Winnipeg

== History ==
{{Further|History of Winnipeg}}
{{For timeline|Timeline of Winnipeg history}}

=== Early history ===
Winnipeg lies at the [[confluence]] of the [[Assiniboine River|Assiniboine]] and the [[Red River Valley|Red River of the North]], a location now known as "[[The Forks, Winnipeg|the Forks]]." This point was at the crossroads of [[canoe]] routes travelled by [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] before European contact.<ref name="forkshistory">{{cite web |url = http://www.theforks.com/history |title = History |publisher = The Forks |accessdate = 4 November 2008 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080930222840/http://www.theforks.com/history |archivedate = 30 September 2008 |url-status = dead  }}</ref> Evidence provided by archaeology, [[petroglyph]]s, [[rock art]], and oral history indicates that native peoples used the area in prehistoric times for camping, harvesting, hunting, tool making, fishing, trading and, farther north, for agriculture.<ref name="harris">{{cite book|editor-last=Harris|editor-first=R. Cole|others=Cartography & design by Geoffrey J. Matthews|title=Historical Atlas of Canada|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=1993|volume=I: From the Beginning to 1800|isbn=0-8020-2495-5|pages=1–6}}</ref>

Estimates of the date of first settlement in this area range from 11,500 years ago for a site southwest of the present city to 6,000 years ago at the Forks.<ref name=ce/><ref>{{cite journal|date=Spring 1990|issue=19|title=Glacial Lake Agassiz|journal=Manitoba History|last=Buckner|first=Anthony|url=http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/19/lakeagassiz.shtml}}</ref> In 1805, Canadian colonists observed First Nations peoples engaged in farming activity along the Red River. The practice quickly expanded, driven by the demand by traders for provisions.<ref>{{cite book|title=The geography of Manitoba|year=1996|publisher=University of Manitoba Press|isbn=978-0-88755-375-2|page=80|editor-last1=Welsted|editor-first1=John|editor-last2=Everitt|editor-first2=John|editor-last3=Stadel|editor-first3=Christoph}}</ref> The rivers provided an extensive transportation network linking northern First Peoples with those to the south along the [[Missouri River|Missouri]] and [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] rivers. The [[Ojibwe]] made some of the first maps on [[birch bark]], which helped [[fur trade]]rs navigate the waterways of the area.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=G Malcolm|title=Cartographic encounters: perspectives on Native American mapmaking and map use|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=1998|page=12|isbn=9780226476940}}</ref>

[[Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye|Sieur de La Vérendrye]] built the first fur [[trading post]] on the site in 1738, called [[Fort Rouge (fortification)|Fort Rouge]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Champagne |first=Antoine |date=1968–1969 |title=The Vérendryes and Their Successors, 1727–1760 |journal=MHS Transactions |issue=25 |series=Third Series|url=http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/transactions/3/verendryes.shtml}}</ref> French trading continued at this site for several decades before the arrival of the British [[Hudson's Bay Company]] after France ceded the territory following its defeat in the [[Seven Years' War]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/mb/forks/natcul/contact.aspx |author=[[Parks Canada]] |title=The Forks National Historic Site of Canada |accessdate=5 January 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605103021/http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/mb/forks/natcul/contact.aspx |archivedate=5 June 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> Many French men who were trappers [[Marriage 'à la façon du pays'|married First Nations women]]; their mixed-race children hunted, traded, and lived in the area. Their descendants are known as the [[Métis people (Canada)|Métis]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lussier |first=AS |date=Spring 1978 |title=The Metis: Contemporary Problem of Identity |journal=Manitoba Pageant |volume=23 |issue=3 |url=http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/pageant/23/metisidentity.shtml}}</ref>

[[File:Rindisbacher fishing 1821 large (1).png|thumb|left|An 1821 painting of winter fishing on the ice of the [[Assiniboine River|Assiniboine]] and [[Red River of the North|Red]] rivers. [[Fort Gibraltar]] was erected in 1809.]]

