Hamlet of Rosenfeld in Manitoba

History, Maps and Photographs

West Reserve

The West Reserve, located between Emerson and Mountain City, and eighteen miles north of the United States boundary, was the first permanent agricultural settlement in the open prairies of Western Canada without direct access to a major body of water. This turned out to be some of the best farmland in Manitoba. It was set aside for the "exclusive use of the Mennonites from Russia" by Order-in-Council of 25 April 1876.
At that time the East and West Reserves included 25 townships consisting of over half a million acres. The West Reserve consisted of 17 townships. The land was extremely level and trees for fuel and lumber had to be hauled from the Pembina Mountains. During the summer and fall of 1875, while the settlers were living in immigration houses, they staked out their villages and homesteads and began to construct their primitive, tentative shelters. In the spring of the following year they planted 1,475 acres of wheat and potatoes. In 1876 over 800 persons joined the settlers of the West Reserve. In the next four years the number of families coming directly from Russia gradually decreased.

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-- JimBenedict - 28 Jan 2007