Henry KelseyHenry Kelsey was the first white man to see the Canadian prairies. In 1692, Kelsey received little in the way of public recognition when he completed an epic, groundbreaking inland journey to the Saskatchewan River and Assiniboine country. more...La VérendryeDedicated explorers or opportunistic businessmen? History has assigned both reputations to the illustrious La Vérendrye family, founders of the first fur trading fort on Lake Winnipeg. Unlike the youthful adventurers of early Ca [...]more...Interlake InvasionIt was La Vérendrye's sons, Jean-Baptiste and Pierre, who were the first to reach Lake Winnipeg in the summer of 1733. Following the Winnipeg River northwest to its mouth at the Lake, the young men explored the shorelin [...]more...Icelandic IntroductionFor the young Icelandic mother, desperately trying to keep her children warm as bitter cold seeped into their tiny lakeside shanty, the poverty and destitution of her homeland may have seemed preferable to the bleakness and brutality of early homesteading life on the sh [...]more...Independent RepublicBy today's Canadian standards of centralized government and municipal amalgamation, the notion of an Icelandic republic in the heart of Manitoba seems particularly exotic. But from 1875 to 1887, the Icelandic immigrants who settled Lake [...]more...Scenes from a FishingVillageVisitors to Hecla Island/Grindstone Park, 140 kilometres north of Winnipeg, can tour several restored buildings in Hecla Village, home of many 19th-century Icelandic immigrants. A church, community hall, period home, one-room school and fish station rec [...]more...The RailroadThere goes the whistle! The train back to Winnipeg will be leaving in 15 minutes. There's time for one more dance at the Grand Beach Ballroom, but don't be late - the last train to Winnipeg leaves at the stroke of midnight! more...
