Featuring Stories from...

The RM of Two Borders

Vantage Points Stories (Books, Online & pdf)
Vantage Point Flashbacks (Radio Broadcasts)

Additional Resources




Vantage Points Stories (Books, Online & pdf)

Vantage Points articles are presented with links (Web) to the story on the Vantage Points Website
 and 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".


Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3


Volume 4


Volume 5


Volume 1


Boundary Commission Trail       Web  / PDF      Vol. I, Page 4
The main highway - west.

Yellow Quill Trail       Web  / PDF      Vol. I, Page 6
The main highway - to the southwest corner.

Short Stories: Old Wakopa, Sourisford, Lang's Crossing & the Souris Linear Burial Mounds 
PDF    Vol. I, Page  42

Short Stories: The Empress of Ireland, Brockinton Site , Verona School  PDF    Vol. I, Page  43



Volume 2


Brockinton Site      Web  / PDF     Vol. II  Page 33
The Brockinton archaeological site is located along the Souris River 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.
Places Link
Web Link

Sourisford Linear Burial Mounds         WebPDF      Vol.  2, Page 36
Artifacts from these thousand year-old burial mounds indicate the trade relations that existed upon the plains before convenient modes of transportation.
Web Link

Manchester to Melita /   Web  / PDF     Vol.  II, Page 37
The most successful of the Sourisford communities

Melita Robbery      Web  / PDF     Vol.  II, Page 38
A Midnight Crime Hits Southwest Manitoba . . . September 1923

Pierson         Web  / PDF     Vol.II   , Page 39
The Rise of a Town Planted Beside the Railway   1891 - Present

Copley Church       Web  / PDF     Vol.  II, Page 40
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.

Eunola School   /   Web  / PDF       Vol.  II, Page 41
The doors of this rural schoolhouse have not remained entirely closed with the end of classes
1896 - 1962
Vantage Points Flashbacks:      Radio Broadcast   |   Illustrated Text  |  Resources

Lyleton Branch    Web  / PDF     Vol.  II, Page 42
Settlers in the area of Waskada and Goodlands in southwestern Manitoba waited in great anticipation for a branch line to be built through their communities.
Vantage Points Flashbacks:    Radio Broadcast   |   Illustrated Text  |  Resources
Places Link

Captain Large and the Empress of Ireland
      Web  / PDF       Vol.  II, Page 44
A Homemade Steamboat Plies the Souris River ...1909-1913
Vantage Points Flashbacks: Radio Broadcast   |   Illustrated Text  |  Resources
Places Link
Web Link

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.

Oil Exploration      Web  / PDF      Vol.  II, Page 46
The present-day oil boom builds upon a history of success in the oil industry.


Volume 3



Bison Rubbing Stone     WebPDF    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 . . .
Vantage Points Flashbacks     Radio Broadcast   |   Illustrated Text  |  Resources

Snyder II Site      WebPDF     Vol. III  Page 15
The Snyder II Archaeological site is on the bank of the Gainsborough Creek just half a kilometer west of its junction with the Souris River. T

Old Melita Trail  /   Web  / PDF       Vol. I , Page  25
It is likely that the trail was first created by the surveyors who travelled the area between 1879 and 1880, marking out the land into townships (blocks of 36 square miles).

Elva Elevator       Web  / PDF     Vol.  III, Page 44
It was  oldest remaining elevator in Canada!  (1894 - 2019)
Places Link


Volume 4


Dreaming Up Dobbyn City    Web  / PDF     Vol.  IV, Page 8
This "Speculative" or "Paper" City" was planned near what wouild become Melita during the Manitoba Boom. Its owner/promoter soon turned to other, more successful, ventures.
Places Link

A Disturbance in the Classroom - By Edith King      Web  / PDF      Vol. IV   , Page  12
At the blackboard the young teacher determinedly was writing an exercise for the class. From behind her came a sudden but definite flip, flip, flip of an inkwell.

