Winnipeg

=== 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>