Starting in the late 1870’s, a trickle of adventurous souls led the way into the deep wooded valley of the Little Saskatchewan River, where they found ample water and wood. Until 1879 settlement focused on the new town of Rapid City and the settlement of Odanah where Minnedosa would grow. By 1880 a few settlers approached the Rivers district taking the steamboats up the Assiniboine to Grand Valley or Hall’s Landing, north of Oak Lake. Most of these early settlers came from the Ontario and the British Isles, with Scotland particularly well represented. The arrival of the railway to Brandon in late 1881 brought many more.

For the first twenty years after farming operations commenced, the area was characterized by communities centred around a post office, usually in a farm home. After the first few harvests, schools began to appear, followed by a few churches and perhaps a general store.


Communities such as Tarbolton, Roseville, and Ancrum became well known without becoming villages.  Wheatland and Bradwardine were simply post offices in their early days, although Bradwardine did have a store. Other communities were known only by their schools, with Harrow and Hunter being early examples.

No towns were surveyed or built. Nearby centres, first Rapid City, then Brandon, served as both markets for produce and outlets for supplies. For over twenty years, surely a record in southwestern Manitoba, no railway crossed what had become the Municipality of Daly. Perhaps having Brandon nearby allowed for a certain level of contentment. Progressive municipal government,  active  community leaders and school district boards, provided the services that settlers needed.
By the end of the settlement era two sets of tracks crossed the district. In 1902 a CPR branch line connected the municipality with Brandon and spawned the towns of Wheatland and Bradwardine as well as the hamlets of Carnegie and Pendennis. The establishment of both retail services and elevators made life easier for everyone. It was progress, but perhaps not a big readjustment in social, cultural or economic life.


The decision of the Grand Trunk Pacific to build a line across the prairies would bring about substantive and lasting change to the area.  The line proceeded parallel to the CPR main line in an almost straight line from Portage westward, so close to the competition that, although stations, sidings and elevators were placed at regular intervals, few new towns were required. But at the crossing of the Little Saskatchewan there was a need for a significant service centre. A real town was required and almost overnight Rivers, named after a director of the Grand Trunk Railway. Sir Charles Rivers-Wilson, went from being farmland to a carefully planned and substantial urban centre.

The implications for the entire region were far-reaching. With the establishment of rail service and retail establishments, trips to Rivers replaced trips to Brandon. The nearby settlement of Wheatland on the rival CPR branch line was eclipsed. The railway jobs attracted people from a wide variety of places, broadening the social and cultural makeup of the region.