Our History

The Beginning

Between Lake Winnipegosis the west, and Lake Manitoba to the east, there lies a stretch of land to be known as Meadow Portage to the first settlers in the early 1900’s. The following is a description included in Joseph Burr Tyrell’s publication of his geological survey undertaken throughout the summers of 1887-90:

"The Meadow Portage between Lake Winnipegosis and Lake Manitoba, has its western termination in little bay in this long coast meadow. The shore of this bay is free from boulders, and is a good landing place for canoes and small boats, but a number of stony reefs lie a short distance out in shallow water. From the shore, the portage road runs east across the level meadow for a quarter of a mile to a belt of poplar. Passing through this grove it skirts the north end of an extensive marsh, passing here and there through clumps of trees, till a belt of poplar woods about a quarter of a mile wide is reached. Beyond this another swamp a third of a mile wide is crossed, and then the road enters a poplar forest stretching down to Lake Manitoba."

At first the land was occupied by the Cree, Assiniboines, and the Ojibway peoples. The original inhabitants were in constant pursuit of sustenance affording only semi-permanent lodgings through the winter months. The Hudson Bay Company set up a trading post near the shore of Lake Manitoba. The fur trade was an integral event in the development of the area.