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Home
1. Introduction
2. The Distant Past
3. First Nations
4. The Fur Trade
5.
European Settlement
6.
Notable People
7. Railway Era
8. Resources
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The
Pioneers
The Oldest Highway in the West
The Boundary Commission trail was the route taken by the Boundary
Commission in 1873 & 74 as they surveyed the Canada – US Border.
They bridged creeks, established crossings, and cleared bush as
necessary; but the general route they followed spans centuries, crosses
cultural lines, and involves a multitude of goals and purposes.
Although one short period of its life at the dawn of European
settlement gave the trail its name, it was well travelled long before
that time.
Parts of it began as a First Nations travel and trading route, which
the fur traders of the 18th Century naturally used when they began
penetrating the interior of Rupert's Land as the region was called. Not
too long afterwards, the Red River carts of the Métis wore grooves into
the prairie sod of the trail in their pursuit of the bison as the large
animals retreated ever westward.
Although
published in 1876, this map likely relied on information gathered prior
to the Boundary Commission’s work.
In 1818, Canada and the United States had agreed that from Lake of the
Woods to the Pacific, the 49th parallel would separate the two
countries, but there was no pressing need to be more specific about it.
In 1870 when Canada had purchased Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay
Company, and thoughts were turning to the possibility of large scale
agricultural settlement on both sides of the border, the time had
come to mark it more precisely.
In September of 1872, two parties set forth from Lake of the Woods,
Ontario: Her Majesty's North American Boundary Commission and the
United States Northern Boundary Commission. The two parties worked in
cooperation from their respective sides of the border. They each had
their own astronomer who calculated the location of the 49th parallel
and in the event that calculations were different, the mid-point
between them was accepted as being correct.
1887
– Sourisford is on the map.
North
America Boundary Commission camp at] South Antler Creek., Man. 1873
1st
Crossing - Souris River 170 miles west of Red River & 10 miles
north of Boundary. 1873
(Archives Canada Photo)
Over two summers, the
Boundary Commissioners, guided by Métis scouts, were followed by
labourers breaking the trail and by surveyors traveling behind. While
the British commissioners traveled very lightly armed, the Americans on
the other side of the border were accompanied by heavy military escort.
The Dakota, who hunted on both sides of the line often hostile towards
Americans for establishing posts on sacred land and for ignoring and
breaking treaties.
A
supply ox train leaves from the Long River depot, following the newly
cleared Boundary Commission Trail.
(Archives of Manitoba Photo)
When they came to the
Souris River they were fortunate in finding a spot about ten miles
north of the border with a firm gravel bottom and an easy approach to
the ford from each side of the river. Sourisford quickly became well
known to all Boundary Commission teamsters, and subsequently to the
incoming European settlers who would soon be arriving.
Bridge
over Souris River - 1st Crossing [Manitoba, June 1874]]
(Archives
of Manitoba Photo)
The North West Mounted
Police
The
Boundary Commissioners finished their survey during the summer of 1874.
Near the end of that year the North West Mounted Police used the
Boundary Commission Trail – freshly blazed – as their avenue of travel
on their trek to “establish law and order in the west” and to prepare
the frontier for settlement.
The
Beginnings of a New Community
For
centuries the Boundary Commission Trail had served as the highway to
the west, transporting goods and people.
Once familiar with the feet of Nakota and Dakota bands, and their
horses, and later with Red River carts pursuing the hunt, it next
became accustomed to the sound of settlers heading west.
The first villages in southern Manitoba were established alongside the
Trail, flourishing until the railroad came to the area.
In late 1879 Walter F. Thomas came by way of Winnipeg, and in the
spring of 1880 Alfred Gould and David Elliott arrived using the
Boundary Commission Trail. Gould and Elliot built a house and barn at
the crossing along the trail, near the river. With the increase of
settlement travel westward, their home became established as a regular
“stopping place.”
Many settlers were relieved to arrive at Gould and Elliot’s where there
were warm and comfortable stables and a hot meal served in the house
for a very moderate price.
The stopping place slowly grew into a small unofficial community.
During the summer of 1882 a store was operated out of a tent by
settlers Warren and Snider. A regular post office called “Sourisford”
was installed the next year. T. B. Gerry opened a blacksmith shop and
F. B. Warren opened a store which operated for two or three years.
On July 6th, 1883, the Registrar's Office for the Electoral Division of
Souris River was removed from Deloraine to the "town of Souris", on the
NW 26-2-27. A plan of a townsite, had been filed in the Souris River
Registry Office on March 11th, 1882, by two early settlers, Carbert and
Lett under the name of “Souris City”. It was referred to as Souriapolis
in some accounts.
Mr. J. P. Alexander. The Land Titles Registrar built a house and office
on the townsite. His was the only house to be built, and it was moved a
few years later, when he obtained a homestead nearby. The office was
moved again in 1886 when Mr. Alexander resigned to contest the seat in
the Provincial Legislature and once more, in March 1891, to the Town of
Melita where the building was soon put to other uses.
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