Commemorative Marker #12
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Theme: Hudson's Bay Company's "Grease Company" / Jos McDougall's Place / "Slow-moving Creek" and "Gauthier's Creek"
This marker is located at 1238 Dawson Road, Lorette.
It is on the south side in front of the Caisse Financier.
"Petite-Pointe-des-Chênes”
“Lorette, once commonly referred to as “Petite-Pointe-des-Chênes” or little oak point, is located 26 km east of Winnipeg along Dawson Road, along the banks of the Seine River. It is the heart of the Taché rural municipality.
"The first families of Métis ancestry were already established in 1860 when a number of French Canadian families joined them. Lorette remains an agricultural centre although its economy has diversified.”
Annette Saint-Pierre, author
Source: Conseil de la coopération du Manitoba. (n.d.). La région Seine Region: Guide Touristique | Tourist Information Guide (P.10). Print only. Based on a book by Saint-Pierre, Annette. Au Coeur de l’Amérique. Éditions des Plaines.
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, Accueil / 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 http://shsb.mb.ca/Lorette/Couvent_Soeurs_Saint-Joseph_de_Saint-Hyacinthe_SHSB16525
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 http://shsb.mb.ca/Magasin_Trudeau_Lorette_SHSB9051
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 Corporation archiépiscopale catholigque romaine de Saint-Boniface, 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 Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes circa 1880s. 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 http://shsb.mb.ca/node/285
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 http://shsb.mb.ca/Lorette/Agriculture_SHSB31876
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.” Source: Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds Gaston Bohémier et Joséphine Grégoire, SHSB 32122. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from http://shsb.mb.ca/Lorette/Inondation_1950_SHSB32122
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