Vantage Points Articles 

Vantage Points Booklets are a publication of the Turtle Mountain Souris Plains Heritage Association.
Each volume has about 40 short articles.

These resources and much more are available at:  https://vantagepoints.ca

Online access to individual stories is currently being updated.

In the meantime contact Ken at storiekw@gmail.com for PDF copies of individual articles.

Stories from... Two Borders Municipality & Melita

Volume 1
Boundary Commission Trail       Web        Vol. I, Page 4
The main highway - west.

Yellow Quill Trail       Web      Vol. I, Page 6
The main highway - to the southwest corner.

Short Stories: Old Wakopa, Sourisford, Lang's Crossing & the Souris Linear Burial Mounds  PDF    Vol. I, Page  42

Short Stories: The Empress of Ireland, Brockinton Site , Verona School  PDF    Vol. I, Page  43

Volume 2

Brockinton Site      Web      Vol. II  Page 33
The Brockinton archaeological site is located along the Souris River valley wall south of Melita. This site was occupied by three different cultures over the last 1600 years. These occupations left behind rare and archaeologically invaluable finds.
 During this site's earliest occupation, it was used as a bison pound.

Sourisford Linear Burial Mounds         Web    Vol.  2, Page 36
Artifacts from these thousand year-old burial mounds indicate the trade relations that existed upon the plains before convenient modes of transportation.

Manchester to Melita /   Web   Vol.  II, Page 37
The most successful of the Sourisford communities

Melita Robbery      Web      Vol.  II, Page 38
A Midnight Crime Hits Southwest Manitoba . . . September 1923

Pierson         Web     Vol.II   , Page 39
The Rise of a Town Planted Beside the Railway   1891 - Present

Copley Church       Web    II, Page 40

In the extreme southwest corner of the province of Manitoba there sits the ruins of a small church. The first church of any denomination to be built west of the Souris River.

Eunola School   /   Web      Vol.  II, Page 41
The doors of this rural schoolhouse have not remained entirely closed with the end of classes
1896 - 1962

Lyleton Branch    Web       Vol.  II, Page 42
Settlers in the area of Waskada and Goodlands in southwestern Manitoba waited in great anticipation for a branch line to be built through their communities.

Captain Large and the Empress of Ireland      Web        Vol.  II, Page 44
A Homemade Steamboat Plies the Souris River ...1909-1913

Lyleton Shelterbelts       Web     Vol. II , Page  45
The first of many shelterbelts to be planted in the region was completed in 1936. It consisted of 2,300 trees which were planted in a row measuring half a mile on C. E. Fennell’s farm.
Oil Exploration      Web    Vol.  II, Page 46
The present-day oil boom builds upon a history of success in the oil industry.

Volume 3

Bison Rubbing Stone     Web     Vol. III Page 9
In an era where herds of bison are but a memory, the bison rubbing stones remind us of a time well passed . . .

Snyder II Site      Web    Vol. III  Page 15
The Snyder II Archaeological site is on the bank of the Gainsborough Creek just half a kilometer west of its junction with the Souris River.

Old Melita Trail  /   Web        Vol. I , Page  25
It is likely that the trail was first created by the surveyors who travelled the area between 1879 and 1880, marking out the land into townships (blocks of 36 square miles).

Elva Elevator       Web     Vol.  III, Page 44
It was  oldest remaining elevator in Canada!  (1894 - 2019)

Volume 4

Dreaming Up Dobbyn City    Web      Vol.  IV, Page 8
This "Speculative" or "Paper" City" was planned near what wouild become Melita during the Manitoba Boom. Its owner/promoter soon turned to other, more successful, ventures.

 A Disturbance in the Classroom - By Edith King      Web       Vol. IV   , Page  12
At the blackboard the young teacher determinedly was writing an exercise for the class. From behind her came a sudden but definite flip, flip, flip of an inkwell.

The Home Bank Scandal Hits Lyleton      Web     Vol.  IV, Page 25
 On or about August of 1923, Stan Hill, the Manager of the Lyleton Branch of the Home Bank of Canada received a short telegram, delivered in code. It read; "Cease business, close the door."

A Piece of the Broomhill Store       Web       Vol.  IV, Page 27
Perhaps when local Postmaster William Kilkenny and his brother John built it in 1908, they were not only optimistic, but also ahead of their time.

Fultonville     Web     Vol.  IV, Page 36
"Fultonville", as the locals dubbed their venture, started off with three horses, a walking plow, a hoe, some pickaxes and a spade.

Sitting Eagle      Web    Vol.  IV, Page 40
He and his Grandfather H'damani were among the few who declined a $200 government pay-off to relocate to a reserve near Pipestone. By 1909, only H’damani, his grandson Chaske (later known as Sitting Eagle) and a few others remained.

