Lafleche

Lafleche, circa 1930s.

Drawing courtesy of Rollie Bourassa

Town, pop 446, located S of Gravelbourg at the junction of Hwys 13 and 58. Lafleche is named after Louis-François Richer Laflèche (1818–98), a Roman Catholic missionary to Rupert’s Land from 1844 to 1856, and the bishop of Trois-Rivières, Quebec from 1867 to 1898. The district began to be settled in 1905–06, and the townsite was established in 1913 when the CPR came through. People of British and German origins settled the district, and a large number of French settlers took up land in a vast area extending from west of Old Wives Lake, south through Gravelbourg to Lafleche, and west toward Ponteix and down to Val Marie. In 1922, Ste. Radegonde Roman Catholic Church was built in Lafleche; its exterior was faced with brick from the CLAYBANK BRICK PLANT, and today it is both a heritage property and the oldest existing church in the community. In 1961, Lafleche had a peak population of 749. Generally, grain production is the major activity to the north of the community, while mixed farms and Ranching operations are dominant to the south.

David McLennan