Theme: Dakota,
Nakota & First Nations
Vantage Points Stories (Books,
Online
& pdf)
Vantage
Point Flashbacks (Radio Broadcasts)
Additional Resources
Vantage
Points: Sorted by
Regions
Vantage
Points
articles are presented with links (Web) to the story on the Vantage
Points Website
and as print-ready PDF files.
For a Radio
Broadcast based on the story select the "Vantage Points Flashback"
link.
For
more info about locations follow the "Places Link".
To visit a related website follow the "Web Link" (There may be more than
1).
To
download a related Document click the "Document Link".
All
Saint's Church
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
III, Page 34
|
The All Saint’s Church
and Cemetery served as a landmark and community centre for over 30
years before the numbers in the parish could no longer support it. |
A Tale of Two Mill Fires
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 18
|
The story of milling
in Boissevain begins shortly after the town was established as an
important commercial centre on the new CPR line. In those days a
progressive town needed a mill. |
The First Phone in Boissevain
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 28
|
In 1904 a local
exchange was located in Hilton's Drug Store, but only a few residences
were hooked up. Then in 1906 the Bell Telephone Company began
installing its own phones in Boissevain homes. |
Dunseith
Trail
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
I, Page 35
Heaviest
use: 1920 – 1933
|
The prohibition of
beverage alcohol in the early 1900s paved the way
for one of the area's most colourful chapters of thrill and intrigue. |
George
King General Store
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
III, Page 49 |
The building that used
to house the George King General Store dates back to 1904. King’s
store had three sections, divided by small steps of stairs.
|
George
Morton's Ventures
Web
/ PDF
Vol. I , Page 20
1882 – 1883
|
He
persuaded businessmen in Kingston to invest in the Morton Dairy Farm
Company and received (via his business connections with John A.
MacDonald the right to purchase 72 square miles (184 kms²) of land west
of Whitewater Lake.
|
Great
Northern
Railway
Web
/ PDF
Vol. I, Page 30 |
Construction of the Great
Northern Railway (GNR) began during the
winter of 1905 and finished in 1906, covering the 69.5 miles (110 kms)
from St. John's (Devil's Lake), North Dakota to Brandon, Manitoba.
1905 - 1936 |
Lake Max
Recreation
Web
/ PDF
Vol. III, Page 27
|
As the largest lake in what is now
Turtle Mountain Provincial Park, Max Lake was the natural location of
choice for summer holidaying.
|
Lake
Max Sawmill
/ Web
/ PDF
Vol.III
, Page 26 |
In 1880 Mr Bolton
established a sawmill on the shore of Lake Max. The next year,
entrepreneur George Morton bought the sawmill and used it to produce
lumber for nearly every building in the then thriving village of
Whitewater.
|
Lake Metigoshe
Recreation
/ Web
/ PDF
Vol.III , Page 35 |
The
largest lake on Turtle Mountain: discovered as a recreational paradise!
1889 - Present |
Lorna Smith
Nature Centre
Web
/ PDF
Vol.I, Page 41 |
The Lorna Smith Nature
Centre just southeast of Boissevain was established in 1983 by the
Turtle Mountain Conservation District as part of the reservoir project.
|
Mennonite
Settlement in Southwest Manitoba
/ Web
/ PDF
Vol. I , Page 34 |
....the Mennonites
that settled in southwestern Manitoba – around Whitewater Lake
particularly – did not arrive until 50 years later, ....
|
Skull
Swamp
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 7 |
Skull
Swamp is an example of the ingenuity possessed by post glacial
societies in their bison hunting techniques and how they used the
existing landscape to their advantage. |
Boissevain’s Dr. Bird
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 42
|
Dr Bird had to deal
with many emergency procedures by the dim light in a homesteader’s
bedroom.
|
Murder for a Homestead
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 37
|
Two murders, a
national manhunt and a near escape. It all started on a farm near
Boissevain.