Walter Thomas - Against All Odds      Web      Vol.  IV, Page 42
t was in late March 1880. A spell of warm weather had melted much of the snow, when Walter set out for Winnipeg to get more provisions.

Walter Thomas - Kitchen Table Surgery        Web      Vol.  IV, Page 43
He learned later that it was fortunate that muzzle was close to the arm and the flame from it burned the flesh and arteries so that very little blood escaped.

 Norman Breakey - The Inventor from Pierson       Web       Vol.  IV, Page 49
  So, who can we thank for this handy implement which saves time, effort and laundry costs? Well that’s a bit of a sad story.

Volume 5

Who Were the First Farmers on the Plains?      Web       Vol.  V, Page 2
Ongoing archealogical research south of Melita is providing additional information about pre-contact agricultural activitiy in our region

Main Street in Bede             Web      Vol. V, Page 18
Welcome to Bede. Not so much a ghost town, but rather another community that didn’t quite become a village.

 The Diana Icelandic Cemetery      Web   Vol. V, Page 22
lcelandic settlers originally come to the New Iceland settlement at Gimli beginning in 1876. Some later moved on to the Grund area between Baldur and Glenboro, and when homesteads were becoming harder to find, a few moved west to the area between Sinclair and Tilston.

The Berns Boys Come to Tilston     Web      Vol. V, Page 23
US immigration to Manitoba was quite common for a while. One particular family left its mark on Tilston.
Places Link

 The Pierson CPR Demonstration Farm     Web    Vol. V, Page 24
The Pierson site, one of 13 on the prairies, included a full line of modern buildings, including a two-story four bedroom house. 

The Local Egg Grading Station              Web      Vol.  V, Page 28
The Melita Creamery had 6 full-time egg handlers, who worked almost day and night during the peak season.

 An Elephant Story – By Jerry Drier             Web      Vol. V, Page 33

The Hartney Air Training Field     Web   Vol. V, Page 34
The Relief Field 1 for No. 17 Service Flying Training Schoolbased at RCAF Station Souris had a large hangar and personnel of eighty men and twenty-five officers.

Crime and Punishment in Hartney      Web        Vol. V, Page 35
Hartney’s first (and only?) murder mystery.

Gone to the Dogs     Web    Vol. V, Page 38
In 1955 the Broomhill Curling Club received permission to sponsor the All American Field Trails complete with championship stakes. 

Prisoners of War – Harvest Help       Web       Vol. V, Page 39
The prisoner farmhands were lightly guarded and often permitted to go shopping or attend church.  An unknown number stayed after release and became Canadians.

The Case of the Nazi (?) Farmhand      Web      Vol. V, Page 40
Why is there a sketch of Adolph Hitler on a vintage threshing machine near Pierson?

Train Time    Web     Vol. V, Page 48
For many years Train Time was the occasion of the day in small town Manitoba.

“Connie” Riddell             Web         Vol. V, Page 52
Because he worked for the CPR, and was subject to job trans- fers, he was instrumental in the sporting lives of three communities.

What's on in Melita This Week?     Web      Vol. V, Page 53
The Melita Opera House was one of several venues offering a wide variety of touring entertainers.

Volume 6

Where – or What – is Menota?  Vol. 6,  Page  11
One of the first place names from the southwest corner to appear in the “big city” newspapers was Menota.

Farming at Antler Creek – In 1500??  Vol. 6, Page 6
The archaeological sites in the Pierson WMA continue to yield evidence of pre-contact agriculture.

A Hoe by Any Other Name   Vol.  6, Page 7
A bison-bone adapted for use in constructing a hoe was one of many artifacts recently found at The Olson Site, east of Pierson. south of Melita.

Lyleton – Out of the Ashes  Vol. 6, Page 24
In the summer of 1902, a location about three kilometres north of the Lyle farm was a field of grain. Almost overnight it was surveyed and a new town was springing to life.

Mr. Love’s Opera House Vol. 6  Page 25
On September 13, 1913 Robert Love purchased property and built a hall designed for ‘moving pictures’ and other forms of entertainment.

Welcome to Tilston! (From Memories of Bob Bend).  Vol. 6, Page 26
The year was 1938. Drought and depression were at their height and Bob Bend needed a job.  

Sourisford Linear Mounds. Page 53

Farmers v. CPR - Activism in the 1880s.  Vol. 6,  Page 16
The power of the CPR an the neglect of the Federal Government prompted protest in the 1880 and beyond.

Jehovah's Witnesses - Against the Law?   Vol. 6, Page 60
Tolerance is the message.



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