Good morning everyone. Not many States and Provinces left to showcase the oldest and most favorite geocaches. Today we stop in the State that's round on the ends and high in the middle. Ohio. Most favorite cache is 'Shawnee Lookout Cache' GC31A. Hidden in February, 2001, it has been found 3,053 times and has 1,025 favorite points. The oldest geocache is 'Boston Runs GC73. Hidden in October, 2000, it was found 24 times before the park rangers removed the container. It was archived in June, 2001. The oldest active geocache is 'Ancient Lake' GC2DBE. Hidden in January, 2001, this oldie has been found 1,755 times and has 556 favorite points.
For those have been following along, they've probably saw me make reference to an Adventure Lab that I did on Leap Day, February 29th, 2020. It was part of a nine cache type day for myself. Project-gc doesn't recognize that particular part of my day and only credits me with eight cache types. Today, I go back and revisit that AL. Actually, I only stopped at the first three locations for better pictures since I didn't take a decent pictures last year. Let's travel back to last year and then go further back in time as we explore the history of St. Boniface.
The whole tour takes us to some prominent places in the history of St. Boniface, but let's look at the very beginning. St. Boniface was established in 1818 by French missionaries on the Eastern banks of the Red River, and across the river from present day downtown Winnipeg. St. Boniface became a city of it's own with the largest population of French speaking people in Western Canada. St. Boniface merged with Winnipeg in 1971 and has expanded in size with the addition of newer suburbs. The original area of St. Boniface is also known today as Old St. Boniface.
One of the more prominent places is St. Boniface Cathedral. Built in 1906, it was the largest cathedral in all of Western Canada. It looks over the Red River and into downtown Winnipeg. The cathedral was damaged by fire in 1968. Some of the structure still stands today and is a popular stop for visitors. The cemetery in the front of the cathedral is the final resting place for some prominent people, including Jean-Baptiste Lagimodiere, his wife Marie-anne Gaboury, and their grandson, Louis Riel, the Metis leader and forefather of the province of Manitoba.
Just a short walk to the South is St. Boniface museum. The building itself is the original structure that was home to the Grey Nuns. The convent was built between 1846 and 1851. The Grey Nuns established the first hospital in Western Canada. Although St. Boniface hospital isn't part of this Adventure Lab, it is just a short walk South of the former convent.
Our third stop is the childhood home of a prominent Canadian author Gabrielle Roy. Her first published work was the novel 'The Tin Flute' in 1945. That was the start of a new literary genre known as the Urban Novel, where Gabrielle depicts the misery of growing up poor in an urban setting. In total, there are thirty distinct pieces of work from Gabrielle Roy, including 'Street of Riches', which depicts the life of a young girl (Gabrielle Roy) growing up on Rue Deschambault in St. Boniface.
Our fourth stop is the former St. Boniface city hall building. Constructed in 1905, this building served as a focal point for St. Boniface until it's amalgamation with Winnipeg in 1971. When I stopped here last year, there was a display of snow shovels with the handles in the snow and all the scoops painted white.
The final stop to this Adventure Lab is at a replica of Fort Gibraltar. Situated just inside Whittier Park and across the river from it's original location, Fort Gibraltar had a rough go when it was a fur trading post. Built in 1809 by the North West Company, it would be captured and burned to the ground in 1816 by the new Governor of the Red River Colony, Robert Semple. Fort Gibraltar was allowed to rebuild in 1817. It was renamed Fort Gary in 1822 after the merger of NWC and HBC. The fort was destroyed by flood waters in 1826. The last incarnation was rebuilt in 1835 and renamed Upper Fort Gary. The gate entrance is all that remains of the 1835 fort and it can be found in downtown Winnipeg, just off Main St. The replica was built in 1978 and serves as the focal point of Festival du Voyageur, a winter festival held every February.
Upper Fort Gary is on our wish list of places to visit.
ReplyDelete