[[Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk|Lord Selkirk]] was involved with the first permanent settlement (known as the [[Red River Colony]]), the purchase of land from the Hudson's Bay Company, and a survey of river lots in the early 19th century.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Thomas Douglas |encyclopedia=Dictionary of Canadian Biography V |year=2000 |publisher=University of Toronto |pages=264–269 }}</ref> The [[North West Company]] built [[Fort Gibraltar]] in 1809, and the Hudson's Bay Company built [[Fort Douglas (Canada)|Fort Douglas]] in 1812, both in the area of present-day Winnipeg.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite journal |title=A Brief Chronology of Events Relative to Lord Selkirk's Settlement at Red River&nbsp;– 1811 to 1815 |last=Brown |first=Alice E |journal=Manitoba Pageant |date=April 1962 |volume=7 |issue=3 |url=http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/pageant/07/selkirkchronology.shtml}}</ref> The two companies competed fiercely over trade.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bumstead |first=JM |title=Fur Trade Wars: the founding of Western Canada |publisher=Great Plains Publications |year=1999 |isbn=1-894283-03-1 }}</ref> The Métis and Lord Selkirk's settlers fought at the [[Battle of Seven Oaks]] in 1816. In 1821, the Hudson's Bay and North West Companies merged, ending their long rivalry.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/history/EPCONTENTSE1EP6CH5PA3LE.html |title=Battle at Seven Oaks |accessdate=4 March 2014 |publisher=CBC |work=Canada: A People's History |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619210110/http://www.cbc.ca/history/EPCONTENTSE1EP6CH5PA3LE.html |archivedate=19 June 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> Fort Gibraltar was renamed [[Fort Garry]] in 1822 and became the leading post in the region for the Hudson's Bay Company.<ref name="timeline">{{cite web |title=Manitoba Time Line |url=http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/features/timeline.shtml |publisher=Manitoba Historical Society |accessdate=23 May 2011 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526054241/http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/features/timeline.shtml |archivedate=26 May 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> A flood destroyed the fort in 1826 and it was not rebuilt until 1835.<ref name="timeline"/> A rebuilt section of the fort, consisting of the front gate and a section of the wall, is near the modern-day corner of Main Street and Broadway in downtown Winnipeg.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/vignettes/vignettes_128W.htm |title=Greater Winnipeg: Upper Fort Garry Gate |publisher=Virtual Heritage Winnipeg |accessdate=16 July 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207082855/http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/vignettes/vignettes_128W.htm |archivedate=7 December 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1869–70, present-day Winnipeg was the site of the [[Red River Rebellion]], a conflict between the local provisional government of Métis, led by [[Louis Riel]], and newcomers from eastern Canada. General [[Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley|Garnet Wolseley]] was sent to suppress the uprising. The [[Manitoba Act]] of 1870 made Manitoba the [[provinces and territories of Canada|fifth province]] of the three-year-old [[Canadian Confederation]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hayes |first=Derek |title=Historical Atlas of Canada |publisher=D&M Adult |year=2006 |pages=213–214 |isbn=1-55365-077-8 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Sprague |first=DN |title=Canada and the Métis, 