|
Nurse Halladay and Boissevain’s
First Hospitals
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 31
|
When the time came to
open the doors on this new and much appreciated service, Nurse Halladay
was appointed Matron.
|
The Two Desfords
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 14
|
The Desford community
began in the late 1870's along the Old Commission Trail about twelve
kilometres south- southeast of Boissevain.
|
Charles Sankey
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
III, Page 30 |
Over
the span of his nearly 100 years he became a sailor, farmer,
veterinarian, gold-panner and dedicated community worker |
What the Rats of Cranmer Knew
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 50
|
At about 9 P.M. on a
late September evening in 1928 the rats that had been living
comfortably in the United Grain Growers Elevator at Cranmer began an
evacuation of the premises. |
Napinka School
Web
/ PDF
Vol. IV, Page 11 |
The two-storey
fieldstone building that still stands on the north side of Napinka was
completed in 1901, and is one of the most unique schools built in
Manitoba.
|
Purple Hill
Church
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
III, Page 42 |
In 1898 the Purple
Hill Church, located in the Medora area, was opened and dedicated.
|
St. Paul's Church
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
III, Page 39 |
In the spring of 1917
the Belgian community living on the slopes of Turtle Mountain and their
priest, Father P. E. Halde decided to build themselves a church wherein
they could pursue their worship of the Catholic faith. |
Waskada's Blacksmith: Ren Amos
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 23
|
Over a span of
half a century, Ren operated his blacksmith shop. He had to rebuild it
twice. His wife often helped him in the shop and together they lived
and worked through countless changes in agricultural methods.
|
Waskada Museum
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
III, Page 30 |
In 2013 the Museum
Committee celebrated adding their 6th building to their collection.
|
Mining Coal During the Depression
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
III, Page 55
Other Resources: Video | Website
|
Beginning in the 1880s
and revived again in the 1930s, coal mining contributed to the economy
in Deloraine, Goodlands, and surrounding communities.
|
Salter and Henderson Mines
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
I, Page 37
Other Resources: Video | Website
|
The Henderson coal
seam was discovered by John Nestibo and his brother while they were in
the process of digging a well.
|
Turtle Mountain Coal Mining
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
I, Page 27
Other Resources: Video | Website
|
It was true that there
were "Millions of Tons of Coal Near Deloraine" as one headline read,
but getting the "black diamonds" out of the ground was something else
entirely.
|
Why Locomotives Had Cow Catchers
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 32
|
A 1948 derailment in
Medora was caused by a sleeping cow on the track.
|
Albert Titus – a Napinka Character
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 20
|
Ab's claim to fame was
as a chronicler of the times through his many articles for the local
papers.
|
Observations of a War Bride
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 12
|
Vera Booker was one of
48,000 young women who came to Can- ada as a war bride during and after
the Second World.
|
Napinka at the Crossroads
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 17
|
In 1890’s there
was no north-south line in the district. By connecting at Napinka the
CPR made the route to Brandon a little shorter. The decision created a
boom in Napinka. |
Beginning
of the Metigoshe Community
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
II, Page 8
|
...despite their
frequent visits to Turtle Mountain the Metis did not permanently settle
there until the early 1900s.
