The Dominion Government had decided to make divisions in the huge North West Territories to effect better governance over the proposed plans for settlement and the building of railways, etc. These Provisional Districts were: the District of Athabaska covered the north half of what is Alberta today and the District of Alberta was made up the south western part of today’s province, the District of Saskatchewan was north of the District of Assiniboia, which was the southern-most quarter part of Saskatchewan today, plus a portion of southeast Alberta. The only province at that time was the “postage stamp” size Manitoba which had joined Confederation in 1870. The growth of its main city — Winnipeg, was a great influence in the development of the Provisional Districts because it was the “stopping” place” and the supply centre for all the traffic going westward. Its site, the junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers had been a focus of the fur trade since Lavérendrye’s explorations in the 1730s, and also, Lord Selkirk’s settlement experiment in early 1800s. In 1882, when the officials of the York Farmers’ Colonization Company first arrived in the West, Winnipeg was already experiencing a boom and had a population of 15,000. It was the stopping place for all travelers on their westward destinations. It even had a reputation as a “wild” place for a while — lots of bars, and rowdy behavior on the streets, etc. The officials of the York Farmers’ Colonization Company certainly stopped in this metropolis to rest and to conduct business, and meet people who were taking part in the great venture “the opening of the West.”
Contact Terri Lefebvre Prince,
Heritage Researcher,
City of Yorkton Archives,
Box 400, 37 Third Avenue North
Yorkton, Sask. S3N 2W3
306-786-1722
[email protected]