1869–1885 |publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press |year=1988 |pages=33–67, 89–129 |isbn=978-0-88920-964-0 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ross |first1=David |last2=Tyler |first2=Grant |title=Canadian campaigns 1860–70 |year=1992 |publisher=Osprey |isbn=978-1-85532-226-4 |pages=36–39 }}</ref> [[Treaty 1]], which encompassed the city and much of the surrounding area, was signed on 3 August 1871 by representatives of the Crown and local Indigenous groups, comprising the Brokenhead Ojibway, Sagkeeng, Long Plain, Peguis, Roseau River Anishinabe, Sandy Bay and Swan Lake communities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.winnipegvitalsigns.org/vital-information/treaty-1/|title=Treaty 1|work=Winnipeg's Vital Signs|accessdate=31 August 2018|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901080453/https://www.winnipegvitalsigns.org/vital-information/treaty-1/|archivedate=1 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> On 8 November 1873, Winnipeg was incorporated as a city, with the Selkirk settlement as its nucleus.<ref name="Winnipeg's History">{{cite web |url=http://winnipeg.ca/Services/CityLife/HistoryOfWinnipeg/HistoricalProfile.stm |title=History of Winnipeg: Historical Profile |publisher=City of Winnipeg |accessdate=8 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819075903/http://winnipeg.ca/Services/CityLife/HistoryOfWinnipeg/HistoricalProfile.stm |archivedate=19 August 2011  }}</ref> Métis legislator and interpreter [[James McKay (fur trader)|James McKay]] named the city.<ref name="mckaysidea">{{cite news |title=Who Named the North-Land? |work=[[Manitoba Free Press]] |date=19 August 1876 |page=3 }}</ref> Winnipeg's mandate was to govern and provide municipal services to citizens attracted to trade expansion between [[Fort Garry|Upper Fort Garry]] / [[Lower Fort Garry]] and [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://winnipeginfocus.winnipeg.ca/city-of-winnipeg-1874-1971-2|title=Winnipeg (Man.) |website=Winnipeg in Focus|accessdate=3 March 2018|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304055309/http://winnipeginfocus.winnipeg.ca/city-of-winnipeg-1874-1971-2|archivedate=4 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Winnipeg developed rapidly after the coming of the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] in 1881.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/business/cpr.shtml |title=MHS Centennial Business: Canadian Pacific Railway Company |publisher=Manitoba Historical Society |accessdate=16 July 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090829085939/http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/business/cpr.shtml |archivedate=29 August 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> The railway divided the North End, which housed mainly Eastern Europeans, from the richer Anglo-Saxon southern part of the city.<ref name="ce"/> It also contributed to a demographic shift beginning shortly after Confederation that saw the francophone population decrease from a majority to a small minority group. This shift resulted in Premier [[Thomas Greenway]] controversially ending legislative bilingualism and [[Manitoba Schools Question|removing funding for French Catholic Schools]] in 1890.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canadashistory.ca/Magazine/Online-Exclusive/Articles/Controversy-and-Compromise-over-the-Manitoba-Schoo |work=Canada's History |title=Controversy and compromise over the Manitoba Schools Question |accessdate=26 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527213333/http://www.canadashistory.ca/Magazine/Online-Exclusive/Articles/Controversy-and-Compromise-over-the-Manitoba-Schoo |archivedate=27 May 2014  }}</ref>

