Charleswood — a path to the prairies

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/03/2018 (2988 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Many of us who live in Charleswood have little knowledge of how our community evolved, but anyone who heard Dan Furlan’s  “Charleswood — path to the Prairies” presentation will have a new appreciation for the rich history of this southwestern corner of Winnipeg. 
     
In the 7th instalment of the Charleswood Historical Society’s Heritage Lecture Series, Furlan summarized the involvement of those who forged the way for the development of this urban community. While this space does not allow for too many details, the following are highlights of his presentation.

For hundreds of years, millions of bison migrated north and south through the “Grand Passage” of the Assiniboine (Rouge Road on the north side and Berkley Street on the south), Furlan said. Just west of Charleswood Road, old buffalo trails remain.

The “Grand Passage” was the main river ford for Indigenous peoples. For centuries, the area seemed to be a meeting place for the tribes.

The Assiniboine River was also the east-west path for Métis hunters who followed the bison, explorers, voyageurs, fur traders and eventually settlers. Forts and trading posts were established along the river, and settlements grew up around the posts, he explained. A new nation — children of Scottish, English, French and Indigenous parents — settled along the Assiniboine and White Horse Plains.

Long before the Selkirk settlement, the Métis were a well-established community, Furlan points out.  They had title to the land by living on it but were gradually disenfranchised due to constantly changing rules involving the registration of land. Many moved on to Saskatchewan where they saw a recurring pattern, culminating in the rebellion in 1885.

  Over the years, the Assiniboia region continued to grow, including St. Francois Xavier, St. James, Headingley, St. Charles and eventually Charleswood. St. Charles population increased rapidly and in 1854 the Parish of St. Charles was created and later St. Charles School.  Charleswood, on the south side of the river, developed later, Furlan said.  

The “Grand Passage” remained a path between south and north, becoming a ferry crossing that connected St. Charles to Charleswood. The ferry site at Caron House served as a crossing from 1870 to 1908, and was a key destination for those who lived south of the Assinibioine. 
 
As modes of transportation changed, the Assiniboine River was the highway for canoes, then ferries and steamboats, which arrived on the Assiniboine in 1873. The first Headingley Bridge was built to swivel to allow steamboats upstream to Saskatchewan, he said.  

Furlan concluded by reiterating that over hundreds of years, what is now Charleswood has been a path to the prairies for many.       

For more information about the Heritage Lecture series, go to www.charleswoodhistoricalsociety.ca

Donna Minkus is a community correspondent for Charleswood.