On December 15, 1999, the Minnedosa town employees brought in the Wm. McManus Trappers Cabin to the Heritage Village. It had been located on a farm approximately five (5) miles north west of Minnedosa and had not been occupied for some time.
Mr. Wm. McManus had built it probably in the early 1940’s. Bill was an Irishman, born in Ireland, came to Canada (Ontario) with his parents and then a few years later the family moved to Manitoba. Bill left home early in life and eventually arrived in the Lake Audy district where he built himself a log home. He married in 1903 and after many moves he finally settled down to farm in the Cameron District north of Minnedosa.
They raised a family of seven boys and four girls. Eventually in his reclining years he built this particular cabin for himself, where he spent the summer months. He made many pieces of furniture with horns from elk and he was good at knitting mitts for various people. Mr. McManus died in 1971.
After we acquired the cabin, the committee members got to work, replaced the rotted logs, and shingled the roof with shingles they made from cedar hydro poles using John Moir’s sawing equipment. Then they plastered and chinked between the logs with a mixture of clay and chopped up straw. The result was a cozy little cabin, ready for furnishings. Today we have a cabin furnished with a stove, bed, table and most of the essentials required by a trapper, fisherman or hunter. A Mr. McAree formerly of The Pas, MB, who had access to many articles related to a trapper’s existence, was able to provide us with a variety of equipment to enhance a trapper’s lifestyle.
