decade.

2011 Flood

In 2011, flooding on the Souris River inundated the village, forcing its residents to evacuate. Of the 64 homes in Roche Percee, 28 were damaged beyond repair, and had to be demolished.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Roche Percee had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population, the Village of Roche Percee recorded a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Gallery

File:Plaque at Roche Percee Saskatchewan.jpg, Plaque at Roche Percee File:Entry at Roche Percee Saskatchewan.jpg, Entry at Roche Percee File:Cave at Roche Percee Saskatchewan.jpg, Cave at Roche Percee File:View from the top at Roche Percee Saskatchewan.jpg, View from the top at Roche Percee File:Roche Percee winter.jpg, The rocks of Roche Percee in winter

References

External links

{{Authority control Villages in Saskatchewan Coalfields No. 4, Saskatchewan Division No. 1, Saskatchewan