Timeline... 1880 - 1889

The World 1882: Thomas Edison builds the first power plant in New York. 1885: Karl Benz patents his first automobile. 1889: The Eiffel Tower opens in Paris. Canada In 1885, after long-standing grievances remain unaddressed, Louise Riel and Gabriel Dumont lead an uprising of Metis in the Saskatchewan River Valley communities in the Prince Albert - Battleford regions. Subsequent actions by native groups lead by Big Bear and Poundmaker create concern in Manitoba communities but relations between settlers and native people remain peaceful. Manitoba 1881: March 2 - Manitoba Boundaries Act passed in Parliament, providing for an extension of the province’s borders.  Prior to the Manitoba Boundaries Extension Act of 1881, the Pipestone region was in the Northwest Territories. The town of Brandon is created in May of 1881 when the site is selected over Grand Valley as a crossing and divisional point on the C.P.R. Within a month it is a busy centre. The Assiniboine Rivers floods, putting much of the Assiniboine Valley under water, much as it was in 2011.

1883: An act of the legislature set up 4 municipalities within the County of Souris River, including Arthur. Arthur included Ranges 27,28 & 29; townships 1,2, and 3. Powers given allowed municipalities to bonus industries and railways by cash donation and by tax exemptions for a number of years. 1884 : In 1884 the Province was divided and organized into separate Municipalities.   Homestead Regulations eased to attract more settlers. Three options existed: 1. Three year’s cultivation and residence – with the settler not absent for more than six months in any one year. 2. Taking up residence for two years and nine months within two miles of the homestead and then afterwards residing in a habitabgle house on homestead for three months at any time prior to applying for the patent. With 10 acres to be broken ion the first year, 15 in the second, and 15 in the third. 3. A five year system that allowed the settler to live anywhere for the first two years as long as he began to cultivate the land within six months and build a habitable house. 1885: The end of steamboat service on the upper Assiniboine.

