The Lesser Known: A History of Oddities from the Heart of the Continent - Softcover

Darren Bernhardt

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1773370480 ISBN 13: 9781773370484

Publisher: Great Plains Publications, 2020

Synopsis

Manitoba’s history is one of being carved. Ice sculpted the land before nomadic first people pressed trails across it. Southern First Nations dug into the earthto grow corn and potatoes while those in the north mined it for quartz used in arrowheads. Fur traders arrived, expanding on Indigenous trading networks and shaping new ones.Then came settlers who chiselled the terrain with villages, towns and cities.But there is failure and suffering etched into the history, too.In Winnipeg, slums emerged as the city’s population boomed. There were more workers than jobs and the pay was paltry. Immigrants and First Nations were treated as second-class, shunted to the fringes. Rebellions and strikes, political scandals and natural disasters occured as the people molded Manitoba.That past has been thoroughly chronicled, yet within it are lesser-known stories of people, places and events. In The Lesser Known, Darren Bernhardt shares odd tales lost in time, such as The Tin Can Cathedral, the first independent Ukrainianchurch in North America; the jail cell hidden beneath a Winnipeg theatre; the bear pit of Confusion Corner; gardening competitions between fur trading forts and more.Once deemed important enough to be documented, these stories are now buried. It's time to carve away at them once again.

About this title

About the Author

Darren Bernhardt was born and raised in Winnipeg, he has been writing as long as he can remember. He spent the first dozen years of his career working for newspapers in Saskatchewan before moving back to Winnipeg where he now lives with his wife, two kids and a dog. He has been writing online for CBC Manitoba since 2009, specializing in offbeat and local history stories. He is the co-author of the 2005 JackPine Press chapbook, To Kerouac and Back and co-author of the play, Alisons Leather Couch.

Edition details

• Publisher: Great Plains Publications
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1773370480
• ISBN 13: 9781773370484
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 452