Haunted Manitoba

Ghost Stories from the Prairies

Matthew Komus

• Publisher: Great Plains Publications
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781773370286
• eBook ISBN: 9781773370293
• Topic: Geschichte
• Subtopic: Nordamerikanische Geschichte

Discover the history of Manitoba sites through the stories of the ghosts that haunt them.

Manitoba may seem like a quiet province, but its prairies teem with paranormal activity. A ghostly groundskeeper still does his rounds at the Delta Marsh Field Station; strange noises and apparitions of children in 19th-century clothing have been reported at Lower Fort Garry; and Mrs. Kennedy still welcomes guests to Captain Kennedy's House—just as she did when her home was built in 1866. Haunted Manitoba shares eerie stories from all corners of the province and places them in the context of Manitoba's rich history.

Lower Fort Garry

Along the Red River, near the community of Selkirk, sits what may well be the most haunted location in all of Manitoba. Lower Fort Garry has been connected to sightings of a ghostly girl, a mysterious stranger, and phantom travellers, just to name a few. It may just be coincidence, but the fort shares a name with the famous haunted Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg. Both locations have much supernatural activity, perhaps because of their strong connections to Manitoba’s and western Canada’s history.

Often referred to as “the old stone fort”, the Lower Fort Garry complex consists of several limestone and wooden buildings, including the Big House, blacksmith shop, warehouse, and fur loft, and is surrounded by four sizable stone walls with bastions located on each corner. Construction on the fort began in 1831 and was completed in 1847. Additional buildings are located outside the fort’s walls.

In 1826, Upper Fort Garry (located in Winnipeg’s downtown) was damaged during spring flooding. In his illustrated history of the fort, A Good Solid Comfortable Establishment, Graham MacDonald says, “For George Simpson, the Governor of Rupert’s Land, the 1826 disaster was a convenient one. He had a number of reasons for contemplating the establishment of a new base of operations some distance north of the Forks. This flood provided the necessary excuse to proceed.”1 Simpson provided a number of official reasons for the necessity of a new fort. It would be closer to Lake Winnipeg and below the rapids at St. Andrews, and it would be on higher ground, so less prone to flooding. The location was also near a ready supply of wood and limestone.2 All of these details may have been the official reason for the fort’s construction; however, the actual reason may have been something far more personal.

Governor Simpson, like many men in the fur trade, had a “country wife”—or in his case wives. As there were very few European women in western Canada, many of the men employed in the fur trade looked to First Nations or Métis women for companionship. Though not officially recognised as such, these relationships were just like a marriage. In many cases the relationship lasted for a lifetime and resulted in numerous children. There were, however, countless examples where the women were treated no better than property and cast aside as soon as a European woman became available for marriage.

According to James Raffan’s biography of the governor, Emperor of the North, “George Simpson was an active philanderer who—at least so far as the historic record is able to show—sired eleven (probably thirteen, and very likely more) children with at least eight women, only one of whom was his wife.”3 In October of 1830, he married his cousin Frances Simpson in England. The newlyweds would soon depart for the Red River Settlement. The marriage did not mean that Simpson changed his ways, but he was now concerned that if he and his new wife lived by the Forks at the upper fort, she would encounter his former mistresses and the children he had fathered with them. As Raffan explains, “A governor’s residence at the somewhat removed setting of Lower Fort Garry provided an ideal solution to this problem. There, something of the English rural manor could be reproduced.”4

There was a great deal of optimism at the start of construction, but it was rather short lived. In the fall of 1832, the couple moved into the fort. The pleasant and joyful family life that the Governor envisioned for his new bride was not to be. Frances was never happy in the Red River Settlement. It was far too foreign from the world of fancy balls and garden parties of the English upper class that she was used to. She may have been able to adjust given time, but tragedy would soon strike. The couple’s first child, a son, died before his first birthday. Heartbroken and in poor health, the Simpsons would return to England, where Frances would remain for the next twelve years. They had not even spent a year at Lower Fort Garry.

