Big Rock/Buffalo Rubbing Stone

The Big Rock

When Leslie reminded me about The Big Rock, near Wilkie, SK it was instantly added to the list of fun things to do. I’m always moaning and groaning about my dislike of Saskatchewan and how much better my beloved British Columbia is (and it IS) but I have to admit that Saskatchewan has its gems – you just have to look a little harder for them when you don’t have formidable mountains in your face.

The Big Rock was declared a Provincial Heritage Property in 1987. It used to be a landmark for early pioneers and North West Mounted Police (which were later renamed Royal North West Mounted Police, then merged with Dominion Police in 1920 to become Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or RCMP, of today).

Can you imagine travelling by horse through the vast rolling prairies to meet your pioneer family at The Big Rock in the marshy land off the Saskatchewan River? Are there other such landmarks nearby? What if three days after you arrived at The Big Rock, when your travel rations were dwindling, your cousin, accompanied by a Mountie, galloped up to you on his steed, looking disgusted  — “No. No. No. Not this big rock, The Big Boulder yonder!”? I have to look into this and get back to you.

 But before we explored The Big Rock, Leslie and I noticed a Buffalo Rubbing Stone (and I think it’s reasonable to assume that The Big Rock, itself, is a Buffalo Rubbing Stone). It’s because I’m so swift and intelligent (not really) that my first thought was How do buffalo rub? Then, more importantly, Why?

Well, Dear Reader, the internet informed me that the buffalo rubbed against these rocks to rid themselves of parasites and in the spring, their thick winter coats, as well.

Geologist say that roughly 10, 000 years ago, when glaciers were receding through the last ice age, they dragged boulders and rocks from the earth’s crust with them until they got too heavy. The melting glaciers also carved rivers such as the Qu’Appelle Valley and the Saskatchewan River Valley.

In the aftermath of  their wake the glaciers left huge grasslands. At least hundreds of thousands and most likely, millions of buffalo managed to adapt into a smaller, faster breed  while the mammoths and saber-toothed cats of the ice ages could not. They roamed our grasslands and managed their coats by rubbing against the rocks that sank and settled into the earth over thousands of years.

Before

How do we truly know that buffalo rubbed against these rocks until the rock surfaces became smooth? There are reports of early settlers finding hair in the rocks’ cracks. I’m glad I didn’t rub against a wad of flea-invested buffalo hair though – eww!

After

 Leslie fell in the snow beside the Rubbing Stone. Ha ha! I, being the horrid friend that I am, thought she was playing and tried to get a picture of her fall – and failed — but I did catch the “before” and “after”. I’m sorry I laughed so hard, Leslie…kind of…not really…maybe!