Dawson Trail: Symbol of Togetherness

Province of Manitoba, Provincial Highway 207 road sign on the Dawson Trail. Artwork designed by Robert Freynet, a Ste. Genevieve artist and dedicated in 1995. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from Manitoba > PR 207

Sveinson, B. (1996). 125th anniversary of the Dawson Trail MLA Message. Dawson Trail Dispatch. Retrieved from the personal collection of Roger Godard.

Bob Lagasse, MLA for Dawson Trail electoral district, 2020. Provided by the MLA’s office.

 

About Us

Executive Committee, Dawson Trail Art and Heritage Tour, June 2020. Bottom left: Melanie Gamache; Bottom right: Pierrette Sherwood (Chair); Top left: Lorna Annell; Top right: Julie Lessard (Missing: Bev Sarkonak)

 

What is the Dawson Trail?

“Opening of the Communication,” from Report on the Line of Route Between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement by Simon J. Dawson, civil engineer (P.11). House of Commons, Ottawa. Printed by I.B. Taylor at the “Ottawa Citizen” office,1869. Peel Library, University of Alberta. Retrieved from http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/481/reader.html#4

Dawson Route Distances

“Route to the Pacific”, Report on the Line of Route Between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement by Simon J. Dawson, civil engineer (P.13). Printed by order for the House of Commons. Ottawa. Printed by I.B. Taylor at the “Ottawa Citizen” office1869. Peel Library, University of Alberta. Retrieved from http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/481/reader.html#4

 

The Beaver Magazine. Map of “Mr. Dawson’s Road” by Jack Manore. February-March, 1991 (P.10). Route retraced digitally in pencil by Mireille Lamontagne, May 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from https://canadashistory.partica.online/canadas-history/the-beaver-feb-mar-1991/flipbook/10/

Table of Intermediate distances between each place along the Dawson Route. Canada: General Report of the Minister of Public Works. (1867-1882). Chapter 7 Volume 2. North-West Communication (p. 650). Retrieved June 3, 2020 from https://books.google.ca/books?id=8gxOAQAAMAAJ...

“Good waggon roads at either end.” Summary of the Report on the Line of Route Between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement by Simon J. Dawson, civil engineer (P.12). Printed by order for the House of Commons. Ottawa. Printed by I.B. Taylor at the “Ottawa Citizen” office (1869), Peel Library, University of Alberta. Retrieved from http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/481/reader.html#4

 

Is Dawson Trail Navigable Today?

The Dawson Trail today near Lake of the Woods, circa 2019. Note pieces of corduroy road coming out of the swamp. These remnants of pilings of corduroy road are likely from the 1968-70 Canada-Manitoba centennial project to rebuild sections of the road and not the original corduroy road, however it gives a good sense of what the terrain was like to travel on. Photo credit: Nancy D. Evans.

 

The Dawson Trail today near Lake of the Woods (2019). Photo credit: Nancy D. Evans.

 

Route of the Dawson Trail

Dawson, S.J. (1869). [Map] Shewing Line of Route Between Lake Superior to the Red River Settlement as drawn by S.J. Dawson and A.L. Russell. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/...

 

“A tract of navigable water…quagmire and swamp,” from Report on the Line of Country between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement, and Between the Latter Place and Saskatchewan and Assiniboine by Simon J. Dawson, civil engineer (P.22). House of Commons. Ottawa. Printed by I.B. Taylor at the “Ottawa Citizen” office (1869), Peel Library, University of Alberta. Retrieved from http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/481/reader.html#25

 

Water Route (Ontario to Manitoba)

LaVérendrye, an early European explorer to this region drew this version of the journey from Lake Superior to Lake of the Woods based on the knowledge of Indigenous people (likely Anishinaabe/Saulteaux/Ojibwa) that he met circa 1740s in the Great Lakes country. LaVérendrye established Fort St. Charles on Lake of the Woods, not far from where immigrants to Manitoba 150 years later would encounter the NorthWest Angle of the Dawson Road. Retrieved from France National Archives via Library and Archives Canada, http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/lac-bac/explorers/data2.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ap/c/c016133.jpg

 

“Canoe manned by voyageurs passing a waterfall” by Frances Anne Hopkins (1838-1919) in 1869. Library and Archives Canada/Frances Anne Hopkins fonds/e011153912, C-002771, MIKAN 2894967Retrieved March 1, 2020 from File:Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall.jpg

Height of Land Portage

Wikipedia contributors. (2020, January 11). Height of Land Portage. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:45, June 21, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Height_of_Land_Portage&oldid=935260266

 

Images are photographed by Michael Manore and reproduced from the February-March 1991 edition of The Beaver magazine, “Mr. Dawson’s” Road by Jack Manore. P.9. Retrieved from https://canadashistory.partica.online/canadas-history/the-beaver-feb-mar-1991/flipbook/8/. Captions read as follows: Top left image: “The name-carving rock” near the Height of Land Portage on the Dawson Route, photographed 1988 by Michael Manore. [Note that the “Height of Land Portage is just before Lac des milles lacs on the way to Lake of the Woods]. Middle right image: The Height of Land Portage as it appears today [1991]. Bottom image: “M. Nicholson” paused on the way West in 1887 to carve his name in the living rock near the Height of Land Portage.. Height of Land Portage is a portage along the historic Boundary Waters route between Canada and the United States. Located at the border of the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, the path is a relatively easy crossing of the Laurentian Divide separating the watersheds of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.

 

Itaska and Agwinde, two steamers that operated on Rainy River and Lake of the Woods, 1890. Source: Kiinawin Kawindamowan. “Episode 19: Into Lake of the Woods.” University of Toronto. Retrieved from Episode 19: Into the Lake of the Woods - Kiinawin Kawindomowin

 

Renowned fur trade historian, Dr. Grace Lee Nute finds relics from one of Dawsons’ steam tugs that would take emigrants across the Lake of the Woods to the NorthWest Angle. The Beaver magazine, winter 1954, P. 19. Retrieved from https://canadashistory.partica.online/canadas-history/the-beaver-winter-1954/flipbook/18/

 

Map showing LaVérendrye’s trail, a trail used by First Nations long before him and voyageurs and emigrants after him. Note where this old trail met up with Dawson Road at the NorthWest Angle of the Lake of the Woods. The Dawson Route travelled by newcomers and by Canadian military and police forces, used a combination of canoe, steamboat and red river cart to make the journey to Winnipeg from Thunder Bay. Courtesy Lake of the Woods Museum. Retrieved from: Lake of the Woods, Lac Du Bois | Morson Tourism

 

Land Route (Manitoba)

Dawson, S. J. (1868). Report on the line of route between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement (P.18). House of Commons. Hunter, Rose & Company: Ottawa. Also published by I.B. Taylor, 1869 (32p): Ottawa. Retrieved June 3, 2020 from Peel 481: Dawson, Simon James, Report on the line of route between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement (1868). For French version see Rapport sur le trace de la route entre le lac Supérieur et l’établissement de la Rivière-Rouge. Ottawa : Hunter, Rose et Lemieux, 1868, retrieved June 3, 2020 from http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/480.html

 

Map of Dawson Road portion of Simon J. Dawson’s Route from Lake Superior to the Red River Settlement as drawn by S.J. Dawson and A.L. Russell (1869). Note Dawson’s notation of his previous 1858 explorations with the Hind Expedition. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Shewing_Line_of_Route_Between_Lake_Superior_and_Red_River_Settlement_(1869).jpg or the original source https://www.flickr.com/photos/manitobamaps/3716493151/#/

Close up of the Dawson Road on George Dawson's map of the canoe journey he made from Lake of the Woods, Ont., to Dufferin, Man., in 1873. (Map credit: Sketch Map showing Indian Canoe route explored by Mr. G.M. Dawson Geologist H.M.N.A.B.C., 1873, G.M. Dawson, Library and Archives Canada/Maps, plans and charts/e011161386. George Dawson (no relation to Simon J. Dawson who engineered the Dawson Route) worked on the North American Boundary Commission surveying the international boundary. Note his depiction of the Dawson route with a south and north branch beginning around Ste. Anne on either side of the Seine River. Retrieved from https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/beyond-boundary

“90 miles over ground,” from Report on the Line of Route Between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement by Simon J. Dawson, civil engineer (P.11). Printed by order for the House of Commons. Ottawa. Printed by I.B. Taylor at the “Ottawa Citizen” office1869. Peel Library, University of Alberta. Retrieved from http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/481/reader.html#4

 

Canopy forming a tunnel over the Dawson Trail near the NW Angle in the winter (ca. 1993). Photo credit: Roger Godard

 

Vestiges of the Dawson Trail still exist. This is an example where the trail is overgrown but still perceptible on the East side of the Whitemouth River (2014). Photo courtesy: Norm Lavack

 

Property along the Dawson Road today east of Richer, Manitoba near Sandilands Provincial Forest in 2020. Retrieved from Winnipeg Free Press Homes 0 Dawson Road, R0E 1S0 for sale Rural Manitoba, R06

 

Role in Filling and Essential Gap

National Historic Designation in Ste. Anne

Pages of the ‘Programme Souvenir’, Noella Gauthier, 1939 for the occasion of the unveiling of the cairn for the Dawson Road in Ste. Anne in 1940. Ms. Gauthier is the grand-daughter of one of the workers on the Dawson Road. Photo courtesy: Dawson Trail Museum

 

CKY Broadcast (1940, August,5). Ste. Anne Manitoba [Audio file: 36 mins]. Item 32. Radio Program “Manitoba Impressions’ with Darcy Coats, announcer…, CKY Radio Broadcasts, schedule A0275, accession GR13706, Archives of Manitoba Retrieved from https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/search.html

“Road of Unity,” from article about the unveiling of the national commemorative cairn in Ste. Anne for the Dawson Road. The Winnipeg Free Press. Monday August 5, 1940 (P.3). Retrieved from https://newspaperarchive.com/ca/mb/winnipeg/winnipeg-free-press/1940/aug-05-p-3/

 

Historic Significance

Professor McFarlane at the cairn unveiling August 4,1940. He spoke about the historical significance of the Dawson Route. Dawson Trail Museum collection

 

“John (Jean) Huppe (left) is shown just after he unveiled the cairn with Mac Champagne who read the inscription. Below, a section of the crowd round the cairn. Rev. D’Eschambault, who represented the historic sites and monuments board can be seen with bowed head near the tablet.” The Winnipeg Free Press. Monday August 5, 1940 (P.3). Retrieved from https://newspaperarchive.com/ca/mb/winnipeg/winnipeg-free-press/1940/aug-05-p-3/

 

Speakers at the unveiling ceremony. Source: Winnipeg Tribune. (1940, Aug 5). Story on the national designation of the Dawson Route August 4, 1940 in Ste-Anne-des-Chênes (P.5). Retrieved from https://newspaperarchive.com/ca/mb/winnipeg/winnipeg-tribune/1940/aug-05-p-5/

 

Other speakers at the unveiling ceremony. Source: Winnipeg Tribune. (1940, Aug 5). Story on the national designation of the Dawson Route on August 4, 1940 in Ste-Anne-des-Chênes (P.5). Retrieved from https://newspaperarchive.com/ca/mb/winnipeg/winnipeg-tribune/1940/aug-05-p-5/

 

Dawson Road in Saint-Boniface

2020 Google map of Dawson Road North near Plinguet Street. Retrieved June 21 from https://www.google.com/search?q=Dawson+Road+North...

 

Driving on Dawson Road North coming from the turn off at Plinguet, heading in a southeasterly direction toward Lagimodière Blvd through the industrial zone of Saint-Boniface (2019). Photo credit: Mireille Lamontagne

 

Firewood coming from the area around East Braintree on the Dawson road, leaving the wood yards at Plinquet and Dawson Road (North) looking toward Archibald in 1921. Source: Feilberg, E., & Annell, L. (1989). Pioneer History of Glenn, East Braintree & McMunn (P.72). G.W.W.D. Archives. Photographer L.B. Foote. Retrieved June 10, 2020 from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/2239350

 

The Dawson Trail: A Centennial Project

Two weathered signs commemorating the Dawson Trail, erected for centennial celebrations in 1970-71, still stand at Lagimodière Boulevard in Winnipeg. Photo credit Gordon Goldsborough, Manitoba Historical Society. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/dawsonroad2.shtml

 

The Dawson Trail was designated an historical route by the Province of Manitoba in April 1995. Roger Godard posting the last road sign at Harrison Creek and the NorthWest Angle Inlet (2010). Photo credit: Roger Godard

 

Link Between Manitoba and Ontario

In 1939 a plaque was erected at Falcon Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park by the Historic Sites Advisory Board of Manitoba to commemorate the Dawson Road as a route that linked Ontario to the new province of Manitoba. Manitoba Historical Society. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from Historic Sites of Manitoba: Dawson Road Plaque (Falcon Lake, Whiteshell Provincial Park)

 

Commemorative Plaque in Thunder Bay

Plaque in Thunder Bay, Ontario commemorating Simon J. Dawson’s contributions to stimulating interest in the West with the Dawson Trail. It is located beside the parking lot on Colonel Keene Drive in Hillcrest Park on High Street South, just south of Red River Road. Ontario Plaques. Photo by contributor Dave Fernie - Posted October, 2005. Retrieved from http://ontarioplaques.com/Plaques/Plaque_ThunderBay29.html

 

Parks Canada, National Historic Event plaque erected in Marina Park Unknown, Ontario, January 30, 1920 to commemorate Wolseley's Red River expeditionary force which camped in Port Arthur at the foot of Arthur Street in 1870. Retrieved from Port Arthur National Historic Event

 

NW Angle Monument

C.F. Friesen at the boundary post, Northwest Angle, 1957. Source: Steinbach Carillon, Steinbach, Manitoba, CA, October 30, 2014 ) (P.21). Flashback - “Discovering the Dawson Trail: Waggon Route is a Gateway to the West” by Wes Keating. Retrieved June 8, 2020 from https://newspaperarchive.com/anniversary-clipping-oct-30-2014-1800452/

Panoramic view of the NorthWest Angle of the Lake of the Woods, No 12, (1876). The National Archives, UK CO 1069-272-10. Retrieved June 23, 2020 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/7457050184/in/photostream/

 

Panoramic View of the NorthWest Angle of the Lake of the Woods, No 11, (1876). National Archives, UK. CO 1069-272-9. Part of the Colonial Office Photographic Collection. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/7457051536/in/photostream/

 

The Sale of Rupertsland

Map of Rupertsland in 1869 under HBC regime prior to sale to Canada. Source: FourtyBee.com. Retrieved June 8, 2020 from Rupert's Land • FourtyBee

