Exploring the Shield

In southeast Manitoba, a great plateau of rock rises out of the earth—the Canadian Shield—meeting the trees, rivers, and lakes of the boreal forest. Where the shield and forest overlap, a larger ecosystem or ecozone exists. This ecozone, the Boreal Shield, covers more than 1.8 million square kilometers and is the largest of Canada's 15 terrestrial ecozones, extending from the East Coast of Newfoundland to northern Alberta. It accounts for almost 20 percent of its landmass while its rivers and lakes constitute 22 percent of Canada's freshwater surface area.

The Boreal Shield is a rugged land of long winters and short summers, predominantly forested with stands of white and black spruce, balsam fir, and tamarack. Other populous trees include white birch, aspen, balsam poplar, and jack pine. Sturdy lichens and shrubs struggle to occupy the bare spaces of rock. The landscape is dotted with thousands of small to medium-sized lakes, gouged out by glaciers, along with bogs and wetlands. It is home to a variety of large mammals including black bear, moose, wolves, lynx and smaller ones like marten, fisher, red fox, and raccoon. The Boreal Shield offers much to explore and a special place in eastern Manitoba has been set aside for that purpose—Whiteshell Provincial Park.

Whiteshell's earliest known inhabitants came here some 8,000 years ago. Excavations along the Winnipeg River have uncovered a variety of artifacts ranging from stone points to ceramics. Archaeologists believe these people were migratory, moving with the seasons, finding food by hunting, fishing, and harvesting native plants like wild rice. The Whiteshell name is likely related to a small, white seashell known as the"megis." Some Anishinabe, or Ojibway, people believe that the Creator first breathed life into man through this shell, and it remains a symbol of creation.

In the early eighteenth century, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes de la Verendrye led expeditions on behalf of New France in search of an inland waterway to the western sea. Travelling through what is now Eastern Manitoba, La Verendrye encountered camps of Cree and Anishinabe and became the first European to travel the Winnipeg River. Though he didn't reach the Pacific Ocean, his would be a seminal journey, as the Winnipeg became an important fur trade route for the Northwest Company. For two decades, its men would travel these waters until a merger in 1821 with the Hudson's Bay Company.

In 1877, construction began on two sections of the Canada Pacific Railway. Part of this would run through the Whiteshell area, continuing to its western terminus at Winnipeg. The small town of Rennie became a coal and water stop for steam driven locomotives until the late 1950's. Today, Rennie is home to the park's headquarters.

A second line, which became the Canadian National Railway, was laid through the Whiteshell about 25 years later. Construction of both lines proved difficult. Large amounts of fill were needed to build up grades, and tunnels had to be blasted through the resistant rock to permit the flow of water.

At the turn of the century, gold was discovered in the nearby Ontario town of Keewatin. With the railways in place, prospectors poured into the Whiteshell, starting a minor gold rush. The Falcon, Star, and West Hawk Lake areas of the park were home to some of the earliest mineral claims in Manitoba. Attempts to further utilize the land through farming generally failed due to the thin soils and poor crop conditions.

Around 1920, the development of roads brought vacationers into the Whiteshell area. The first summer cottages were close to the railways. A decade later, the province of Manitoba established the Whiteshell Forest Reserve. Further roadwork continued, linking the reserve to Ontario in the east and campgrounds and picnic sites further north. In 1961, Whiteshell was given Provincial Park status and was set aside for future generations to enjoy.