|
Deloraine's Dr. Thornton
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 22
|
In Deloraine, in the
first part of the twentieth century, if someone mentioned "The Doctor"
it could refer to only one person: Dr. Thornton. |
Ben Arde:
Mountainside Store Operator
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
III, Page 53
1949 - 1962 |
Ben Arde was born in
Saskatchewan in October of 1926. His parents
farmed there until the 1930s. When Ben was eight his father, originally
from Wakopa, moved his family back to Manitoba, this time settling
south of Mountainside. |
Mountainside
General Store
Web
/ PDF
Vol.III
, Page 53
Est. about 1913 |
Ben Arde took over the
store in 1949 (see Ben Arde:
Mountainside Store Operator ) and operated it for 14 years. |
Delivered by Train - Prairie Style
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 29
|
The extension of the
CN line from Adelpha on to Deloraine brought service to Mountainside
and area. |
Mrs. Weightman Comes to Canada
Web
/ PDF
Vol. IV, Page 32
|
Mrs. Weightman, a
widow from Berwickshire, in northern England, and her children, arrived
at their homestead in the spring of 1882 after a fifty-six day journey
from Edinburgh, Scotland. |
Alton Breault - Adventures of a
Radar Repairman
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 52
|
It
was top secret - he and his companions at the training facility at
Yatesbury, England, couldn’t tell even their servicemen buddies what
they were working on. |
The Rescue of the Hathaway Thresher
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 54
|
It
was the world’s first rotary thresher, a significant departure from the
design then in use and a forerunner of the axial flow system used in
modern threshers.
|
Marsden
Schools /
Web
/ PDF
Vol.I, Page 38 |
The first Marsden
School was constructed on the firebreak trail bordering the western
edge of the Turtle Mountain Forestry Reserve. As it was built on top of
a hill and could be seen for miles, it became a landmark of the area.
|
Prairie Skills
Centre
Web
/ PDF
Vol. III , Page 43 |
When the two
congregations joined together and formed the Union Church, the old
fieldstone building was left empty. Since that time it has served a
multitude of purposes.
|
Turtle Mountain Coal Mining
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
I, Page 27
Other Resources: Video | Website
|
It
was true that there were "Millions of Tons of Coal Near Deloraine" as
one headline read, but getting the "black diamonds" out of the ground
was something else entirely.
|
Mining Coal During the Depression
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
III, Page 55
Other Resources: Video | Website
|
Beginning
in the 1880s and revived again in the 1930s, coal mining contributed to
the economy in Deloraine, Goodlands, and surrounding communities.
|
Salter and Henderson Mines
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
I, Page 37
Other Resources: Video | Website
|
The Henderson coal
seam was discovered by John Nestibo and his brother while they were in
the process of digging a well.
|
The Belgian Connection
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 21 |
In 1904 Remi Van de
Ponseele returnef from at trip to his former home in Belgium, bringing
with him 150 Belgian settlers. That helps tp explain the large number
of people of Belgian descent that still reside in the neighbourhood
today.
|
Who Was Walter Farwell?
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 41
|
Perhaps a small town
in a new land is the perfect place to start over? Why does Hartney have
a street named after a gambler and bigamist?
|
The Hartney Air Training Field
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 34
|
The Relief Field 1 for
No. 17 Service Fly- ing Training Schoolbased at RCAF Station Souris had
a large hangar and personnel of eighty men and twenty-five
officers.
|
A.
E. Hill Store: The Hart-Cam Museum
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
III, Page 47
|
The
110 year old building that today houses the Hart-Cam Museum spent most
of its life serving as a general store. It later became a restaurant,
museum . . . and Hollywood film set? Yes indeed – not only once, but
twice! |
Ash
House
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
I, Page 9
|
Ash
House was built on the north shore of the Souris as a canoe fort.
1795 - 1797 |
The American Fort
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
III, Page 42 |
The
American Fur Company’s attempt to lay claim to the furs along the
Souris River
About 1810 - 1828 |
Chain Lakes Quaker Church
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
III, Page 46 |
The area around Chain
Lakes was settled by Quakers—also commonly known as “Friends.” |
Dand Stone
Features / Web / PDF
Vol.
III Page 16 |
The
purpose behind these mysterious and unique features may never be
determined |
The Edwards Sisters - Business
Partners
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 31
|
What did Mr. and Mrs.