Simon J. Dawson

Dawson, Simon, James M.P. (Algoma, Ont.) 1818 - 1902. Engineer of the Dawson Trail which served as an essential link between eastern and western Canada. Source: Library and Archives Canada/Topley Studio fonds/a033901, Bibliothèque et Archives Canada/MIKAN 3415583. Retrieved from DAWSON, SIMON JAMES – Volume XIII (1901-1910) – Dictionnaire biographique du Canada

 

Dawson Road portion of the Shewing Line of Route between Lake Superior and Red River Settlement by Simon J. Dawson, as lithographed and printed by Captain C.W. Wilson of the Department of War Office, 1870. The date, as noted on the map itself, refers to the arrival of the first Detachment of the Expeditionary Force led by Wolseley which Dawson accompanied. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/manitobamaps/2089382823

 

English translation: In 1890, the Honourable Simon Dawson, Member of Parliament for Algoma, expressed the views of the broad-minded people of his day in a very sensible way. Speaking of the right to their language as French Canadians in the West, he said: "As for the rights of those French Canadians who were there at that time, they had been guaranteed to them by the Treaty of Paris and the surrender of Montreal, just as they had been guaranteed to the people of Lower Canada. It is expressly stated in the capitulation itself, that they extend to the "pays d’en haut,” which means all the way to the settlements of Saskatchewan and other parts of the West.” Source: Libre Parole, Winnipeg, Manitoba, CA, May 4, 1916 (P.4), “Simon Dawson parlant du droit à leur langue". Retrieved June 9, 2020 from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/2672945

 

Anishinaabe Chief Showed Dawson the Way

Anishinaabe (Saulteaux) family at Red River circa 1821, long before Dawson or the road. A painting by Peter Rindisbacher. Source: Library and Archives Canada/Peter Rindisbacher collection/e008299399. Retrieved June 21, 2020 from The Begbie Contest Society. (n.d.) Canadian Primary Sources in the Classroom – Riel and Manitoba . Rindisbacher's sketches of the Canadian fur route are the only known drawings today that show what it was like to travel that much-used route at the time. His paintings have become important documents that provide some understanding for researchers studying the early settlement in the western regions of North America. Rindisbacher has come to occupy an important place in the history of Canadian art. Today 140 of Peter Rindisbacher's images survive. Peter Risdinbacher died August 13, 1834, at the age 28. Source: Siamandas, G. (n.d.). Peter Rindisbacher: The Boy Artist from Red River. Retrieved July 1, 2020 from Peter Rindisbacher Boy Artist from Red River BY GEORGE SIAMANDAS

 

Lumber for the “Mother Church of Western Canada”

Third St. Boniface Cathedral, Red River Settlement 1858, by William Napier. Source: Library and Archives Canada/William Henry Edward Napier fonds/c001065k (n.a.) St. Boniface Cathedral, Red River Settlement (1858), by William Napier. The Canadian West. Retrieved June 21, 2020 from https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/canadian-west/052910/05291032_e.html

 

The Fourth Saint-Boniface Cathedral was started by Bishop Taché, who succeeded Bishop Provencher in 1853, and measured 150 feet by 60. It was opened for worship in 1863 but was torn down in 1909 for lack of space. Source: Cathédrale de Saint-Boniface. (2020). “Mother Church of Western Canada”. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from https://www.cathedralestboniface.ca/main.php?p=62

 

Villa Youville Inc. (1976). Paroisse de Ste. Anne des Chênes 1876-1976 (p.12). Published by « le Comité historique du Centenaire, » Ste-Anne, Manitoba. Retrieved June 3, 2020 from http://www.mb1870.org/localhistory/125%20-%20La%20Paroisse%20de%20Ste.%20Anne-des-Chenes.pdf

 

Troubles at Red River Colony: Surveying Gives Rise to Tensions

“Tableau depicting Métis leader Louis Riel and others in opposition to the construction of a road through their lands without their consent or knowledge. Louis Riel stands on the surveyor’s chain marking the beginning of the resistance.” (translation) Two of these early acts of resistance took place. Once in Ste-Anne on the property of Olivier Ducharme and once in St. Vital on the property of André Nault. Painting by artist Bonna Eq. Rouse /85. Combet, D. and Toussaint, I. (2007). Louis Riel, l’inoubliable chef des Métis. Encyclopédie du patrimoine culturel de l’Amérique française. Retrieved June 28, 2020 from http://www.ameriquefrancaise.org/fr/article-732/Louis_Riel,_l%E2%80%99inoubliable_chef_des_M%C3%A9tis.html#.Xvj1IShKiUk

Lt. Col. John Stoughton Dennis, Surveyor General of Canada. Library and Archives Canada/MIKAN 3214798. “Stiff and formal, fussy and officious, pompous and punctilious, John Stoughton Dennis, fully bedecked with flowing whiskers and magnificent moustaches, careened through Red River in 1869, leaving chaos and wreckage in his wake. This is an overdrawn picture, perhaps, but one that has been widely accepted.” [1] Quote retrieved from MHS Manitoba History: The Red River Rebellion and J. S. Dennis, “Lieutenant and Conservator of the Peace,” Manitoba History, Number 3, 1982

 

Land Survey Party. Unidentified photographer. Land Survey Party around the Red River Settlement. The image shows two theodolites on tripods and men holding stadial rods. Possible Dominion land surveyors. More casually dressed helpers sit crosslegged and on the far right. Source: University of Manitoba Archives. Retrieved June 24, 2020 from Libraries - Land Survey Party

 

Read, C.F. (1982). “DENNIS, JOHN STOUGHTON (1820-1885),” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 11, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed June 11, 2020, Biography – DENNIS, JOHN STOUGHTON (1820-1885) – Volume XI (1881-1890).

 

Typical prairie river lot farm in Métis and French-speaking parishes of the Red River settlement. Source: Canada : Department of Agriculture. (1880). La province du Manitoba et le territoire du Nord-Oeust : Information pour les immigrants. Queens University Library. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from Wikimedia Commons, https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/tags/bookidlaprovincedumani00cana

 

Prairie Grove and the Flowing Wells

Town of Prairie Grove on the Dawson Trail. Source: Heather, D. (1968). Prairie Grove 1872-1968 (p.268). UM Archives, Manitoba Local Histories. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3101128

 

Métis Red River Cart train is presumed to be somewhere on the Dawson road in South-Eastern Manitoba. Source: Manitoba Historical Society. (n.d.) “The Lake Superior Route” [in Manitoba] 1890s, from The Nor’Wester. Manitoba Pageant, Winter 1967, Volume 12, Number 2. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/pageant/12/lakesuperiorroute.shtml

 

Bond for 160 acres of land for each of Wolseley’s volunteer soldiers. Source: Time-Life Books Inc. (1981). The Canadians (P.148). Time-Life Series - Old West. Print

 

This was a typical stopping place along the Dawson Trail. This building in Prairie Grove was originally a store in front with attached two-story living quarters. It was built at the corner of Dawson Road and Prairie Grove Road, and the post office occupied the N-W corner of the store. It later became Guppy’s. Source: Heather, D. (1968). Prairie Grove 1872-1968 (P.18). UM Archives, Manitoba Local Histories. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3101128

 

Guppy’s Store in Prairie Grove, Manitoba was either the first stopping place encountered along the Dawson Trail coming from Winnipeg or the last place encountered on the trail prior to arriving in Winnipeg. This photo was taken in 1963, long after the heyday of the Dawson road, after some upgrading. The barn that had been part of the stopping place was sold and moved to Dubinsky’s place. The windows were changed, the door was moved, the siding was replaced and the pump was upgraded. Source: Heather, D. (1968). Prairie Grove 1872-1968 (p.20). UM Archives, Manitoba Local Histories. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3101128

“Guppy carried people on credit and delivered groceries.” Source: Heather, D. (1968). Prairie Grove 1872-1968 (p.438). UM Archives, Manitoba Local Histories. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3101128

In 1940, Guppy’s got the first neon sign in a rural area in Manitoba. Lorne Larter remembers that everyone came out to see it light up. It was a community event! Source: Heather, D. (1968). Prairie Grove 1872-1968 (p.20). UM Archives, Manitoba Local Histories. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3101128

It is believed that this building (an empty house at the time) was used as the first school in the area until Heatherdale school was finished. Source: Heather, D. (1968). Prairie Grove 1872-1968 (p.93). UM Archives, Manitoba Local Histories. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3101128

 

Heatherdale School in Prairie Grove (left) was later used as a chapel (right). Source: Heather, D. (1968). Prairie Grove 1872-1968 (P.103 and P.67). Manitoba Local Histories, respectively. UM Archives. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3101128

Winnipeg Sheet, Manitoba, East and West of Principal Meridian, October 1917. Map shows towns and survey patterns of villages along the Dawson Road from Lorette to St. Boniface including Prairie Grove. French and Michif-speaking communities had developed around a river lot system as seen around Lorette, and tensions rose when the new Canadian Government imposed a square grid system. Source: Province of Manitoba. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/manitobamaps/page10/

Sign from the entrance of Prairie Grove Cemetery on Dawson Road, still well taken care of in December 2019. Photo credit: Mireille Lamontagne

 

Dawson Road through Prairie Grove heading East (2019, Dec). Note that when Hwy#1 (Trans-Canada) and the Winnipeg Floodway were built in the 1960s, the Dawson Trail, as well as the town of Prairie Grove, were cut off from the flow of commercial traffic they once had. To find it, follow Hwy#1 East to Deacon’s corner, turn right as though heading to Lorette until you see the sign for Prairie Grove. Photo credit: Mireille Lamontagne.

 

Women in the ‘New West’

Sarah McQuade (nee Whiteford) and her husband Henry McQuade Sr. circa 1870s. Source: Heather, D. (1968). Prairie Grove 1872-1968 (P.493). UM Archives, Manitoba Local Histories. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3101128

 

Winnipeg - Winnipeg Digital Public History. (2020). “Settlers arriving in camp, Manitoba (pre-1909)”. “Past Forward,” The Rob McInnes Postcard Collection. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from http://pastforward.winnipeg.ca/digital/collection/robmcinnes/id/6588/rec/11

 

“Compagnie de la Graisse” Early Animal Shelter

A farm along the Dawson Trail,1907. We were not able to locate an image of Elzéar Lagimodière’s property in Lorette, Manitoba, purchased off the HBC whose “Grease Company” went bankrupt. It was in that barn that animals were often sheltered from the cold winds of the prairie. We were, however, able to find an early photograph of this barn in Lorette which served as a forge owned by Mr. Landry. Source: SHSB9049. La forge Landry. Accueil / Au pays de Riel / Lieux / Lorette / Photos / Forge Landry . Retrieved June 4, 2020 from http://shsb.mb.ca/Lorette/La_forge_Landry_SHSB9049

 

“Sadly the business did not go so well.” Mr. Elzéar Lagimodière,future first first Reeve of the R.M. of Taché and son of Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière and Marie-Anne Gaboury, bought the property of about 800 acres from the HBC. Heather, D. (1968). Prairie Grove 1872-1968 (P.172). Manitoba Local Histories. UM Archives. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3101128

 

Eagle Bus Lines

Eagle Bus Lines bus in Prairie Grove, Manitoba on the Dawson Trail. Heather, D. (1968). Prairie Grove 1872-1968 (P.269). Manitoba Local Histories. UM Archives. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3101128

 

Roméo Duguay (bus driver) and Jos Legal circa late 1940s. Source: Heather, D. (1968). Prairie Grove 1872-1968 (P.269). Manitoba Local Histories. UM Archives. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3101128

Red River Cart Monument (Lorette)

Ingenuity of the Red River Cart

Blom, R.R. (1980, April). Taché Rural Municipality 1880-1980 (P.32). Commissioned by The Council of the Rural Municipality of Taché. Derksen Printers, Steinbach: Manitoba. Retrieved from University of Manitoba digital collections June 3, 2020, http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3055598https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3A3055598#page/43/mode/2up

 

Red River Cart repair. “Repairs when required could readily be made on the trail where wood was available. When the dowel, connecting two sections of the felloe broke, two flat pieces of wood were cut to conform to the wheel curvature, and one piece was placed on each side of the felloe at the joint requiring repair and bound together with strips of animal hide, wound crosswise around the felloe, usually referred to as shagganappe, which had been soaked in water. When the strips dried they held the curved flat wooden boards firmly against the felloe and enabled the cart to travel to the nearest post where permanent repairs could be made.” Minnesota Historical Society. Preparing Red River cart for trip to St. Anthony Falls. Retrieved from http://collections.mnhs.org/cms/display.php?irn=10185641.

 

C.W. Jeffreys, artist. Red River cart train. CAScity. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from https://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php?topic=44831.25

 

“The ‘dished’ wheel was an important development in the cart. The ‘dish’ was made by inclining the spokes outward from the cart body. The amount of the dish varied but was about 3 inches. It gave the cart better stability by preventing tipping on rough terrain and facilitated getting out when stuck in the mud. The dished wheel was also used as a raft when crossing rivers, by removing the wheels and lashing them together concave side upward. Then the cart body and cargo were placed upon them and ferried across the water.” Source: Baker Brehaut, H. (1871-71). The Red River Cart and Trails: The Fur Trade. Manitoba Historical Society. MHS Transactions, Series 3, Number 28. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/transactions/3/redrivercart.shtml

 

Corduroy road over the Souris River in Southwestern Manitoba a few hours west from the Dawson Trail; Provides a good idea as to what corduroy road looked like. This is the same method used to build the Dawson Road over swamps. Before the coming of the railroads Métis Red River Cart brigades conveyed freight 900 miles or 1,450 Km from Fort Garry (Winnipeg) to Edmonton. Source: Godsell, P.H. (1951). West to the Setting Sun (P.25). Canadian Cattlemen. Lethbridge, Alberta. Retrieved June 24, 2020 from https://static.canadiancattlemen.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/West-to-the-Setting-Sun-Part-2.pdf#_ga=2.37729513.853683548.1583979767-1076917515.1583979767

 

Métis Kinscape

Map of major cart trails in the West prior to the Dawson Trail (note its absence in the bottom right hand corner of Manitoba that would come to link Canada from East to West north of the 49th parallel. Chris Brackley, Canadian Geographic. Source: Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada – Royal Canadian Geographical Society (Canadian Geographic). (2020). Red River Carts. Atlas / Métis. Retrieved June 23, 2020 from https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/red-river-carts/

 

The Métis had their own Michif words for the cart, including aen wagon and aen charet (Marsh, J. H. (2006-2020). , Red River Cart. Canadian Encyclopedia, retrieved from Red River Cart. Source: Rice Studio. (1890-1910).) Métis camp with Red River cart / Campement métis et charrette de la rivière Rouge. Library and Archives Canada/Department of the Interior Fonds/c001644. Retrieved June 24, 2020 from collectionscanada.gc.ca/ourl/res.php?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&...