The fort was a disappointment shortly after it opened its doors. Besides the loss of the governor’s presence, the fort was also failing economically. In a paper on the history of the fort, Dale Miquelon comments, “The attempt to remove business to the lower fort was a failure. The Company’s business in Red River was too dependent on the retail trade which, of necessity, must be carried on in the area of greatest population density. The invaluable pemmican trade, too, had to be conducted at a more southerly point since hunters would not be inclined to carry their burdens an extra 20 miles past the traditional bartering place.”5 Just a few years after construction of the lower fort began, the focus moved to the rebuilding of the upper fort. The loss of the governor and the initial economic failure of the fort does not seem to have any connection to the supernatural occurrences on the site, but a tragedy that happened around that same time, might.

The fort that Simpson envisioned was to be a large and complex project. Simpson put his faith in Pierre Leblanc, one of the few men who would be up to the task of building it. In 1832, Simpson wrote that Leblanc “Has filled the situation of Carpenter, Painter, Storeman, Builder, Indian Trader, Conductor of Works at the Depots of York and Fort William and is now employed in superintending the building of the new establishment of Fort Garry. A very useful man...in any capacity.”6 Simpson may have been the man with the vision, but it was Leblanc who made that vision a reality. As fate would have it, it was one of his last major achievements.

Leblanc was a rising star in the Hudson’s Bay Company. His work on Lower Fort Garry and the rebuilding of Upper Fort Garry had not gone unnoticed. In 1838, with construction of Lower Fort Garry well underway, Leblanc’s skills as a building manager were required at Fort Vancouver (located near present-day Portland, OR). His wife, Nancy ‘Matooskie’ Leblanc, and their children accompanied him on the long journey.

Tragedy struck two days after the party left Fort Assiniboine (located northeast of Edmonton) when Leblanc’s eldest daughter died suddenly. She was buried next to the Athabasca River. There was little time for her parents to grieve as the group had no choice but to continue with their journey. This sad event foreshadowed what was yet to come.

The Leblanc family was part of an unusually large group heading to the west coast. This meant the canoe they were travelling in was overloaded. A guide to BC hiking trails described the event as follows: “In addition to 26 passengers and crew and their personal gear, it carried 22 pieces of cargo, each weighing 90 lbs. Late in the day on October 22 the canoe entered the treacherous Dalles des Morts (Rapids of the Dead, or Death Rapids)”7 on the Columbia River. After striking a rock, the boat began to take on water. The crew might still have been able to paddle safely to shore had one of the passengers not panicked and jumped overboard with his wife. “This act unbalanced the swamped canoe and it turned over, spilling the terrified inhabitants and gear into the rushing waters.”8 Twelve of the passengers never made it to shore, including Leblanc and his three remaining children.

Pierre Leblanc’s body was never found. Though the deadly accident happened hundreds of miles from the Manitoba fort, Leblanc’s spirit may have returned to the fort hoping his children would also find their way back home.

Given this difficult beginning, it would not be surprising if the fort had been left to ruin long ago. Instead, it would grow and develop over the years and become the site of important events in Canadian history, such as the signing of Treaty Number One and the creation of the North West Mounted Police.

All the structures at the old stone fort share a common history connected to the fur trade and the development of the Red River Settlement. They also all have their own unique stories to tell. Stories about the past, but also stories about a mysterious unsolved murder, tragic deaths, and the supernatural.

Ross Cottage

Located near the Red River and just outside Lower Fort Garry’s stone walls is a small white-washed cottage. Built around 1840, Ross Cottage was home to a number of Hudson’s Bay Company employees and their families over the years. During the building’s restoration, the cottage was renamed in honour of Hudson’s Bay Company Chief Factor of Norway House Donald Ross. The honour is somewhat unusual as Ross’s time living at the fort was rather brief.

