A lovely couple from church are aware of my wanderings and offered to lend me this book, thinking I would be interested. I confirmed that I was. And so, for a few days, I have this book in my possession. Because it must go back where it came from, I have a firm deadline, so I decided to focus here so I can give them their book back in a timely fashion for once.
I don’t think I’ll be able to read the whole thing, so I checked out the contents and have been reading here and there. Then I tried to tell Andrew all about the things I was reading, and that we need to see, and figured I should post about it instead. So I made him take that goofy picture of me for this post.
Okay let’s go!
First, I had to read the chapter on Mennonite villages. Yes, ALL the Mennonite villages in southern Manitoba have been written about in one chapter in this Ghost Town book. From reading the introduction, I understand and accept that the authors were trying to represent all kinds of people groups in this book as well, which explains why they lumped all the Mennonites together. Fair enough I guess. There is a big feature photo of Reinfeld, taken in the late 1890s. I don’t think I’ve seen this picture before, and it’s very interesting. I wouldn’t say Reinfeld is a ghost town though. It still very much exists and is not quite swallowed up by Winkler just yet. But I think I’m being annoyingly picky. When I first wrote this paragraph it was all about how Mennonites did not begin building housebarns in villages in South Russia (as this book states) — they began in Poland. But actually I’m reading a different book right now that says this exact thing. (Even though I was just in Poland and saw the housebarns and villages where Mennonites lived. Sheesh I don’t know what to think anymore.) Anyway, about this chapter! You’ll learn about the history of Mennonites and their villages but not about any specific one. Mostly the point of the writeup is to explain the dissolution of Mennonite villages, which is perfectly on-point in this book. The chapter concludes with pointing the reader in the direction of Reinland to see an example of an existing Mennonite village. I agree that it’s a wonderful village to visit and in fact I must revisit it soon. But I was surprised they did not mention Neubergthal at all. Ah well. There are probably at least 20 villages still in existence (weird that I’ve never counted?) — can’t list ’em all, I suppose.
I was also interested in the chapter on West Lynne… because Andrew and I have been there and I wrote about it. What a chapter! These authors found out a heck of a lot more than I ever did by just reading posted signs about the place. They dove deep and uncovered shady money dealings and an intense rivalry between the 1800s-era border towns of West Lynne and Emerson, including a scuffle on the bridge over the Red River (the building of which also involved sketchy money dealings on the part of local politicians) and a misfired gun. Also, they explain that the Fort Daer building I wrote about (which they do not call Fort Daer, just Canadian customs house, but still, same thing) had been a museum until it was vandalized. This hurts my heart deeply. This also explains the strange state that Andrew and I had found it in, in 2020. This chapter does talk about Mennonites, by the way — for the same reason that I had been interested in exploring it: Mennonite newcomers arriving via the Red River, to settle the nearby West Reserve: “Many of the Mennonites west of town came down the river from Fargo on the Cheyenne. They say there were seven babies born between Fargo and West Lynne. A very prolific people!” Ha.
Another chapter that interested me was Ste. Elizabeth, which I’ve written about several times as it feels like a legitimate very scary ghost town and it’s located fairly close to where we live. At some point I realized a large number of the contributors to the infamous Mennonite Treasury cookbook gave their addresses as Ste. Elizabeth, and then I also realized the Lichtenau Church at the Mennonite Heritage Village is said to be from Ste. Elizabeth. Sure enough, this chapter states that in 1925, Mennonite families began to arrive in the Ste. Elizabeth area, and “their relationship with the townsfolk was pleasant and mutually beneficial.”
One more chapter caught my eye: Sioux Village, which had been very close to Portage la Prairie. Now that I read about it, I realize that yeah, I know of Cree and Ojibwe people living here, but not Sioux, not Dakota. Well, their story is different. They had come north to Manitoba following the “Minnesota Massacre” in 1862. I feel very far out of my depth talking about this. Clearly there was a lot going on and if I try to relay this to you I’ll mess up. But from what I read here, “the Dakota saw themselves engaged, not in massacre, but in war… against men who robbed them of their country and their freedom.” After this event, things were very bad for them. They were reviled, and not only that, but were starving. To survive, they moved north along the Assiniboine River, leading to Portage la Prairie. However, they were considered to be American, and so had trouble gaining land rights. They began working for people in Portage, and earned money to purchase river lots, and built their homes in what became known as Sioux Village. Their proximity to the river proved problematic when it flooded in 1902 and again in 1905. The river was wearing away at the land where they had built their homes! A severe flood in 1955 saw the last of the Sioux villagers move to what is today the Dakota Tipi First Nation Reserve. All that is now left in their first location is a cemetery, thanks to a generous farmer who owned the land the cemetery is on, and instead of tilling it under, he wanted the cemetery to live on and Sioux Village to be remembered, so he petitioned the government to erect a cairn and plaque in memory of all who were buried here. I want to visit.
I originally wrote this post in the fall of 2024 and then forgot to post. In the time since then I did read the entire thing. And yeah, when reading all at once, the sadness of village after village failing can be a bit much. Because I think the idea of a village is so lovely.
Authors Helen Mulligan and Wanda Ryder clearly have done a lot of research over the years that they developed this book. The pictures they’ve selected from many different archives, are fantastic. Detailed and interesting. Many I have not seen before. Definitely worth a read! Particularly for those prone to exploring, and learning about Manitoba history. A good book to pick up and dream with over the winter as you plan your summer adventures.