 

University of Manitoba. (2019). “Early Homestead Building, Family, and Red River Cart Drawn by Ox.” Photographer: Ryder Larsen. Early Homestead Building, Family, and Red River Cart Drawn by Ox. Red River Settlement? Date: [ca. 1869-1870] The size and the relative complexity of the building indicates that homes at this time were not simply crude sod structures. UM Archives. The so-called Red River cart is famously identified with the Métis community and was made entirely without nails or any iron. Retrieved July 1, 2020 from Libraries - Early Homestead Building, Family, and Red River Cart Drawn by Ox

 

Métis Women Entrepreneurs

Cree-Michif woman posing with her Red River Cart. Photo by Galt Museum & Archives on The Commons on flickr P19640164000 · · · 1885 24.5 x 19.5 cm. Black and white copy print. Unidentified Cree woman standing next to a horse hitched to a red river cart. Wooden hut in the background. Written on the back: "Red River Cart and Washie Joe".

“Unidentified Métis Woman. According to the photographer’s records, this “half-breed” woman was a servant to Lieutenant Colonel Brown Chamberlin, the commander of the 60th Missisquoi Battalion during the Fenian raids. While most women in the late 1800s would wear their finest dresses when having their portraits taken, this woman wore a woven shawl, an emblem of the Métis community.” Source: Library and Archives Canada/Topley Studio fonds/e011156893 (2020, Jan31). Virtual Exhibition – Hiding in Plain Sight: Discovering the Métis Nation in the Archival Records of Library and Archives Canada. Unidentified Métis Woman. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from Virtual exhibition - Hiding in Plain Sight - Library and Archives Canada

 

Red River Métis-style buckskin jacket (belonging to Louis Riel) and leggings (mitasses) decorated with the distinct floral beadwork designs. Source: First People of Canada. (2007). Canada’s First Peoples: The Métis. Goldi Productions Ltd. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_metis/fp_metis5.html

 

The Begbie Contest Society. (n.d.) Canadian Primary Sources in the Classroom – Riel and Manitoba. Multiple Perspectives. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from http://www.begbiecontestsociety.org/RIEL%20and%20MANITOBA.htm

 

Hauling for the C.P.R. on the Dawson Road

Métis traders, circa 1872, southern Manitoba. Source: “No. 165 Half Breed Traders” and “No. 164 Half Breed Traders”, (1872-1876), North American Boundary Commission photographs, P8167/5, Archives of Manitoba. Retrieved from www.mhs.ca/docs/mb_history/05/metislands.shtml

 

A group of Metis traders and their families were photographed by the 1872-1874 Boundary Commission photographers. Source: Archives of Manitoba, Boundary Commission 164, N14100. O’Toole, D. (2012). The Red River Jig Around the Convention of “Indian” Title: The Métis and Half-Breed Dos à Dos. Manitoba History , Number 69, Summer 2012. Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa. Retrieved July 1, 2020 from The Red River Jig Around the Convention of "Indian" Title: The Metis and Half-Breed Dos a Dos

 

Letter from Mr. Alexis Carrière, dated March 25, 1935. Mr. Carrière hauled supplies and materials up and down the Dawson Road for many years while they were building the C.P.R. railroad from eastern Canada, across the same terrain that had been impassable for so long. The headquarters for the building of the railroad was at Rat Portage (Kenora, Ontario) which was the destination during that period. The reason for this letter is unclear, as is who it was sent to. Since it appears that Mr. Carrière is both sharing recollections of having worked on the Dawson Trail as well as re-stating a long-held grievance in the community about the heinous death of Roger Goulet (at the hands of??), the surveyor and school inspector that was so beloved by his community prior to the arrival of surveyors from the East.

Métis Carts Carry the Burden for the Wolseley Expedition

“In 1870, acclaimed painter William Armstrong accompanied the Wolseley Expedition to the Red River Colony, recording the incredible effort required to move the military force through the Canadian wilderness. One of his compositions, Red River Expedition, Purgatory Landing was reproduced as a wood engraving on the cover of the Canadian Illustrated News on July 9, 1870 to accompany their coverage of the expedition’s progress.” Source: Alchetron. (1870). William Armstrong, Canadian Artist. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from https://alchetron.com/William-Armstrong-(Canadian-artist)#william-armstrong-canadian-artist-fef4701c-2c9a-43d4-ac49-e622910e990-resize-750.jpeg

 

Lorette Collegiate

First Teacher in the RM of Taché

Rosalie Gauthier, first teacher in the Parish of Ste. Anne. She is buried in Saint-Boniface Cathedral Cemetery. Histoire de la Paroisse Ste. Anne-des-Chênes 1876-1976, P.37 https://images.app.goo.gl/zbuD4NUFZqDjHFnu7 Also see Find a Grave Rosalie Quintal Germain Gauthier (1834-1924)

“Our House Always Looked Like a School”

First school in Lorette near the Dawson Trail. The building was then used as a seed factory for the Turcotte family. Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, MSB152. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from http://shsb.mb.ca/Lorette/Premiere_ecole_MSB152

 

Lorette West School (no date) by R. Goulet. See also Village of Lorette, first school. Source: Department of Education District School Inspectors’ photographs, (ca.1926-1939), schedule A 0233, accession GR8461, location: GP1-3-1-3-2, Archives of Manitoba Retrieved June 5, 2020 from Historic Sites of Manitoba: Lorette West School No. 990 (RM of Tache)

 

First Reeve of Taché Signed his Name with an “X”

Elzéar Lagimodière first Reeve of the Rural Municipality of Taché. Manitoba. "It was between 1865 and the early 1870s that LaPrairie (J-B Lagimodière) and Elzéar left St. Boniface and became the first family to settle in Petite-Pointe-des-Chênes (Lorette). Located on the Seine River about 20 kilometres east of St. Boniface, Petite-Pointe-des-Chênes has been a place frequented by many Métis families since the 1860s. LaPrairie and Elzéar still hold their river lots in Saint-Boniface." SHSB, Home / Carnet / Elzéar Lagimodière au Centre du patrimoine. Retrieved June 24, 2020 from Elzéar Lagimodière au Centre du patrimoine" Collection générale de la Société historique de Saint-Boniface, A-448

 

Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Church

“Seven enormous paintings fill the walls of the altar area with the first being a painting of St. Patrick. "There was a huge contingent of Irish families and they contributed greatly and so this was to honour their generosity and help," he [Grossman] says. “A painting of the Holy Family is one of only two paintings not done by Monty. Because foundation problems resulted in the destruction of his original work, a local artist, Noëlla Gauthier-Yoeman, was commissioned in 1948 to replace it. Photo: Cheryl Girard, Winnipeg Free Press. “The Holy Family, painted by local artist Noella Gauthier-Yoeman, in the altar area of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette church. Along the historic Dawson Road, not far from the winding Seine River.” Winnipeg Free Press, August 4, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/faith/sistine-chapel-of-the-prairies-164985996.html

 

Along the Dawson route, not far from the Seine River sits the second church in Lorette that father Dufresne had built in 1894. Archives de la Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Collection générale de la Société historique de Saint-Boniface, SHSB 1876. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from L'église de Lorette

 

A beautiful sanctuary for local residents of Lorette that also welcomed travelers on the Dawson Trail. Quebec painter Louis-Eustache Monty decorated most of the interior of Notre Dame de Lorette in the early 1900s… The Crucifixion dominates the back of the altar and is a wooden sculpture mounted on a painted mural created in 1999 by Robert Freynet, a Manitoban artist.” Source: Cheryl Girard, Winnipeg Free Press (2012, August 4). Retrieved June 5, 2020 from 'Sistine Chapel of the Prairies'

 

The Legendary Midwinter Tramp of a Famous Lorette Resident

Lagimodière passed away in 1855, long before the story of the Dawson Road (1868-1878), however “After his famous trek to Montreal, Jean-Baptiste Lagimonière served as messenger for the HBC on many occasions, as did his sons. He also began to farm some land that Selkirk is said to have granted him for his services. It was on this land, which was at the mouth of the Seine River [in Lorette], that he built a home where he brought up his family of four girls and four boys. In 1844 his daughter Julie married a neighbour, Louis Riel*, and later that year gave birth to a son, Louis*, who was to become the principal leader of the Métis during the events surrounding the entry of Manitoba into confederation.” Canadian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from Biography – LAGIMONIÈRE, JEAN-BAPTISTE – Volume VIII (1851-1860); Jean Baptiste Lagimodière known as La Prairie; https://images.app.goo.gl/UCmcKQiFthzgEzwu8

 

“Petite-Pointe-des-Chênes”

A tithing inventory of the contributions of poorer residents of Lorette whose contributions were largely in-kind to the church (1876), speaks to the socioeconomics of the region during the heyday of Dawson Road and particularly among the Métis. With the end of the fur trade looming, all the bison gone, and little work left to do but farm, Métis families in the region had never experienced this scale of economic loss. Accueil / Au pays de Riel / Lieux / Lorette / Textes numérisés / Dîmes. SHSB. Retrieved June 24, 2020 from Les dîmes payées dans la mission de Notre-Dame-de-Lorette entre 1876 et 1877 Fonds Corporation archiépiscopale catholique romaine de Saint-Boniface, Série Taché, T21935 et T21937

 

Granary in the Lorette area, built ca.1890. Source: Province of Manitoba. Franco-Manitoban Farm Buildings: An Architectural History of Theme Study by David Butterfield (P.44), Historic Resources Branch of the Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from FRANCO-MANITOBAN FARM BUILDINGS

 

Narcisse and Anastasie Marcoux family, Lorette, Manitoba, 1892. Source : Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, website Accueil / Au pays de Riel / Lieux / Lorette / Photos / La famille Marcoux. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from http://shsb.mb.ca/Lorette/Famille_Narcisse_Anastasie_Marcoux_MSB767

The Grey Nuns convent in Lorette, Manitoba in 1910 along the Dawson Trail. Source : Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds Corporation archiépiscopale catholique romaine de Saint-Boniface, SHSB 16525, website shsb.mb.ca, Au pays de Riel/Lieux/Lorette/Photos/Couvent. “Photograph of the convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Saint-Hyacinthe taken in 1934. This convent had been built in 1903 and enlarged several times to make room for new students. It was replaced in 1959 by a new, much more spacious convent.” In 1996, the Sisters of Saint-Hyacinthe sold the building to the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine (DSFM) for the sum of a dollar where some of their administrative offices are located. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from Le couvent des Soeurs de Saint-Joseph de Saint-Hyacinthe

 

Lorette Centre School (no date) by R. Goulet sitting next to the Grey Nuns convent.Source: Department of Education District School Inspectors’ photographs, (ca.1926-1939), schedule A 0233, accession GR8461, location: GP1-3-1-3-2, Archives of Manitoba. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/lorettecentreschool.shtml

Trudeau store in Lorette along the Dawson Trail (1877). “The first store in Lorette was opened by Edward Prince in 1884. It is in 1903 that Victor Trudeau became the owner. In this photo, taken in 1910, we see the store, which also houses the post office, on the left, and the Trudeau residence on the right. Already around 1860, several Métis families - the Lagimodière, Landry, Gaudry, Bériau, and others - lived in the Petite-Pointe-des-Chênes, which would become the parish of Notre-Dame de Lorette. The first French-Canadian family, that of Jean-Baptiste Gauthier, arrived in 1865. In the 1880's, many settler families arrived from Saint-Cuthbert, Quebec, and named their district and school in honour of their home parish.” Reference: La colonisation/migrations francophone au Manitoba 1870-1914. Source : Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, SHSB, General Collection, HSBS 9051. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from Le magasin Trudeau à Lorette

 

Clergy express discontent with the appearance of hotels and saloons that serve alcohol in Lorette since the opening of the Dawson Road and its itinerant traffic. Source : Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, website, Auberge, Au pays de Riel/Lieux/Lorette/Textes numérisés/Auberge. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from http://shsb.mb.ca/Lorette/Construction_auberge Fonds CACRSB, Série Taché, T11091 à T11092

 

This is an itemized bill for “medicine” for the hospital from the Dawson Road Hotel in Lorette, Manitoba from March 30, 1902 during prohibition. Source: Blom, R.R. (1980, April). Taché Rural Municipality 1880-1980 (P.59). Commissioned by The Council of the Rural Municipality of Taché. Derksen Printers, Steinbach: Manitoba. Retrieved from University of Manitoba digital collections June 3, 2020, http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3055598

 

Desautels family in the horse enclosure on their farm in Lorette, Manitoba circa 1880s in the vicinity of Dawson Trail. “Photograph of the Desautels family in an enclosure in Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes. The Desautels family, originally from Joliette, Quebec, are among the first families to settle in the region. Jean-Baptiste Desautels had the first sawmill built there and was also in charge of transporting mail between Winnipeg and Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes. Mr. Desautels also served as a justice of the peace and school trustee.” Source : Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, website, Au pays de Riel/Lieux/Sainte-Anne/Photos/Famille Desautels. St. Boniface Museum Collection, MSB 353. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from Famille Desautels

 

Until recently, agriculture was one of the main industries of Lorette. Cyprien Bohémier on his farm in Lorette, Manitoba, circa 1940s, near Dawson Road. Mr. Bohémier also fought in the Second World War for the Canadian Forces in Netherlands. “Photograph of Cyprien Bohémier in his field at Loreto. Agriculture, until recently, was one of the main industries of Loreto.” Source : Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, website, Au pays de Riel/Lieux/Lorette/L’agriculture. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from L'agriculture

 

The flooded Seine River along Dawson Road in Lorette, 1950. Hubert, Bernard and Claude Bohémier with Jean-Baptiste Grégoire on the paddle sitting in what appears to be a makeshift raft. “Photograph taken during the 1950 flood in the vicinity of Loreto. The proximity of the Seine River makes the area vulnerable to flooding. Jean-Baptiste Grégoire can be seen here paddling at the stern and Hubert, Bernard and Claude Bohémier sitting at the front of the makeshift boat.” Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds Gaston Bohémier et Joséphine Grégoire, SHSB 32122. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from L'inondation de 1950

 

