When I was a teenager, watching TV, I heard that someone was from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. It promptly became my favorite place name in the world, and for 50 years I have told people about it. The only other name to top it or match it came several years ago, when we visited Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California. A section of it is called Bumpass Hell! We were amazed when we were there that the park didn’t promote it more on T-shirts and other items. Hmph.
So we finally got to Moose Jaw and had great coffee in a small coffee shop. Its name derivation is either from a Cree word meaning warm breezes, or that the bend in the river here looks like a moose’s jaw. Either way, it is a cute small town on the way to the province’s capital, Regina.
Regina’s original name was Wascana, from the Cree phrase for a pile of bones, as they found buffalo bones on the banks of the river. But Princess Louise deigned to name it Regina (Latin for “Queen”) after her mother, Queen Victoria. There are still many places in Regina named Wascana, including the lake, streets, a park, etc.
The first two photos were taken in Moose Jaw, and the last three are from downtown Regina’s pedestrian mall. Both cities are pretty. Driving around, there are lots of trees and areas of vegetation.
