Leader is a town in southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada, located about 350 km (220 mi) east of Calgary, Alberta, near the Saskatchewan-Alberta border. As of 2016, the town had a population of 863. The area around Leader was historically a hunting ground for prehistoric humans, with a Midland Folsom point discovered and dated by the University of Saskatchewan to 8,000–9,000 years ago.
Leader is situated in the traditional territory of the Nekaneet First Nation, who were signatories of Treaty 4. Large numbers of homesteaders, primarily German immigrants from Prussia or southern Russia, began settling in the area in 1907. In 1909, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) detachment was established to help settlers prepare for the winter. By 1911, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) purchased land for a new settlement, and the railway reached the area in 1913, leading to the incorporation of the village of Prussia that September.
Hans Quittenbaum, a local storekeeper, was elected as the first Reeve of Prussia in 1913. Due to anti-German sentiment during World War I, the village changed its name and replaced its German street names with numbers. The name 'Leader' was chosen after a contest won by two local girls, who were inspired by the arrival of the Regina Morning Leader newspaper. The name was officially changed to Leader on September 27, 1917, and it was incorporated as a town on November 1 of that year.
In 1914, W.T. Smith, a local rancher, built North America's largest barn, known as the Smith Barn. The structure, measuring 400 ft × 128 ft × 60 ft, took 100 men five months to complete. After Smith’s death in 1918, the barn was dismantled in 1921, though the concrete foundation remains today.
Leader’s population grew after World War II, peaking at 1,236 in 1966, but has since declined due to Saskatchewan’s broader trend of rural depopulation. In 1995, American aviator Steve Fossett landed near Leader after completing the first solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon, having taken off from South Korea.
In 2006, the town's residents gained media attention when they posed nude for a protest calendar to draw attention to the poor condition of Highway 32, which connects Leader to Swift Current. The provincial government allocated $44.4 million to rebuild the highway, and the project was completed in 2010.
On October 17, 2017, a wildfire forced the evacuation of Leader’s residents to Kindersley. Fortunately, the fire was contained the next day without any injuries or structural damage, though some local farmers and the waste station were affected.
In the 2021 Census, Leader's population had increased slightly to 881, with a population density of 524.4 people per km². Leader serves as the center of a retail trading area that includes three rural municipalities, with its economy focused on grain, cattle, agricultural services, and manufacturing. The town also benefits from tourism, with attractions like the Leader Bird Watching Trail, the Smith Barn site, and the nearby Great Sand Hills.

Type of Data Point - Basic Data Point - Source Wikipedia

Leader, Saskatchewan - Wikipedia

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Inserted: 27-09-2024 01:09:40