Dufresne Grain Elevator

Aerial view of the former Manitoba Pool grain elevator at Dufresne (October 2016). A wooden grain elevator in Dufresne, on the CNR Sprague Subdivision in the Rural Municipality of Tache, was formerly operated by the Manitoba Pool Elevators and its successor Agricore. Closed in November 2000, the elevator was purchased by a group of four local farmers and has been used for private grain storage since 2001. Image: Gordon Goldsborough Source: Manitoba Historical Society. (1998-2020). Manitoba Pool Grain Elevator / Private Grain Elevator (Dufresne, RM of Taché). Retrieved June 28, 2020 from Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Pool Grain Elevator / Private Grain Elevator (Dufresne, RM of Tache)

 

Louis Riel land claim East of Lorette

Louis Riel, leader of the Métis during the time of the construction of the Dawson Road and the Resistance that led to the founding of Manitoba. Source image (left): The Begbie Contest Society. (n.d.) Canadian Primary Sources in the Classroom – Riel and Manitoba. Multiple Perspectives. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from http://www.begbiecontestsociety.org/RIEL%20and%20MANITOBA.htm Source image (right): Famous-trials. (n.d). “Riel on Horseback with Rebel Leaders,” drawing by William Bengaugh, 1885 in The Trial of Louis Riel: Selected Images [website]. Retrieved June 30, 2020 from https://famous-trials.com/legacyftrials/riel/imagepage.html

 

Surveyor George McPhillips records the Louis Riel property between Lorette and Dufresne in his field notes for the Lorette Survey 1877. To this day Riel’s land claims in the area are outstanding. Image source: Flanagan, T. (1991). Louis Riel’s Land Claims. Manitoba History, Number 21, Spring 1991. Manitoba Historical Society. Image Source: Archives of Manitoba Retrieved June 28, 2020 from http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/21/riellandclaims.shtml

 

Louis Riel’s mother (née Julie Lagimodière), Riel, Mrs. Louis Riel Sr. 1 (and unidentified boy), (1866-1871) N9970, Archives of Manitoba. www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/11/archivalresources.shtml

 

Rich Floras Leading to and Past Oak Point*

Parkland meadows in Manitoba along the Dawson Trail east of Richer near Sandilands Provincial Forest. Retrieved from Winnipeg Free Press Homes 0 Dawson Road, R0E 1S0 for sale Rural Manitoba, R06

 

Parkland meadows in Manitoba along the Dawson Trail near Richer today. Retrieved from R06 For Sale

 

Prairie transition along the Dawson Road east of Richer today near Sandilands Provincial Forest. Retrieved from Winnipeg Free Press Homes 0 Dawson Road, R0E 1S0 for sale Rural Manitoba, R06

 

Vegetation along the Dawson Road near Sandilands Provincial Forest east of Richer, Manitoba. Retrieved from Winnipeg Free Press Homes 0 Dawson Road, R0E 1S0 for sale Rural Manitoba, R06

 

“La Grande Traverse”

Canada: Sessional Papers. (1869). Volume 2, Issue 5 (P.6). C.H. Parmalee. Report by Hector Langevin, 1869. Retrieved June 3, 2020 from https://books.google.ca/books?id=NSnQAAAAMAAJ...

 

A Trip to Manitoba or “Roughing it on the Line” (1874)

Illustration by “Dawson” thought to be of Mary Agnes Fitzgibbon when she was a journalist on her trip to Manitoba in 1876. Source unknown

 

Red River carts at the corner of the Portage and Main trails in 1872 after a long journey. In The Pioneer Years 1895-1914 by Barry Broadfoot, P. 195 it states that Peter Broadfoot led this small train out of town. University of Manitoba. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from Libraries - Red River Settlement

 

Early Canadian travel writer and journalist Mary Agnes FitzGibbon kept a diary of her experiences along the Dawson Trail in 1876 by the name of A Trip to Manitoba or “Roughing it on the Line”. Canadian Early Women Writers. Retrieved June 6, 2020, from Mary Agnes Fitzgibbon

 

Canadian Pacific Railway Supersedes the Dawson Trail in 1885

The trains were mixed, passenger as well as freight. Source: Heather, D. (1968). Prairie Grove 1872-1968 (P.273). Manitoba Local Histories. UM Archives. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3101128

 

Sainte-Anne Heart of the Dawson Road

The twenty-seven (27) parishes of the Red River Settlement in the Red River Colony, known as the District of Assiniboia (under the HBC regime) are numbered along this 1870 map of the settlement just before Manitoba’s entry into Confederation. Its parishes ran up and down the Red, Assiniboine and Seine Rivers. In 1856, Ste. Anne, number nineteen (19) on the map along the Seine River, was the first to organize itself formally as a parish, though other parishes, such as St. John’s, St. Boniface, Kildonan, St. Vital and St. Norbert were settled earlier and had churches. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from The Home Country of Assiniboia

 

“Oak Point Settlement,” from Report on the Line of Route Between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement by Simon J. Dawson, civil engineer (P.26). Printed by order for the House of Commons. Ottawa. Printed by I.B. Taylor at the “Ottawa Citizen” office1869. Peel Library, University of Alberta. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/481/reader.html#25

 

The only known painting of the parish of Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes, Manitoba circa 1870, by H. Richardson Hind. H. Richardson was a brother of Henry Youle Hind. Note the trail going through it that would become the Dawson Road soon after. At this time, the road from St. Boniface to Ste. Anne was still known as Gaudet road (chemin de Gaudet). Note how close the farmhouses are to one another. This physical closeness to neighbours created a sense of community cohesion, threatened by a square grid surveying system intended to spread settlers out. Source: Toronto Public Library, “Roadside Scene with Three Houses and Figure”, Picture, 1870, English, https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMDC-941-3-37&R=DC-941-3-37

 

Sainte-Anne Roman Catholic Church

Photograph of the church of Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes taken in 1939. The latter was built in 1898 at the request of Father Giroux who had to wait until 1908 before he had the necessary funds for the interior decoration. He had frescoes painted representing the Carillon-Sacré-Coeur flag and several emblems on the ceiling of the church. Société historique de Saint-Boniface, General Collection of the St. Boniface Historical Society, SHSB 1811. Retrieved from Église de Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes

 

Courtesy Gordon Goldsborough. The Town of Ste. Anne designated its church a municipal heritage site in 2006. Ste. Anne Roman Catholic Church, a Romanesque Revival-style complex in one of the oldest parishes in southeastern Manitoba, is an ambitious example of the type of churches built in Franco-Manitoban communities at the turn of the twentieth century. Erected in 1895-98, the substantial brick edifice, symbolically cruciform in plan and designed by Joseph-Azarie Senecal, then the architect of choice for local Roman Catholic facilities, presents a stately visage from its spacious site in the centre of Ste. Anne. Equally impressive is the church’s interior, including its elegantly appointed nave and sanctuary paintings by internationally renowned artist Leo Mol. Also valued for its historical significance, this church serves a parish established in the pre-Confederation era (1859) by Father Joseph LeFloch to minister to Metis and French settlers (many of whom are buried in the adjacent cemetery), and is situated on the Dawson Road, part of the first surveyed all-Canadian route between Lake Superior and the Red River district. Retrieved from Province of Manitoba Municipal Heritage Sites | Historic Resources Branch

Interior of the Ste. Anne Roman Catholic Church in Manitoba designated a municipal heritage site since 2006. Courtesy Gordon Goldsborough. Retrieved from Historic Sites of Manitoba: Ste. Anne Roman Catholic Church and Cemetery (162 Centrale Avenue, Ste. Anne)

 

Sainte-Anne Site of Pilgrimage

Poster for the first train excursion to Ste-Anne-des-Chênes for a catholique pilgrimage to the Ste. Anne Church grotto, 1898. Source: Villa Youville Inc. (1976). Paroisse de Ste. Anne des Chênes 1876-1976 (p.94). Published by « le Comité historique du Centenaire, » Ste-Anne, Manitoba. Retrieved June 3, 2020 from http://www.mb1870.org/localhistory/125%20-%20La%20Paroisse%20de%20Ste.%20Anne-des-Chenes.pdf

 

Pilgrimage to the Ste. Anne Grotto, 1965. Source: Villa Youville Inc. (1976). Paroisse de Ste. Anne des Chênes 1876-1976 (p.92). Published by « le Comité historique du Centenaire, » Ste-Anne, Manitoba. Retrieved June 3, 2020 from http://www.mb1870.org/localhistory/125%20-%20La%20Paroisse%20de%20Ste.%20Anne-des-Chenes.pdf

 

The River Lot System

Typical prairie river lot farm in Métis and French-speaking parishes of the Red River settlement. Source: Canada : Department of Agriculture. (1880). La province du Manitoba et le territoire du Nord-Oeust : Information pour les immigrants.Queens University Library. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from Wikimedia Commons, https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/tags/bookidlaprovincedumani00cana

 

Southeast Manitoba close-up of Sectional Map No. 23 of Manitoba on either side of the meridian, 1922, Province of Manitoba. Close up image of traditional river lot system in the region’s Métis and French-Canadian communities. Retrieved from Emerson Sectional Map 23 (1922) | Sectional map no. 23: Emer…

 

Note the river lot system identified on this map for the Parish of Ste. Anne in comparison to the square grid system used by the Canadian Government. Parish of Ste. Anne on Sectional Map No. 23 of Manitoba on either side of the meridian, 1922, Province of Manitoba. Close up image of traditional river lot system in the region’s Métis and French-Canadian communities. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/manitobamaps/3681736953

 

Early Surveyors Meet with Resistance

“Tableau depicting Métis leader Louis Riel and others in opposition to the construction of a road through their lands without their consent or knowledge. Louis Riel stands on the surveyor’s chain marking the beginning of the resistance.” (translation) Two of these early acts of resistance took place. Once in Ste-Anne on the property of Olivier Ducharme (lot 8 Ste-Anne south side of river) and another time in St. Vital/St.Norbert on the property of André Nault. Painting by artist Bonna Eq. Rouse /85. Source: Combet, D. and Toussaint, I. (2007). Louis Riel, l’inoubliable chef des Métis. Encyclopédie du patrimoine culturel de l’Amérique française. Retrieved June 28, 2020 from http://www.ameriquefrancaise.org/fr/article-732/Louis_Riel,_l%E2%80%99inoubliable_chef_des_M%C3%A9tis.html#.Xvj1IShKiUk

 

“As soon as the news was received at Pointe des Chênes, Dennis was told not to put his feet on their, if he wished to keep his head on his shoulders.” Source: Manitoba Métis Federation. (1978). Riverlots and Scrip: Elements of Métis Aboriginal rights. Manitoba Métis Federation Press. Online publisher: University of Calgary Librairies and Cultural Resources Digital Collections. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from https://cdm22007.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p22007coll8/id/847563/rec/4

 

Le Métis (1874, Apr 11). Letter of Augusting Nolin in reference to there having not only been one incident with surveyors in the region, but two, the first having taken place in front of the house of M. Olivier Ducharme right in the heart of the parish of Ste. Anne. Courtesy: UM Archives. Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3A2671088

 

Teillet, J. (2019). The North-West is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel’s People, The Métis Nation (pp. 195-198). Harper Collins. Retrieved from The North-West Is Our Mother - Jean Teillet - eBook

 

Provisional Government of the future Province of Manitoba with leader Louis Riel in the centre (1870). Source: Louis Riel and his Councillors (circa 1869), University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections, A13-5. Back row (L-R): Bonnet Tromage, Pierre Delorme, Thomas Bunn, Xavier Pagé, Andre Beauchemin, Baptiste Tourond, Thomas Spence. Middle row (L-R): Pierre Poitras, John Bruce, Louis Riel, William O’Donoghue, François Dauphinais. Front row (L-R): Hugh (or Bob) O’Lone, Paul Proulx. Riel’s cousin, Charles Nolin, was also representative of the Parish of Ste Anne-des-Chênes, the heart of the Dawson Trail, but is not in the photo. The two would have a falling out over how to handle the takeover of the North-West by Canada. While they did reconcile at one point, Nolin later testified in court against Riel who was hanged. Provincial Archives of Manitoba.

 

The beginning of the Section Land Survey in the Red River Plain (1869). Canadians were imposing their system of geography. The people of the area around Ste Anne preferred the use of long narrow river lots (Seigneurerie-style) for practical and cultural reasons, over the square survey grid. Retrieved from https://openlibrary-repo.ecampusontario.ca/jspui/bitstream/123456789/234/5/Canadian-History-Post-Confederation-1506534948.html#slug-2-5-canada-captures-the-west-1867-70

 

Une lettre de Giroux à Taché en 1883. L’abbé Raymond Giroux à Monseigneur Alexandre Taché, 31 août, 1883, pp.4. Source: Archives de la Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds Corporation archiépiscopale catholique romaine de Saint-Boniface, Série Taché, T28138 à T28141. English Summary of Father Giroux’s letter to Louis Riel: “Have just seen Dubuc and learned that you have been forced into exile; he read your response to the deputations and though your friends want you to take part in the debates in the legislature they approve your determination; more and more light is shed on the movement of last year and when Clarke set forth the advantages of the Manitoba Bill I said to my people we should not forget who had procured them; if you were to present yourself for the Commons Pointe de Chene would give you its unanimous support; your conduct since the arrival of the troops has convinced public opinion of your desire to work for the good of your country; McTavish will be elected here; Schultz will have trouble; Girard, Dubuc and Royal will be elected; you see God protects and loves the Metis people; Schmidt will be elected in Saint-Boniface West; in Europe Paris resists but treason will cause her to fall; the Pope is a prisoner in the Vatican..." Retrieved June 29, 2020 from http://shsb.mb.ca/giroux-tache Father Lefloch, the priest from St-Boniface who ministered to the Metis and French Fonds CACRSB, Série Taché, T28138 à T28141

 

Sainte-Anne Old Municipal Hall

Original Municipal Building in the Town of Ste. Anne – “Hôtel de ville”

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Dawson Road Monument (Centrale Avenue, Ste. Anne)

 

Origins of Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes

Photograph of Centrale Avenue at the corner of Finnigan road (later Piney road) east of the village of Ste. Anne circa 1930s. Image shows the store of Mr. Isaie Richer. This store was built in 1885 and sold in 1911 to Mr. Louis Dufresne. Source: Blom, R.R. (1980, April). Taché Rural Municipality 1880-1980 (P.171). Commissioned by The Council of the Rural Municipality of Taché. Derksen Printers, Steinbach: Manitoba. Retrieved from University of Manitoba digital collections June 3, 2020, http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3055598

 

