WEBVTT 00:02.535 --> 00:04.471 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% (man) It's hard to believe 00:04.471 --> 00:07.007 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% that when the Selkirk Settlers 00:07.007 --> 00:10.643 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% arrived in Manitoba 200 years ago, 00:10.643 --> 00:15.148 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and they were told you can't farm in Western Canada. 00:15.148 --> 00:19.219 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% This is a land of ice and snow, it's fur country, 00:19.219 --> 00:21.955 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and you can't farm here, it's not possible. 00:21.955 --> 00:24.457 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% [drums & melodica play] 00:24.457 --> 00:33.266 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% ♪ ♪ 00:33.266 --> 01:09.936 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% [drums, guitar, & melodica play in bright rhythm] 01:09.936 --> 01:30.890 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% [woman voices the credits] 01:30.890 --> 01:38.264 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% And the members of... 01:38.264 --> 01:41.034 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% (male narrator) Manitoba is a spacious land, 01:41.034 --> 01:43.736 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% the easternmost of the prairie provinces 01:43.736 --> 01:46.673 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% located in the heart of Canada 01:46.673 --> 01:49.242 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and the giant Hudson Bay Watershed. 01:49.242 --> 01:52.679 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Once known as Rupert's Land, it was called 01:52.679 --> 01:56.015 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% the Postage Stamp Province, believed to be 01:56.015 --> 02:00.086 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% unsuitable for agriculture and only valuable for the fur trade. 02:00.086 --> 02:05.024 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Who could imagine what this province would become? 02:05.024 --> 02:10.296 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% [soft lapping of the waves against the shore] 02:10.296 --> 02:13.700 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% (James Hunter; Scottish accent) The Highlands of Scotland 02:13.700 --> 02:16.536 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% well into the 18th century were a tribal society. 02:16.536 --> 02:19.806 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% We had clans as everyone knows, and clans of chiefs 02:19.806 --> 02:22.575 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% and the whole setup wasn't dissimilar 02:22.575 --> 02:27.447 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% to that of Native American society in North America. 02:27.447 --> 02:29.816 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% As the Industrial Revolution in Britain got underway 02:29.816 --> 02:32.352 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and there was a huge demand for wool, 02:32.352 --> 02:34.487 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% their big product became sheep. 02:34.487 --> 02:37.090 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% To introduce sheep farming on a large scale into the Highlands 02:37.090 --> 02:39.025 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% necessitated getting rid of 02:39.025 --> 02:41.427 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% a lot of the people who were already there. 02:41.427 --> 02:43.263 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Hence the Highland Clearances. 02:43.263 --> 02:45.632 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% So there were mass evictions right across 02:45.632 --> 02:48.334 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% the entire northern part of Scotland. 02:48.334 --> 02:51.604 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% (Jacquie Aitken; Scottish accent) Within the space of about 8 years, 02:51.604 --> 02:55.175 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% nearly every strath in the County of Sutherland 02:55.175 --> 03:00.780 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% had lost 95% of its indigenous population. 03:00.780 --> 03:03.917 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% They'd either moved to the coast 03:03.917 --> 03:07.587 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% to take up the small lots of land, 03:07.587 --> 03:10.990 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% they may have entered some of the industries, 03:10.990 --> 03:13.726 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% like the fishing industries at Helmsdale, 03:13.726 --> 03:18.731 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% they also might have decided to go to the factories 03:18.731 --> 03:23.436 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% in places like Glasgow to work in the cotton industry. 03:23.436 --> 03:26.139 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% These people, some of them were relocated 03:26.139 --> 03:28.641 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% onto the coast of Sutherland itself, 03:28.641 --> 03:30.643 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% others moved to other parts of Britain, but 03:30.643 --> 03:32.445 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% increasingly were these people 03:32.445 --> 03:34.180 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% and Highlanders more generally 03:34.180 --> 03:36.282 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% were emigrating to North America. 03:36.282 --> 03:38.585 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% (Jacquie Aitken) They would have heard these stories 03:38.585 --> 03:41.354 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% about the new lands in North America, 03:41.354 --> 03:44.724 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% land that you could have, and it could be yours 03:44.724 --> 03:48.027 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% and yours alone, and it was free, and it was free to use-- 03:48.027 --> 03:50.964 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% if you worked hard, nobody would take it away from you. 03:50.964 --> 03:55.368 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And this was something that must have been very enticing. 03:55.368 --> 03:57.737 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% I don't think Lord Selkirk probably knew 03:57.737 --> 04:00.139 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% who would take up his offer. 04:00.139 --> 04:03.176 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% It didn't take long and Lord Selkirk heard 04:03.176 --> 04:08.448 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% that nearly 500 people in Kildonan had signed up. 04:08.448 --> 04:12.919 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (male narrator) Thomas Douglas was born on St. Mary's Isle 04:12.919 --> 04:16.422 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% in Kircudbright, Scotland, the youngest boy of 13 children. 