The Massold Clay Canyons are owned by the Claybank Brick Plant
Historical Society who have kindly granted permission for this
earthcache to be located there. With their permission the
information about this earthcache comes from their website. The
Massold Clay Canyons are an area rich in local flora & fauna as
well as the clay that put this little town on the map. To access
Massold Clay Canyons you must enter through the Claybank Brick
Factory National Historic Site & walk to the Canyons on foot.
Please see the additional waypoints to find the entrance to the
Brick Factory. The Canyons are only accessible
to the public when the Brick Factory is open, generally in the
summer months. There is a small entrance fee to the area. Please
see their website for their current
hours and the entrance fee. Update:
February 6th, 2011 Any further cachers who seek out this cache when
the historic site is not open to the public will have their logs
deleted because you have trespassed.
Long before, people inhabited North America; or even before
North America was North America, the land was one giant continent.
During the earliest times of the Paleozoic Era, the area that is
now Saskatchewan, was situated near the equator. At this time, the
province was covered over by shallow tropical seas. These seas
would retreat and erosion would also occur in these regions. It is
during this time that many of Saskatchewan's mineral deposits were
laid down. It was also a time from which we can trace the emergence
of many plants and "hard-shelled animals". Various shale and
limestone deposits throughout the province contain fossils that are
from this era.
The next era is the Mesozoic, and it is here that we have the
development of birds and mammals; and of course the dinosaurs. This
is also when the sea completely withdrew from Saskatchewan; leaving
behind many of the plant and insect species that exist, in part,
today. This era has four periods including the Permian, Triassic,
Jurassic and of most importance to this area, the Cretaceous.
Throughout this era various types of limestone and shales were
forming, including the remains of various plants and animals. The
cretaceous is one of the longer periods in geological history; it
is during this period that we have the development of what is
called the Whitemud Formation. The Whitemud Formation is the
geological name for the whole picture of what/when the Claybank
Hills are and were formed.
The Whitemud Formation is noted for the clays which are
deposited in a number of areas of Saskatchewan including Claybank.
There are two types of clay in the formation; one is white and the
other is grey in colour. Each colour of clay possess different
properties and can be used to create different types of
products.
To log this earthcache as a find, answer the following:
1. What type of clay is found in the Massold Clay Canyons & why
is it ideal for producing the types of brick made in the historic
Claybank Brick Factory?
2. At the coordinates estimate the height of the clay canyon wall.
Why is this height different than the clay walls found across the
canyon?
Feel free to post a picture of yourself at the earthcache
site.
Local history of the area:
According to local history and ownership, the clay resources were
discovered in and around 1886 by Thomas McWilliams. McWilliams,
along with friends and various family members were reported out
searching the area for some lost cattle and picking saskatoon
berries. While venturing into the hills, McWilliams became aware of
the outcroppings of clay. The clay is evident from a distance today
due to erosion and past mining, but it is very likely that the
striations of clay were not evident in those days. At any rate,
McWilliams realized the resource that lay there and he also
realized the economic potential. Well, McWilliams headed into Moose
Jaw from his original homestead that was located by the Moose Jaw
Creek.
He went to the land titles office, and laid claim to the land
that contained the clay outcroppings. In accordance with the rules
for establishing claim to land, McWilliams moved his family to this
new site, and established a new homestead. True to the rules and
regulations of the time for establishing claim a 'house' and fences
for livestock were built. Apparently, part of the land was even
broken and cultivated to facilitate some kind of cropping or a
garden. We know from present agriculture that the hill's clay
content was not conducive to farming. McWilliams mined clay from
the hills and sold it to the established Wellington White brick
plant in Moose Jaw. Eventually he gathered some partners & they
opened their own brick factory at the location here.
The Claybank Brick Plant remains frozen in time, virtually
unchanged from the day it opened in 1914.The Claybank Brick Plant
National Historic Site is comprised of a complex of industrial
buildings, associated residences, rail lines, clay extraction pits
and natural landscape. The Site is representative of the brick
manufacturing industry in North America during the late 19th and
early 20th centuries. Established in 1912-14, it remained
operational until 1989.
Specifically, the site includes the brick factory, 10 down-draft
kilns and associated smoke stacks, four residences and a bunk
house, an office, laboratory, carpenter shop, two stock sheds,
garage, boiler plant, water tower, filter house and pump house, as
well as a spur rail line and remnants of the narrow gauge rail
line, and the five open mine pits. The complex is bordered on the
south by the Dirt Hills/Claybank Hills - the source of the clay,
and on the north, east and west by agricultural lands essentially
unaltered during the past century. Inside the complex is a vast
collection of working historic machinery, hand moulds and other
brick making equipment, as well as an assortment of bricks
manufactured on-site.
Brick manufactured at the plant graces the facades of many
prestigious buildings across Saskatchewan as well as many other
provinces. Face brick was produced until 1960's, and adorns such
prominent buildings as the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City. Among
many others, the beautiful Gravelbourg Cathedral is faced entirely
of Claybank brick as are a number of Court Houses and other public
buildings. The rare fire brick produced here lined the fire boxes
of the CN and CP Rail line locomotives, and of the Corvette
warships in World War II. The fire brick was also used in the
construction of the rocket launch pads at Cape Canaveral,
Florida.
We encourage you to take time to tour the historic site while
you are there as it is very interesting.They offer both guided
& self- guided tours.