The Home Bank Scandal Hits Lyleton      Web  / PDF     Vol.  IV, Page 25
 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."

A Piece of the Broomhill Store       Web  / PDF     Vol.  IV, Page 27
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.
Places Link

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.

Sitting Eagle      WebPDF      Vol.  IV, Page 40
He and his Grandfather H'damani were among the few who declined a $200 government pay-off to relocate to a reserve near Pipestone. By 1909, only H’damani, his grandson Chaske (later known as Sitting Eagle) and a few others remained.
Vantage Points Flashbacks:     Radio Broadcast   |   Illustrated Text  |  Resources

Walter Thomas - Against All Odds      Web  / PDF      Vol.  IV, Page 42
t was in late March 1880. A spell of warm weather had melted much of the snow, when Walter set out for Winnipeg to get more provisions.
Vantage Points Flashbacks     Radio Broadcast   |   Illustrated Text  |  Resources

Walter Thomas - Kitchen Table Surgery        Web  / PDF      Vol.  IV, Page 43
He learned later that it was fortunate that muzzle was close to the arm and the flame from it burned the flesh and arteries so that very little blood escaped.
Vantage Points Flashbacks:    Radio Broadcast  |   Illustrated Text  |  Resources
Places Link

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.
Vantage Points Flashbacks:   Radio Broadcast   |   Illustrated Text  |  Resources
Places Link


Volume 5


Who Were the First Farmers on the Plains?      WebPDF       Vol.  V, Page 2
Ongoing archealogical research south of Melita is providing additional information about pre-contact agricultural activitiy in our region
Vantage Points Flashbacks:     Radio Broadcast   |   Illustrated Text  |  Resources
Web Link

Main Street in Bede             Web  / PDF     Vol. V, Page 18
Welcome to Bede. Not so much a ghost town, but rather another community that didn’t quite become a village.

The Diana Icelandic Cemetery      WebPDF    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.

The Berns Boys Come to Tilston     WebPDF       Vol. V, Page 23
US immigration to Manitoba was quite common for a while. One particular family left its mark on Tilston.
Places Link

The Pierson CPR Demonstration Farm     WebPDF      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 Local Egg Grading Station              Web  / PDF     Vol.  V, Page 28
The Melita Creamery had 6 full-time egg handlers, who worked almost day and night during the peak season.
Podcast Link

An Elephant Story – By Jerry Drier             Web  / PDF     Vol. V, Page 33
Vantage Points Flashbacks:    Radio Broadcast   |   Illustrated Text  |  Resources

The Hartney Air Training Field     Web  / PDF   Vol. V, Page 34
The Relief Field 1 for No. 17 Service Flying Training Schoolbased at RCAF Station Souris had a large hangar and personnel of eighty men and twenty-five officers.
Vantage Points Flashbacks:    Radio Broadcast Intro   Radio Broadcast |   Illustrated Text  |  Resources

Crime and Punishment in Hartney      Web  / PDF       Vol. V, Page 35
Hartney’s first (and only?) murder mystery.

Gone to the Dogs     WebPDF     Vol. V, Page 38
In 1955 the Broomhill Curling Club received permission to sponsor the All American Field Trails complete with championship stakes. 

Prisoners of War – Harvest Help       WebPDF       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.

The Case of the Nazi (?) Farmhand      WebPDF     Vol. V, Page 40
Why is there a sketch of Adolph Hitler on a vintage threshing machine near Pierson?

Train Time    Web  / PDF    Vol. V, Page 48
For many years Train Time was the occasion of the day in small town Manitoba.

“Connie” Riddell             Web  / PDF       Vol. V, Page 52
Because he worked for the CPR, and was subject to job trans- fers, he was instrumental in the sporting lives of three communities.