04:16.422 --> 04:18.591 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% Thomas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, 04:18.591 --> 04:20.927 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% was an idealist and a philanthropist, 04:20.927 --> 04:24.130 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% and he inherited vast sums of money 04:24.130 --> 04:27.000 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% because all of his brothers died young 04:27.000 --> 04:30.503 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and as a result, he had a very large fortune. 04:30.503 --> 04:33.406 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And he used that fortune to charter ships 04:33.406 --> 04:35.408 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% to take struggling Highlanders from Sutherland 04:35.408 --> 04:37.410 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and other parts of the Highlands lands 04:37.410 --> 04:39.479 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% to Red River Settlement, 04:39.479 --> 04:42.682 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% which turned out to be the beginning of Winnipeg. 04:42.682 --> 04:45.385 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (Dr. Gordon Goldsborough) I don't think you can live in Manitoba your whole life 04:45.385 --> 04:47.153 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% without knowing a little bit about Selkirk. 04:47.153 --> 04:50.823 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% I think the thing I admired most is that 04:50.823 --> 04:54.294 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% he had very strong principles about correcting wrongs, 04:54.294 --> 04:58.331 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and I think he looked at the Scottish Highland Clearances 04:58.331 --> 05:02.702 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% as a fundamental wrong. 05:02.702 --> 05:05.872 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% He realized that he could do things now, 05:05.872 --> 05:08.708 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% he had money in his hands, 05:08.708 --> 05:12.145 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and he had the knowledge and the imagination to do something. 05:12.145 --> 05:14.247 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Almost at once he became interested 05:14.247 --> 05:16.582 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% in some kind of immigration scheme 05:16.582 --> 05:19.118 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% that would take Highlanders to North America. 05:19.118 --> 05:23.489 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% Well, he was a wealthy man; he had a very big stake 05:23.489 --> 05:27.527 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% in the Hudson's Bay Company and he was able to obtain 05:27.527 --> 05:31.964 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% an extremely large area of land that was going to be used 05:31.964 --> 05:34.801 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% for settlement and farming, and, of course, 05:34.801 --> 05:38.571 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% the future expansion of farming would arise from it. 05:38.571 --> 05:42.208 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% [fiddle plays in folk-dance rhythm] 05:42.208 --> 05:45.411 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% (Jacquie Aitken) He was looking for some hardy, 05:45.411 --> 05:48.681 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% sturdy men to go and set up 05:48.681 --> 05:52.552 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% this new farming settlement in the middle of the prairies 05:52.552 --> 05:56.689 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% in Manitoba at a place called Red River, and this was 05:56.689 --> 05:59.225 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% the first agricultural settlement that was 05:59.225 --> 06:03.129 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% associated with the Hudson's Bay Fur Trading Company, 06:03.129 --> 06:06.332 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and it was quite an important part of the story, 06:06.332 --> 06:09.168 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and this was really the initiative of Lord Selkirk. 06:09.168 --> 06:12.238 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (Dr. Jack Bumsted) A number of fur traders had told him 06:12.238 --> 06:14.974 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% about the promise of this area, and of course, 06:14.974 --> 06:17.910 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% one of the things that impressed them all was the dirt. 06:17.910 --> 06:21.881 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% The dirt is black, everybody realized, 06:21.881 --> 06:24.350 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% this ain't like Scotland. Right? 06:24.350 --> 06:28.221 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% where the dirt is gray and sandy-colored. 06:28.221 --> 06:31.691 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% This is good agricultural stuff. 06:31.691 --> 06:35.928 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (Dr. Harry Duckworth) It's clear that the company was onboard, because they sold him, 06:35.928 --> 06:39.599 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% for 10 shillings, 116,000 square miles of land. 06:39.599 --> 06:43.169 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Much of it, as we know, was magnificent land. 06:43.169 --> 06:45.438 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% It included Southern Manitoba, 06:45.438 --> 06:48.975 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% reached into parts of North Dakota and South Dakota, 06:48.975 --> 06:51.277 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% reached into Northwest Ontario, also into Saskatchewan. 06:51.277 --> 06:53.880 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% But the center of it was the place 06:53.880 --> 06:56.215 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% where the Red and the Assiniboine River come together, 06:56.215 --> 06:58.751 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% what we refer to as The Forks in Winnipeg. 06:58.751 --> 07:00.620 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% (narrator) Glacial Lake Agassiz retreated, 07:00.620 --> 07:03.523 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% leaving fertile soils in the Red River Valley. 