The Post Road in the West Reserve

by Conrad Stoesz

The Mennonites arriving at Fort Dufferin, Manitoba, in 1875, faced a daunting situation. As pioneers from Eastern Europe they faced settling in a prairie with few trees, few evidences of any settlement infrastructure, and only their efforts at making a new life in Manitoba.

Once the location of their street villages was decided, they faced the time pressure of getting ready to survive the first winter just months away. Their first dwellings were made from the prairie soil and grasses. The little available wood was gathered for fuel for the winter. They dug wells and began breaking the prairie for crops the coming year.

The winter proved as harsh as they were told it would be. Snow and wind made it difficult to travel. In the summer one had to contend with open prairie, swamps, and mosquitoes. Plans had to be made to make travel easier.

In May, 1878, Oberschultze Isaak Müller called a meeting of all the village Schultzen (these were all civic leaders). It was decided that the most commonly used trail would be marked by a series of posts and thereby linking many villages. The posts would be ten feet long, and placed on the north side of the trail at fifteen rod intervals in line with mile posts. Each village and each homesteader had to contribute to the effort. The resulting marked trail became known as the Post Road.

The beginning point was at Fort Dufferin, around which the town of Emerson grew. It became an important trading centre for the area. In subsequent years, new villages sprang up along the Post Road. The road ran in a west and north westerly direction through Reinland to Osterwick and Waldheim and ending in Mountain City, south of Morden.

Other trails were also used in the area. There were those used by the Boundary Commission and the North West Mounted Police. The Post Road was the only marked road and it became the most important. It was used to supply the settlers with lumber and farm machinery. Mail came along this road no later than 1882.

The entire length of the road could not be travelled in one day. So people opened their homes to travellers. Some of best known were the David Schellenberg family in Neuanlage, the Jacob Giesbrecht family in Reinland, and William Brown's first hotel established in Neuhorst. Young David Schellenberg would wake up to find up to fourteen people sleeping around the stove on the floor. He learned his first English from non-Mennonite travellers.

The posts were tempting for other uses than intended. Wood was scarce so this was accessible fuel wood. Müller was petitioned and he was instrumental in getting action from the provincial government. They passed legislation in 1881 which stated that if anyone was found destroying or mutilating the posts they would be subject to a ten dollar fine. This law is one of the first ones governing road travel in Manitoba.

By 1884, six years after the Post Road was first started, the local municipal governments began giving more attention to travel and the need for more infrastructure. More machinery was available, more land was being drained, and more land was being plowed for crop use. By 1885 the street village system began breaking down. A new grid system of roads was being planned and implemented. Gradually then, the Post Road was not needed. If it did not fit into the new grid system it was plowed under for crop use.

Today, only the eastern portion of the Post Road remains. This portion became incorporated in the Provencal road 243. The western portion had virtually disappeared by 1930. Today, the only remnant of the western Post Road is a bridge piling in a pasture on the western side of the village of Reinland.

The Post Road was an important factor to smooth the establishment of the Mennonite settlement on the West Reserve. It provided a means of supplying goods and services. It was a means of staying connected, of belonging, as well as a safe means of travel. It is still today part of the culture and language of the locals. It is still referred to when asking or giving local directions. It was an unique part of the West Reserve's history.

An 1883 depiction of the West Reserve Post Road in the village of Reinland. Depiction was obtained privately by the author.