autumn evening was a little more disap- 

 pointing even than the picture imagined. A 

 street w^ith a few irregular buildings, some 

 of them log, with not a sidewalk, unless ij 

 were a log with a slanting surface requir- 

 ing in muddy weather the skill o£ a Blon- 

 din to walk it, and the two story yellow 

 stopping place with its dim and smoky 

 lights ! Such was the Winnipeg of that 

 day; such was the Davis hotel, its chief 

 hostelry. At that time there was a large 

 influx of Canadians. The hotel during 

 that week had been giving 330 meals a 

 day, and even sleeping room on the floor 

 could not be had. With a companion who 

 knew the way, finding no room in the inn 

 the journey was made by the writer to 

 Kildonan, and the first night in Manitoba 

 was spent in the hospitable manse of the 

 Scotch parish. 



POST OFFICE. 



In the early days Mr. A. G. B. Banna- 

 tyne was the postmaster. The first build- 

 ing entirely devoted to the purposes of the 

 post office was used in 1870, and was on 

 Lombard street, which was formerly called 

 Post Office street. It was a log building 

 and was situated nearly opposite the 

 Hotel du Canada. It is recorded as an 

 event of considerable importance that in 

 June, 71, the postmaster "had boxes ar- 

 ranged in the post office, for the use of 

 merchants and others," and the name of 

 the carpenter who accomplished thisfeatof 

 skill is held up for joyful remembrance. 

 The carrying of the mail was undertaken 

 in 1871 by an American stage company. 

 The stage arrived for the first time on the 

 11th of September of that year. The 

 arrival of the stage was a great event. 

 Onehad the feeling that it was something 

 like the clouds opening and letting in a 

 rift of light. Sometimes in winter the 

 stage was blockaded, and the writer re- 

 members it getting through with eighteen 

 days' mail aboard. Each citizen had his 

 half bushel of letters and papers on that 

 occasion. The name of the post office 

 for several years after the transfer 

 was Fort Garry. The location of 

 the post office was a burning question in 

 those days. Early in May, 1872, there was 

 a mass meeting to protest against the re- 

 moval of the post office to the neighbor- 

 hood of Fort Garry, as it was thought that 

 the Hudson's Bav Company was making 

 an effort to have all the public buildings 

 removed to the south of the city. Com- 

 mend us to one of the indignation mass 

 meetings of these early days ! There was 

 a freedom, a mov«»ment, and an elasticity 

 about the meetings of those days that 

 makes even a political meeting on the 

 tariff question at the present day seem 

 tame. 



FIRST TELEGRAPH. 



The feeling of isolation before the days 

 of the telegraph was very intense. In 

 after days, when the telegraph lines were 

 down for a day, the Free Press was in the 

 habit of announcing that we had the con- 



solation "that if we knew nothing of the 

 outside world it knew nothing about us." 

 Though when the telegraph did come 

 the rates were very high, viz., upwards of 

 $2 for ten words to Toronto, yet it was 

 greatly used. The first connection was 

 made with the American lines by way of 

 Pembina. This took place on Nov. 20,1871. 

 Governor Archibald, in a lengthy dispatch 

 to the governor-general at Ottawa, said : 

 "The voice of Manitoba, collected this 

 morning on the banks of the Assiniboine, 

 will be heard in a few hours on the banks 

 of the Ottawa, and we may hope before 

 the day closes that the words of your ex- 

 cellency's reply, spoken at the capital 

 the Dominion, will be listened to 

 at Fort Garry. We may now count in 

 hours the work that used to occupy 

 weeks." Mr. Horace McDougall was at 

 the beginning, and for many years after, 

 in charge of the telegraph in this city. 



THE STEAMBOAT. 



The most exciting event that took place 

 to a citizen of Winnipeg in the summer 

 months was the arrival of the Red river 

 steamboat. Should the hoarse sound of the 

 whistle be heard on a Sunday morning 

 before church there would be many a 

 vacant pew that day. The first boat of 

 the season was looked for as earnestly as 

 was the Mayfiower by the Puritans of 

 Plymouth Rock, when tne vessel 

 departed "leaving them in the desert." 

 For two months before the open- 

 ing of the river the merchants' sup- 

 plies had run short. The first boat 

 was to bring everything. Mathema- 

 ticians computed that it would take a 

 boat as large as Noah's ark to carry all the 

 goods promised. These trips wereimmens- 

 ly profitable to the owners. It was comput- 

 ed that the steamer Selkirk on her first 

 trip in 1871 cleared the entire cost of her 

 construction. The passage down the Red 

 River was, however, very precarious, the 

 boat at low water being liable to be 

 caught in the shallow rapids for days 

 together. Few regrets were heard when 

 the uncertain steamboat was superseded 

 Dy something more reliable. 



FIRST n.P.R. EXPEDITION. 



Canada was earnestly engaged in seek- 

 ing to cross the continent by rail. The 

 writer remembers well the exploring ex- 

 pedition which passed through in 1872 to 

 make general enquiries as to the route. 

 It was led by SandfordFIeming,andinthe 

 expedition was Principal Grant, while Ho- 

 retzkyandMacoun belonged to the party. 

 Governor Archibald, the first governor of 

 Manitoba, was then at Fort Garry, and on 

 the arrival of the distinguished party on 

 Aug. 1 a number of Winnipeg people were 

 invited to meet them. That first expedi- 

 tion meant much for Manitoba and the 

 Northwest. Governor Archibald did not 

 remain much longer in Manitoba, but was 

 always afterward a strong supporter of 

 the policy of developing our Western 

 Canada. 