Father Lefloch, the priest from St-Boniface who ministered to the Metis and French settlers at this location, changed the name of the parish to Ste. Anne, a patron Saint in Brittany, France, in 1867. Source: Société historique de Saint-Boniface. Accueil / Au pays de Riel / Lieux / Sainte-Anne / Photos / Jean-Marie Le Floch . Retrieved June 29, 2020 from http://shsb.mb.ca/le-floch Collection générale SHSB, SHSB 9189

Plan of River Lots in the Parish of Ste. Anne. The river lot of Mr. Olivier Ducharme was Lot #8 on the south side of the river. This is where Boulton’s surveys were told not to put their fee on their land if they wanted to keep their head on their shoulders. Source: Fonds Corporation archiépiscopale catholique romaine de Saint-Boniface (1874, July) 0075-G11-04. Surveyed by George McPhilipps. SHSB. Retrieved June 24, 2020 from http://shsb.mb.ca/Sainte-Anne/cartes/lots-de-riviere

 

Last Survivor of the Old West: Alexandre Bériault

Alexandre Bériault, born in Lorette on December 5, 1867 and deceased August 25, 1969 and the age of 102 years. Steinbach Carillon, Steinbach, Manitoba, CA, December 6, 1957 (P. 1 |12), “Last Survivor of the Old West” by Bruno Derksen. Retrieved June 20, 2020 from https://newspaperarchive.com/browse/ca/mb/steinbach/steinbach-carillon/1957/dec-06-p-12/

 

Parc des Rédemptoristes

Sainte-Anne : « A Generous Parish »

Église de Saint-Anne-des-Chênes. Aquarelle d'Henri Julien. Retrieved from http://shsb.mb.ca/eglise_sainte_anne_des_chenes Fonds Henri Julien, 0053/G268/25

 

Call to the Grey Nuns (Soeurs Grises)

The convent of the Grey Nuns in Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes. Convent of the Grey Nuns in Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes. The first convent of the nuns was built in 1882, one year before their arrival in the parish. The first Grey Nuns in Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes were Sister Joseph-Adéline Audet-Lapointe, first superior, Sister Mary-Ann O'Brien, Sister Marie-Louise Lagarde and Sister Hermine Brouillet who joined them shortly thereafter. Source: Archives of the Historical Society of St. Boniface, St. Boniface Museum Collection, MSB 327. Retrieved from: Couvent des Sœurs Grises à Sainte-Anne

 

Convent of the Grey Nuns of Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes. The first convent of the nuns was built in 1882, one year before their arrival in the parish. The first Grey Nuns in Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes were Sister Joseph-Adéline Audet-Lapointe, first superior, Sister Mary-Ann O'Brien, Sister Marie-Louise Lagarde and Sister Hermine Brouillet who joined them shortly afterwards. Source: Archives of the Historical Society of Saint Boniface, Fonds Musée de Saint-Boniface, MSB 327. Retrieved July 1, 2020 from Couvent des Sœurs Grises à Sainte-Anne

 

Original Building in 1902 covered in fake red brick. The wing to the right was built in 1928. Source: Villa Youville Inc. (1976). Paroisse de Ste. Anne des Chênes 1876-1976 (p.39b). Published by « le Comité historique du Centenaire, » Ste-Anne, Manitoba. Retrieved June 3, 2020 fromUntitled

Villa Youville Inc. (1976). Paroisse de Ste. Anne des Chênes 1876-1976 (p.39b14). Published by « le Comité historique du Centenaire, » Ste-Anne, Manitoba. Retrieved June 3, 2020 from http://www.mb1870.org/localhistory/125%20-%20La%20Paroisse%20de%20Ste.%20Anne-des-Chenes.pdf

 

A Long History of Health Services

Photograph of French-speaking physicians in Manitoba taken around 1907. The first man seated from the left is Dr. François-Xavier Demers, the first resident physician of Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes where he practiced from 1885 until his death in 1939. Archives of the St. Boniface Historical Society, St. Boniface Museum Fonds, MSB 808 Reference: Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes. Retrieved from François-Xavier Demers

 

“A Most Beautiful Country”

Harvesters came from the East on special trains to work the fields of the West. Barry Broadfoot, The Pioneer Years, 1895-1914. Print

 

The Seine River Manitoba in the summer. The Dawson Trail followed the Seine River from Ste. Anne to Winnipeg. Courtesy, Photographer: Eric St-Onge, Save Our Seine. Retrieved from https://www.saveourseine.com/resources

 

HBC Post/Finnegan Bridge

The Fur Trade in Eastern Manitoba

Voyageurs at dawn en route between Lake Superior and Red River Settlement, 1871, by Frances Ann Hopkins. HBC Heritage website. Retrieved from HBC Heritage — Frances Anne Hopkins

 

Voyageurs travelling on snowshoes through the woodlands. The earliest Europeans in southeastern Manitoba were voyageurs and wintering partners known as hivernants. They married First Nations women according to the custom of the country and this was at the origins of the Métis Nation. Image source: McGill Digital Library https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/nwc/showcaption.php?lang=english&src=history/history_images/voyageurs/SM%201970-874.jpg&id=SM%201970-874

 

Map by Aaron Arrowsmith (London: 1830), showing the departments, districts, and depots of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1830. 1830 is around the same time the first Métis families settled in the area around Ste. Anne. The Dawson Trail went from Upper Canada, through the Lac LaPluie District to the Red River District. Redrawn by Eric Leinberger. Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Provincial Archives of Manitoba. Source: Mackie, R. (2020, Feb 29). #742 Beyond the Great Western Peninsula. The Ormsby Review, Fur Trade. Retrieved June 30, 2020 from #742 Beyond the Great Western Peninsula – The Ormsby Review

 

HBC Post and Shelter for Travelers

The Hudson Bay Company store in Ste. Anne des Chênes, also served as the first Post Office for the Town (1872-1883). This is what remained of the post circa 1890. Dawson Trail Museum collection.

 

Sir Sanford Fleming’s Expedition – Journal excerpt (1872)

The Old Piney Bridge now Finnigan Bridge, June 2013. This 50-foot concrete bowstring arch bridge over the Seine River was completed in 1921 at a cost of $13,678 borne equally by the provincial and municipal governments. It was designated as a municipally-significant historic site in 1987. It was used for local traffic until it was closed to all by pedestrians and cyclists in 2012. Its heritage status was revoked in early 2013, and the bridge was later demolished. Source: Manitoba Historical Society. (2020, March 26). Historic Sites of Manitoba: Concrete Bowstring Arch Bridge (Seine River, Finnigan Road, Ste. Anne). Retrieved June 30, 2020 from Historic Sites of Manitoba: Concrete Bowstring Arch Bridge (Seine River, Finnigan Road, Ste. Anne)

 

Mennonites Delegates in Sainte-Anne (1873)

The twelve Mennonite delegates of 1873, with their guides and travelling friends. They were photographed in front of the Dominion Lands Office before visiting the East Reserve on June 18-21 of that year. Source: Archives of Manitoba. Retrieved from Klippenstein, L. (1972). Diary of a Mennonite Delegation, 1873. Manitoba Historical Society, Autumn, Volume 18, Number 2. Retrieved June 11, 2020 from http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/pageant/18/mennonitediary.shtml

 

Loewen, R. (1992). New Themes in an Old Story: Transplanted Mennonites as Group Settlers in North American, 1874-1879. Journal of American Ethnic History. Volume 11, No. 2, Winter, 1992 (P.8). University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Immigration & Ethnic History Society on JSTOR. Retrieved July 1, 2020 from https://www.jstor.org/stable/27500929?read-now=1&seq=6#page_scan_tab_contents

 

Loewen, R. (1992). New Themes in an Old Story: Transplanted Mennonites as Group Settlers in North American, 1874-1879. Journal of American Ethnic History. Volume 11, No. 2, Winter, 1992 (P.7). University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Immigration & Ethnic History Society on JSTOR. Retrieved July 1, 2020 from https://www.jstor.org/stable/27500929?read-now=1&seq=6#page_scan_tab_contents

 

Diversion Park (RM of Ste. Anne)

Acknowledgement of Ancestral Lands

Sauteaux (Saulteaux) Anishinaabe First Nation family (rabbit skin dresses) opposite Fort Garry, ca. 1857-8 by William Napier. Library and Archives Canada/Reminiscences of North America/c146728k. Retrieved from Saulteaux Indians, Fort Garry, ca. 1857-1858, by William Napier - The Canadian West - Exhibitions - Library and Archives Canada

 

“And will another Company take in land for five miles on each side of the great road to be made between this place and Canada without consulting me and my brother chiefs? I speak loud! listen!” are the words of Chief Peguis in this letter to London (the ‘Crown’) concerning the future construction of Dawson Road. Source: Sutherland, Donna. (2003). Peguis: A Noble Friend (P.143). Published by Chief Peguis Heritage Park Inc. Print.

 

A ‘History of Dawson Road and its importance for Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes’ by an anonymous member of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface in Les cloches de Saint-Boniface, 1902 reflecting on Dawson Road in 1869 and its connection to the Red River Resistance. Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from https://shsb.mb.ca/chemin-dawson. Les cloches de Saint-Boniface, Vol. 1, No. 14, 15 oct. 1902, P.352-356

 

Where Forest Meets the Western Prairies

Purple Prairie Clover, Dalea purpurea. Its glowing colour and nectar make it a favorite for butterflies. Image: Prairie Originals. Retrieved from: Native Prairie Plants - Wildflowers

 

Wild prairie flowers against a woodland background. Tall Grass Prairie Museum Winnipeg. Prairie preserve. Source: Tall Grass Prairie Preserve at Living Prairie Museum in Winnipeg, Canada

 

Bison Hunting

File:PaulKane-BuffaloHunt-ROM.jpg. (2020, March 12). Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. Retrieved 05:19, July 2, 2020 from https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:PaulKane-BuffaloHunt-ROM.jpg&oldid=403620793.

 

Nakota (Assiniboine) hunting buffalo hunting on horseback in the southern plains of Manitoba, ca. 1851-56 by Paul Kane. Courtesy National Gallery of Canada. Source: Russel Harper, J. (2008, May 22). Paul Kane. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 1, 2020 from Paul Kane

 

Majestic Beaver Dam

Letter from John Snow, Superintendent of the Dawson Route to the Honorable William McDougall providing an update on how fast the work can proceed and what he will need. Note Snow,’s use of the place name “Mistamiscano” for the place known as Ste. Anne today. Canadian Parliament, Sessional Papers (no.42), Volume 5, Issue 5 (P.2). Second session of the first parliament of the Dominion of Canada, 1869. Retrieved from https://books.google.ca/books?id=NSnQAAAAMAAJ...

 

Of Mud and Straw

Photograph of a homesteader breaking sod with a plough pulled by oxen. “Le Canadien français,” Winnipeg, Compagnie française de colonisation au Canada, vol. 2, no 14, juin 1910, cover. From « La colonisation/migrations francophone au Manitoba 1870-1914. Retrieved July 2, 2020 from http://shsb.mb.ca/Canadien-Fran%C3%A7ais_premier_labour

 

Spinning wheels were a standard piece of equipment in many early settler homes and used for making fiber into yarn. Mrs. Duhamel is demonstrating how to use a spinning wheel at the church in the 1930s. Dawson Trail Museum collection.

 

La Coulée

La Coulée des Sources, aka La Coulée des ressources, Rebel Coulée

 

Wikipedia, La Coulée, Manitoba La Coulée, Manitoba 2020.

 

Dawson Road Construction: Plagued with Troubles

Plan of Route Followed by the Red River Expeditionary Force from Lake Superior to Fort Garry showing the exploratory line for the Dawson Road and “Mr. Snow’s Road” as it was being constructed from his road-building headquarters at La Coulée des Ressources. Source: Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba (2018, Mar 4). Dawson Trail, Planning and Construction. Retrieved June 30, 2020 from Dawson Trail - EGM Heritage

 

Grasshoppers during epidemic 1868 locusts that ravaged at the Red River, Manitoba. Glenbow: NA-2111-1. July 23, 1874. Retrieved June 30, 2020 from http://ww2.glenbow.org/search/archivesPhotosResults.aspx?AC=GET_RECORD&XC=/search/archivesPhotosResults.aspx&BU=&TN=IMAGEBAN...

 

Teillet, J. (2019). The NorthWest is our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel’s people. Harper Collins e-book (P.184). Retrieved from The North-West Is Our Mother - Jean Teillet - eBook

 

John Snow: Foreman of Road Building

Nor'Wester (1859), 1869-07-10 (P.3). University of Manitoba Archives. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/2744361 or https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3A2744361/manitoba_metadata

 

Workers Revolt” The “Dunking” of Thomas Scott

La Coulée, Manitoba where John Snow set up the headquarters and camp for building of the Dawson road in 1869 and was later that year “dunked” in La Coulée by Thomas Scott and three other labourers who worked on the line . Photo credit: Mireille Lamontagne

 

The Notorious Thomas Scott

Thomas Scott, insurgent, labourer (born c. 1842 in Clandeboye, County Down Ireland; died 4 March 1870, in Red River Colony). Scott was an Irish Protestant who moved to the Red River Colony in 1869 and joined the Canadian Party. His actions against the Provisional Government of Assiniboia twice led to his arrest and jailing. Scott was convicted of treason and executed by the provisional government, led by Louis Riel, on 4 March 1870. His execution led to the Red River Expedition, a military force sent to Manitoba by Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald to confront the Métis at Red River. From that point on, Protestant Ontarians, especially members of the powerful Orange Order, wanted retribution from Riel for Scott’s death. Scott’s execution led to Riel’s exile and to Riel’s own execution for treason in 1885. Source image (left): The Begbie Contest Society. (n.d.) Canadian Primary Sources in the Classroom – Riel and Manitoba. Multiple Perspectives. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from http://www.begbiecontestsociety.org/RIEL%20and%20MANITOBA.htm

 

Gibson, D. (2015). Law, Life and Government at Red River, Volume 1: Settlement and Governance, 1812-1872, Volume 13 of Rupert’s Land Record Society Series (P.227). McGill-Queen’s Press – MQUP, 2015 (pp.549). Retrieved July 5, 2020 from https://books.google.ca/books?id=1X60CgAAQBAJ...

 

Nor’Wester (1869, Nov 23). Winnipeg, Manitoba, CA. Page 1. Retrieved July 5, 2020 from https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm:2744425

 

The Rise of Political and Social Turmoil

John Christian Schultz. Source: University of Manitoba Archives. Jean Monnet, French statesman and founder of the European Economic Community, as an eighteen-year-old salesman traveling in Winnipeg and Calgary in 1906, Memoirs (1978), translated by Richard Mayne. Retrieved from John Christian Schultz

For a complete biography on Schultz, see Biography – SCHULTZ, Sir JOHN CHRISTIAN – Volume XII (1891-1900)

 

Provisional Government of the future Province of Manitoba with leader Louis Riel in the centre (1870), including local resident Paul Proulx (1837-1918) and Charles Nolin of Sainte-Anne, among others. Louis Riel and his Councillors (circa 1869). Louis Riel and his Councillors (circa 1869). Source: University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections, A13-5.

