Horizon, Saskatchewan

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Horizon is an unincorporated hamlet in the Rural Municipality of Bengough No. 40, Saskatchewan, Canada. It sits on the south side of Channel Lake along Highway 13, about 60 kilometres east of Assiniboia.

History
Horizon grew up with the Canadian Pacific Railway, which came through in 1912. In 1917 it had 57 residents and was made a village, but on December 31, 1973 it was restructured as a hamlet. The name came from a remark by surveyors who met near the site and joked, “we have reached the horizon.” The first business was a general store and post office, followed by many shops. Today there are no remaining businesses in Horizon.

Rail, road and elevators
The CPR built Horizon’s early station from a boxcar before a proper building was moved in from Forward. The CPR line was abandoned in 1996. In 1999, local farmers formed Red Coat Road and Rail, bought part of the old line and several grain elevators, and the Great Western Railway operates the line now, covering about 115 kilometres between Pangman and Assiniboia.

Horizon originally had three grain elevators—North Star, Ogilvie Flour Mill, and the Federal Grain Company (built in 1922). Today only two remain: a former Saskatchewan Wheat Pool elevator (built in 1953) and the original Federal elevator, which is a municipal heritage property. The Wheat Pool elevator operated until 1996 and was bought by Red Coat Road and Rail in 1999.

Tourism and culture
The Southern Prairie Railway operates as a tourist line along the former railway, and tours of the elevator in Horizon are available.

Horizon in culture
Horizon has been the setting for works of fiction and film, including A Garden in the Wind by Gabrielle Roy (1975) and the film adaptation Where Will You Go Sam Lee Wong?, as well as Sinclair Ross’s novel As for Me and My House (1941).

Roads
Highway 13, also known as the Red Coat Trail and the Ghost Town Trail, runs beside Horizon.