Description of Historic Place

The Big Rock Buffalo Rubbing Stone is a Municipal Heritage Property located on a one-hectare parcel of land approximately 45 kilometres southwest of the Town of Battleford in the RM of Buffalo. The property features an immense rock formation situated on a well-kept tract of native prairie grass and enclosed by a shelter belt of trees.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Big Rock Buffalo Rubbing Stone resides in its status as a distinguishing landmark for the area's early pioneers. Though the exact origins of this unusually large glacial "erratic" are unknown, it was most likely carried to this region by the massive ice sheets of the last glacial period. Used by generations of bison as a rubbing stone, "the big Rock" was the only identifying marker on the Sounding Lake Trail, which joined the Battleford and Sounding Lake North-West Mounted Police posts. This immense rock, visible for miles across the vast expanse of the open prairie, also gave reassurance to the early pioneers that they were on the right trail. The boulder was so well-known to the area's early settlers and their descendants that it became known simply as "the big Rock." The community continues to value the site as a place of commemoration of its homesteaders.

Source:

RM of Buffalo No. 409 Bylaw No. 1/87.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Big Rock Buffalo Rubbing Stone resides in the following character-defining elements:
-elements associated with use of the site by bison, including the rut worn around the perimeter of the boulder;
-the boulder in its original location on an enclosed tract of native prairie grass.