===Modern history (1900–present)===
[[File:WinnipegGeneralStrike.jpg|thumb|Crowd gathered outside old City Hall during the [[Winnipeg General Strike]] in 1919]]

By 1911, Winnipeg was Canada's third-largest city.<ref name="ce"/> However, the city faced financial difficulty when the [[Panama Canal]] opened in 1914.<ref>{{cite news |title=The heart of the continent? |last=Silicz |first=Michael |date=10 September 2008 |work=[[The Manitoban]]}}</ref> The canal reduced reliance on Canada's rail system for international trade; the increase in shipping traffic helped [[Vancouver]] to surpass Winnipeg in both prosperity and population by the end of [[World War I]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hiller |first=Harry |title=Second promised land: migration to Alberta and the transformation of Canadian society |year=2009 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-3517-6 |pages=33–34}}</ref>

More than 30,000 workers walked off their jobs in May 1919 in what came to be known as the [[Winnipeg general strike]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/history/EPISCONTENTSE1EP12CH3PA2LE.html|work=Canada: A People's History|title=The Winnipeg General Strike|publisher=CBC|accessdate=4 March 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140918033647/http://www.cbc.ca/history/EPISCONTENTSE1EP12CH3PA2LE.html|archivedate=18 September 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> The strike was a product of postwar recession, labour conditions, the activity of union organizers and a large influx of returning World War I soldiers seeking work.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bothwell|first1=Robert|last2=Drummond|first2=Ian|last3=English|first3=John|title=Canada, 1900–1945|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=1990|page=165|isbn=0-8020-6801-4}}</ref> After many arrests, deportations, and incidents of violence, the strike ended on 21 June 1919 when the [[Riot Act]] was read. A group of [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] officers charged a group of strikers.<ref name="bloody">{{cite web|url=http://curio.ca/en/bloody-saturday-the-winnipeg-general-strike/1106|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209071531/http://curio.ca/en/bloody-saturday-the-winnipeg-general-strike/1106|archivedate=9 February 2014|title=Bloody Saturday|publisher=CBC|accessdate=7 April 2012}}</ref> Two strikers were killed and at least thirty others were injured on the day that became known as ''Bloody Saturday''; the event polarized the population.<ref name="bloody"/> One of the leaders of the strike, [[J. S. Woodsworth]], went on to found Canada's first major socialist party, the [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]], which later became the [[New Democratic Party (Canada)|New Democratic Party]].<ref>{{cite book|last=MacInnis|first=Grace|title=J. S. Woodsworth: A Man to Remember|year=1953|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0770511807}}</ref>

The [[Manitoba Legislative Building]], constructed mainly of [[Tyndall stone]], opened in 1920; its dome supports a bronze statue finished in gold leaf, titled "Eternal Youth and the Spirit of Enterprise" (commonly known as the "[[Golden Boy (Manitoba)|Golden Boy]]").<ref name="History">{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/legtour/legbld.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413001158/http://www.gov.mb.ca/legtour/legbld.html|archivedate=13 April 2008|title=The History|work=Legislative Tour|publisher=Province of Manitoba|accessdate=16 July 2009}}</ref> The [[stock market crash of 1929]] and the [[Great Depression]] resulted in widespread unemployment, worsened by drought and low agricultural prices.<ref>{{cite conference|title=The Dirty Thirties in Prairie Canada|conference=11th Western Canadian Studies Conference|editor=Francis, RD |editor2=Ganzevoort, H|publisher=Tantalus Research|year=1980|isbn=0-919478-46-8}}</ref> The Depression ended after the start of [[World War II]] in 1939.<ref name=ce>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/winnipeg|encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia|title=Winnipeg|date=11 September 2012|author=Artibise, Alan|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140224035342/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/winnipeg/|archivedate=24 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Wfp 1942.jpg|thumb|left|In 1942, the Canadian Victory Loan campaign [[If Day|simulated]] a [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] occupation of the city to raise [[war bonds]].]]

