OUR HISTORY
The year 1907 brought the first homesteaders to the area. The vast changes that came from settling the land brought with it the need to establish some form of local government and hence the Rural Municipality of Miry Creek No. 229 was created int 1913.
Council's first year saw the extension of the Canadian Pacific Railway from Cabri west into the municipality. The first municipal hall was built in 1916 and the first bylaw passed restricting livestock running at large. Council also made the decision that year to have land in the municipality assessed for the purpose of taxation.
The year 1918 held many trials for the settlers in the municipality, including an influenza epidemic and a severe drought, bringing with it such hardship that the R.M. was called upon to give relief in the form of food and clothing.
The next several years continued to be challenging, with settlers battling an over abundance of gophers and jackrabbits and a plague of grasshoppers.
Council called for another property assessment in 1926, and the settlers' efforts were finally rewarded with excellent crop years in 1927 and 1928. These bounty years resulted in council being able to purchase their first major road building equipment.
After twelve years of discussion the Cabri Union hospital district was formed in 1929 and with some minor changes still represents the district today.
Local residents who lived through the "Dirty Thirties" agreed that the dry weather, wind, dust and grasshoppers were the worst the municipallity had ever experienced. For almost seven years Council dealt almost exclusively with granting relief and controlling grasshoppers. 1937 saw cattle sold for one cent a pound and in 1938 number one wheat sold for 19 cents a bushel.
Throughout those hard years the farmer population in the municipality dwindled to half of its original number of 633. It wasn't until the forties and early fifties that the municipality once again saw prosperous times. A large amount of arrears from the thirties were finally collected and the municipality once again began to grow, purchasing additional road building equipment, providing snow removal services and adding a compressor station to its assessment base.
Today the Rural Municipality of Miry Creek No. 229 continues to provide services to the local residents. The primary industry within the area is still agriculture, although a recent major gas discovery in the area has provided a welcome boost to the local economy. Today's farmers continue to face as many challenges as their predecessors did, but residents are hopeful that the farming and ranching lifestyle our community enjoys will be maintained for many generations to come
GALLERY
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