07:03.523 --> 07:05.091 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% (Allan Ashworth) Lake Agassiz formed then 07:05.091 --> 07:07.160 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% when glaciers which had occupied 07:07.160 --> 07:10.096 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% all of Canada and the northern tier of the United States, 07:10.096 --> 07:13.399 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% as they start to melt at the end of the last Ice Age, 07:13.399 --> 07:15.902 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and huge amounts of meltwater are being formed 07:15.902 --> 07:18.571 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% as the glaciers melt back into Canada, that meltwater 07:18.571 --> 07:21.107 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% then becomes trapped by higher land to the south 07:21.107 --> 07:23.242 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and it starts to form Lake Agassiz. 07:23.242 --> 07:26.212 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And then as that ice continues to melt, 07:26.212 --> 07:28.681 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% the lake just continues to grow northward. 07:28.681 --> 07:32.452 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Lake Agassiz then existed from about 13,000 years ago 07:32.452 --> 07:35.221 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% to about 8-1/2-thousand years ago. 07:35.221 --> 07:37.590 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% The reason the lake is important then, 07:37.590 --> 07:40.626 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% these flat surfaces that we have in this area, 07:40.626 --> 07:43.896 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% as the melting at the northern end, they were supplying 07:43.896 --> 07:47.166 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% huge amounts of sediment from the glaciers into the lake. 07:47.166 --> 07:50.203 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% They convert then to clays and so you get 07:50.203 --> 07:53.706 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% a very high preponderance of clays and silts in the soils. 07:53.706 --> 07:56.742 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% So that with the freshly-ground mineral matter that's in there, 07:56.742 --> 07:59.812 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% the potassium and all the other elements that are represented 07:59.812 --> 08:02.615 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% in those crushed-up soils, that leads to generally good soils 08:02.615 --> 08:05.985 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and soil development for good agriculture. 08:05.985 --> 08:08.688 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (narrator) Native people are thought to have 08:08.688 --> 08:12.258 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% entered the area of Manitoba about 6,000 years ago, 08:12.258 --> 08:14.760 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% moving north from the southern plains. 08:14.760 --> 08:18.164 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% As nomadic people, they traveled to their food supply, 08:18.164 --> 08:20.466 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% primarily the bison herds. 08:20.466 --> 08:24.237 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Over time, they found convenient places to settle for a while. 08:24.237 --> 08:27.306 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% One of those places was at The Forks 08:27.306 --> 08:29.675 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% of the Red and the Assiniboine Rivers, 08:29.675 --> 08:32.011 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% which became a well-known gathering place. 08:32.011 --> 08:35.114 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% A little north of The Forks, indigenous people 08:35.114 --> 08:38.184 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% began to plant crops like corn and potatoes. 08:38.184 --> 08:41.254 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Here the soil was rich and well-drained. 08:41.254 --> 08:45.057 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% (Clarence Nepinak) They would be eating a lot of vegetables, 08:45.057 --> 08:48.361 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% like plant foods, depending on the season, you know, 08:48.361 --> 08:51.330 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% and as each season changed sort of thing, 08:51.330 --> 08:54.267 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% there were different animals that they were able to harvest 08:54.267 --> 08:56.836 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% because they weren't always living in the same location. 08:56.836 --> 09:00.506 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% Well, the type of food that was eaten at that time 09:00.506 --> 09:02.808 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% was food that was plentiful. 09:02.808 --> 09:05.578 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% They'd go and do community hunts and then they would 09:05.578 --> 09:07.980 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% share all the meat that they brought back. 09:07.980 --> 09:10.616 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% But there was also berries that we also picked. 09:10.616 --> 09:12.552 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% With more Europeans coming, 09:12.552 --> 09:15.221 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% they had different foods and then, of course, 09:15.221 --> 09:17.957 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% the indigenous people had their foods as well. 09:17.957 --> 09:21.894 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% So there was this whole aspect of trading and sharing. 09:21.894 --> 09:25.831 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (narrator) In 1812, the first party of settlers arrived 09:25.831 --> 09:30.269 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and met unlivable conditions; no food, no shelter. 09:30.269 --> 09:32.772 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% (Lord Selkirk) It was many hundreds, 09:32.772 --> 09:35.775 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and they came over by ship to Hudson's Bay 09:35.775 --> 09:38.210 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and many of them landed at Churchill, 09:38.210 --> 09:40.746 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% then made their way down to the south 09:40.746 --> 09:42.949 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and eventually arrived at Red River. 09:42.949 --> 09:45.184 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% And what they hadn't bargained for 09:45.184 --> 09:48.387 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% was the 5 months of ice and snow. 09:48.387 --> 09:52.058 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And the friendship he formed with Chief Peguis 09:52.058 --> 09:55.461 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% of the First Nation Saulteaux meant that Chief Peguis 09:55.461 --> 09:58.564 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% would in fact protect them and the settlement. 09:58.564 --> 10:01.033 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% Peguis took them under his wing, so to speak. 