In the [[Battle of Hong Kong]], [[The Winnipeg Grenadiers]] were among the first Canadians to engage in combat against Japan. Battalion members who survived combat were taken prisoner and endured brutal treatment in [[prisoner of war]] camps.<ref name="Vance1994">{{cite book|author=Vance, Jonathan|title=Objects of concern: Canadian prisoners of war through the twentieth century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L32wsAE2EcAC&pg=PA183|year=1994|publisher=UBC Press|isbn=978-0-7748-0504-9|page=183}}</ref> In 1942, the Victory Loan Campaign staged a [[If Day|mock Nazi invasion]] of Winnipeg to promote awareness of the stakes of the war in Europe.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[Maclean's]]|author=Burch, Ted|date=10 September 1960|title=The day the Nazis took over Winnipeg|pages=46–47|url=https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1960/9/10/the-day-the-nazis-took-over-winnipeg|archive-date=30 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430084636/https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1960/9/10/the-day-the-nazis-took-over-winnipeg|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Winnipeg Free Press|title=If|page=1|author=Groom, Kick|date=5 January 1985}}</ref> When the war ended, pent-up demand generated a boom in housing development, although building activity was checked by the [[1950 Red River flood]].<ref name="flood">{{cite journal|last=Hurst|first=William D|date=1955–1956|title=The Red River Flood of 1950|journal=MHS Transactions |series =Third Series|issue=12|url=http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/transactions/3/flood1950.shtml}}</ref> The federal government estimated damage at over $26&nbsp;million, although the province indicated that it was at least double that.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bumsted|first=JM|title=The Manitoba Royal Commission on Flood Cost Benefit and the Origins of Cost-Benefit Analysis in Canada|journal=American Review of Canadian Studies|date=March 2002 |volume=32|issue=1 |pages=97–121 |doi=10.1080/02722010209481659}}</ref> The damage caused by the flood led then-Premier [[Dufferin Roblin|Duff Roblin]] to advocate for the construction of the [[Red River Floodway]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Haque, C Emdad|date=May 2000|title=Risk Assessment, Emergency Preparedness and Response to Hazards: The Case of the 1997 Red River Valley Flood, Canada|journal=Natural Hazards|volume=21|issue=2|pages=226–237|doi=10.1023/a:1008108208545}}</ref>

Before 1972, Winnipeg was the largest of thirteen cities and towns in a metropolitan area around the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. In 1960, the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg was established to co-ordinate service delivery in the metropolitan region.<ref name=":0" /> A consolidated metropolitan "[[Amalgamation of Winnipeg|unicity]]" government incorporating Winnipeg and its surrounding municipalities was established on 27 July 1971, taking effect in 1972.<ref name="unicity">{{cite journal|title=The Reform of a Metropolitan Government: The Case of Winnipeg, 1971|author=Lightbody, James|year= 1978|journal=Canadian Public Policy|volume=4|issue=4|pages=489&ndash;504|doi=10.2307/3549974|jstor=3549974}}</ref> The [[City of Winnipeg Act]] incorporated the current city.<ref name=ce/> In 2003, the City of Winnipeg Act was repealed and replaced with the City of Winnipeg Charter.<ref name=":0" />

Winnipeg experienced a severe economic downturn in advance of the [[early 1980s recession]], during which the city incurred closures of prominent businesses, including the ''[[Winnipeg Tribune]]'', as well as the [[Swift & Company|Swift's]] and [[Canada Packers]] meat packing plants.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/hansard/36th_2nd/vol32a/h032a_3.html | title= Hansard, Volume XLVI No. 32A, Oral Questions | publisher= Manitoba Legislature | date=9 May 1996}}</ref> In 1981, Winnipeg was one of the first cities in Canada to sign a tripartite agreement with the provincial and federal governments to redevelop its downtown area,<ref name="SanctonYoung2009">{{cite book|author1=Sancton, Andrew|author2=Young, Robert Andrew|title=Foundations of governance: municipal government in Canada's provinces|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SvURRf7mGi4C&pg=PA250|year=2009|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-9650-0|page=250}}</ref> and the three levels of government contributed over $271&nbsp;million to its development.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wd.gc.ca/eng/298.asp|title=Urban Development Agreements|publisher=Western Economic Diversification Canada|accessdate=16 July 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530222137/http://www.wd.gc.ca/eng/298.asp |archivedate=30 May 2009}}</ref> In 1989, the reclamation and redevelopment of the [[Canadian National Railway|CNR]] [[rail yard]]s turned the Forks into Winnipeg's most popular tourist attraction.<ref name="forkshistory" /><ref name="ce" /> The city was threatened by the [[1997 Red River flood]] as well as further floods in [[2009 Red River flood|2009]] and [[2011 Red River flood|2011]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/flooding/historical_facts.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305020905/https://www.gov.mb.ca/flooding/historical_facts.html|archivedate=5 March 2014|accessdate=4 March 2014|title=Manitoba Flood Facts|publisher=Province of Manitoba}}</ref>