HISTORY

The R.M. of Fertile Valley No. 285 was incorporated on December 13, 1909. Council meetings were held in Outlook, SK for about 5 years and then a decision was made to alternate meetings between Macrorie, Bratton and Conquest. The first R.M. office was located in Bratton (chosen for its central location) and open Wednesday and Friday for business. The Secretary was paid $500 per year and the Reeve and Councilors Indemnity were $4.00 and $3.00 respectively.

In January 1910, W.E. Wilson donated two acres of land northwest of Conquest on

NW 12-30-10 W3 for a cemetery and in 1922 two additional acres were acquired. The Hillcrest Cemetery was established southeast of Anerley on NE 26-27-10 W3 in 1912 and serves ratepayers in the SW portion of our R.M.

In 1913 the R.M. of Fertile Valley No. 285 approved of the telephone service in the Conquest area and later expanded to Bounty. Soon telephone poles dotted the horizon.

On and off during the early years, our municipality enacted a wolf bounty and ratepayers were paid $1.00 for wolves and $10.00 for timber wolves.

By 1920 the Council had passed a resolution to build a one storey brick building containing a vault in Conquest to serve as our R.M. Office. Conquest was chosen since both railways passed through the community. The members of Council travelled to and from the council meetings by train. The meeting began one afternoon and continued on to the next morning and everyone caught the train home.

Also in 1920 a bylaw was passed to establish a portion of our funds collected to go towards a hospital in Outlook.

The 1930’s were extremely rough on the ratepayers. With the depression, the R.M.’s responsibility increased in health and social welfare and pest control. In 1936 tax enforcement proceedings were postponed due to financial hardships of the ratepayers. During these difficult times, advances were made to local farmers for the purchase of gas and oil, binders, twine and binder parts. Assistance was also provided for residents who “pull up stakes”. Railcars of fruit, vegetables, seed oats, and seed potatoes were shipped in to our municipality and distributed by the R.M. Bran and sawdust were also shipped in to combat the grasshopper problem. Not only the ratepayers, but also the R.M. endured some extreme financial difficulty. In 1937 the R.M. had the elevating grader and tractor repossessed. It took years to clean off the debt.

The bridge across the river to Outlook was built and Highway No. 15 was graded and graveled in the early 1930’s.

By the mid-forties, the Province of Saskatchewan and our municipality were beginning to turn our fortunes around. In 1949 the R.M. purchased 8 cars of sawdust to be divided between Macrorie and Conquest for the control of grasshoppers.

In the 1950’s the R.M. saw their way clear to construct a cindercrete shop and machine storage. In 1966 a Quonset building was added on to the east end of the shop to house the graders. In March 1953, a game preserve was established and approved by our R.M. that was located from Betalock to the Correction Line and along the river. In the late 1950’s the Denny Dam was purchased from CN Railway for a non-potable water supply for ratepayers. In 1964 a municipal well was developed to provide drinking water to the north-end of the R.M.

In 1994 the Royal Bank left Conquest, so the R.M. purchased the bank building for $1.00.

The building served the municipality well until a new building was built in 2007. The new building was possible through long-term budgeting by Council without raising the mill rate,

For 10 years prior to our commitment to the new Outlook Health facility, the R.M. diligently budgeted monies into a hospital fund. Once the decision was made to proceed with the new facility, budgeted monies were available. At the 100th Anniversary celebration of the municipality in 2009, it was announced that the municipality’s portion of the hospital loan was paid off early, resulting in great savings.

The municipality has 4 cemeteries within our boundaries: Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church Cemetery, the Fertile Valley Cemetery, the Macrorie Cemetery, and the Hillcrest Cemetery.