St. James-Assiniboia History
Assiniboin (Nakota) First Nation
The Assiniboins were one of the main groups occupying Manitoba before the Europeans arrived. The Assiniboins were known historically as bison hunters. As the fur trade developed, they played major roles, including guides, traders, middlemen and provisioners of trading posts. When their population declined dramatically with the introduction of European-introduced diseases and the destruction of the bison herds, the Assiniboin shifted westward into Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba. The name Assiniboin probably comes from the Cree term Assee-nee-pay-tock or Assinipoet meaning people who cook by putting hot stones into rawhide-lined holes in the ground. Assiniboin peoples have also been called Nakota referring to their language, or the Hohe. Geographical and community landmarks such as the Assiniboine River were named after the Assiniboin peoples.
Life in Assiniboia
The first permanent European agricultural settlement, in what is now Manitoba, was established on the Red River by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, in 1811. The settlement was located on a portion of Rupertsland which Selkirk acquired from the Hudson’s Bay Company. Called Assiniboia, it was named for its indigenous population of Assiniboins. In 1811 Assiniboia compromised of 74 million acres and included parts of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Minnesota, and North and South Dakota. In 1818 the 49th parallel became the border between the United States and British North America, cutting off the southern half of Assiniboia.
The first settlers arrived in 1812 from the Highlands of Scotland and Ireland. They were not always welcomed by the rival Hudson’s Bay and Northwest fur trading companies who saw permanent settlement as a threat to the fur trade. Cold winters, early frosts, late thaws, prairie fires, locusts, and floods compounded their difficulty.
Instability prevailed until 1821 when the rival fur trading companies amalgamated. Selkirk had died in 1820 and in 1834 the Hudson’s Bay Company purchased Assiniboia back from the estate. In 1841 Assiniboia became a municipal district of a fifty mile radius from the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers.
The People of Assiniboia
A cross section of Assiniboia reveals European, Aboriginal, Métis, and ‘Country-born’, Protestants and Catholics, interacting in an agricultural, hunting, and fur-trading based society. The Metis were children of French fur traders or voyageurs and aboriginal women-Assiniboin (Nakota), Cree (Nehayawuk) and Saulteaux (Anishinabi). The children of English or Scottish men and Aboriginal women were referred to as ‘Country-born’. The Métis generally earned their living hunting buffalo, or working for the fur trading companies. Many worked freighting Red River carts to St. Paul Minnesota. Some worked as small farmers as well. The ‘Country-born’ were mainly full-time farmers, though the Hudson’s Bay Company employed many as York boat crews.
The Winds of Change
Emigration from eastern Canada doubled Manitoba’s non-aboriginal population in 1871, and by 1873 a land boom had begun; the Métis population was being crowded out. Manitoba’s bumper crop of 1879 and economic depression in the East resulted in a further influx of settlers to the West. The social fabric of Manitoba was changing as Canadians from the West began to dominate society.
At this time, St. James was described as “the finest locality in the Province.” It boasted an Anglican church, school, flour mill, brewery, stores, and post office (semi-weekly mail) as well as many substantial houses and a population of 400. Further to the west, St. Charles (population 600) had a Roman Catholic Church, several schools, post office, store, saloon and numerous farm homes. Headingley (population 400) had an Anglican Church and school, Presbyterian Church, roadside inn, store and post office.
The Rural Municipality of Assiniboia
In 1880 the Manitoba government divided the province into 31 local government districts or municipalities. Assiniboia was the first municipality in the Northwest and covered 124 square miles stretching from St. Francis Xavier into the west, to Maryland Street in the east. It compromised the parishes of Headingley, St. Charles, St. James, and St. Boniface West (Fort Rouge and River Heights). William Tait of Headingley led the first Municipal council.
The Great War Era
In August 1914 Britain went to war with Germany and her allies. When Britain was at war, Canada—whose independence did not extend to external political affairs—was also at war. For the next four years, international events played a major part in the lives of Assiniboia’s citizens. A wave of patriotic enthusiasm engulfed the Country. In Assiniboia, the Reeve called meetings to organize home guard in its in each ward. Council resolved to pay each municipal employee who volunteered, half of their salaries while in the service, and to keep their positions open. By 1916 this generous offer had been reduced to a two-week pay bonus. In June 1916 the 125-bed IODE Mackenzie Home (Deer Lodge Military Hospital) was opened in the former Chadwick’s Deer Lodge Hotel by the Governor General of Canada, his Royal highness Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, and Princess Patricia. Deer Lodge became a convalescent home for officers in 1917 with other ranks being treated at Tuxedo Military Hospital. St. Charles Rifle Range opened in 1912. It became Camp St. Charles in 1917 and more than 2 000 troops from Manitoba trained here.
Assiniboia’s citizens had flocked to the colours—over 1300 of them—the greatest per capita enlistment of any Rural Municipality in the west. On the 11th day of November 1918 the First World War ended. Seventy-two of Assiniboia’s own lay dead in the fields, pastures and orchards of northern France and Flanders.
Development of Aviation
Assiniboia and St. James were very much a part of Canada’s developing aviation industry during the 1920s. The first commercial aerodrome in Manitoba was opened in Kirkfield Park in 1920. On October 11th the first trans-Canada airmail left St .Charles Aerodrome. Northland Aviation operated out of St. James airfield, opened in 1925. From 1928 it was called Stevenson field in honour of pioneer aviator Capt. Frederick Stevenson.