Edwards think when Alice and Ida, at quite a young age, took the
unusual step of moving to a nearby community and going into business? |
Fort Desjarlais
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
I, Page 13 |
Fort
Desjarlais is remembered today as the most prominent and successful of
the Souris River trading posts. |
Fort Mr. Grant
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
I, Page 12 |
FFort Mr. Grant was
built sometime between 1824 and 1826 on the Souris River near Hartney. |
Grande Clairière
Web
/ PDF
Vol.III, Page 31 |
During
the winter of 1889—1890 Gaire travelled to France for a month to act as
an “Immigration Agent” for the Canadian Government. He was
overwhelmingly successful: 80 French and Belgium families accompanied
him back to Winnipeg, 40 of which continued on to Grande Clairière. |
Grande Clairière Convent
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
I, Page 29 |
The
beginning of the Grande Clairière Convent was marked in 1898 when
Father J. Gaire, the parish priest from Grande Clairière, was visiting
the family of one of his parishioners in France.
1898 - 1923 |
Hartney
Web
/ PDF
Vol.I, Page 25
|
James Hartney's
interest in the area began later in 1881. He bought two sections of
land and hired labourers to work it before he moved to the area in 1882
with his family.
|
Mullett
Site
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
III, Page 12
|
The period of the site’s
occupation likely
stretches from the Besant Period (BCE 500 to AD 750) right up to the
pre-contact era. |
Tena's Boarding House
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 24
|
In today’s world
how many people come home from work only to face another round of
domestic chores? Not at Tena’s.
|
The Edwards Sisters - Business
Partners
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 31
|
What did Mr. and Mrs.
Edwards think when Alice and Ida, at quite a young age, took the
unusual step of moving to a nearby community and going into business? |
Lauder
Sandhills
Web
/ PDF
Vol.I,
Page 3 |
The
Lauder Sandhills, several miles west of Hartney, were created between
10,000 and 8,000 years ago. |
The Riverside Canucks of Baseball
Fame
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 46
|
The Riverside
Canucks played for over 40 years at Riverside Park, on the banks of the
Souris River north of Minto. They are in the Manitoba Baseball Hall of
Fame.
|
Walpole Murdoch – Pioneer Newsman
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 36
|
For ten years Murdoch
was a familiar figure on Hartney's streets and at community
affairs. "Unconventional" might be one way of descibing him.
|
Crime and Punishment in
Hartney
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 35
|
Hartney’s first
(and only?) murder mystery.
|
Who Was Walter Farwell?
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 41
|
Perhaps a small town
in a new land is the perfect place to start over? Why does Hartney have
a street named after a gambler and bigamist?
|
Jimmy Jock – Minto Cemetery’s
First Resident
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 15
|
Jimmy Jock died in
1901 at the age of 74 and was buried in the then-empty Minto Cemetery.
Even today the ravine he settled bears his name, celebrating a man of
uncommon character and stamina
|
Melita Robbery
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
II, Page 38 |
A
Midnight Crime Hits Southwest Manitoba . . .
September 1923 |
Manchester to
Melita
/ Web
/ PDF
Vol.
II, Page 37 |
The most
successful of the Sourisford communities
1881 - Present |
Whats on in Melita This Week?
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 53
|
The Melita Opera House
was one of several venues offering a wide variety of touring
entertainers. |
Bison Rubbing Stone
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
III Page 9
|
In an era where herds
of bison are but a memory, the bison rubbing stones remind us of a time
well passed . . .
|
Brockinton Site
Web / PDF
Vol.
II Page 33 |
The Brockinton
archaeological site is located along the Souris valley wall south of
Melita. This site was occupied by three different cultures over the
last 1600 years. These occupations left behind rare and
archaeologically invaluable finds.
