The administrative headquarters of the Nekaneet Cree Nation is 37 km (23 mi) southeast of Maple Creek.

[5] After the North-West Mounted Police had been established at Fort Walsh, settlers began to explore the Cypress Hills area, living along the creeks and doing small-scale ranching.

The Department of the Interior was operating a First Nations farm on the Maple Creek, a few miles south from the present town site.

In 1882-1883 the First Nations (mainly Cree, Saulteaux, and Assiniboine) were moved to Qu'Appelle, and the farm was then operated by Major Shurtleff, a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and George Wood, his brother-in-law.

The same flood hit much of southwestern Saskatchewan and southern Alberta and even destroyed a portion of the Trans-Canada Highway.