Introduction

The first European settlers in the southwestern Manitoba were here ahead of the railways that would link us to the wider world. Because of the great distances between the pioneer farmer and the market, one priority was to find ways to convert local raw materials into essential products. The settlers brought with them a host of skills and experiences that served them well. They knew how flour mills, sawmills, cheese factories, lime kilns, and brickyards operated. They had worked in factories. Some even came to the region with the expressed purpose of starting industrial operations, others responded to needs and opportunities. Their efforts were a feature of many of the first communities. Like the communities they served, many, even most, of these first industrial endeavours were short-lived. That doesn’t mean they weren’t important. In rural Manitoba in the 1880’s things were moving quickly. There was a constant shifting as the railway companies considered options, and speculators tried to predict where growth would occur. Towns sprang up, business enterprises opened, buildings were built.  Then they closed or moved. In presenting the story of pioneer industry a natural divide is evident. The first efforts, notably flour or grist mills, coincided with the formation of those first villages. The villages, by their very nature, were speculative. Having a service such as a flour mill was one element of making a village viable. The second wave of industrial effort came with the creation of the railway towns. These weren’t speculative. They were intentional, created by the decision of railway company to build a station, which would immediately attract an elevator, which would guarantee traffic as the region’s farmers needed a market for what they were producing. These towns wanted business enterprises of all kinds. Every new service gave them a competitive advantage over the next town down the line. From the late 1870's until the ultimate expansion of rail networks around 1910, local production was essential to growth.