MHS Archives: MHS Presents

This video series was produced by independent filmmakers in collaboration with the Manitoba Historical Society.

Link to:

Deer Range School (RM of North Cypress)

Spanish Flu and the Crystal Coffin (Portage la Prairie)

Manitoba Motorcycle History (Headingley)

German Prisoners of War (RM of Portage la Prairie)


Deer Range School

This episode of the video series MHS Presents, created by Portage la Prairie filmmaker William Plenty, focuses on the beautifully preserved Deer Range School. The building, still furnished as it looked when it closed in 1959, sits on its original site and owned by Robert Smith, a descendant of the original landowner.

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Deer Range School No. 922 (RM of North Cypress)


Spanish Flu and the Crystal Coffin

During the Spanish flu pandemic that swept across Canada in 1918-1919, numerous Manitobans died including a young woman from Portage la Prairie whose father, it is alleged, was so grief-stricken that he buried her in a clear crystal coffin within a crypt in the Portage Hillside Cemetery.


Manitoba Motorcycle History

This episode by Portage la Prairie filmmaker William Plenty showcases the collection of antique motorcycles of Manitoba educator and collector Ross Metcalfe.


German Prisoners of War

This video, by Portage la Prairie filmmaker William Plenty, discusses a model ship-in-a-bottle created by German prisoners of war in Manitoba during the Second World War.

Page revised: 1 January 2015