WINNIPEG, MANITOBA

                                               Winnipeg Info and History

            Our historic hotel, built on part of the site of Fort Garry, was an easy walk to an area called The Forks. Forks National Historic Site and the Forks Complex is a 56 acre site, built in 1988, at the junction of the Red and Assiniboini rivers. The Forks is a crossroads, meeting of the old and the new, meeting of diverse peoples, and a place for people to meet, work, and play.   The complex contains markets of all kinds, a public market, shops, eateries and restaurants.

The adjoining park contains many bike and walking trails with numerous interpretive displays, a children’s museum, and an aboriginal ceremonial pit, with some interesting art surrounding it. An old four story warehouse has been converted to a shopping plaza, housing unique shops and restaurants. We climbed the observation tower for a look over the complex. We wandered through the park, took some pictures, and read some of the interesting interpretive markers, and suddenly the day was gone.          

We walked the few blocks to downtown. We observed many pedestrian overpasses which I’m sure must be nice during the cold winter. Such overpasses are probably common in many cold places, but coming from a warm climate they were new to me.

Winnipeg is Canada’s seventh largest city as well as the Provincial capital of Manitoba.  In spite of being geographically isolated, Winnipeg is a center of commerce and culture including a symphony, opera, ballet, theater, and local native artists. Buffalo hunting plains Indians as well as French and English settlers were the first inhabitants. Today, distinct ethnic areas are found in the city that include: Ukrainian, Jewish, Italian, Polish, Chinese, Mennonite, Hungarian, Portuguese, French, and English.

            In 1738 the fur trading company, NorthWest Company, established a trading post at the juncture of the Red and Assiniboini Rivers. In 1812, Lord Selkirle, a Scot, brought an agricultural settlement to the area. The city incorporated in 1873, and in 1886 the Canadian Pacific Railroad followed the European immigrants.  Winnipeg, the principal city in western Canada, is a railroad hub for livestock and grain

            A city tour highlighted many buildings, but the one that got my attention was The Provincial Legislative building, built in 1920. It is made of Tyndall stone, a type of limestone quarried nearby. A statue of Queen Victoria stands proudly in front the  building. A huge bronze buffalo stands on each side of the grand staircase in the foyer of the building. Golden Boy sits on top of the building’s dome. A French sculptor put a sheaf of wheat, representing agriculture, in one hand of Golden Boy, and a light, representing economic development of the future, in the hand raised above his head. Golden Boy is sheathed in gold, weighs 5 ton, and is 13 ½ feet tall.

On the day of our excursion to Oak Hammock we had a late lunch at Lower Fort Garry, where we were served a delicious Irish stew and bannock, an Indian bread. Lunch ended with apple crumble topped with ice cream. It was a delicious lunch prepared and served by the Ladies’ Auxiliary of Fort Garry.

Lower Fort Garry Historical Site was closed for the season, but they opened the site specially for us, and it was wonderful to have the place all to ourselves with our own docent and no crowds.

Lower Fort Garry, now a historic site, is the oldest stone fort in the province. The Big House was built in 1832 for Governor George Simpson, then president of the Hudson Bay Company. The entire fort is built of limestone. In 1670 King Charles signed a proclamation giving exclusive trading rights of a huge territory to the Hudson Bay Company.  The North West Trading Company gave the Hudson Bay Trading Company competition, and in 1821, they joined forces. In 1826, a flood destroyed Fort Garry. Lower Fort Garry was built twenty miles south of Winnipeg on the Red River in 1830. It was the headquarters for the Hudson Bay Company from 1831-37. Hunters complained about the location, so later on, Fort Garry was rebuilt in Winnipeg.

Fort Garry was the home of the York boat, the boat that won the West. It was a heavier and larger boat than the canoe requiring 6-9 rowers. The boat was too heavy to be ported across land, so it was dragged. The river system opened up the Prairie Provinces to settlement.

I’m not a big fan of cold weather, but we were lucky to have sunny days with minimal winds during our stay in Winnipeg.