What's 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.
Web Link



Vantage Point Flashbacks (Radio Broadcasts)

#1: Goodbye at Sourisford 
Charlie West felt invisible at Sourisford, before other began to arrive.
Date: 1880   Place: Sourisford   : Municipality:  Two Borders    

Radio Broadcast   |   Illustrated Text  | 
Resources
   

Themes
Trails & Rivers  / Fur Trade / Dakota, Nakota & First Nations  / Community Cooperation & Organization

#14: What Happened to Manchester? 
Manchester wasn't the first town to find out that the name they chose was already taken.

16: Story In a Stone 
The story of buffalo rubbing stones many of which are still identifiable on the prairie landscape..


#19: Eaton's Catalogue / Even The Schoolhouse Bell  
We’ve been able to order everything from fashion to furnishings through the Eaton’s Catalogue – ever since it first came out in 1884, just when this part of the province was filling up with settlers.

#20: The Empress of Ireland (A Prairie Riverboat)
Folks in Coulter would ask what is our local blacksmith doing building a riverboat in the middle of the prairies?
#21 Sitting Eagle 
A visit from Sitting Eagle, the grandson of H'damani, the leader of IR #60, was an event many a child would remember.

Radio Broadcast   |   Illustrated Text  | 
Resources
Themes

  Dakota, Nakota & First Nations      Children    Land Knowledge & Archaeology     Cross Cultural Learning 
Biographies &Characters      Government Influence

#27: True Education  / Verona School

Like many a one room school, it went from being the "centre of this community" to being merely a "Historic Site.

#29 Walter Thomas - Before Dinner 
Sometimes survical is about, choices

Themes

Radio Broadcast   |   Illustrated Text  |  Resources

Trails & Rivers           Settler - Pre-Railroad      Community Cooperation & Organization         Innovation, Tools & Entrepreneurs      Health     Land Knowledge & Archaeology      Biographies &Characters    Events & Adventures


#30: Walter Thomas - After Dinner 

After a freak accident, some good fortune and a bit of kitchen table surgery saved his life.
Radio Broadcast  |   Illustrated Text  |  Resources

Themes

Trails & Rivers             Settler - Pre-Railroad      Land Knowledge & Archaeology       Biographies &Characters

#31: Ready to Dig at GainsboroughCreek
 
People farmed in Southwest Manitoba many centuroes ago. They farmed the same fields beside Gainsborough Creek for over 200 years - growing corn, squash and beans.

#47: My Jim Dandy
Jim first moved to Pierson from Ontario with his birth family in 1891. Six years later, at the age of 31, he built and operated Pierson’s first hardware store
Radio Broadcast   |   Illustrated Text  |  Resources

Themes

            Settler - Pre-Railroad    Innovation, Tools & Entrepreneurs  Women Leaders    Health      Commerce & Work    
Biographies & Characters


#56: Gone To The Dogs  / Dog Training in Broomhill
Each summer whole families, mainly from the southern United States,  showed up in Broomhill. The local terain and climate was ideal for training hunting dogs.
Radio Broadcast   |   Illustrated Text  |  Resources

Themes

Community Cooperation & Organization    Homesteading / Agriculture  Cross Cultural Learning   Biographies &Characters     Animals
 

#58:  Elephants at Melita
It was around 1950. A Circus had visited Melita and was was heading to its next stop,when one of the trucks got stuck on a muddy road. Fortunately there were elephants to help out.

Radio Broadcast   |   Illustrated Text  |  Resources

Themes

Community Cooperation & Organization         Innovation, Tools & Entrepreneurs            Animals

#60: Paint by Roller - Norman Breakey of Pierson
Long after leaving his home town of Pierson, Mr. Breakey made a really usefull invention.
#61: Concrete Block Construction  / Home Blocks  
What made this grand home affordable back in 1904, was that the Palmer block maker allowed the owner-builder to make blocks on-site with local gravel!


Additional Resources


Shelterbelts: Sustainable Agriculture on the Prairies

Sourisford: The History of a River Crossing




Vantage Points

Copyright © Turtle Mountain–Souris Plains Heritage Association.