 

The execution of Thomas Scott, LAC, C-118610, 1870. Retrieved June 30, 2020 from Riel and Manitoba

 

Côteau Pelé, aka Harrison’s Ridge

Côteau Pelé, aka Harrison’s Ridge, property of Mr. Aurèle Proulx (2020, June). Photo credit: Pierrette Sherwood.

 

Once 20-30 feet higher than seen in this photo, the silt and gravel from Côteau Pelé was used to build the Dawson Road (2020, June). Photo credit: Pierrette Sherwood

 

This map shows the various shorelines of ancient glacial Lake Agassiz, once the greatest lake in the world, over time. Note the ancient beach ridge line that cuts through to southeastern Manitoba all the way to Lake of the Woods that was used to its maximum advantage in the building of Dawson Road. Source: CBC News with Bill Redekop. (2017, Nov 5). Lake Agassiz: New book explores origins, discovery of giant phantom lake. Retrieved June 25, 2020 from Lake Agassiz: New book explores origins, discovery of giant phantom lake

 

Coulée “des sources” or “des ressources”?

Wintertime in La Coulée “des Sources” or “des Ressources” (2020, Dec). Photo credit: Mireille Lamontagne

 

Jean-Baptiste Desautels (II) and his wife Julie Amyot, married in Saint-Paul de Joliette, Quebec in 1848. They moved to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1855 and continued on to Red River in 1864. The family settled first in Saint-François-Xavier, then in Lorette, and finally in Sainte-Anne-des Chênes in 1868. The "facteur Desautels" transported mail between Sainte-Anne, Saint-Boniface and Winnipeg along the Dawson Road for some 30 years. Source: Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Collection Générale, SHSB148. Retrieved July 2, 2020 from Jean-Baptiste Desautels (fils) et son épouse Julie Amyot

 

Alexandre Desautels seated in a chair made for his father in 1869 by the old Saulteux Chief, “Chair-Maker,” Faiseur des Chaises. Source: Madame Annette Dubuc Hébert. In the spring of 1869, the Desautels moved to Oak Point, now Ste. Anne des Chenes, two miles east of the village where his father bought a tract of land from the old Saulteaux Chief “Grandes Oreilles”. Alexandre Desautels dit Lapointe, Oldest St. Boniface College Student

 

Tuyau

Barkwell, L. J. (2018). The Metis Homeland: Its Settlements and Communities (P.76). Louis Riel Institute. Retrieved from The Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture

 

La Coulée School

Students outside La Coulée school in 1943. The original school could be found North, along the Dawson Road. It closed down in the early 1960s and was moved to Aurèle Proulx’s property where it serves as a garage, to this day. Courtesy Evelyn Gagnon, local resident

 

Students at La Coulée (1958). Courtesy Evelyn Gagnon, local resident

 

The Proulx and Huppé families were among the first settlers of La Coulée. Paul Proulx (the first) served on Louis Riel’s Council. His grandson, also named Paul Proulx (1902-1980), is shown here (far left) with 4 of his 8 sons Aurele Proulx, Emile Proulx, unknown, cousin Ralph Carriere, Horace Proulx and Roger Proulx in 1949. Aurele Proulx (aka Fatty), born in 1932, remains its oldest living resident. He was born and raised at home, and never moved away. Courtesy Evelyn Gagnon, local resident

 

Lake Riviera

Zigarlick Eldon saved to Travel In Manitoba Pyramid House - Lake Riviera - La Coulee, Manitoba. A severe flood in 1974 washed out the dam. Lake Riviera is now a private, gated housing development. Retrieved from: Pyramid House - Lake Riviera - La Coulee, Manitoba | Pyramid house, Pyramids, Riviera

 

Speaker blares out the music...Lake Riviera. Source: University of Manitoba Archives. Winnipeg Tribune, June 13, 1971. Photographer: Burner. Rock and Pop Music 1970-1980. Call Num: PC 18/5754/18-4902-010. Retrieved from Winnipeg Tribune Photo Collection : Rock and Pop Music : Archives & Special Collections : Libraries

Poster advertising the official opening of Lake Riviera at La Coulée on Sunday, July 26, 1959. Steinbach Carillon, July 24, 1959. Retrieved from https://newspaperarchive.com/ca/mb/steinbach/steinbach-carillon/1959/jul-24-p-5/ (poster is available for purchase through newspaper archive)

Advertisement for bus pick-up and drop-off round trip from Winnipeg to Lake Riviera. Winnipeg Tribune, July 28, 1959 (P.8). Retrieved from https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-jul-28-1959-1766885/

 

Richer: Côteau des chênes

Richer, aka Horse Ridge / Thibaultville / Little Oak Ridge

Jean-Baptiste Thibault (Thibaud, Thebo). He arrived at Saint-Boniface in June, 1833, and began to study the Cree and Saulteux languages. On 8 September he was ordained priest by Bishop Joseph-Norbert Provencher*. As a missionary, Thibault opened up the way to the west and north in America; as a government emissary, he defended the interests of those whom he was supposed to appease. He then became Vicar General of the Diocese of St. Boniface. In 1872, he returned to the East where he died on April 4, 1879. Archives de la Société historique de Saint Boniface. Retrieved June 30, 2020 from http://shsb.mb.ca/Richer/Jean-Baptiste_Thibault Collection générale de la SHSB, SHSB 566

 

Sawmill of the (Charles) Saindon family in the vicinity of Richer around 1930. For many years, the forestry industry remained the main economic activity in the community of Richer. There were therefore many sawmills in operation in the area. But excessive logging caused the forest to disappear and many residents had to leave Richer to settle on better land or in the towns. Source: Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds Paroisse de l'Enfant-Jésus de Richer, SHSB 8910. Retrieved June 30, 2020 from Le moulin à scie de la famille Saindon vers 1930

 

Photograph of Richer's small parish hall taken around 1935. This building was first used as a chapel before being converted into a parish hall when a new church was built. Source: Société historique de Saint-Boniface, HSBS General Collection, HSBS 16436. Retrieved June 30, 2020 from La petite salle paroissiale de Richer vers 1935

 

Cheese factory and corner store in 1930 located on Dawson Road in Richer. The road, on which most immigrants travelling westward travelled, attracted many customers to the businesses in Richer. Source: Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds Paroisse de l'Enfant-Jésus de Richer, SHSB 8891. Retrieved June 30, 2020 from La fromagerie et le magasin du coin en 1930

 

Photograph of the village of Richer in 1930 and the Dawson Road that runs through the village. You can also see how rocky the land is and how unsuitable it is for farming. Source: Archives of the Historical Society of Saint Boniface, Fonds Paroisse de l'Enfant-Jésus de Richer, SHSB 8971. Retrieved June 30, 2020 from Le village de Richer et le chemin Dawson en 1930

Tauffenbach children circa 1875 near Thibeaultville (aka Richer). Mr. Tauffenbach was a well-known painter and decorator in the area. Isabelle, Jean-Baptiste and Thérèse Tauffenbach, children of Constantin Nicholas Tauffenbach, painter, and Anne-Marie Ponzen, circa 1875. Originally from Alsace-Lorraine, the Tauffenbach family emigrated to Canada after the Franco-Prussian War and settled in the vicinity of Thibaultville (Richer) in 1882 after a stay in Montreal. A talented painter-decorator, Constantin Tauffenbach painted many commissioned portraits and decorated churches in Franco-Manitoban parishes, notably Lorette and Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes, as well as the ceiling of the Bon Secours chapel in Saint-Norbert at the end of the 19th century. Source: Archives of the Historical Society of Saint Boniface, HSBS General Collection, HSBS 228. Retrieved June 30, 2020 from Enfants de Constantin Nicholas Tauffenbach, peintre, et d'Anne-Marie Ponzen, vers 1875

 

École Rouge of Richer. Classe of Mr. St Pierre. Source : Archives de la Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds Paroisse de l’Enfant-Jésus de Richer, SHSB 8802. Retrieved June 30, 2020 from http://shsb.mb.ca/Richer/Ecole_Rouge_SHSB8802

 

Musée Dawson Trail Museum / Enfant-Jésus Historical Site

The construction of the Dawson Road in 1869 led to an influx of Métis moving to Côteau-des-Chênes to work on road construction, joining the Métis inhabitants who had been settled in the area for several years. Father Alexandre Defoy came to work as a missionary in the region and in 1903 he became the first resident priest in the mission of Thibaultville where he built the first chapel on land donated by Pierre Michaud. In 1904, Bishop Louis-Philippe-Adélard Langevin, Archbishop of Saint-Boniface, erected the mission of the Enfant-Jésus to Thibaultville and named Father Defoy the first parish priest.[3] The chapel to the left was built in 1904 and the church in 1913. Dawson Trail Museum collection.

 

Historic site of the Enfant-Jésus Roman Catholic church in Richer, Manitoba built along the Dawson Trail in 1913 serves today as the Chemin Dawson Trail Museum (c1980). Dawson Trail Museum collection.

 

Doll of the Infant Jesus in the collection of the Dawson Trail Museum. The doll is made of beeswax and natural hair. The first Enfant Jesus doll was made in 1845 by Sister Eulalie Lagrave. The tradition of making wax jesus was brought to Canada by the Ursulines and adopted by other sisters, such as the Grey Nuns. The remarkable facts are the real aspect and the delicacy of the doll. The reason for making this baby was for the church nativity scene but also to raise funds for the poor. It embodies the serenity, peace and wonder of children. According to Patricia Gendreau and the St. Boniface Museum.

 

Reaction of children and adults in the parish to the arrival of the “Enfant-Jésus” in the church newsletter in December 1845. Text translation: “In the chronicles of December 1845 the sense of wonder of the population is described when the “baby” made of wax was introduced during the Christmas holidays. One must understand that the toys at the time were rudimentary and that most children had never seen a doll in their life. Christmas evening on the way to Mass, the faithful found an impressionnant splendor not only with the lovely hymns of the Sister, but also with the nativity scene where the Enfant-Jésus lay. Most had never seen anything like it. Very moved by the realistic aspect of the “baby” made of wax, the children could not understand how the baby would be able to stay warm inside such a cold church! All of the children showed much tenderness for this “baby” wanting to offer him, for example, a blanket or a pair of small beaded moccasins. It is said that one child even wanted to bring him candy. That was a big sacrifice for a little one in 1845.” Source: De quoi de vieux au Musée de Saint-Boniface (n.d.). Print. Collection of the Dawson Trail Museum.

 

View from the rear of the Enfant-Jésus Church and cemetery, now the Musée Dawson Trail Museum facing the Dawson Road. Image courtesy Mireille Lamontagne.

 

The Governor General’s Visit (1877)

Lord and Lady Dufferin, arriving at the gates of Fort Garry. They had come to Winnipeg from Toronto to make a trip to Lake Winnipeg. They took the Dawson Road from Fort Garry to the Northwest Angle before heading north. Lady Dufferin’s Journal of the trip paints a vivid picture of the experience of a Red River Cart on a corduroy road. Source: Archives of Manitoba.Mitchell, R. (1966). Lord Dufferin. Manitoba Pageant, Winter 1966, Volume 11, Number 2. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from Lord Dufferin

 

Traversing the Quagmire: “Knocked about as much as we could bear…”

Lady Dufferin. The plain fabric and minimal bustle of Lady Dufferin’s dress suggest the early 1880s., Hariot Georgina Rowan-Hamilton, Hariot Georgina Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, Baroness Dufferin and Clandeboye, Lady Dufferin, Countess of Dufferin, Rowan-Hamilton family, Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood family, Marquise, British, curly coiffure, hat, chemisette, collar, high enclosing neckline, long under-sleeves, cuirasse bodice, long close over-sleeves, draped tight skirt, wrap. Source: gogmsite. (2019, May 1). Grand Ladies - Lady Dufferin wearing fuzzy hat by?. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from Lady Dufferin wearing fuzzy hat by ?

 

The arrival of the Countess of Dufferin, Winnipeg, 9 October 1877 signalled the arrival of the ‘iron horse’ to the prairies. The Dawson Road would be used to build the very railroad on which she would drive. Source: Canadian Pacific Railway. Retrieved June 20, 2020 from First Lady of the Rails

 

The Lost Treasure

Somewhere along this dotted line lies a legendary treasure waiting to be found. Dawson Trail - treasure trail? Story by Michael Posner in Blom, R.R. (1980, April). Taché Rural Municipality 1880-1980 (P.36). Commissioned by The Council of the Rural Municipality of Taché. Derksen Printers, Steinbach: Manitoba. Retrieved from University of Manitoba digital collections June 3, 2020, http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3055598

 

Illustration of Canadian soldier getting away from his pursuers without the gold. Manitoba Regional Tourism Network. (2007). Tales of the Dawson Trail. Eastern Manitoba Tourism Guide. Print

 

Period British gold coins. Retrieved from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Sovereign_Victoria_1842_662015.jpg

 

Example of a soldier’s uniform in the 1860s. The style combines elements of British Dragoon and Light Dragoon. The soldier who lost the treasure in the legend may have been dressed like this soldier since the NorthWest Mounted Police were not created until 1873, two years after construction of the road was completed. Department of National Defence Library. Retrieved June 20, 2020 from Skaarup Web page

 

Story about the Dawson Trail treasure published in the Winnipeg Tribune, Winnipeg, Manitoba, CA, August 20, 1966 (P.114) “Dawson Trail – treasure trail?” by Michael Posner. Retrieved June 8, 2020 from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/2291440

Dawson Trail Park

Corduroy Roads

First corduroy bridge to cross the Whitemouth River in Manitoba along the Dawson Road circa early 1870 built by Lukaz and Nicklas Lupkowski. In 1989, there were still pilings in the river. Hadashville Women's Institute. (1970). A Packsack of Seven Decades (P.63). Derksen Printers. Retrieved from the digital collections of the University of Manitoba, June 3, 2020 from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3066498 or https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3A3066415#page/63/mode/2up

 

What remained of the Whitemouth River Bridge on Dawson Road. The bridge was destroyed by flood in the 1930’s and never rebuilt. This image was taken near the property of Mr. & Mrs. George Lavack (Photo 2014) Courtesy Norm Lavack.

