Most people who grew up picking rocks east of Gull Lake didn’t expect to one day stand guard over Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. But Gordon Johnston did. Born in 1921 and raised on the Johnston dairy farm on the south edge of town, Gordon spent his childhood between school, chores, and long days helping his dad move horses and machinery out to the “East Place.” He graduated from Gull Lake School in 1941 with one goal he’d carried since junior high—joining the RC

Four southwest Saskatchewan municipalities have launched a joint effort to fund a $600,000 X‑ray upgrade for the Gull Lake Health Centre, following a four‑year approval process with the Saskatchewan Health Authority. The Town of Gull Lake, R.M. of Carmichael No. 109, R.M. of Webb No. 138, and R.M. of Gull Lake No. 139 are now entering the fundraising stage and inviting residents, organizations, and regional partners to support the project. The committee notes that modern medi

A new plaque has been added to the roadside memorial west of Webb to honour the 22 men who died in the 1980 CPR Prairie Steel Gang bus crash—the deadliest highway accident in Saskatchewan history and one of the worst in Canada. The addition provides more historical detail for the many travellers who stop at the site each year. Remembering the 1980 Crash On May 28, 1980, a westbound car crossed into the path of a school‑type bus carrying 30 CPR track workers. The impact rolled

Local History | Gull Lake & Area In the winter of 1906–07, Gull Lake was little more than a ranch headquarters, a CPR station, and a scattering of shanties on the open prairie. It was in this setting — long before the town took shape — that the community welcomed its very first newborn. That winter, the Dalgleish family lived in a small shack on the site that, as of 1965, was occupied by the Erwin Beninger home. Mr. Dalgleish was working as a homestead locator and foreman at

Gull Lake itself began with one good idea. In 1905, Conrad and Price surveyed a patch of prairie and believed a town could rise here. A few years later, an $83 well, a handshake loan, and a handful of determined neighbours turned that idea into a community. Before there were bylaws, budgets, or buildings, there was simply the belief that this place was worth building — and the willingness to act on it. That pattern hasn’t changed. In a small town, momentum doesn’t come from m

Several late‑1915 events shaped the year that followed. In October 1915, the long-awaited Wadlinger & Balkowski lease was finally opened for homestead entry—a large block of former Crown grazing land northwest of town that many local settlers had waited years to file on. Many residents went to Maple Creek on October 20, 1915, to secure their claims. Only a week later, the district faced what oldtimers remembered as the most disastrous prairie fire ever witnessed here. Beginni