A recent discovery near the Bessborough Hotel is shining a spotlight on Saskatoon’s river valley history. Dozens of matching metal signs were unearthed July 21, leaving historians and local experts wondering why they were buried there decades ago. For about a hundred years, Saskatoon’s river valley has been a place where the city’s past has literally been buried. And a recent discovery near the Bessborough Hotel is adding another piece to the city’s historic puzzle. Workers unearthed roughly 100 metal signs, all bearing the Red Rose Coffee Company name and its slogan: “is good coffee.” “We uncovered the Red Rose signs, bundled together [while doing] some trenching for our trail enhancement project in Kiwanis Memorial Park,” Alan Otterbein, director of development with the Meewasin Valley Authority, told CTV News. Otterbein says there might be more to follow. “Apparently, there’s still more in the ground. We just didn’t bring them up when we were trenching. A lot of people were walking by and noticed them and were interested to know more about them,” he said. The pile is now dwindling, as some of the signs have been taken by those passersby. Otterbein searched online for one of the signs and found one in its original form. “In an antique shop in Edmonton,” he said. “They wanted, almost $400 for it.” The Meewasin Valley Authority (MVA) has consulted local historians, but so far there’s no clear answer as to why the signs were specifically discarded in this location. One explanation is that this part of the river valley was once used as a fill area – essentially used as a dumping ground. Even the coal plant dumped at River Landing in the early 1900s. “Something that a lot of people don’t realize [is] that a lot of our urban waterfront – even though it looks so natural and beautiful today – it wasn’t always like that,” said Samantha Cowan, senior tourism coordinator with the MVA. Cowan says Meewasin has been finding pieces of Saskatoon’s past since it began working in the valley in the late 1970s. Among the oldest discoveries are two bison skulls dating back thousands of years, as well as a 118-year-old anchor that was buried in the river channel. “The ship sank in 1908. The city of Medicine Hat is the name of the ship,” Cowan said. Meewasin also leads walking tours that explore Saskatoon’s sometimes surprising history. “Everyone goes, ‘Wow, I didn’t know that, wow.’ Think now’s the best time to explore what Saskatoon has to offer, because we’re really starting to appreciate and learn what’s underneath our feet,” Cowan said. The MVA’s walking tours continue into the fall.