The Municipality of Pipestone 1880   This map from 1881 shows that settlement in Manitoba had not extended far southwest of Brandon. That was about to change . 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. (Warkentin and Ruggles. Historical Atlas of Manitoba. map 153, p. 332 1881 Dan McKinnon arrives on Sat. May 28, 1881 with A. Mclean. McKinnon’s Crossing established near their homestead. The Lothian brothers, William and James, arrive on May 30th, 1881. On June 1st, the first sod was turned by William Lothian, working for Mr. Dan McKinnon and a little later Mr. Lothian sowed by hand, seven acres of barley - the initial cultivated field and crop in the district. 1882 Mrs. Peter Milliken is the first woman of European origin to arrive in the region.. With Mr. and Mrs. Milliken came their small son George, and he was the first settler’s child to arrive in the district.   The Settlers of 82…(A partial list…) Bulloch, Robert Sr.  (Lanark region) Bulloch, William Cooper, William (Hillview District 19-8-27) Cameron, Donald D. One of the first settlers in the area.  Site of Woodnorth village Campion, George - Worked on land survey in Reston – Pipestone area. Croft, Thomas Fairlie, Alex; Cabinet maker in Winnipeg for some time. Settled 18-7-26 Forke, Senator Robert - from Scotland to N 30-7-26; Guthrie, W.R. Worked on CPR for the summers.  Settled S 26-7-27. Guthrie, John McDonald, William SE 36-9-27. “Laggan Farm”. Milliken, Mrs. Peter (Margaret) Mitchell, John Came with Forke family – married daughter Isabel on Dec. 30, 1885 – first wedding in district. Powers, A.P. 20-9-26. Sec. Treas. R.M. of Pipestone when it was organized in 1884. Rattray, Alexander  Had a blacksmith operation on his farm, then in town. Wright, John A. Among first settlers in Scarth region. SW 33-8-26 1883 The first death: William Skelton, November, 1883. Mr. Skelton's body is laid to rest on his own homestead, but in later years was moved to the family burying ground. First Municipal nomination:December 26th, 1883. John McKinnon was later elected Reeve and Mr. James Lothian and Mr. Edward Ball, Councillors for Wards Five and Six. The first wheat to be sold from the district is a load hauled to Virden by James Lothian on April 10th, 1883, and sold to John Mooney for seed. The first hail storm recorded  on June 1883. 1884 The Council Meeting: January 8th, 1884, at the home of Mr. William Croft, who lived about half way between Virden and the “Settlement.“ (Lanark district) Shortly after the organization of the Council, Mr. Arthur Power is appointed Municipal Clerk. He continued to hold this office until his death. His office was at his farm home for many years but was later transferred to Reston, where he and Mrs. Power had moved. Here Mr. Power carried on his work with much reliable  assistance from Mrs. Power, until his death in 1919. Postal Service The first regular mail arrives on Jan. 8, 1884. Mr. James Lothian had been appointed postmaster for Pipestone Post Office and from that time the mail was brought regularly once a week from Virden. A route was organized from Virden to Manda, Elm Valley, Pipestone and on to Belleview, the driver returning to Virden the following day. Manda Post Office was at the Bonniman home, Elm Valley at Grimmetts, Pipestone at Lothians, and Belleview at Mr. George Campion's. Mr. Alex. Mooney, father of Mr. Robert Mooney, later a MLA for Virden Constituency, ran this mail route during a part of these earliest days and Mr. Robert Mooney was himself often the driver. First birth recorded:  A daughter to Mr. and Mrs. James Milliken, on February 8th, 1884.  The first dance is held at the home of Mr. John McKinnon in January, 1884, about forty being present. On December 25th of the same year a party is held at Mr. and. Mrs. William Lothian's where a singing class is organized. These two events, a dance and a party, were the first gatherings of a social nature to be held in the settlement. The first school classes in the new district held in the Thomas Croft home in 1884. This district was called Mayville, the name being brought from Ontario. Rev. Dr. James Robertson supervises the first Organizational Meeting for the Presbyterian Congregation on Aug. 31, 1884. It takes place in the McKinnon barn loft with about 50 people present. These notices appeared in the Brandon Sun. 1885 First wedding: Mr. John Mitchell to Miss Isabella Porke on December 30th, 1885. Daybreak School #376 built on NE 22-9-27. (Burned in 1916. School held in Daybreak Presbyterian Church until 1925 when Laggan School was built.) Mayville School erected on the homestead of Josh Pickering, NE 2-9-27. (Opened in 1886 - moved to the SE 1-9-27) 1886 The first picnic is held in the Sand Hills on July 1st, 1886. The first Member of Parliament elected to represent the Virden constituency is Mr. Dan McLean for the Liberal Party -  November, 1886. News in the Brandon Sun.... 31 "Pathmasters" are appointed to see that statutory labour allotted for maintenance of roads and trails was carried out in a satisfactory manner. Statutory Labor In the early days it was the duty of every farmer to provide statutory labor on the roads (trails?) abutting their lands. Up until 1888, three days of labor a year with team, plough or scraper was required. This was increased to four days in 1889. Sanderson School # 442 built on NW 20-9-28.  (Moved to NE 29-9-28 in 1920. New school built 1962.) Mr. John Atcheson from the U.S.A. first teacher in new Mayville School.  The Pipestone Mutual Improvement Society is organized in January, 1886. The society meets once a month in various homes. Programs consist of debates and offerings by local talent. A concert was put on each fall in the school house. 1887 Lanark (Originally named Reston) school opens with John Acheson as the first teacher. Three school districts were in existence in 1887. They were Mayville, Sanderson and Reston (Lanark) First dressmaker in the community: Miss Amy Elleby who came toManitoba in 1887 William H. Busby homesteads on 28-7-27. He later moved to Reston and opened the first lumberyard. On July 4th,  the first of the famous picnics is held in Guthrie's Grove. 1888 The council decides to assist with the operation of a gristmill and a levy of six tenths of a mill was imposed for this purpose. The levy was continued each year up to the turn of the century. No other records exist concerning the location of the mill. From the book "Pioneers of the Pipestone," we read: "on the night of August 8th, 1888 a very heavy frost came and the wheat was badly frozen. The crop was a most promising one so that it was a great disappointment to see it damaged so badly," …   1889 The summer of 1889 is one of the driest on record. Much grain was too short to make sheaves, Some farmers fixed boxes on their binders to catch the heads as they were cut. When the box was full the binder was stopped and the grain shoveled off in a pile.