WINNIPEG, CANADA

                                     Provincial Capitol 

A population of 650,000 makes Winnipeg Canada’s seventh largest city. It is the Provincial capital of Manitoba.  In spite of being geographically isolated, Winnipeg is a center  of commerce and culture which includes a symphony, opera, ballet, theater, and local native artists. Buffalo hunting plains Indians as well as French and English settlers,  the first inhabitants.

            We learned the city has seen steady growth since the boon days, and has a diverse economy which includes manufacturing, banking, transportation, and agriculture.  Today, distinct ethnic areas are found in the city including 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.

Provincial Legislative

The Provincial Legislative building, built in 1920, is made of Tyndall stone, a type of local limestone. The stone is heavily fossilized and fossils can be seen everywhere giving the stone an unusual texture. A statue of Queen Victoria is in front of the legislative building.

 A huge bronze buffalo stands on each side of the grand staircase in the foyer of the building. The bison or buffalo, stands for strength and endurance and is the symbol of Manitoba. It is also on the Provincial flag.

       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. The 5-ton 13 ½ feet tall statue is sheathed in gold,

The area that is now Winnipeg was under  a body of water known as Lake Argosy 10,000 years ago.

Winnipeg is the home to the city government, headed by a mayor, a rural municipal government, and the Lt. Governor, who is appointed for a five year term, and has the responsibility of handling all royal arrangements and protocol whenever any member of England’s royal family visits. He lives in a house, built in 1883, located just behind the legislative building.

Winnipeg is very flat and the name means meeting of muddy waters. The Assiniboini River runs into the Red River. The east side of the river was settled by the French, the west side by the English.  Today there still remains two large, distinct areas. In the French Quarter, the signs are  in French first, English second. One half of Manitoba’s population lives in Winnipeg.

Our guide said, “Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan are Canada’s three Prairie Provinces. Manitoba, also known as the keystone province, is the easternmost province, and is nearly in the geographic center of the country. Manitoba is derived from an Indian word meaning Great Spirit. Manitoba was the fifth province to join the union and did so in 1870.

“The province is divided into three sections, north to south.  In the north is the sub arctic, then the Canadian shield or boreal forest, and in the south are the low lands or grasslands.”

     In 1997 the Red River flooded becoming several miles wide. Today, it is a few hundred feet across the river. Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba, two large lakes, are north of Winnipeg. Interlake, the area between the lakes, has a large Icelandic settlement. Winnipeg is home to both the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba

The Museum of Man and Nature is one of the best museums I’ve ever visited. It was nice of them to open up just for us, since they are closed on Mondays. Providing us with a docent, to escort us through the museum, with an interesting and running commentary, was certainly a real plus. It would have been a shame to have missed this fantastic venue. Obviously our tour company knew the right people and for us provided a real bonus to the trip to this cold country.

We moved from the pre-Cambrian area, on to, and through that of modern man in the urban gallery. We stopped to construct an Indian teepee, which was a fun hands-on exercise. The docent even unlocked the gate for us to board the replica of the Nonsuch,

She  told us, “The Nonsuch was a 50 foot ketch that sailed into  Hudson Bay in 1668. She returned to England with a cargo of furs. (the beginning of the Hudson Bay Company) This full size replica was built in England, and sailed to  Hudson Bay for our tricentenary in 1970.”

 “Buffalo hunts took place only twice a year, in spring and fall. The indigenous people would build a stone chute, ending at a cliff. Then, they would chase the animals into the area. After falling off the cliff, the animals were finished off with an arrow. One well know place is called Head Smashed In Bluff!” I’d read about this before and seen a couple of movie versions of the exercise. I know the indigenous people had to eat and that this was a very effective way to harvest meat, but it seems so cruel. I’m just glad it was only done twice a year.