The Land in 1875 - Early Riverlots - Winnipeg, MB
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PM8
N 49° 52.284 W 097° 15.906
14U E 624663 N 5525775
One of several historical signs placed along the pathways by the Charleswood bridge when it was constructed in 1995.
Waymark Code: WMPKA0
Location: Manitoba, Canada
Date Posted: 09/12/2015
Views: 3
This sign is located on the west side of the bridge by the south bank of the Assiniboine River. The text and pictures describe historical settlement in Charleswood and Assiniboia. The sign has become faded with age and some of the pictures are obscured.
Marker Name: The Land in 1875 - Early Riverlots
Agency: Charleswood Bridge
Languages: English
Location:
West of the Charleswood Bridge on the south bank of the Assiniboine River
Marker Text:
Narrow river lots only a few hundred feet in width, (6 to 12 chains), extended 4 miles back from the Assiniboine, to the North and South. It has been said that when the First Nations permitted the Selkirk settlers to use this land in 1816, they measured 4 miles back from the Red and Assiniboine Rivers by looking under the belly of a horse standing on the riverbank, and as far back as they could see across the prairie. That was the land that the newcomers were welcome to use!
Trees and shrubs rarely extended more than 2 miles back from the river, and the remaining 2 miles of tall grass prairie in these long thin river lots was used as hay land. Beyond the farms continued a vast sea of tall grass not yet broken by the plough.
A sizable community existed here that is largely NOT recorded on the river lots records. Although some of these families did receive riverlot titles, and settled permanently in the area, many Metis who travelled with the Spring and Fall buffalo hunts were not recorded as permanent landowners on the riverlots. They lived along the North and South shores of the Assiniboine when not on the hunt, and were a major part of the community that existed here before 1875.
Link to HistoricPlaces.ca or mhs.mb.ca: [Web Link]
Website: Not listed
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