10:01.033 --> 10:04.203 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% I think he did a lot to help them survive 10:04.203 --> 10:07.406 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% the first few months and years, at a time when they weren't 10:07.406 --> 10:09.742 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% really adapted to this and weren't fully prepared 10:09.742 --> 10:12.445 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% for the kind of weather they encountered, the kind of 10:12.445 --> 10:15.314 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% activities that they could engage in, the fact that we had 10:15.314 --> 10:17.850 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% a much longer winter than they would have had in Scotland. 10:17.850 --> 10:19.919 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% He basically helped them get established. 10:19.919 --> 10:25.758 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% Peguis was a hereditary chief, and he, 10:25.758 --> 10:28.094 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% he was very influential with the Europeans 10:28.094 --> 10:31.163 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% that were around The Forks here in the area of Winnipeg. 10:31.163 --> 10:32.932 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% (Dr. Gordon Goldsborough) People often think 10:32.932 --> 10:35.534 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% he had been here his whole life, but he wasn't. 10:35.534 --> 10:38.170 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% He had come here from the area of Southern Ontario 10:38.170 --> 10:41.007 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% that we now say is around Sault Ste. Marie, so in fact, 10:41.007 --> 10:43.342 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% I think maybe he had some affectional affinity 10:43.342 --> 10:45.645 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% for these people because, like him, they were newcomers, 10:45.645 --> 10:48.314 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and now that he had become adapted to this area, 10:48.314 --> 10:51.050 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% he maybe felt some kind of kinship with them 10:51.050 --> 10:59.191 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and that he had an obligation to help them get settled in too. 10:59.191 --> 11:02.795 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (Blair Rutter) That's what I find so incredible about the Selkirk Settler story 11:02.795 --> 11:06.065 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% is that they persevered, and I think a lot of it 11:06.065 --> 11:09.035 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% had to do with owning a piece of land. 11:09.035 --> 11:12.738 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% Because they were driven off the land in Scotland-- 11:12.738 --> 11:15.408 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% they were always tenants there. 11:15.408 --> 11:18.511 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% When they came to Canada, they were granted a piece of land, 11:18.511 --> 11:20.946 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% they knew that if they could stick with it, 11:20.946 --> 11:23.749 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% that this was going to be theirs, 11:23.749 --> 11:27.219 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and no lord or no one else could evict you. 11:27.219 --> 11:30.289 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% The ownership of land and the respect for property, 11:30.289 --> 11:32.258 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% that was something that was 11:32.258 --> 11:34.393 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% really important to the Selkirk Settlers 11:34.393 --> 11:37.063 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and why they were so determined to persevere 11:37.063 --> 11:40.900 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% in the face of all these hardships. 11:40.900 --> 11:43.436 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% (Phyllis Fraser) My ancestors arrived 11:43.436 --> 11:47.073 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% with the Lord Selkirk Settlers. The first one to arrive here 11:47.073 --> 11:49.275 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% was my great, great, great grandmother, 11:49.275 --> 11:53.079 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% and she arrived in late October in 1812, 11:53.079 --> 11:55.381 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% and her name was Catherine McGilvera, 11:55.381 --> 11:58.050 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% and she'd recently been married to Hector MacLean. 11:58.050 --> 12:00.920 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% They arrived, it was a very, very rough time; 12:00.920 --> 12:04.256 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% that first winter the settlers had to go down to Fort Daer, 12:04.256 --> 12:06.292 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% which is now Pembina, North Dakota,to winter 12:06.292 --> 12:08.260 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% because there was no food, 12:08.260 --> 12:10.763 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% there were no provisions made for them here. 12:10.763 --> 12:13.866 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And they survived the winter, but Hector died the next spring. 12:13.866 --> 12:17.937 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% So here was Catherine, 20 years old, a widow with a baby, and 12:17.937 --> 12:20.773 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% she remained in the settlement and several years later 12:20.773 --> 12:24.176 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% she met a fur trader by the name of John Pritchard. 12:24.176 --> 12:26.579 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And John Pritchard had been a fur trader 12:26.579 --> 12:28.848 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% with the North West Company, and he wanted 12:28.848 --> 12:31.317 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% to become a settler, he wanted to be 12:31.317 --> 12:33.119 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% affiliated with the Hudson's Bay Company. 12:33.119 --> 12:37.590 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% After a 24-hour courtship, they were married! 12:37.590 --> 12:41.527 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% They settled in Red River and had 10 children, 12:41.527 --> 12:45.064 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and their daughter married a settler 12:45.064 --> 12:49.969 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% who came with the 1815 group, and that was John Matheson. 12:49.969 --> 12:57.877 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% So he and Catherine are my great, great grandparents. 12:57.877 --> 13:00.746 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (narrator) Miles Macdonell had been sent to Red River 13:00.746 --> 13:03.682 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% as the advance man to establish housing 13:03.682 --> 13:07.820 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and to source food for the expected settlers. 