In 1933 the RCAF transferred all local land-bases aircraft to Stevenson Field and began construction of operational facilities. Military and civil aviation were placed under separate government departments in 1936. In 1937 the City of Winnipeg and the Municipality of St. James entered into an agreement whereby Stevenson Field became a joint municipal airport administered by the St. James-Winnipeg Airport Commission. Trans Canada Airways, a government sponsored enterprise, was established in 1937 and Stevenson field was expanded to meet the needs of large commercial transport planes. On 1 April 1939, TCA, Canada’s first passenger, mail, and air express service, began operations.
The Great Depression
In October 1829 the crash of the stock market marked the end of the great boom of the 1920s and the start of one of the worst economic periods in history.
Work projects, such as the Assiniboine Park foot bridge and the west extension of Ellice Avenue into St. James, were provided by provincial and federal governments. Relief, however, was a municipal responsibility. Soon overwhelmed, municipalities sough provincial aid, and in turn municipalities sought provincial aid. Many homes build with municipal loans after the war were abandoned. These properties reverted to the Municipality, which soon became the largest property owner in Assiniboia.
In the Municipality of St. James, one in every three people was in receipt of some form of aid. Beginning in 1933 the Municipality of Assiniboia offered discounts to those who paid their taxes early.
At Easy reach beach on the Assiniboine, or at Bruce Park where community singing was organized, families sought diversion from the unprecedented economic and agricultural calamity in which they were engulfed. There was nothing to do but subsist as best on could, and wait.
The Second World War
As Canada prepared for war, the economy improved and wages increased. Ware industries and the armed forces put people back to work, pulling the country from the grasp of economic depression. In the municipalities of Assiniboia and St. James reminders of the war were everywhere. Construction of cinder sidewalks at Woodhaven were cancelled as an unnecessary expense. Men registered for national service at the Assiniboia Municipal Hall. Deer Lodge Military Hospital expanded to accommodate an increasing number of causalities, and in 1940 the federal government took over Stevenson Field. Runways at the RCAF station were extended, and barracks built to accommodate flyers from around the world taking part in the Commonwealth Air Training Plan. In 1944 over 120 000 RCAF flights arrived and departed Stevenson Field, and by 1945 it was one of the largest aviation centres in the country.
When the war in Europe ended 8 May 1945, St. James still carried the considerable debt incurred when it defaulted on long term debentures sold immediately prior to and after the First World War. To this was added the tremendous cost of providing relief during the Depression. In 1949, St. James still owed the province $1.4 million. Municipal officials negotiated a significant interest write-off and principal reduction, so that by the early 1950s, St. James had settled its debt and re-established its credit.
Emergence and Growth of St. James
Major industrial development began with MacDonald Brothers Aircraft Co. at Stevenson Field following the Second World War. Industry was drawn by the availability of a well-serviced industrial area, equitable regulations, low taxes, access to transportation systems—and safety from flooding. Between 1950 and 1955, 31 new industrial and commercial buildings were constructed.
In the years following the Second World War, the urbanization of St. James completely surpassed that of adjacent Assiniboia. St. James was the fastest growing municipality in the greater Winnipeg area and it soon had all the attributes of a city. On 10 April 1956, St. James, population 26 870 received its city charter from the Province of Manitoba. A huge parade marked the occasion. Speeches, a band concert, sing-a-long and fireworks followed at Bruce Park.
St. James-Assiniboia
The City of St. James and the Municipality of Assiniboia were re-united in 1969, following a 49 year separation. Because Assiniboia had attracted little industry, its tax base was almost entirely residential. Between 1961 and 1967, Assiniboia’s population increased dramatically from 6084 to 22 500. With increased population came increased social needs. Assiniboia, however, had neither the land nor the tax base to develop a full range of community services on its own. The amalgamation of St. James and Assiniboia took effect on January 1st. The new City of St. James-Assiniboia, Manitoba’s second largest with a population of 67 000 occupied 28 048 acres.
Metro and Unicity
In late 1960 a government body known as the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg was established to perform local services for all Greater Winnipeg Municipalities. “Metro” was responsible for environmental planning, the Winnipeg Area transportation Study, Greater Winnipeg Development Plans, control of public transport and parks, delivery of water to municipalities, sewage collection and treatment, and area wide standards for zoning controls on land and building construction. Municipalities retained authority to approve and proceed with specific development projects. The result was predictable-friction between Metro and Municipal Governments. While having done a good job of providing services for which it was responsible, Metro had hampered citizen participation in government affairs.
In June 1968, Metro Council declared itself in favour of one government for Greater Winnipeg. Known as Central City, or Unicity, the incorporation of all twelve, then existing municipalities and cities into a single city/urban government (including St. James-Assiniboia) took effect on 1 January 1972. At the time of amalgamation St. James-Assiniboia was the largest and most prosperous of the Greater Winnipeg cities and municipalities. The new Unicity Government had responsibility for urban, fiscal and taxation policies, and had jurisdiction over by-laws. Originally organized with a mayor, 50 councilors and 13 community committees, this unwieldy body has gradually been reduced to a mayor, 15 councilors, and five community committees. Assiniboia Community includes St. James, St. Charles, and Charleswood—much of the old R.M. of Assiniboia of 1880.