Jax Stumpes: Winnipeg, MB: The Forks II (7/31/2023)

Monday, July 31, 2023 (continued)
We returned the rental car to the Winnipeg Airport, where initially we were to meet the Frontiers North Adventures group at another airport hotel. However, Frontiers North changed the hotel to the Inn at the Forks, yes, at The Forks. The Inn did not have a free airport shuttle, so, rare for us, we took a taxi. I thought I heard the fare would be $45, which was within the range I had researched. Happily, the actual fare was $25 CAD, and the driver did take us straight to the hotel without diversions.

Our rooms were ready at The Inn at the Forks; from now on Dylan and Pete would not have to share a hotel room with snoring grandparents! In fact, they were never assigned a room on the same floor!

The Forks Marina where we took the
Splash Dash Tour Boat river excursion

Splash Dash Tour Boat

On the Midtown Bridge abutment, a blue line is marked for
high tide and the yellow and red lines indicate average low and
high flooding, although there have been even deeper floods

The Manitoba Legislative Building (1913-1920,
by Frank Worthington Simon in Neoclassical/
Beaux Arts style) faces the Assiniboine River

The Legislative Building is the provincial capitol building, comparable to our state capitol buildings. The dome is topped with a statue of Eternal Youth (1919, by Georges Gardet) that is affectionally called "The Golden Boy."

In front of the building is a statue (1996, by Miguel Joyal) of Louis Riel, who was born and educated in St Boniface. He became champion of the Métis population (people of mixed First Nations-European descent). When Manitoba was to become a Canadian province, Riel insisted that Ottawa must negotiate terms with the Métis, who established a provisional government with Riel as president. Riel wanted to insure that the Métis were given certain rights. Complications arose, with Riel going into exile in the Dakota Territory. During his exile he developed a religious fervor that affected his mental state, and his uncle placed him in an asylum in Montreal, under an assumed name. After recovery, Riel returned to the Dakota Territory, then Montana Territory. Upon his return to again assist the Métis, he was arrested, tried, and executed as a traitor. Now Louis Riel is considered a folk hero who stood up for the Métis, who are considered one of the indigeous peoples of Canada. He is also considered the founder of Manitoba.

We turned around at the Legislative Building to head back down the Assiniboine River, past The Forks Marina, to where the river meets the Red River, following it downstream (i.e., north).

Another view of the Canadian Museum of Human Rights

Another view of Esplanade Riel pedestrian bridge, which was
built with a restaurant; however, no restaurant could stay in
business if you had to walk too far from your car in the winter

Provencher Bridge (2001-2003, by by Guy Préfontaine
and Étienne Gaboury) with indigenous etchings

Canadian National Railway Main Line Bridge (1913) has
has four fixed steel truss spans and one 130-foot
Strauss Bascule life span (the lift portion not pictured)

Façade of the 1968 fire-damaged St Boniface Cathedral
(1905-1908, by Marchand and Haskell in neoclassical style
with Romanesque and Byzantine features)

The St Boniface neighborhood of Winnipeg is home to the largest French-speaking population in Canada outside of Québec.

Back at the Inn at the Forks, we met with other members of our Frontiers North Adventures group. Our Tour leader was Angèle, who told us to disregard our itineraries. We would essentially go with the flow on this adventure. There were a total of twenty tour participants.

After a buffet dinner, we boarded a tourist trolley for a two-hour tour of Winnipeg. This tour went way beyond any research I had done!

St Boniface Hôtel de Ville/City Hall
(1906, by Victor Horwood in Georgian style)

Université de Saint-Boniface/St Boniface
University (est 1818 as the Collège de
Saint-Boniface) in the former seminary
(1911-1912, in Neoclassical style)

The grave of Louis Riel in the St Boniface Cathedral Cemetery

A better view of the remaining façade of
St Boniface Cathedral (a new cathedral was built in 1972)

The Grain Exchange Building
(1906-1908, by Darling and Pearson)

Bank of Montreal War Monument (1923,
by James Earle Fraser, an American sculptor
who gave the Canadian an American uniform)
commemorates Canadian bank
employees who died in World War I (KSS)

Ashdown Warehouse (1895-1911, by S Frank Peter,
then J H G Russell, in Richardsonian romanesque style)

1919 General Strike Memorial/Bloody Saturday (2019,
by Noam Gonick and Bernie Miller) depicts an iconic
image when protestors tried to overturn a streetcar (KSS)

Pantages Playhouse Theatre (1913-1914, by
George W Northwood and B Marcus Priteca) as a
vaudeville theater and it hosted the first
jazz concert in Canada

The Bank of Montréal (1909-1913, by
McKim, Mead & White in Beaux Arts
style), with the MTS Bulding (1983-1985,
by Smith Carter) behind it

Birks Building (1901, by George Browne
as a YMCA) was acquired by Birks, a
jewelry design, manufacturer and retailer
in 1912, renovating the building in
Renaissance Revival style (by Percy Nobbs),
including six medallions depicting the
sources of materials used by jewelers

Former Hudson's Bay Company Store
(1925-1926, by Barott and Blackader
in Beaux Arts style)

[Scales of] Justice (1984, by Gordon Reeve) has three
arms that can be set in motion by a visitor (KSS)

Manitoba Legislative Building

We were taken rather far afield to see Back Alley Arctic with murals created by Kal Barteski. After having painted a polar bear on her own garage door, the artist received requests to paint for her neighbors. Kal stipulated she would paint any Arctic animal for free.