The Eastend Area is rich in history and geology, and is rife with paleontological sites. A Métis settlement developed north of Eastend, and in the 1870s a
Hudson's Bay Company trading post was established in the region. In the mid 1880s as bison populations were being decimated on the eastern plains, the area became an important hunting ground that nearby First Nations tribes regularly fought over. The post only lasted one season, due to hostilities between the neighbouring tribes. Many years later, this site became known as Chimney Coulee — the name being derived from the remnants of stone chimneys that were once a part of Métis homes. In the late 1870s the
North-West Mounted Police established a satellite detachment of the
Fort Walsh site in Chimney Coulee, and gave the area the name of "East End", due to its location on the East End of the
Cypress Hills. When the Mounties moved to the nearby townsite years later, they condensed the name into one word, and the town was Christened "Eastend". The first ranch was established in the area in 1883, and a ranch house was built in the town in 1902, the community's first residence, which remains occupied to this day. Surveyors came to the area in 1905, a precursor to the expansion of the railway. In 1913, construction of the railway in the area began. Lumber was freighted from
Gull Lake to Eastend until the railroad reached town in May, 1914. Many young people began coming to the townsite, and tents were placed across the river to accommodate them. J.C. Strong, the original owner of the townsite, donated land to build the first church, cemetery, and a lot for the first baby born in Eastend. She was born in June, 1914 and was named Eastena. On her 21st birthday she donated the lot given to her to the
United Church.
Flood of 1952 In the fall and winter of 1951 the town saw a record amount of snow. In the spring of 1952, unusually warm weather melted the snow quickly and caused a breach of the
Eastend Dam and a massive flood in Eastend. The town was evacuated and residents found refuge with friends and family that lived in nearby towns. The water receded after three days, leaving immense amounts of destruction in its wake. A few years later a
dyke was constructed along the river to prevent history from repeating itself.
Discovery of "Scotty" the Tyrannosaurs Rex On August 16, 1991, then high school teacher, Robert Gebhardt from Eastend joined local palaeontologists on a prospecting expedition to the exposed bedrock along the
Frenchman River Valley to learn how fossils are found and identified in the field. Within a half a day, he discovered the base of a heavily worn tooth, and a vertebra from the tail, both suggesting that they belonged to a T. rex. == Geography ==