13:07.820 --> 13:09.789 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% I've never quite understood 13:09.789 --> 13:12.358 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% why Miles Macdonell has the reputation he has. 13:12.358 --> 13:15.261 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% When he brought the settlers here, they didn't really 13:15.261 --> 13:18.230 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% respect him at all, and he made somewhat dubious decisions, 13:18.230 --> 13:21.133 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% he was the one that issued the Pemmican Proclamation 13:21.133 --> 13:24.036 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% that said you couldn't take pemmican out of the settlement. 13:24.036 --> 13:27.139 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% The main part of the North West Company's trade 13:27.139 --> 13:30.376 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% was much further north than west and their concern 13:30.376 --> 13:34.280 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% was to feed canoe brigades, which had to go a very long way 13:34.280 --> 13:36.849 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% into the Northwest and come out again with the furs. 13:36.849 --> 13:39.819 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And to do that they used pemmican. 13:39.819 --> 13:42.421 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% It was basically a very high-calorie, high-protein food, 13:42.421 --> 13:44.890 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% which was ideal for fur brigades. 13:44.890 --> 13:48.761 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% I call it the fuel on which the fur brigades ran. 13:48.761 --> 13:53.432 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% Pemmican Proclamation was designed to prevent provisions 13:53.432 --> 13:56.569 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% from leaving the settlement. 13:56.569 --> 13:58.604 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And goodness knows, the settlement needed 13:58.604 --> 14:01.273 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% all the provisions it could get. 14:01.273 --> 14:05.177 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% But the trouble was that it probably exceeded his authority, 14:05.177 --> 14:09.682 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% moreover, it brought the wrath of the North West Company on his head. 14:09.682 --> 14:13.219 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% What he was basically telling the North West Company was 14:13.219 --> 14:16.222 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% you will have to shut down your pemmican operations. 14:16.222 --> 14:19.425 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Well, they weren't going to do that, 14:19.425 --> 14:22.528 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and so they began harassing the colony. 14:22.528 --> 14:24.163 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% (Phyllis Fraser) The hardships were huge; 14:24.163 --> 14:26.265 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% they had huge challenges. 14:26.265 --> 14:30.135 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% They were caught in the middle of a fur trade rivalry 14:30.135 --> 14:33.038 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% between the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company 14:33.038 --> 14:35.641 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% and the North West Company wanted them gone, 14:35.641 --> 14:38.177 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% and they encouraged them in various ways to leave. 14:38.177 --> 14:40.779 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Also, there was no food for them, 14:40.779 --> 14:43.349 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and without the support of Chief Peguis 14:43.349 --> 14:45.851 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and his people and the Métis buffalo hunters, 14:45.851 --> 14:49.488 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% they would have starved. 14:49.488 --> 14:51.924 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (narrator) There was considerable tension between the North West Company 14:51.924 --> 14:54.460 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and the settlers brought to the area 14:54.460 --> 14:56.662 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% by the Hudson's Bay Company. 14:56.662 --> 15:00.799 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% The main economic activity in the area had been the fur trade. 15:00.799 --> 15:04.603 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% As the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company 15:04.603 --> 15:08.207 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% competed for furs, rivalry was the normal state of affairs 15:08.207 --> 15:11.610 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and became even worse with the arrival of the settlers. 15:11.610 --> 15:16.115 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% Everything boiled over in June of 1816. 15:16.115 --> 15:19.318 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Cuthbert Grant and his group of North West Company followers 15:19.318 --> 15:22.521 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% were coming across the prairie at Seven Oaks 15:22.521 --> 15:24.924 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and Governor Semple and his group of settlers 15:24.924 --> 15:27.593 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% came out to meet them. 15:27.593 --> 15:30.429 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% There's a lot of controversy about what actually happened; 15:30.429 --> 15:32.865 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% a gun went off. [loud CRACK!] 15:32.865 --> 15:37.236 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% And a fierce battle took place 15:37.236 --> 15:41.807 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and 22 of the settlers were killed that day. 15:41.807 --> 15:45.911 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% Selkirk and his people always thought of it as a massacre. 15:45.911 --> 15:49.548 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% It probably wasn't, it was an inadvertent collision 15:49.548 --> 15:51.984 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% between settlers and mixed-blood, 15:51.984 --> 15:55.587 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% but it was a very unequal encounter 15:55.587 --> 15:59.058 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% because the settlers were not militarily inclined. 15:59.058 --> 16:03.295 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% The mixed-bloods were well-armed and experienced shooters. 