Willow active extract of the bark, called salicin, was isolated to its crystalline form in 1828 by Henri Leroux, a French pharmacist, and Raffaele Piria, an Italian chemist, who then succeeded in separating out the compound in its pure state. In 1897, Felix Hoffmann created a synthetically altered version of salicin (in his case derived from the "Spiraea" plant), which caused less digestive upset than pure salicylic acid. The new drug, formally acetylsalicylic acid, was named Aspirin by Hoffmann's employer Bayer AG. This gave rise to the hugely important class of drugs known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Some of humans'
Willow Bunch, Saskatchewan Willow Bunch community, settled in what is part of the present-day Jean Louis Légaré Regional Park. Légaré, who married into the Métis community, opened a trading post/store there, and often traded various necessities to the local Métis for bison goods. In the spring of 1881, it was estimated he had around $3,000 worth of bison products in his store. A boy named Édouard Beaupré, better known as the Willow Bunch Giant, was the first child born and baptized in the area in 1881. The forerunner settlement of Willow Bunch was established in 1883, around two miles east of Légaré's store