 

Report on the Line of Route Between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement by Simon J. Dawson, civil engineer (P.21). Printed by order for the House of Commons. Ottawa. Printed by I.B. Taylor at the “Ottawa Citizen” office1869. Peel Library, University of Alberta. Retrieved April 30, 2020 from http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/481/reader.html#25

 

The Cariboo Bog

Soldier on horseback with brass canons. Manitoba Historical Society. A gunner with 18-pound cannons at Camp Sewell, around 1912. Source: Archives of Manitoba, Camp Sewell 33. Source: Grebstad, D. (2013). Manitoba History: The Guns of Manitoba: How Cannons Shaped the Keystone Province, 1670-1885. Retrieved June 30, 2020 from Manitoba History: The Guns of Manitoba: How Cannons Shaped the Keystone Province, 1670-1885

 

This map is a reconstruction of the region using some of the Métis and French names for places from the collection of Roger Godard «Notes de M. J. A. Cusson et Marisse Benoit, 12 mars, 1939 - Lieux-dits le long du Chemin Dawson d’après Eugène Desautels ». Personal collection of Roger Godard.

 

Provincial archives map of Township No. 8, Range VIII East of Principal Meridian, Rec No 340 (1874). The soft blue line crossing the map horizontally is Dawson Trail. Source: PAM. Print.

 

“Getting out of a slough.” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, August 1860. Source: The Begbie Contest Society. (n.d.) Canadian Primary Sources in the Classroom – Riel and Manitoba. Multiple Perspectives. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from http://www.begbiecontestsociety.org/RIEL%20and%20MANITOBA.htm

Report on the Line of Route Between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement by Simon J. Dawson, civil engineer. The Indians on the Line of Route. House of Commons: Ottawa. Printed by I.B. Taylor at the “Ottawa Citizen” office1869. Peel Library, University of Alberta (P.27). Retrieved from http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/481/reader.html#25

 

First Nations Employed on the Line (1868-1871)

Working on the Dawson Road (1926-28)

We have not been able to locate any images of the building of the original Dawson Road (corduroy), however this is a road building crew circa 1929-1939 in the area around the Whitemouth River on the Dawson Road preparing the highway for automobile traffic. Source: Hadashville Women's Institute. (1970). A Packsack of Seven Decades (p. 60). Derksen Printers. Retrieved from the digital collections of the University of Manitoba, June 3, 2020 http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3066498

 

Dawson Road, May 1, 1926 during road construction east of Brokenhead. Found in collection of the Dawson Trail Museum. Origin unknown.

 

A Naturally Abundant Landscape

Prairie chicken (hen) now extirpated from Manitoba, abundant when Sir Sanford Fleming visited Manitoba in 1872. Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service. James-Abra, E. (2019, Sept 6). Greater Prairie Chicken. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/greater-prairie-chicken#

 

Saskatoon, Amelanchier alnifolia, is early to bloom and deer resistant. Image (left) saskatoon berry bush in bloom. Image (right) ripe saskatoon berry. Courtesy: Doug Collicutt, www.NatureNorth.com. Source: Nature North. (n.d.). Summer fruits, Some of Our Favorite Fruits [webpage]. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from http://www.naturenorth.com/summer/fruits/Ffruits3.html#saskatoon

 

Yellow Lady Slipper, Cypripedium parviflower, a delicate beauty common throughout the region. Lady Slippers have a less than 5% transplant success rate, so they are considered “off-limits” to pickers and diggers. Please respect the environment. Photo credit: Pierrette Sherwood

 

Prairie Sage, Artemisia frigida, features silver lance shaped leaves. Please do not pull these out of the ground and respect the environment in which they are found. Photo credit: Pierrette Sherwood

 

Dawson Trail Park

Richer Rodeo - 2019 - friday - 138. Retrieved June 19, 2020 from www.richerrodeo.ca

Richer Rodeo - 2017 Gallery 3. Retrieved June 19, 2020 from www.richerrodeo.ca

 

Point of Interest 15: Lac Bossé

First hitch along Dawson Road was at Lac Bossé. In this place, travellers coming from Ste-Anne des Chênes rested and often spent the night. There was a very refreshing spring of water there. Source: Blom, R.R. (1980, April). Taché Rural Municipality 1880-1980 (P.30). Commissioned by The Council of the Rural Municipality of Taché. Derksen Printers, Steinbach: Manitoba. Retrieved from University of Manitoba digital collections June 3, 2020, http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3055598

 

Interior of a Métis log cabin as seen along the journey of the North-West Mounted Police on the March West (1874). Esquis by Henri Julien for L’Opinion Publique, 1874. Glenbow Archives. Source image (left): The Begbie Contest Society. (n.d.) Canadian Primary Sources in the Classroom – Riel and Manitoba. Multiple Perspectives. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from http://www.begbiecontestsociety.org/RIEL%20and%20MANITOBA.htm

 

Maison Métis | Métis homestead typical of the region of the Dawson Trail. Original source unknown. Personal collection of Roger Godard.

 

Métis homestead, etching by Henri Julien. Original source: Canadian Illustrated News (1870, Jan 15). Also: L’Opinion publique, vol. 5, no 41, 8 octobre 1874 (p. 500). Source: The Begbie Contest Society. (n.d.) Canadian Primary Sources in the Classroom – Riel and Manitoba. Multiple Perspectives. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from http://www.begbiecontestsociety.org/RIEL%20and%20MANITOBA.htm

 

La Roche Percée - Maison de Métis, « Vue extérieure d’une maison de Métis », gravure par Henri Julien. Source: L’Opinion publique, vol. 5, no 41, 8 octobre 1874 (p. 500). English translation: The three drawings that our artist, Mr. Henri Julien, sent us from Manitoba for this issue are really very interesting. The Pierced Rock, which the people down there are so proud of, but it is still a very picturesque phenomenon. This half-breed house resembles those of our rural Canadian base, minus that air of affluence which makes three-quarters of our farmers' houses real cottages. Suppose a French Canadian who goes out on the prairie, he will certainly build a house like this one, whose family resemblance to ours will not fail to strike the reader. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from Maison de Métis

 

La Coulée St-Onge

“Fort Garry Band” Saulteaux First Nation family on the trapline near “Oak Point” settlement in 1914 which is now Ste. Anne, Manitoba. According to Lawrence Barkwell, “This band appears in the report of the Indian Affairs branch of the department of the secretary of state for the provinces in 1872 as having been paid at the Stone Fort [Lower Fort Garry] on Aug 4 and 5th 1871. Because of the embarrassment their claim to the city of Winnipeg lands outside the Selkirk survey and their reservation within that survey were to Canadians like [Dr. Charles Schultz] who was the largest land owner in Winnipeg, they were scattered among other bands by the Canadian government. Today they are ignored at place like “The Forks” which was the camping ground by which they took their name, for the same reason.” Source: Barkwell, L. (2016, November 8). Fort Garry Band (Upper Fort Garry): The forgotten history of the Saulteaux-Metis Band at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers (P.5). Retrieved March 2020 from https://www.scribd.com/document/330441089/Fort-Garry-Band-Upper-Fort-Garry

 

Photo of the local lumber industry in Lake of the Woods area (unknown date). Forestry History Society of Ontario. Forestory, Volume 10, Issue 1, Spring 2019. Retrieved from The Agreement Forest Program, Caterpillar Tractors, Wild Turkeys and Much, Much, More

 

Vegetation map of southeastern Manitoba at the time of the Red River Settlement showing the receding of the forested areas with successive fires and logging activities. Photo of the local timber industry in Lake of the Woods area (unknown date). Source: Forestry History Society of Ontario. Forestory, Volume 10, Issue 1, Spring 2019. Retrieved from The Agreement Forest Program, Caterpillar Tractors, Wild Turkeys and Much, Much, More See also Adaptation from: Shay, T. (2015). Pioneers on the Forest Fringe: The Wood Economy of Red River Settlement, 1812-1883. Manitoba History. Number 78, Summer 2015. Welton, East Yorkshire, England. Image: Weir, T.R. ( ). Economic Atlas of Manitoba (P. 21 or P. 29). J. Warkentin and R. I. Ruggles. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/78/woodeconomy.shtml

 

Forest Fire of 1897

Manitoba Government Employees Union (MGEU) members still fight forest fires in southeastern Manitoba today. Source: https://nupge.ca/sites/default/files/images/2012/firemanitoba.jpg

Joseph Smith’s sawmill was one of many in the region toward the end of the 1800s. Given the abundance of spruce trees in the Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes area, logging was one of the main industries in the early days of the colony. Joseph Smith owned a lumber camp in Richer and a sawmill in Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes. Here we see a few men cutting boards with a steam saw at Mr. Smith's home. Archives de la Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Collection générale, SHSB 30341. Retrieved June 25, 2020 from Moulin à scie de Joseph Smith

 

NorthWest Angle – Lake of the Woods

Brokenhead: Eastern boundary of the “Postage Stamp Province of 1870”

Map of the 1870 postage-stamp Province of Manitoba. One dot represents 50 people, so there were approximately 300 settlers already in the Ste-Anne-des-Chênes region at the time, but few in Lorette. Hallowell, A. Irving (Alfred Irving), and Jennifer S. H. Brown. 1991. “Ojibwa Of Berens River, Manitoba: Ethnography Into History.” Case Studies In Cultural Anthropology. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers. Source: Dibaajimowin. (2018, Dec 29), The Postage Stamp Province. Retrieved June 29, 2020 from Metis Stories

 

Trader George McPherson and his family welcomed travelers arriving at the NW Angle, Lake of the Woods, Ontario, October 1872. George McPherson and his family, Northwest Angle, Lake of the Woods (present-day Ontario), Source: Library and Archives Canada/George M. Dawson fonds/e011156525

 

Harrison Creek at the North-West Angle, the steamer landing for the Dawson Road (1876). Image shows George McPherson fishing from his dock, circa 1878. McPherson was the HBC officer in charge at Northwest Angle at the time of Treaty 3. One George McPherson Sr. is named as a witness on the Treaty 3 document. McPherson was appointed Indian Agent on the Lake of the Woods in 1877. Harrison Creek at the North-West Angle, the steamer landing for Dawson Road (1876). Image shows George McPherson fishing from his dock, circa 1878. McPherson was the HBC officer in charge at Northwest Angle at the time of Treaty 3. One George McPherson Sr. is named as a witness on the Treaty 3 document. McPherson was appointed Indian Agent on the Lake of the Woods in 1877. Source: National Archives UK. LAC CO 1069-272-14. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/7457056186/in/photostream/

 

Trader McPherson’s house at the NorthWest Angle, No.19. National Archives UK. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/7457056908/in/photostream/

 

View of meridian cutting, N.W. Angle Lake of the Woods, taken 1 ½ miles south of Dawson Road. No. 15 (1876). National Archives UK. Colonial Office Photographic Collection. LAC CO 1069-272-15. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/7457058184/in/photostream/

 

Survey party of the International Boundary Commission at the NorthWest Angle of the Lake of the Woods, circa 1876, party No 23. National Archives UK. Colonial Office photographic collection. LAC CO 1069-272-20. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/7457060726/in/photostream/

 

Plight of a Luckless Traveler (1874)

Fritz, David L. (1986, August 24). Special history study on the Dawson Trail and other routes relating to Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota (P.20). U.S. Department of the Interior, National Parks Service, Denver Service Center, Central Team. Denver, Colorado. Also Special history study on logging and lumbering as associated with the areas now in AC 16304. Retrieved June 3, 2020 from http://npshistory.com/publications/voya/dawson-trail-shs.pdf.

 

“The place has been known by the immigrants who passed over the Dawson route as “Hungry Hall.” The Manitoban : [Vol. 1, no. 6 (May 1892)]. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_06661_6/13?r=0&s=1

 

Emigrants had to bring their own provisions and because trips often took longer than expected, it was not unusual for travellers to arrive at the N.W. Angle starving. Soon it came to be known as “Hungry Hall” Source: Grant, G. M. (1835-1902). (1873). Ocean to ocean: Sandford Fleming’s expedition through Canada in 1872 (P.96). Being a diary kept during a journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific with the expedition of the engineer-in-chief of the Canadian Pacific and Intercolonial railways. With sixty illustrations. BC Historical Books. Diaries. Retrieved June 3, 2020, from https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcbooks/items/1.0221770

 

Harrison Creek: Gateway to Manitoba

What remained of the old forestry cabin in 1993 at Harrison Creek near the NW Angle. There are no buildings standing today. Even the old sign is gone. Credit: Roger Godard.

 

Last vestige of the village at the NorthWest Angle (2010, Jan 15). Photo credit: Roger Godard.

 

Birch River Station for Weary Travelers

An artist’s rendition of the station at Birch River at the first river crossing of three river crossings along Dawson Road (at Birch River, Whitemouth River and Brokenhead River. Some provisions were made available for the travelers by a supplier under contract by the Canadian government known as Carpenter & Co, however many travellers complained about the service. Source: Grant, George Monro, 1835-1902. (1873). Ocean to ocean: Sandford Fleming’s expedition through Canada in 1872 (P.60). Being a diary kept during a journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific with the expedition of the engineer-in-chief of the Canadian Pacific and Intercolonial railways. With sixty illustrations. BC Historical Books. Diaries. Retrieved June 3, 2020, from https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcbooks/items/1.0221770

 

Tripadvisor - Explore: Birch River (Manitoba). Taken April 16, 2016 by Andy showing the trails and road very overgrown. Retrieved June 20, 2020 from Birch River Tourism 2020: Best of Birch River, Manitoba - Tripadvisor

 

Tripadvisor - Explore: Birch River (Manitoba). Taken April 16, 2016 by Andy showing the trails and road very overgrown.Retrieved June 20, 2020 from Birch River Tourism 2020: Best of Birch River, Manitoba - Tripadvisor

 

Tripadvisor - Explore: Birch River (Manitoba). Taken April 16, 2016 by Andy showing the trails and road very overgrown. Retrieved June 20, 2020 from Birch River Tourism 2020: Best of Birch River, Manitoba - Tripadvisor

 

East Braintree G.W.W.D. Worker Camp

A typical contractor’s camp; bunkhouse for the men. June 26, 1915 at Mile 51, Contract 32. The Winnipeg Aqueduct Construction Company had camps about every two miles along the way. There were similar camps at Mile 77 and Mile 79, in Contract 33. Photo courtesy Don Livingstone. Source: Feilberg, E., & Annell, L. (1989). Pioneer History of Glenn, East Braintree & McMunn (P.110). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/2239350

 

Manitoba Industrial Prison Farm

The East Braintree Provincial Prison Farm was a stone barn built of granite quarried by prisoners nearby (1989). Courtesy: Lorna Annell

 

The brick jailhouse, built in 1921 had a flat roof. The peaked roof was added by the private owner of the building, Carl Feilberg. Photo taken in 1989. Courtesy: Lorna Annell

 

Inside the old Provincial Prison Farm jail cells at East Braintree that operated until 1930, circa 1989. Four cells inside the jailhouse (September 2016) Source: Gordon Goldsborough

 

A man holding a pistol with the inscription “HANDS UP” inside one of the jail cells (September 2016) Source: Gordon Goldsborough. Retrieved June 25, 2020 from Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Industrial Farm / Prison Farm (RM of Reynolds)

 

Stagecoach Service on Dawson Road

Illustration of a typical stagecoach on the western frontier. Retrieved from Manitoba Transit Heritage Association - Winnipeg Transit History

 

Lee Peterson, Edna Young, Rae Peterson playing on old abandoned stagecoach (1956). Heather, D. (1968). Prairie Grove 1872-1968 (P.260). Manitoba Local Histories. UM Archives. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3101128

 

“Posters of this sort were distributed across Ontario advertising the Dawson Road. Few people seemed to see them.” Courtesy Veronica Dyck (1872). Retrieved from personal collection of Norm Lavack.

