'Sketch of Winnipeg Spring 1871'. Circa 1880 Albumen Print Photograph of a Pencil Sketch. The drawing shows a sparse collection of buildings with indigenous person & Tepee tent in the foreground. Very similar to a sketch on page 440 of "Manitoba and the Great North-West." by John Malcolm (1831-1920), First Published, 1882.

'Sketch of Winnipeg Spring 1871'. Circa 1870s cardboard mounted sepia toned albumen print photograph of what looks to be a pencil sketch. The drawing shows a sparse collection of buildings with indigenous person & Tepee tent in the foreground. A very similar, though not identical sketch appears on page 440 of "Manitoba and the Great North-West." by John Malcolm (1831-1920), first published, 1882. Mount measures 203 x 254 mm (roughly 20 x 25 cm or 10 x 8 inches). Weight 43 grams. Light wear, discolouration and foxing to mount, else fine. A scarce photograph. Please see other listings for other possible Winnipeg items. A few contemporary descriptions of Winnipeg/Manitoba: Early in October, 1871, the writer remembers arriving in Winnipeg in the stage by which at that time, at a distance of 100 miles, the railway in Minnesota was reached. Our company alighted in front of the chief hotel of Winnipeg, on the west side of Main street, immediately north of the McIntyre block. The writer had not expected to see in Winnipeg a beautiful or entrancing spot, but the sight of the western hamlet on that clear autumn evening was a little more disappointing even than the picture imagined. A street with a few irregular buildings, some of them log, with not a sidewalk, unless it were a log with a slanting surface requiring in muddy weather the skill of a Blondin 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. --- In 1871 a permanent peace was entered into between the Crees and the Blackfeet, which, with the exception of a little horse stealing, has been kept ever since. No man without being fully acquainted with the country and people can at all estimate the value of the police during the past eight years. Indians and Whites estimate them at their real value, and although many of the latter in the South-west complain of them being one-sided in their dealings with them and the Indians, they frankly admit that the police are men of peace. --- The fact that in the old days there was little demand for farm products had led to non-production, and a consequent scarcity as soon as population increased. The necessity for shelter led to buildings being erected, but in the spring of '71 rough lumber sold at $70 per thousand, and poor lumber it was at that; dressed lumber was $100 a thousand. Fresh meat was difficult to obtain. An ox, none too well favored, brought upwards of $100. In 1871 and 1872 it was simply impossible to obtain anything the hungry horde of new comers demanded. In August, 1872, the first manufactory of furniture was begun by the firm of Bishop & Shelton, and a bookcase still possessed by the writer was the first article turned out by them. In the year of the opening of Manitoba College (1871) the writer found it impossible to purchase a chair in Winnipeg. Benches were made for the college, and the newcomers in their houses often used trunks and boxes in place of chairs. These were matters for which no one was to blame, and simply arose from the influx of people and the imperfect transportation facilities. --- The city is named after the nearby Lake Winnipeg; the name comes from the Western Cree words for "muddy water" – winipīhk. The region was a trading centre for Indigenous peoples long before the arrival of Europeans; it is the traditional territory of the Anishinabe (Ojibway), Ininew (Cree), Oji-Cree, Dene, and Dakota, and is the birthplace of the Métis Nation.…