16:03.295 --> 16:05.764 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Not surprisingly the result was 16:05.764 --> 16:09.101 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% heavy loss of life on the settler part, 16:09.101 --> 16:12.638 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% virtually no loss of life on the mixed-blood part. 16:12.638 --> 16:16.175 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (narrator) After the Battle of Seven Oaks in 1816, 16:16.175 --> 16:19.511 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% peace came to Red River, but the challenges 16:19.511 --> 16:22.281 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% of droughts, pests, crop failures, and floods, 16:22.281 --> 16:26.652 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% like the devastating 1826 flood, persisted. 16:26.652 --> 16:32.024 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% In 1826 we have the first of the great floods 16:32.024 --> 16:35.427 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% in recorded history in the Red River area. 16:35.427 --> 16:38.564 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% The Red River rises by 20 feet; 16:38.564 --> 16:41.834 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% almost everybody lives on the banks of the rivers, 16:41.834 --> 16:44.636 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and of course, the settlement is virtually wiped out. 16:44.636 --> 16:47.306 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Large numbers of settlers leave, 16:47.306 --> 16:51.043 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% but this is not necessarily a bad thing. 16:51.043 --> 16:54.580 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% The colony did grow after 1817, not so much because there were 16:54.580 --> 16:56.849 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% new settlers coming in from Scotland, 16:56.849 --> 16:59.852 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% because there weren't very many, but the fur traders 16:59.852 --> 17:03.222 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% tended to retire here because this was a community, 17:03.222 --> 17:06.225 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and it had some characteristics of European life. 17:06.225 --> 17:11.330 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (Dr. Jack Bumsted) As a result of the merger of the two trading companies 17:11.330 --> 17:15.367 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% in the 1820s, there are a lot of surplus employees. 17:15.367 --> 17:22.608 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% The opportunity comes in 1826 to use the settlement as a place 17:22.608 --> 17:28.313 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% where retired members of the fur trade and their families can go. 17:28.313 --> 17:32.518 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% It was a good place for the fur traders, who in general, 17:32.518 --> 17:35.687 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% were married to women who were either natives or Métis 17:35.687 --> 17:37.823 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% and who would probably have had 17:37.823 --> 17:39.858 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% a very difficult time retiring to Europe 17:39.858 --> 17:41.894 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% where the society was so very different. 17:41.894 --> 17:44.696 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% So it was a good place to raise a family 17:44.696 --> 17:50.202 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% if you were a retired fur trader. 17:50.202 --> 17:53.806 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% [acoustic guitar; softly finger-picking] 17:53.806 --> 17:58.043 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% It's hard to believe that when the Selkirk Settlers 17:58.043 --> 18:01.346 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% arrived in Manitoba 200 years ago, 18:01.346 --> 18:04.917 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and they were told you can't farm in Western Canada, 18:04.917 --> 18:08.153 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% this is a land of ice and snow, 18:08.153 --> 18:11.223 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% it's fur country, and you can't farm here, 18:11.223 --> 18:14.093 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% it's not possible-- they were told that. 18:14.093 --> 18:17.396 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% The big accomplishment of the settlement was to show 18:17.396 --> 18:20.632 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% that you could establish a farming economy on the prairies. 18:20.632 --> 18:22.968 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% The big thing about a farming settlement 18:22.968 --> 18:24.870 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% is the density of population. 18:24.870 --> 18:28.006 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% As soon as you start laying out the prairies 18:28.006 --> 18:31.376 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% in quarter-section farms, you can have quite a big population. 18:31.376 --> 18:34.980 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% (Dr. Jack Bumsted) So one of the reasons that Selkirk moves 18:34.980 --> 18:38.450 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% into this territory is an imperial motive; 18:38.450 --> 18:42.187 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% he's trying to preserve most of Western Canada 18:42.187 --> 18:46.225 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% and part of the Western United States 18:46.225 --> 18:48.727 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% from the rapacious Americans... 18:48.727 --> 18:56.201 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% who will otherwise take it over entirely. 18:56.201 --> 18:59.404 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (Dr. Harry Duckworth) So the settlement grew and eventually, of course, 18:59.404 --> 19:01.740 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% it became Winnipeg, Canada took over 19:01.740 --> 19:04.343 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% the rest of the country in 1870. 19:04.343 --> 19:06.111 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% There was a policy of European immigration 19:06.111 --> 19:07.813 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% over the next 40 years, 19:07.813 --> 19:09.848 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% and all kinds of Europeans 19:09.848 --> 19:12.451 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% came out here who would never have been brought 19:12.451 --> 19:15.320 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% if it hadn't been known that it was possible 19:15.320 --> 19:18.056 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% to have this dense population as a farming settlement. 19:18.056 --> 19:21.693 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% They started the waves of immigration that followed 19:21.693 --> 19:24.596 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% and because the Selkirk Settlers came here, 19:24.596 --> 19:27.966 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% others started to follow, and the Icelanders 19:27.966 --> 19:31.203 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and Ukrainians, and just every other group. 