 

Ross Welcomes the Return of A Beloved Icon

Richard and Alice Lesage stand underneath the new gazebo (photo credit: Alice Lesage). Source: Gerbrandt, C. (2019, November 5). “Saved by the bell: Ross welcomes home a beloved community symbol”. Retrieved June 23, 2020 from Saved By The Bell: Ross Welcomes Home A Beloved Community Symbol

 

Clean Water for Winnipeg

City of Winnipeg. (2020). Mayor Deacon drove the last spike 1914 near today’s Deacon’s corner along Dawson Road at the turn off for Lorette. Retrieved June 26, 2020 from The Greater Winnipeg Water District Railway - Water and Waste

 

Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba. (2017, Jan 8). Circular pressure section of the Winnipeg Aqueduct during its construction at the turn of the last century, located west end of Brokenhead River. Retrieved June 26, 2020 from Shoal Lake Aqueduct

 

Site Historique Monseigneur-Taché Historic Site

Monseigneur Alexandre Antonin Taché arrives in the colony in 1845 and later supports Father Richot’s work establish a sanctuary for French-speaking Catholic in Southeastern Manitoba. Retrieved from Mgr Alexandre-Antonin Taché

 

The Ste. Geneviève Roman Catholic Church, in Sainte-Geneviève in the Rural Municipality of Tache, was built in 1918. A municipally designated historic site, restoration work was undertaken as part of the Manitoba Prairie Churches Project. A community museum is based in the nearby rectory building.

The museum is open from 12 May (Manitoba Day) to 1 October. The hours of operation in July and August are Thursdays and Saturdays, 9:00 AM to noon, and Fridays and Mondays, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Otherwise, arrangements for visits at other times can be arranged by sending email to sitetache@outlook.com or calling 204-422-8508. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from Historic Sites of Manitoba: Ste. Genevieve Roman Catholic Church and Cemetery / Monseigneur Tache Historic Site / Old Rectory Museum (98 rue Saltel, Sainte-Geneviève, RM of Tache)

 

Ste. Geneviève and “la poche aux lièvres »

This map of French-Canadian Settlements in Manitoba includes the towns of Ste Anne and Lorette along the Dawson Road and Seine River. Retrieved from Chief French Canadian settlements in Manitoba Canada 1885 old antique map

 

Riel and Manitoba . As seen in this illustration “Summer Evening in a French Village in the West” of a typical “French Canadian” village in the West, they were actually much more multicultural and multilingual than we might think (1876).

 

École Dugas in Ste. Geneviève, Manitoba built in 1908. Provincial Archives of Manitoba. Source: Boivert, N. (2015). Écoles à caractère francophone au Manitoba depuis 1818 - un répertoire (P.272). Tome 1_1-298. SHSB. Retrieved June 25, 2020 from Tome I p. 1-298

 

Centre of Canada

Dawson Road: one of the original “Great Highways”

“The Red River Expedition: Dawson's Road, 1870, Canada.” Wolseley’s troops and hundreds of local labourers under the employ of Mr. Dawson built the bridges for the corduroy road as seen here. Alamy stock photo. Retrieved June 6, 2020 from Stock Photo - THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION: DAWSON'S ROAD, 1870, CANADA

 

The Dawson route opened for travel to the public in 1871. This is a typical advertisement of the day. Winnipeg Free Press, August 5, 1875. UM Archives. Retrieved from https://newspaperarchive.com/anniversary-clipping-aug-05-1875-1801443/

 

First automobile to drive over the Dawson Trail, 1927, East Braintree to Winnipeg. Source: A Packsack of Seven Decades by the Women’s Institute of Hadashville, 1970 (p. 83). Um Archives. Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3A3066415#page/85/mode/2up

 

Red River Military Expeditions

Plan of Route followed by Red River Expeditionary Force from Lake Superior to Fort Garry 1870-71 using the maps Dawson had drawn up in 1957-58 and updated in 1869-70. Province of Manitoba. Retrieved from The Wolseley Expedition | Provincial Plaques | Historic Resources Branch

 

Red River Expedition, Colonel Wolseley's camp, Prince Arthur's Landing, Lake Superior 1870 by William Armstrong. Armstrong was an artist, civil engineer, photographer, and draughtsman. He accompanied Colonel Garnet Wolseley during the Red River Expedition as its chief engineer. Many of his views of the Red River Expedition were published in the Canadian Illustrated News and were well received by Protestants and Orangemen in Ontario as they eagerly followed reports of the expedition's progress. Library and Archives Canada/William Armstrong fonds/c011749k. Retrieved from https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/canadian-west/052910/05291041_e.html

 

“Red River Expedition at Kakabeka Falls, Ontario by Frances Ann Hopkins, 1877”. The expedition to Red River was a considerable feat for Canada's young militia. The expedition required more than a thousand boats and several hundred voyageurs to transport the 1,200 troops and their supplies over the unfinished Dawson Road to Red River. As hinted at in Hopkins' view of the militia's portage at Kakabeka Falls, the logistics of moving such a large contingent through the wilderness were considerable. When it finally arrived in Red River after four months en route, Louis Riel and other Métis leaders had already fled to the United States. Library and Archives Canada/Frances Anne Hopkins fonds/e011154374. Retrieved from The Red River Expedition at Kakabeka Falls, Ontario, 1877, by Frances Anne Hopkins - The Canadian West - Exhibitions - Library and Archives Canada

 

“The Red River Expedition: Crossing a Portage” in 1870-71 (also known as the Wolseley Expedition, though several Red River Expeditions followed Wolseley’s until the mid-1870s but only the first expedition had to cut through the bush to make the opening for Dawson Road). This illustration from London Illustrated News depicts a scene on the way to stop the Métis Resistance and demands for recognition of their rights, transfer power from the Provisional Government to the Dominion of Canada by force under the guise of being heroes for bringing supplies to help feed starving settlers in the Red River Colony as a result of locusts. Arguably adding 1200 mouths to feed in the Red River Valley in a time of want for food and disappearance of the bison may not have done as much to help the settlement as suggested in the past, but it was a good story for the newspapers in Toronto and left the impression out East that it wasn’t actually the hostile takeover of the West that it was, but rather a glorious beginning to a colonized West as part of the idea of Canada as a nation. Meanwhile, the news that Wolseley’s troops were advancing on Red River gave license to those settlers with the prevailing racist attitudes of the newcomers who believed they owned the west by God given right and that this entitled them to behave in discriminatory ways toward First Nations and Métis. Incidents of violence and terror escalated in the colony when Wolseley’s army reached the Red River and Louis Riel was gone. After the Red River Resistance and the formation of the Province of Manitoba (post-1870), soldiers in Wolseley’s army were given land grants of 160 acres each for their service to the country, while Métis were having their lands taken away via a corrupt Métis Scrip system and that resulted in a mass exodus of Métis from Manitoba. Source: Captain G.L. Huyshe. London Illustrated News, 28 Oct., 1871 (p. 404). Getty Images. Retrieved June 6, 2020 from https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/the-red-river-expedition-crossing-a-portage-canada-news-photo/1034920440 .Getty Images

 

The Begbie Contest. (1994-2013). “Wolseley's Troops enter the Fort,” 1870. LAC, Acc. No. 1934-39, ca. 1938. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from Riel and Manitoba

 

Huyshe, Captain, G.L. (1871). The Red River Expedition: Mr. Dawson’s Road. Rifle brigade, late on the staff of Colonel Sir Garnet Wolseley. London and New York. MacMillian and Co. (P.276??). Retrieved June 3, 2020 from https://books.google.ca/books?id=8A8WAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22George+Lightfoot+Huyshe%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjcl9SE_ebpAhUiZN8KHRGrA7sQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Illustration of Louis Riel’s get-away just before soldiers of the Red River (Wolseley) Expedition could apprehend him at Fort Garry. Some say his breakfast was still hot on the table when they entered. "Most of us felt that we had to settle accounts quickly with Riel, who had murdered the Englishman, Mr. Scott. Had we caught him, he would have had no mercy." -Colonel Garnet Wolseley. Begbie Contest Society, Riel and Manitoba — Riel et Manitoba. Original printed in the Canadian Illustrated News, September 17, 1870. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from Riel and Manitoba

 

Scrip – “essentially the largest land swindle”

The first townships chosen in 1875 by Bishop Taché, honorary president of the Manitoba Colonization Society, for Franco-Catholic immigrants, were intended to be added to the lands already reserved for the Métis. However, the federal government refused him these lands and offered replacement townships. The first repatriated settlers were by no means satisfied with the quality of the marshy townships east of Red River, so following exchanges of letters between the Society and the government, they were given new townships on the west side of the river. This map shows the first choice of Taché as well as the townships where the new arrivals would settle. This map by Réal Bérard entitled "Les concessions territoriales aux Métis et le 'peuplement d'ensemble' des Franco-Catholiques dans la vallée de la Rouge," in Robert Painchaud, Un rêve français dans le peuplement de la Prairie, Saint-Boniface, Éditions des plaines, 1987, insertion between p. 166 and 167. Reproduced with the permission of the publisher. Retrieved from SHSB Accueil / Au pays de Riel / Sujets / Colonisation/migrations francophones / Cartes / Terres réservées from Les concessions territoriales aux Métis et le « peuplement d'ensemble » des Franco-catholiques

 

Sample of Métis Scrip coupon. University of Saskatchewan Archives. [Website] Our Legacy. Canada Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from
Our Legacy-Canada. Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources (Grants to half-breeds of the

 

Dawson Route and Treaties No. 1 and No. 3

Simon Dawson’s remarks in a report to the House of Commons imploring the need to make a treaty to secure the right of way for the Dawson Road and that First Nations are astute negotiators not to be underestimated. Source: Dawson, S. J. (1868). Report on the line of route between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement (P.28). House of Commons. Hunter, Rose & Company: Ottawa. Also published by I.B. Taylor, 1869: Ottawa. Retrieved June 3, 2020 from Peel 481: Dawson, Simon James, Report on the line of route between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement (1868). For French version see Rapport sur le trace de la route entre le lac Supérieur et l’établissement de la Rivière-Rouge. Ottawa : Hunter, Rose et Lemieux, 1868, retrieved June 3, 2020 from http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/480.html

Simon Dawson repeatedly raising the issue with the Canadian Government for the need to make a Treaty with the Saulteaux for the right of way through their land for the Dawson Route which was promised to them. Report on the Line of Route Between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement by Simon J. Dawson, civil engineer (P.27). House of Commons: Ottawa. Printed by I.B. Taylor at the “Ottawa Citizen” office1869. Peel Library, University of Alberta. Retrieved from http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/481/reader.html#25

 

“Watercolour: Ojibway encampment, treaty with Governor Morris [Treaty no. 3, October 3, 1873 negotiated at the NorthWest Angle]" at the eastern terminus of the Dawson Road this side of Lake of the Woods. Library and Archives Canada/Frederick Arthur Verner fonds/C-005407. Retrieved June 4, 2020 from https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1418853369350/1418854433358#chp6

 

Both sides of a commemorative coin, First Nations Chief’s Medal, presented to signatories of Treaty Numbers 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Library and Archives Canada/Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development fonds/c070758-c070759.Retrieved from Treaty Medals (courtesy Library and Archives Canada, 1986-79-1638/Wikimedia CC)

 

Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba. (2020). [Map] Map of the Numbered Treaties. Retrieved July 2, 2020 from Map of the Numbered Treaties

 

Impact of Homestead Act (1919)

Covered waggons on or near the Dawson Trail. Laing, E. & Laing, A. (1869). Pioneers of Clear Springs: The land of springs, coulees and rich loamy soil, Clear Spring beginnings with memory connections (Part 1, p1). Retrieved June 9, 2020 from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/3101800

 

Cover of “Fruitful Manitoba,” the memoirs of Jean Monnet, French statesman and founder of the European Economic Community, as an eighteen-year-old salesman traveling in Winnipeg and Calgary in 1906. His Memoir was translated and published by Richard Mayne in 1978. University of Manitoba Archives. Retrieved June 15, 2020 from http://hdl.handle.net/10719/2694575

 

Typical advertisement posted in the East for farming lands for sale in Manitoba and the North-West. Riel Rebellion — Rébellion du Nord-Ouest. Begbie Contest Society. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from Riel Rebellion

 

Settlement groups in Southeastern Manitoba following the Dominion Lands Survey and the Homestead Act. Communities noted as “French” were, in effect, Michif and French-speaking, though after the events of 1869-70 and 1885 many Métis left Manitoba both to escape the discrimination they were experiencing and to preserve their way of life. This map shows the settlement patterns among the immigrants who soon took up homesteads in the region with the completion of the Dawson Road in 1871, and later with the completion of the railway from eastern Canada to Selkirk by 1878 (P.36). Source: Province of Manitoba, Culture, Heritage and Tourism. Authored by Edward M. Ledohowski of the Historic Resources Branch (2003). “The Heritage Landscape of the Crow Wing Study Region of Southeastern Manitoba”, 5.0 Settlement Groups. Retrieved March 5, 2020 from 5.0 SETTLEMENT GROUPS

 

The Dawson Trail Today

Dawson road today in 2020 at the Musée Dawson Trail Museum (Église Enfant-Jésus) in Richer, Manitoba. Credit: Mireille Lamontagne

Dawson Road near Richer, Manitoba (2019). Credit: Mireille Lamontagne

 

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