In 1829, Ross was appointed chief trader and for many years oversaw HBC operations at Norway House. He and his wife were considered very strong personalities. Mary, the daughter of one of the original Selkirk settlers, was unwilling to conform to cultural and social norms of Red River society. In a community intent on reinforcing notions of racial superiority, for example, she encouraged her children to learn Indigenous languages, as she had in her youth. Her unorthodox attitude often put her at odds with other residents. 9

The Rosses moved to the stone fort in 1851. It was not a pleasant time in Donald Ross’s life: his long and interesting career with the Hudson’s Bay Company was clearly coming to an end due to his failing health. Ross had contracted tuberculosis, often referred to as consumption at this time, and his doctor believed his chances of recovering were better in the south. Unfortunately, the move to the stone fort did little to improve his health. Donald Ross would pass away the following year.

Many other people besides the Ross family called the cottage home. The building used to be called the Engineer’s Cottage, in honour of Engineer E.R. Abell who occupied it in 1863. Abell’s contributions to the Fort were various, but one of his greatest accomplishments was increasing the distribution capacity of the fort. He realized that with the development of the Red River Trail between the settlement and St. Paul Minnesota, York boats were no longer adequate for the company’s needs, so he directed the on-site construction of sloops (single mast sailing vessel), schooners (two or more masts sailing vessel) and later even steamships. These ships “enhanced the position of the lower fort as distributing centre for the vast regions that drain into Lake Winnipeg and thence to the Bay.”10

Over the decades, other residents would come and go, but eventually the cottage sat empty. HBC ceased operations at the fort in 1911 and it was used as a summer residence and later as a country club. In 1951, the site was handed over to the federal government, and a few years later it was designated a National Historic Site. Restoration work began in the 1960s. In the early 1970s, shortly after Lower Fort Garry was opened to the public, Parks Canada began restoration work on Ross Cottage.

An early step in the restoration process was turning the site over to a group of archaeologists. The archeologists intended to study the building and surrounding area and learn more about the past. They had not been at work long when strange things began to happen. A trowel placed down in one spot would be found in a different location. A ruler disappeared, only to be found later, back in its original spot. These occurrences all seemed relatively harmless and little thought was given to them until one night when, after a long day of work that continued on into the evening, one of the archaeologists decided to spend the night in the cottage. He was too tired to go home and just thought this would be easier. According to current Park staff this was “a decision he would soon regret. Apparently, he had a night he would not forget, with items moving around the room, soft moaning sounds, and the sound of a young child coughing outside the back door throughout his overnight stay.”

This experience greatly unnerved the archaeologist and his worry soon spread to the entire team. To help boost morale it was decided the team really needed a break from the site. One team member reading the local newspaper commented that a fair was happening nearby. It was agreed this was just the type of break they needed. The group headed out to the fair and everyone was enjoying themselves playing games and eating all the delicious but unhealthy snacks that can only be found at a fairground. During their visit they noticed a fortuneteller’s tent and couldn’t help but go inside. Once in the dimly lit tent, they began to tell her about all the strange happenings at the cottage. The medium was very interested in what had taken place and it was decided she would visit the cottage. The following evening an unofficial séance was held at the Ross house. The medium went into a trance and soon made contact with a young girl. The girl claimed this was her house. This surprised the archeologists as they were unaware of any young children having lived at the home. Further research, however, led to the discovery that the building once had been used as a sanatorium for sick children suffering from tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis is a very infectious disease that affects the lungs. Though most people will not show any symptoms of the illness, in the cases where it does become active it can be very serious, even deadly if left untreated. Symptoms include coughing up blood, weight loss, and fever. The bacteria spreads easily through the air when an afflicted person speaks, sneezes or coughs. The disease can now be treated with drugs, but that was not always the case. As Manitoba’s population grew, so did cases of TB. As the disease was so easy to spread, infected patients were isolated to prevent others from becoming sick. This isolation also gave the infected patients time to recuperate. T...

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Lower Fort Garry
• New Iceland (The Interlake)
• Northern Manitoba
• Brandon
• Central Plains
• Winnipeg
• Endnotes