During this
site's earliest occupation, it was used as
a bison pound. |
A Piece of the Broomhill Store
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 26
|
Perhaps
when local Postmaster William Kilkenny and his brother John built it in
1908, they were not only optimistic, but also ahead of their time.
|
Captain
Large and the Empress of Ireland
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
II, Page 44
|
n 1908
“Captain” Hunt Johnston Rolston Large, a blacksmith from Coulter,
Manitoba, got it into his head that he would build a steamship. |
Copley Church
Web
/ PDF
Vol. II, Page 40
1890 - 1913 |
In the extreme
southwest corner of the province of Manitoba there sits the ruins of a
small church. The first church of
any denomination to be built west of the Souris
River. |
Elva Elevator
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
III, Page 44 |
The oldest remaining
elevator in Canada!
|
Eunola School
Web
/ PDF
Vol. II, Page 41
|
The doors of this
rural schoolhouse have not
remained
entirely closed with the end of classes.
|
Jim Dandy
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
III, Page 38 |
One
of Pierson’s early entrepreneurs. n 1897 he built the town’s first
hardware store which he personally owned and operated.
|
Lyleton Branch
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
II, Page 42 |
The
fight to build and keep a rural railway line
|
Lyleton
Shelterbelts
Web
/ PDF
Vol. II , Page 45
|
The first of many
shelterbelts to be planted in the region was completed in 1936. It
consisted of 2,300 trees which were planted in a row measuring half a
mile on C. E. Fennell’s farm.
|
The Home Bank Scandal Hits Lyleton
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 24
|
On or about
August of 1923, Stan Hill, the Manager of the Lyleton Branch of the
Home Bank of Canada received a short telegram, delivered in code. It
read; "Cease business, close the door."
|
Pierson
Web
/ PDF
Vol.II
, Page 39 |
The
Rise of a Town Planted Beside the Railway.
1891 - Present |
Fultonville
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 36
|
"Fultonville",
as the locals dubbed their venture, started off with three horses, a
walking plow, a hoe, some pickaxes and a spade. |
Norman Breakey - The Inventor from
Pierson
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 49 |
So, who can we
thank for this handy implement which saves time, effort and laundry
costs? Well that’s a bit of a sad story. |
Norman Breakey - The Inventor from
Pierson
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
IV, Page 49 |
So, who can we
thank for this handy implement which saves time, effort and laundry
costs? Well that’s a bit of a sad story. |
Sourisford
Linear Burial Mounds
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
2, Page 40
|
Artifacts from
these thousand year-old burial mounds
indicate the trade relations that existed upon the plains before
convenient modes of transportation.
|
An Elephant Story – By Jerry Drier
Web
/ PDF
Vol. V, Page 33
|
If you can't call a
tow truck maybe an elephnat can help you out/ |
The Case of the Nazi (?)
Farmhand
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
V, Page 340
|
Why is there a sketch
of Adolph Hitler on a vintage threshing machine near Pierson? |
Prisoners of War – Harvest
Help
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
V, Page 39
|
The prisoner farmhands
were lightly guarded and often permitted to go shopping or attend
church. An unknown number stayed after release and became
Canadians.
|
Gone to the Dogs
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
V, Page 38
|
In 1955 the Broomhill
Curling Club received permission to sponsor the All American Field
Trails complete with championship stakes.
|
The Pierson CPR Demonstration Farm
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
V, Page 24
|
The Pierson site, one
of 13 on the prairies, included a full line of modern buildings,
including a two-story four bedroom house.
|
The Berns Boys Come to
Tilston
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
V, Page 23
|
US immigration to
Manitoba was quite common for a while. One particular family left its
mark on Tilston.
|
The Diana Icelandic
Cemetery
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
V, Page 22
|
lcelandic
settlers originally come to the New Iceland settlement at Gimli
beginning in 1876. Some later moved on to the Grund area between Baldur
and Glenboro, and when homesteads were becoming harder to find, a few
moved west to the area between Sinclair and Tilston.
|
Main Street in
Bede
Web
/ PDF
Vol.
V, Page 18
|
Two heritage sites
link us to the story of a typical railway siding
|
Vantage
Points
Copyright © Turtle Mountain–Souris Plains Heritage
Association.
|