19:31.203 --> 19:33.438 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Now there's a Philippine community, 19:33.438 --> 19:35.974 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% there's so many others who've come 19:35.974 --> 19:38.443 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and make Manitoba home-- we're very multicultural-- 19:38.443 --> 19:41.280 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% perhaps because of the Selkirk Settlers. 19:41.280 --> 19:44.383 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (narrator) Settling the West for agriculture was a bold move. 19:44.383 --> 19:47.519 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Early surveys had disagreed 19:47.519 --> 19:50.923 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% over the West's suitability for agriculture. 19:50.923 --> 19:54.459 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Manitoba's new survey, beginning in 1871, 19:54.459 --> 19:58.297 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% created townships of 36-square-mile sections, 19:58.297 --> 20:01.900 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% each section was 640 acres. 20:01.900 --> 20:05.204 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% This new method replaced the original Red River survey 20:05.204 --> 20:09.007 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% based on the early Quebec system of long, narrow river lots. 20:09.007 --> 20:12.077 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% (Dr. Paul Earl) What, of course, sparked the settlement 20:12.077 --> 20:15.547 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% in any kind of numbers and any kind of volume 20:15.547 --> 20:18.817 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% was the building of the CPR, which was completed in 1887. 20:18.817 --> 20:20.752 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Sir John A. Macdonald's intention was 20:20.752 --> 20:22.621 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% to tie the country together 20:22.621 --> 20:25.157 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and to tie Vancouver and British Columbia 20:25.157 --> 20:27.626 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% in with the eastern provinces, but, of course, 20:27.626 --> 20:30.596 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% they had to cross the Great Plains to get there. 20:30.596 --> 20:32.631 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% (Jamie Wilson) Sir John A. Macdonald, 20:32.631 --> 20:35.334 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% the good and the bad about him as our first Prime Minister, 20:35.334 --> 20:37.536 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% some of the good things he did was, 20:37.536 --> 20:39.338 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% he forced treaties to be signed. 20:39.338 --> 20:41.506 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% He also brought in a piece of legislation 20:41.506 --> 20:43.642 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% allowing First Nations to vote in eastern Canada. 20:43.642 --> 20:46.345 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% On the other hand, there was very aggressive practices 20:46.345 --> 20:49.348 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% on the government's side to displace people from the land 20:49.348 --> 20:52.684 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% and move them north away from where the railroad was going to be. 20:52.684 --> 20:54.453 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% They basically used forced starvation 20:54.453 --> 20:56.788 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% to help relocate First Nation communities. 20:56.788 --> 21:00.759 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% They would've had claims where the rail line was going to be. 21:00.759 --> 21:03.161 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (narrator) Rail service made the settlement of the West 21:03.161 --> 21:05.364 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% a reality during the 1880s. 21:05.364 --> 21:09.067 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% Sir John's national policy 21:09.067 --> 21:13.038 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% included the concept of settling the plains area 21:13.038 --> 21:15.874 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and creating a rural farming economy there. 21:15.874 --> 21:18.910 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (narrator) As an incentive to build a transcontinental rail line, 21:18.910 --> 21:21.613 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% the CPR had been granted a monopoly 21:21.613 --> 21:24.016 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% on rail line development. 21:24.016 --> 21:26.752 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (Dr. Ed Tyrchniewicz) Clifford Sifton was the Minister of Immigration. 21:26.752 --> 21:28.754 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% He in many ways determined 21:28.754 --> 21:31.790 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% which ethnic group was going to go where, 21:31.790 --> 21:35.027 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% so we ended up with the German, the Mennonite groups, 21:35.027 --> 21:38.363 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% going into Southern Manitoba, in Morden, 21:38.363 --> 21:41.833 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% Winkler, Altona area and the Steinbach area. 21:41.833 --> 21:43.869 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% They were essentially settling into areas 21:43.869 --> 21:46.004 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% that had good agricultural land 21:46.004 --> 21:49.908 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and they were able to be quite successful at it. 21:49.908 --> 21:53.979 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Some of the Eastern European groups tended to get dumped off 21:53.979 --> 21:56.848 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% into Southeast Manitoba in the poorer quality land, 21:56.848 --> 21:59.651 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and yet they felt they still had good soil 21:59.651 --> 22:02.387 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% because it was better than what they had come from. 22:02.387 --> 22:06.291 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% (narrator) Between 1879 and 1881, 22:06.291 --> 22:09.995 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% 58,000 immigrants came to Manitoba. 22:09.995 --> 22:14.232 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Settlement continued and the late 1890s and early 1900s 22:14.232 --> 22:17.369 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% saw more than 30,000 immigrants from the Ukraine. 