Maps / Settlement Era

S5. Settlement 1870



S5 - S7 Settlement in Manitoba 1870-1921

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Weir, Thomas R. [Settlement 1870-1921] [map]. 1:3,041,280. In: Thomas R. Weir. Economic Atlas of Manitoba. Winnipeg: Manitoba Dept. of Industry and Commerce, 1960, pate 13.

These maps show the growth of population during the great settlement period of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From 1870 to 1901 the population of Manitoba increased from 12,288 to 255,211. The influence of the rivers was still evident in 1870, but by 1881 farmers had leapfrogged the wet and sandy areas, were above the Escarpment and also moving up the Riding Mountain slope, and Icelanders were occupying the western shore of Lake Winnipeg. By 1891 the most favourable areas were settled, except for the Dauphin and Swan river areas which were only beginning to be taken up shortly before 1901. The fringe of agricultural settlement was being reached by that time, though in the next few decades settlers continued to move into the marginal lands of eastern and Interlake Manitoba. The maps also show clearly the expansion of the transportation facilities, particularly the development of the railroad network.

(Warkentin and Ruggles. Historical Atlas of Manitoba. map 153, p. 332)