Wainfleet Historical Society

09/04/2025

Le Groenland, aussi appelé Kalaallit Nunaat, est la plus grande île du monde et un pays voisin du Canada, situé au nord-est. Sa capitale, Nuuk, compte 19 ...

09/04/2025

Turtles are reptiles with a bony shell that belong to the order Testudines. Turtles have been very successful from an evolutionary standpoint and have persisted...

09/03/2025

The paintings of Paul Kane documented present-day Western Canada and the First Nations who lived there.
Considered the first "tourist" to go west of Lake Superior, his art is celebrated across Canada today.
This is his story.

Paul Kane was born on Sept. 3, 1810 in Ireland, the fifth of eight children. When he was 10, the family moved to Upper Canada and settled in York (now Toronto).
Little is known of his early life but around 1830 he received training from painter Thomas Drury.

In 1834, around the same time he started working as a sign painter, he displayed his paintings at an art show and received good reviews. By 1836, he wanted to pursue a career as an artist. He toured areas as a portrait painter before going to Europe in 1841.

In 1844/45, Kane returned to Toronto and prepared for a journey to go west to paint.
On June 17, 1845, he set out on his own. After he reached Sault Ste. Marie, he obtained the permission of Hudson's Bay Company Governor George Simpson to travel on Company canoes west.

He returned to Toronto for the winter and on May 9, 1846, went west once again. He eventually reached Fort William (Thunder Bay) by boat.
On June 26, 1846, he participated in one of the last great bison hunts before the species was decimated.

He travelled throughout western Canada, eventually reaching Fort Edmonton and progressing to Jasper's House in the Rockies. He continued on into the Oregon Territory and Fort Vancouver. On March 25, 1847, he painted Mount St. Helen's during one of its eruptions.

On July 1, 1847, he departed back east and crossed the Rockies once again. He spent the winter at Fort Edmonton, eventually leaving with 23 boats and 130 people for York Factory on May 25, 1848. On June 1, they met a Blackfoot war party with 1,500 people in it.

On Oct. 13, 1848, he returned to Toronto where he found that the greatest hardship of the entire journey was sleeping in a comfortable bed once again.
He spent the rest of his life in Toronto, although he went west to the Red River Colony in 1849.

He began to exhibit his paintings in Toronto, where he found a great deal of success. Politician George William Allan became one of his patrons, and commissioned 100 paintings for $20,000 in 1852. It allowed him to work as a professional artist for the rest of his life.

In 1855, his work was showcased at the World's Fair in Paris. Some of his paintings were also sent to Buckingham Palace at the request of Queen Victoria. In 1859, he published a book about his journey to the west. It included his own sketches and was a success.

On Feb. 20, 1871, Paul Kane died. In 1937, he was declared a National Historic Person. In 1971, a stamp was issued to honour him. The Paul Kane House in Toronto, is now a heritage structure. A school in St. Albert is also named for him, as is a park in Edmonton.

I hope you enjoyed that look at the life of Paul Kane.

If you enjoy my Canadian history content, you can support my work with a donation at 👇
http://www.buymeacoffee.com/craigu

Sources:

ArtCanada: https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/paul-kane/biography
National Gallery of Canada: https://www.gallery.ca/collection/artist/paul-kane
Canadian Encyclopedia: https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/paul-kane
Parks Canada: https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=1476

09/02/2025

09/02/2025

Enjoy these Heritage Minutes brought to you by Historica Canada! While free to view and share, these productions remain under copyright. Re-uploads or modifi...

09/02/2025

Welcome, September 🍂

Join us at the Museum for our September programming! From walking tours and guest speakers to children's activities, the Welland Museum has you covered this month!

📅 Learn more & plan your visit: www.wellandmuseum.ca/events

09/02/2025

On Sept. 1, 1905, Alberta and Saskatchewan were carved out of the Northwest Territories.
But before that happened, there were many possible provincial proposals. One was a very large province called Buffalo.
This is the story of the potential provinces!

As plans were put into place to create provinces out of the Canadian West as the population increased due to settlers arriving, several proposals were considered.
One was to create a single province out of modern-day southern Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Another option was to create two provinces, divided west to east, not north to south, at the 52 degrees North.
Or create three provinces, one large one stretching from BC to Manitoba in the south, and two in the north, running south from the edge.

Some wanted four provinces, dividing current Alberta in half west to east & making central and southern Saskatchewan into their own provinces.
Others wanted 4 provinces, dividing current Alberta in the middle west to east, & then dividing southern Saskatchewan.

Then there was the Province of Buffalo. This province encompassed most of present-day Alberta and Saskatchewan, with the border in the northern part of present-day Saskatchewan and running south. Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon and Regina were all in one province.

Another version of the province ran from the Rockies to northern Lake Winnipeg, with the northern border at 57 degrees North.
Edmonton and Calgary were not in favour of this idea since Regina would be the capital of the large province.

NWT Premier Frederick Haultain wanted a large province. But he was a Conservative, and PM Sir Wilfrid Laurier was a Liberal. They did not get along.
There was also a concern that a large province in the west would minimize the power of Ontario and Quebec in the east.

Choosing the arbitrary line that is now the Alberta-Saskatchewan border was also to divide the potential strength of the Conservative Party which was concentrated in the south along the CPR mainline in the two provinces.

Things could have been different if the Conservatives won the 1904 federal election, and not the Liberals. Had that happened, Manitoba may have seen its border expand westward, not northward, and the remaining area would have become the Province of Buffalo.

I hope you enjoyed that look at the Province of Buffalo.

If you enjoy my Canadian history content, you can support my work with a donation at 👇
http://buymeacoffee.com/craigu

09/02/2025

2026 WAINFLEET HISTORICAL SOCIETY CALENDARS ARE NOW AVAILABLE.

We will be table at the Wainfleet Farmers Market Tuesdays from 3 pm to 7 pm. In the pavilion behind the arena. Stop by and say hello.
Cost of calendars $8.00.

09/02/2025

09/01/2025

History, politics, arts, science & more: the Canadian Encyclopedia is your reference on Canada. Articles, timelines & resources for teachers, students & public.