Canada’s Old Northwest lies at the very heart of Saskatchewan, a province of highlands, plains, deserts, and lakes, once home to gangsters, gunrunners, and fur traders.

Eccentricity is an old Saskatchewan tradition, and few were more flamboyant than the English aristocrats who tried to recreate a corner of their sceptered isle on the bald-headed prairie at Cannington Manor, and now a historic park 200 kilometres southeast of Regina. Here, in 1882, Captain Edward Pierce establishes a memorial village, where blue bloods bred racehorses, played rugby and cricket, and hired immigrants to do the farming.

Eighty kilometres northeast of this battle-scarred valley is Prince Albert, gateway to the province’s northlands, famous among fishermen for both its pristine lakes and its record-size trout. Prince Albert is also home to Lund Wildlife Exhibit where hundreds of Canadian animals and rids are stuffed and mounted in re-creations of their habitats.