How Saskatoon Got the Nickname POW
By Rob Parker
Lying in the middle of the prairie province of Saskatchewan is the largest city in the province (as of 2007 estimates), Saskatoon. Toronto Methodists who were advocating an alcohol free city first established the Saskatoon in 1883. The city has blossomed since that time, in large part due to strategic location, close to several resources important to Canada.
An interesting fact about Saskatoon is that it has quite a few different nicknames. Some are self explanatory, such as “City of Bridges”. Slightly less clear is the nickname “Paris of the Prairies”, and the name “Toontown” has also been popularly used after the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit (which used a similarly named location) came out.
Lying halfway between the evident nicknames and the unexplained is Saskatoon’s fourth nickname, POW. This nickname is in fact tribute to the natural resources that have made up such a large part of Saskatoon’s economy throughout its history. Let’s take a look at these three resources and why they are important to this city.
Potash
Without doubt, Saskatoon’s biggest claim to fame when it comes to availability of resources, are the potash reserves located all around the area. In fact, Saskatoon lies directly along a very long deposit of potassic chernozem, with almost two thirds of the world’s recoverable potash located in the region!
As a result of this deposit, the world’s largest potash producer, PotashCorp, has their headquarters in the city.
Oil
Massive forests once covered the prairie regions of Canada, which includes all of Saskatchewan as well as most of Alberta and a small corner of northern British Columbia. These forests were pushed underground by large glaciers during the Ice Age, and as they decomposed they became oil, the fuel that drives the world.
Saskatoon is located quite close to several large oil reserves. While not as large as neighbouring Alberta’s supplies, the oil fields in Saskatchewan provide a substantial boost to the local economy.
Wheat
One needs only to look around the province to see why wheat makes up the third part of the city’s nickname. While not as important to the economy anymore as potash or even oil, many outlying areas of Saskatoon are big wheat producers. In addition, Saskatoon was known as “Hub City” as it was here where farmers brought (and still bring) the year’s harvest for shipping.
The nickname POW was applied to Saskatoon for only a couple of decades, but it is nevertheless a good indication of the city, it’s economy, and the jobs that can be found there.
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