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Gordon Watts Reports Column published: 05 November 2005 By: Gordon A. Watts Biography & Archived Articles Saskatchewan Homestead Records Index  In my last newsletter I included an article regarding the recently available Alberta Homestead Records Index, jointly sponsored by the Alberta Genealogical Society and the Provincial Archives of Alberta. No sooner had my newsletter gone online than I was informed of a similar project for Saskatchewan that went online on Friday, 21 October 2005.Spearheaded by the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society and the Saskatchewan Archives Board, the Saskatchewan Homestead Index is a file locator database to the homestead files at the Saskatchewan Archives. It contains 360,000 references to those men and women who, from 1872 to 1930, under the terms of the Dominion Lands Act, took part in the homestead process in the area now known as Saskatchewan. Also included are those who bought or sold North West Métis or South African scrip or received soldier grants after World War One. The database may be searched by name, by land location or by additional remarks, for example, about name changes or the name of the legal representative should the applicant have died. Special grants, such as the Métis scrip can also be identified by searching the remarks field. Using the file number found in the index, the researcher can access the original homestead file; this file may contain information about the settler such as nationality, place of origin and family makeup, although names of other family members are seldom given. There may also be various sworn statements and information about the homestead itself including required agricultural improvements on the land before ownership was granted; in some cases, correspondence about matters concerning the homestead may be included. The original homestead files are among the holdings of the Saskatchewan Archives Board in Saskatoon; microfilm copies are held at the Saskatchewan Archives Board Regina office. Copies of the files are also available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah and its Family History Centers world wide. The homestead files are one of the most used record groups held by the Saskatchewan Archives Board. Saskatchewan's Provincial Archivist Trevor Powell said, "I am delighted to see the homestead index on line. Each year, members of the public use some 9,000 homestead files and having the index on-line will mean that they can locate the files they need before ever leaving home. This will make the task of retrieving the actual homestead files at the Archives locations easier for researchers and will free up some valuable staff time at the Archives for other projects." Rocky Sample of Pangman, President of the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society, commended the project committee for its work, noting that there has long been "an avid interest in the homestead records on the part of local and family historians. Having easy access via the internet to the homestead index will be a real boon to genealogists and others interested in the history of the settlement period in Saskatchewan." Until next time. Gordon A. Watts gordon_watts@telus.net Your comments regarding this newsletter, and suggestions for future articles are welcome. Click here to send me a message with a subject line of "Gordon Watts Reports". To view back issues of this newsletter visit the archives at http://globalgenealogy.com/globalgazette/authors/authgw.htm
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