“Corky” Jones has a place of recognition in the Eastend Historical Museum Inc., and rightly so.

In 1898 – the year of the Klondike Gold rush, Harold Saunders Jones immigrated to Canada from England where he caught a train west, and disembarked at Maple Creek. He went ranching for Dan Pollock before setting up his own ranch at Chimney Coulee.  This all happened before Eastend ever existed.

As a child in England, Corky became interested in fossils when he would go fossil hunting with the geologist father of one of his friends.  His interest and curiosity in the stories told by fossil formations was fuelled by petrified bones and fossils he found in his travel and hikes in this part of the world.  He became an amateur geologist and palaeontologist as he began piecing together the amazing story of time in this valley.

Corky’s collection attracted the attention of the National Museum in Ottawa and the Museum of Natural History in Regina.  Many of his finds are on display there. When others began to locate and collect specimens, it was decided to display them in a ‘museum’ which was located in the old school.  This collection has become the foundation of our Eastend Historical Museum.

Corky’s work has been recognized by the provincial government, and the Eastend Educational Association. Jones Peak, a height of land northwest of Eastend has been named in his honour.

View from Jones Peak, in the Frenchman River Valley.
photo credit: www.dinocountry.com

Our Historical Museum has a display about “Corky” in a showcase.  Come in and check it out. Find out more about this amazing pioneer whose curiosity and dedication helped set the stage for the museum and the community we have today.