In the early days, when the Natives and the buffalo were lords of the prairies, the area we live in was part of Rupertsland or the Northwest Territories, a large grant of land given by Charles II of England to the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670. For two hundred years this Company traded goods to the Indians and trappers for their furs. There was fierce competition for their furs by rival fur trading companies. A settlement was started by Lord Selkirk around Fort Garry called the Red River settlement. Lord Selkirk asked the British Government to buy out the Hudson's Bay Charter, but this proposal was rejected. Selkirk then bought into the Hudson's Bay Company and set out to gain control of it. The Company then granted Selkirk the area of Assiniboine composed of Winnipeg,Fort Garry, St. Boniface and west. Through time it became a community of around 10,000 of which more than 80 percent were half-breeds, children of white fur traders and Indian women. There were English half-breeds and French half-breeds called Metis. They grew crops on their little farms, and hunted buffalo and worked for the Hudson's Bay Company. Some of their descendants later settled in southwest Manitoba.
As American settlements swept westward and northward, fears arose that the area might be taken over by the United States. In 1857 a committee of the British House of Commons held an inquiry into the position of the Hudson's Bay Company. They concluded that Rupertsland, granted by the Hudson's Bay Charter, and regions beyond to the Pacific, would soon require a more regular form of government. This report proposed that a separate province be formed west of the Rockies and that the rest be united with Canada. In 1885 British Columbia was made a crown colony, which was free to negotiate with Canada. The Hudson's Bay Company, claiming rights to Rupertsland for two hundred years, would not surrender them without compensation. In 1869 the company agreed to accept 300,000 pounds and one-twentieth of the land in the fertile belt as payment for their surrender.
In 1867 by Confederation the four provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were all equally governed. It was then proposed to add the Hudson's Bay area east of the Rockies as a territory, which would be ruled by a Governor and a Council appointed by Ottawa. The French Metis, who had adopted a partially agricultural way of life in the Red River area, were very concerned about this development. Their land claims had been consented to by the Hudson's Bay Company; they felt they had been sold like cattle and feared they would lose everything. They wished to enter the Confederation as a full province with all provincial rights.
The Results of The Riel Rebellion
In 1869 Canada sent surveyors to Fort Garry to survey the region. They wished to settle it for agricultural use and prevent annexation by the United States. The Metis were convinced that their lands would be taken away from them and met the survey party on Oct. 11, 1869, stopping them from proceeding further. This was the beginning of the Riel Rebellion. When it was finally settled, it was by an agreement for a separate province. On July 15, 1870 the area between British Columbia and Ontario was transferred as a territory to Canada, and the area set up as Manitoba, became a province.
The boundaries of Manitoba set out at that time were the parallels of North latitude 49 degrees, which was the American border, and North latitude 50 degrees for the northern border. The eastern border was the 96 degrees Western longitude meridian and the western border was the 99 degrees western meridian. This was the so-called postage stamp province, covering an area of 14,340 square miles. The boundaries of that time were of interest to the people of Cypress River, as the 99 degrees meridian passes three and a quarter miles east of Cypress River. As a result, what was to become Cypress River was not in Manitoba.
Following completion of land surveys, the western border was changed to conform with the survey in 1877. That meant the western border would follow the western edges of all townships in Range 12 west of the principal meridian. This changed the border at Cypress River to the western edge of Township 7, 12 and Cypress River townsite was then included in Manitoba. The western approach to Cypress River from Highway #2 is Provincial Road 342 and that was the border in 1877. All settlers west of this line were located in the Northwest Territories. In 1881 the western border was moved to its present location and the northern border was pushed up to the 52 degrees parallel. All residents in the area became Manitobans. The western border follows the western edge of Range 29 west of the principal meridian. The necessity of correction lines in the survey is the reason for the jagged boundary between Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In 1884 the easatern boundary was moved to its present location and in 1912 the province was extended north to its present size.
The Settling of The West
The Dominion Government wished to settle the western prairies for political and economic reasons, to broaden its agricultural base, and finally, to tie up with British Columbia. There were a great number if immigrants arriving from Europe, and it was the proper time to take advantage of that fact. With that in mind, the Government began the survey of the west before the agreement with the Hudson's Bay Company was finalized. Colonel J. S. Dennis was sent in 1869 to begin the survey. The Canadian-United States border had been surveyed previously. He began by surveying a baseline running north from the border. He chose to do this in a relatively easy area, ten miles west of the Red River. The line chosen would by pass the Red River Settlement and also pass between Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg. This line was, and is called the "Principal Meridian".
People in search of homesteads poured into Manitoba in the 1870's. Some stopped at Emerson and spread north and west toward Norquay district. Most went on by boat to Winnipeg and spread in all directions from that point. Portage La Prairie was settled early. There was a wagon road as well as water transportation from Winnipeg, and many settlers used Portage La Prairie as a jumping off place in their search for land. Many continued on by steamboat, stopping off at Smart's Landing and points beyond as steamboat service was extended to Brandon area. Before this service was available, the settlers took the Yellow Quill Trail at Portage La Prairie, a trail started by the native people, and crossed the Assinboine River at Indian Ford. The trail continued on south through what was known as Willow Swamp, which was a very difficult area to travel through in the spring or during a wet spell. The trail came out just east of what is present-day Treherne. Here it branched out, one trail continuing south towards Indian Springs, and the other forking west past Treherne to Holland and on to Littleton and Cypress River. This is the trail many of the settlers took in the 70's. |
