Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/542

 SASIMA

482

SASKATCHEWAN

Sasima, a titular see in Cappadocia. Sasima is mentioned only in three non-religious documents: "Itiner. Anton.", 144; "Itiner. Hiersol.", 577; Hierocles, 700, 6. This poor hamlet, hidden in an arid region, is known to all as the first see of St. Gregory of Xazianzus who was appointed to it by St. Basil. The saint soon left it without having exercised any episcopal functions there. One of the reasons was that Anthimus, metropolitan of Tyana, claimed jurisdiction over the see, which is, in fact, said by all the Greek "Xotitia? episcopatuum" to be subject to Cappadocia Secunda; however, the official catalogue of the Roman Curia continues to place it under Cappadocia Prima, i. e., as a suffragan of Ca^sarea. Ambrose of Sasima signed the letter of the bishops of the province to Emperor Leo in 458. About the same time Eleusius appears as an adversary of the Council of Chalcedon. Towards 1143 Clement was condemned as a Bogamile. The "Xotitiae" mention the see until the following cen- tury-. Sasima is the present village of Zamzama, a little to the north of Yer Hissar, in the \nlayet of Koniah, where a few inscriptions and rock tombs are to be found.

Smith, Did. of Greek and Roman Geography, s. v.; Ramsat, Asia Minor, 293 and passim; Le Qcien, Oriens Christianus, I, 405; Gregoire in Bulletin de correspondance hellenique, XXXIII, 129.

S. Petrid^s.

Saskatchewan and Alberta, the twin provinces of the Canadian West, so called because they were formed on the same day (1 Sept., 1905), by an Act of the Dominion Parliament, which gave them an identical constitution. The former derives its name fiom the important river, Kissiskatchiwan, or Swift Current, now better kno\^Ti under the abbreviation of Saskatchewan, whose two blanches drain it from west to east. The latter was called after the episco- pal borough of St. Albert, nine miles from Edmonton, which itself had been named after its founder. Father Albert Lacombe, O.M.I., the veteran missionary of the Far West.

Boundaries and Area. — Saskatchewan was made up of the unorganized districts of Assiniboia, Sa.skatche- wan, and Eastern Athabasca, while the original Terri- tory of Alberta and the remaining half of Athabasca contributed to form the second province. Both prov- inces have identical southern and northern boundaries (4rf and 60° N. lat.). Saskatchewan lies between 102° and 110° W. long, while the western frontier of Alberta Ls the summit of the Rocky Mountains as far as 54° X. lat. and the 120th meridian. The greatest length of both provinces is 760 miles. Saskatchewan is 39.3 miles wifle in the south, and 277 in the north, thus forming an immense quadrangle of 250,650 sq. miles, of which X318 are water. The breadth of Alberta varies from 200 miles in the south, to nearly 400 in its northern half. Its total area is estimated at 253,4.50 square miles.

Phyniail CharnctcriHlicH. — Saskatchewan may be de- scribed as a vast plain, quite treeUtss in the south, with an average elevation of 150t) feet above the sea-level. Its northernmost part is consiflerahly lower, since Lake Athaba-sca, in the extreme north-east, is only 690 fftef above sea-level. The mean altitude of Alberta is 30(X) feet, which lik(^wisf; notably decrea.s<!s in the north. Th(! climate of both provinces is exceedingly healthful, though the wjld is at tim(« intense on the treeless prairi(»i of Saskatch<!wan. A warm south-west wind, calWl C/iinooA;, occasionally cros.ses the Rooky Moun- tains, and renders the winters of Alberta appreciably milder and shorter in spite of its great altitude. This immen.se region is traversed by the Pu'vei Saskatche- wan, which has its source in the liocky Mountains, and after wirirling its way for some 1200 mik^s, empties into Lake Winriir)eg. There is also in the Province of Saskatchewan proper the Beaver River which, after

passing through a long chain of more or less important lakes, becomes the Churchill, and pursues its course in an easterly direction until it empties itself into Hudson Bay, at the trading post of the same name. Xorth(^rn Alberta is drained by still larger rivers, such as the Peace, which lises in Lake Thutage (Thutade), British Columbia. It is first called the Finlay, and after its confluence with the Parsnip, is known as the Peace, but north of Lake Athabasca it again changes its name to the Slave, only to course further on the great Canadian Northland as the Mackenzie River. South of the Peace is the Athabasca River, which flows into the lake of the same name. This fine sheet of water is common to both provinces. It has an area of 2842 square miles. Alberta can boast onlj' one important lake, namely Lesser Slave Lake, which in spite of its name is almost 70 miles in length. Saskatchewan, on the other hand, counts such bodies of water as Cree Lake, 407 square miles; Wollaston Lake, 906 miles; Reindeer or Caribou Lake, 2437 miles, and a host of smaller ones, which lie mostly in the north. There are in either province few mountains, none of which are important.

Resources. — Saskatchewan is par excellence the wheat-gro^\ang region of Canada. Its plains are famous for their fertility. They extend from the in- ternational boundar3% practically to Prince Albert, 53° 15' X"^. lat., where the northern forest, which it.self contains important stretches of agricultural land, com- mences. The total area under cultivation (1910) was 7,558,170 acres. The crops were then poorer than usual. The previous year (1909) the yield in the various cereals had been as follows: wheat, 90,215,000 bashels; oats, 105,465,000; barley, 7,833,000; and flax, 4,448,700. The acreage under cultivation this j'ear (1911) is considerably larger. Alberta's best farm- ing-lands are in the northern interior (the region of which Edmonton is the centre), and this extends much farther north than in Saskatchewan, while the south- ern portion of Alberta, being rather high and of lighter soil, is better adapted to stock-raising. In addition to the above cereals the province also grows alfalfa, and all classes of roots, notablj^ the sugar-beet, whose culti- vation constitutes one of its most important indus- tries. Lumbering is carried on around the upper waters of the North Saskatchewan and Athabasca Rivers in Alberta, while in Saskatchewan large saw- mills have been established at and near Prince Albert. Alberta is also rich in coal and oil. Its principal mining centres are Lethbridge, Coleman, Frank, Can- more, Edmonton, and Morinville. Oil is also found at the last-named place, as well as in the south of the province.

Population. — Few countries have such a cosmopol- itan population as the twin provinces of the Canadian West. The liritish Isles, the United States, Austro- Hungary, and Germany, together with Eastern Canada are the great feeders of the stream of immigration, which is there so active that statistics, which are per- fectly correct one day are far below the mark a few months afterwards. The total populationof Saskatch- ewan is now estimated at over 453,508 though five years ago it was barely 255,211. Of the i)rescnt in- habitants almost one-fourth, or 104,000, are Catholics. Among th(! latter .some 31,000 are of French origin; 28,000 came from Galicia, and follow the Ruthenian rite; 26,900 are fJermans; and 8000 have lOngli.sh for their mother-tongue. In Alberta, the present (1911) population is given as 372,919, its two chief cities, Calgary and Edmonton (the capital), having of late grown rajjidly. The former has 43,736 inhabi- tants, and the latter 41,000. Regina, the capital of Siiskatchcwan, to-day counts about 30,210 inlinbi- tants. The Catholics of Alberta number about 70,- 000, of whom perhaps 6,000 are Indians. The (otal nativ(! population of S;iskatchcwan is officially put down at 7971 by the lilue Book of the Ottawa Indian