This Geocache site is brought to you by the Turtle Mountain Souris Plains Heritage Association. Lat: N 49°08.917’ Long: W 101°00.222’ The history is from our website.
Though there is one period of its life that gives the Boundary Commission Trail its name, the history of the trail itself spans centuries, crosses cultural lines and involves a multitude of goals and purposes. Parts of it began as a First Nations travel and trading route, which the fur traders of the 18th Century took advantage of when they began penetrating the interior of the then-called Rupert’s Land. Not too long afterwards, the Red River carts of the Métis wore grooves into the prairie sod of the trail in their pursuit of the buffalo as the large animals retreated ever westward and into eventual disappearance.
In 1818, Canada and the United States agreed that from Lake of the Woods to the Pacific Ocean the border between the two countries would be drawn along the 49th parallel. The final agreement regarding this decision occurred in 1846, though the border remained unmarked for nearly 30 more years.
And so the Boundary Commission Trail, once familiar with the feet of First Nations moving to and fro and Red River carts pursuing the hunt, became accustomed to the sound of settlers heading west. The first villages in southern Manitoba were established alongside the Trail, flourishing until the railroad came to the area. For centuries the Boundary Commission Trail had served as the highway to the west, transporting goods and people. With the technology provided by the railway came a new era of prairie lifestyle and travel as it proved that it could transport everything and everyone at a much faster rate. Thus overland tracks and trails that offered intimate wafts of wild rose and yarrow fell into disuse. Evidence of the Boundary Commission Trail still exists in places such as Newcomb’s Hollow and Sourisford.
