In 1874, the North West Mounted Police embarked on an historic trek to bring law and order to Western Canada. The parade of peace officers came through Gretna as part of their journey. After leaving Fort Dufferin, their first camp site was two kilometres north of Gretna, in the Municipality of Rhineland, in a bluff of oak trees where the Oakview Golf Course is now situated.
The year 1999 marked the 125th anniversary of this historic event and, in tribute, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police re-enacted the march westward once again parading through Gretna. In commemoration of the historical significance, the town erected an open-style monument with two gable ends featuring murals depicting NWMP on horseback. Centred in a 12-foot by 16-foot shelter is an exposed aggregate cairn with two bronze plaques depicting the journey.
The aggregate cairn is crowned with a blacksmith’s anvil to commemorate the basis of the Gretna’s name. Established along the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1881, Gretna became a customs port two years later. It was named for Gretna Green in Scotland where it is said runaway couples were married by a blacksmith at his anvil. The covered structure is also intended to serve as a modest rest shelter for people taking advantage of the Trans Canada Trail.
Gretna was the site of the first standard elevator in Western Canada, erected by the Ogilvie Milling Company. It is also the home of the Mennonite Collegiate Institute, the oldest co-educational private high school in Western Canada.
Gretna Town Monument (2007)
Source: Jeff Dyck
Trans-Canada Trail signage and trailhead (November 2020)
Source: Rose KuzinaSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.00812, W97.56034
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Fort Dufferin (Emerson, Municipality of Emerson-Franklin)
This page was prepared by Jeff Dyck, Rose Kuzina, and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 20 December 2020
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