At or near the spot where the road construction began working on the Dawson Road was a majestic beaver dam.

John Snow wrote one of his first letters to the Minister of Public Works in Ottawa, from the “Red River Depot, MISTAMISCANO, December 1, 1868, at the junction of the woods and the prairies, about 30 miles east of Fort Garry.” It was a temporary depot since the house (referring here to the Redpath immigrant shelter) was not built until July of the following year (1869), on the Côteau Pelé.

Mistamiscano was probably the Saulteaux name for their camp on “La Coulée des sources” at the beginning of the woods and ridge. I have not been able to find out the exact meaning of this name. Probably “chemin du grand castor” or “great beaver road”. Mist = great; amisk = beaver; amo = road.” (translation)

Abbé Pierre Picton in a letter to Father Parent in Sainte-Anne des Chênes, 1962

Source: Fonds Pierre Picton, Société historique de Saint-Boniface. (1962, Feb 22). Lettre de l’abbé Picton au Père Parent à Ste-Anne-des-Chênes sur la typonymie de Ste-Anne comme Mistamiscano.

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...

“Early settlers stated that there were no beavers in the area [of East Braintree]. A few rotting beaver dams remained as evidence that they had once been here. They had been trapped almost to extinction during the 1800s (...). About 1935, the Manitoba Forestry received pairs of beavers from northern areas in order to re-stock the rivers of south-eastern Manitoba.”

Nik Fielberg

Source: Feilberg, E., & Annell, L. (1989). Pioneer History of Glenn, East Braintree & McMunn (p.95). Retrieved June 20, 2020 from https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm:2239350#page/106/mode/2up

A re-stocked beaver in Sandilands Forest near the old Dawson cabin at Birch River, 1940. Photo Credit: J Koke. Source: Feilberg, E., & Annell, L. (1989). Pioneer History of Glenn, East Braintree & McMunn (p.95). Retrieved June 20, 2020 from https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm:2239350#page/106/mode/2up

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