The Swan River Valley - Swan River, MB - Manitoba Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

These two plaque, erected by the Historic Sites Advisory Board of Manitoba at the Town of Swan River, commemorates early traders and explorers of the area.

There is a similar plaque commemorating the Swan River Valley located a short distance north of this site, at the intersection of Provincial Trunk Highway 10 (Northern Woods and Water Route) and Provincial Trunk Highway 10A WMTCYJ; the text on that plaque is only slightly different from one of the two shown here.

Marker Name: The Swan River Valley Agency: Historic Sites Advisory Board of Manitoba Languages: English Location: Swan Valley Museum, Provincial Trunk Highway 10 Swan River, MB The plaque is located along the driveway leading to the museum office. Marker Text: Plaque 1: THE SWAN RIVER VALLEY This area was the scene of intense rivalry and competition between the North West Company and Hudson’s Bay Company, from 1787, when the first fur trading post was built on Swan River, until 1821, when the rivals merged. Posts were built near here under direction of Cuthbert Grant, senior, for the Nor'Westers in 1787 and 1793, and Charles Isham for the Hudson's Bay Company in 1790 and 1794. The valley was then an important branch of the route of both companies trading with the Plains. David Thompson visited the area in 1797, and Daniel Harmon arrived in 1800 for a stay of five years. The Historic Sites Advisory Board of Manitoba Plaque 2: THE SWAN RIVER VALLEY For the past 10,000 years, the Swan River Valley has been a homeland for Native peoples. Among the earliest groups into the valley were Indians who hunted now-extinct species of bison that grazed around the shores of Glacial Lake Agassiz. Later groups, perhaps spurred by droughts across the High Plains to the south and west, sought refuge in the valley's relatively stable environment which included an abundance of game, fish and plant resources. During the past 2,000 years, the district was shared by both the western bison hunters and the forest peoples of the Manitoba Lowlands. The development of the European fur trade in the 1700s brought further cultural contact and change. Agricultural settlement and the founding of present day communities began in the late 19th century. The Historic Sites Advisory Board of Manitoba Website: [Web Link] Link to HistoricPlaces.ca or mhs.mb.ca: [Web Link]

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