Manitoba became Canada's fifth province when it entered Confederation in 1870. July 15, 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of Manitoba’s entry into Confederation.
The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) through a British royal charter was granted a monopoly over “the region drained by all rivers and streams flowing into Hudson Bay in northern Canada”. The area came to be known as Rupert's Land and included all of modern-day Manitoba.
The United States purchase of Alaska in 1867, prompted the Canadian and British governments to purchase Rupert's Land from the HBC. Prior to the transfer of Rupert’s Land, the Canadian government sent survey crews led by Lieutenant Governor William McDougall to map the Red River area in 1869. The residents of Rupert’s Land were not involved or consulted in the purchase and subsequent land transfer. Many opposed the transfer, including the Métis of the Red River Colony (now known as Winnipeg), fearing the loss of their land, religion, and culture under Canadian control.
In 1869, under Louis Riel, the Métis declared their own provisional government, which announced that it would negotiate the Red River Colony's entrance into Confederation. After a long standoff, which included the execution of Thomas Scott (leader of a group of Ontario Protestants), and lengthy negotiations in Ottawa, the Red River colonists agreed to enter Confederation. The Manitoba Act of 1870 gave the Dominion of Canada the lands it wanted, created Manitoba as a province, and Canada carved off most of modern-day Manitoba into the North-West Territories, leaving only a “postage stamp-sized” province around the Red River Valley.
Although considered the founder of Manitoba by the Canadian Government, Louis Riel is not officially recognized as a Father of Confederation. In the case of Manitoba, William McDougall, an Ontario journalist and politician who was the first lieutenant-governor of the Northwest Territories is often cited as Manitoba’s Father of Confederation.
Although not the first bronze of Louis Riel at this location, the current bronze was unveiled in 1996. To claim this virtual please email your response to the following:
1) The name of the sculptor of the bronze,
2) The name of the foundry that created the bronze and the city where the foundry is located,
3) The last name on Plaque #1 and
4) The last name on Plaque #2.
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.