History of Winnipeg Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Forks

The Forks was the area where the two rivers met and was a heavily populated area for millennia. It was a popular stop on canoe trading routes. The Forks provided access to a number of other native tribes and other rivers beyond just the Red and Assiniboine. Today, the Forks is part of downtown Winnipeg and serves much the same function as it did thousands of years ago.

It is a popular meeting place full of markets, stores and restaurants. There are also a number of museums, parks and ice skating rinks in and around the Forks.

Answer: Fur

The Selkirk Settlement (also called Red River Colony) was founded in 1811 in and around the area that is now Winnipeg. However at this time, the main industry was fur and fur trading. Since much of the land had been converted into agricultural purposes, this severely limited the area the Hudson Bay Company and its rival the North West Company had for the fur trading.

This sparked a series of conflict between the two businesses which escalated into burning down forts and several murders.

Answer: Red River Trails

The Red River Trails were fur trading routes that allowed the Metis people and others in the Red River Colony bypass the Hudson Bay's Company monopoly on fur and trade with settlers in Minnesota. While the Red River Trails were not as contentious as other routes, there was some tension between Britain and the United States as both nations feared the constant crossing of international borders and the Mississippi River would cause boundary disputes.

Answer: Louis Riel

The newly independent Canada purchased Rupert's Land (which included the area that is now Manitoba) from the Hudson Bay's Company. When surveyors were sent to divvy up the land, the Metis people, led by Louis Riel, resisted. Riel set up his own government and arrested those who resisted him. One of these prisoners, Thomas Scott, was executed which led to the Canadian Government sending an expedition to Manitoba to secure the land and prevent the Americans from expanding northward.

Although Riel secured an agreement that Manitoba would be admitted into the Canadian Confederation as its own province, he fled the country when he learned Canadian militiamen intended to kill him.

Answer: The Panama Canal

The construction of the railway system saw Winnipeg become the hub of international trade within Canada and North America, as it was the only major city in the prairies to have a major system of railways pass through it at the time. However, the construction of the Panama Canal in 1914 caused Winnipeg to decline. Ships could easily sail through the canal and up the Pacific Coast of North America to Vancouver without having to dock on Canada's east coast, unpack the cargo onto trains and travel by rail across Canada.

Answer: The Golden Boy

"Eternal Youth and the Spirit of Enterprise" is the true name of the Golden Boy statue that stands atop the Capitol Building in Winnipeg. Since its debut in 1918, the Golden Boy has been a symbol of the city. It is of the Roman God Mercury carrying a bundle of wheat to symbolize Winnipeg's place in Canada's history as a hub of trade and labor.

Answer: False

The Winnipeg General Strike occurred in the spring of 1919 when tens of thousands of workers walked off their jobs. Winnipeg's economy tanked and commerce came to a near standstill. Class tensions erupted as nearly the entire working class of Winnipeg was on strike.

Although the demonstrations started off peacefully, the press published cartoons depicting the strikers as bomb-throwing antiracists and as stereotypical, offensive racial minorities. This further escalated the tensions. On June 21, a protest was held to oppose the arrest of labor leaders. Mounties fired into the crowd, killing at least one person and injuring dozens of others. Mass arrests took place and the general strike ended soon afterward. Almost no labor reforms were established.

However, union membership continued to increase dramatically.

Answer: If Day

The plan was called If Day which actually stood for "if one day", meaning if one day the Nazis invaded. The purpose of the exercise was to drum up patriotic support for the war effort as interest in Canada, and Winnipeg in particular, was waning and to sell victory bonds. Volunteers dressed up as German soldiers and Nazi officials and harassed people on the streets, pretended to bomb buildings, arrested politicians. Schools and businesses were taken over by the fake Nazis.

At the end of the day after Canadian forces, defeated the Nazis, prisoners were released and celebratory parade took place.

Answer: Flood

Winnipeg began to revitalize itself after the war. New houses, businesses and other structure were built and old ones were improved. However, the Red River flooded in 1950 and caused nearly one billion dollars in damage. Much of the city was destroyed and parts remained flooded for nearly two months. Over 100,000 people had to be evacuated which was, at the time, the largest evacuation in Canadian history. All of Winnipeg's revitalization improvements were halted.

Answer: Converting old buildings into shopping malls

Winnipeg, a city already in economic downturn, saw even further damage because of the energy crisis in 1979. Many once prominent and prosperous businesses went under, leaving the city with a slough of abandoned buildings. With help from the federal and provincial governments, Winnipeg began converting those abandoned meat packing plants into shopping centers. Soon, business began opening up branches in Winnipeg's new buildings.