22:17.369 --> 22:21.073 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% In 1896, Clifford Sifton spared no expense 22:21.073 --> 22:24.543 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and increased advertising abroad. 22:24.543 --> 22:27.746 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% These advertising claims in today's terms would be considered a scam 22:27.746 --> 22:29.614 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% because they essentially presented 22:29.614 --> 22:32.217 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% this area as a cornucopia. 22:32.217 --> 22:34.519 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And we know that this environment 22:34.519 --> 22:38.123 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% that we work with in here is, it's very harsh, 22:38.123 --> 22:41.660 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% but it's also very fragile, and so people came here 22:41.660 --> 22:44.363 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% with very high expectations of wealth and prosperity. 22:44.363 --> 22:46.898 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And many of them had their hopes completely dashed 22:46.898 --> 22:49.568 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% within a very short period of time. 22:49.568 --> 22:52.104 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (Rob Tisdale) Homesteading in Canada was quite an organized affair. 22:52.104 --> 22:54.172 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% The railways financed construction 22:54.172 --> 22:57.843 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% through the capital assets of the land itself. 22:57.843 --> 23:00.045 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% The government granted the railways land, 23:00.045 --> 23:02.114 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% the railway surveys these lands 23:02.114 --> 23:04.383 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% on both sides of the rail line, 23:04.383 --> 23:06.418 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% they would sell these lands 23:06.418 --> 23:08.587 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% or bring people to these lands 23:08.587 --> 23:11.156 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% to homestead a 3/4-section, if you will. 23:11.156 --> 23:14.760 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% That would bring the population that the railways needed 23:14.760 --> 23:17.996 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% to create commerce, and it was a thriving business-- 23:17.996 --> 23:20.565 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% the real boom of the 1880s 23:20.565 --> 23:23.568 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% through to, really up to the 1920s. 23:23.568 --> 23:26.238 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% (Laura Rance) The Canadian government wanted to get 23:26.238 --> 23:28.507 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% this vast prairie region settled mainly because 23:28.507 --> 23:31.576 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% they didn't want the Americans to stake claim to it. 23:31.576 --> 23:34.346 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% And so they came up with this scheme with the railways 23:34.346 --> 23:36.782 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% in order to draw people to the area. 23:36.782 --> 23:40.152 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% What it did was offer people essentially free land. 23:40.152 --> 23:43.822 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% They had to pay a $10 registration fee, 23:43.822 --> 23:47.626 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% but they had a free quarter-section, 160 acres. 23:47.626 --> 23:52.564 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% What they had to do in order to get this land was to proof up or 23:52.564 --> 23:55.667 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% get 40 acres of their quarter- section into production, and 23:55.667 --> 23:58.737 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% they had to build a permanent structure within 3 years. 23:58.737 --> 24:01.740 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% That was easier said than done in a part of the world 24:01.740 --> 24:04.242 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% where there weren't a lot of trees at the time. 24:04.242 --> 24:07.579 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% A lot of these people lived in sod huts 24:07.579 --> 24:10.749 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% for a significant number of years. [steam whistle blows] 24:10.749 --> 24:13.785 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (narrator) As a result of the government's programs, 24:13.785 --> 24:19.825 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% more than 3 million people came to Canada between 1896 and 1914. 24:19.825 --> 24:25.263 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Selkirk passed away in 1820 and never got to see 24:25.263 --> 24:28.733 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% the success of his agricultural experiment. 24:28.733 --> 24:32.170 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% He developed tuberculosis and died at a very early age, 24:32.170 --> 24:34.739 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% but the agreement he signed 24:34.739 --> 24:37.843 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% with Chief Peguis of the First Nation Saulteaux 24:37.843 --> 24:40.812 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% had this sentence in it, "The agreement would last 24:40.812 --> 24:43.882 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% for as long as the sun shines, 24:43.882 --> 25:04.769 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% the grass grows, and the rivers flow." 25:04.769 --> 25:10.842 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% (Phyllis Fraser) Manitoba was built on agriculture and the family farm. 25:10.842 --> 25:14.813 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% At the turn of the century, agriculture was the reason 25:14.813 --> 25:17.349 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% that the Manitoba Legislative Building is 25:17.349 --> 25:20.619 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% this huge, beautiful building, because it was booming, 25:20.619 --> 25:24.523 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% we were going to be the Chicago of the North. 25:24.523 --> 26:12.604 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% [drums & melodica play in bright rhythm] 26:12.604 --> 26:34.159 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% [woman voices the following credits] 26:34.159 --> 26:37.495 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% And the members of... 26:37.495 --> 26:41.666 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% To order a copy of the 4-part series "Built on Agriculture," 26:41.666 --> 26:45.666 align:left position:10%,start line:5% size:80% call or visit our on-line store...