Issue link: http://publications.winnipegfreepress.com/i/514227
56 Totally Unique Museum Experiences in Manitoba ManitobaSignatureMuseums.ca Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum Brandon Le Musée de Saint- Boniface Museum St. Boniface Manitoba Agricultural Museum Austin New Iceland Heritage Museum Gimli Mennonite Heritage Village Museum Steinbach TREASURE CULTURE. TRANSCEND TIME. DISCOVER UNIQUE MANITOBA HISTORICAL TREASURES AT ARCTIC Fortress Make like a polar bear and travel across sea ice during an annual eight-kilometre round-trip trek to Churchill's Prince of Wales Fort with Parks Canada in March. Accessible only by boat and helicopter in summer, the trading post and garrison is a National Historic Site, built at the mouth of the Churchill River to hold off the Hudson's Bay Company's French fur-trade rivals. With massive stone outer walls measuring 6.5 metres high and 11 metres (36 feet) thick, it took 40 years to complete construction, starting in 1732. But when three French ships sailed into the bay in 1782, the fort fell without a single shot from its 40 under-manned cannons. The partially reconstructed fort is a draw for casual visitors and it's the scene of special events, including Hands-on History archeological digs presented by Parks Canada and the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. > pc.gc.ca > churchillscience.ca Making MERRY In 1746, the Hudson's Bay Company built the Cape Merry battery on the east shore of the Churchill River — inadvertently giving potential invaders an ideal location from which to fire upon Prince of Wales Fort. Named for Captain John Merry, the company's deputy governor from 1712- 1718, the National Historic Site contains one of the Prince of Wales Fort's original cannons. Four kilometres upriver, look for rocks where company men carved their names at the secluded harbour of Sloop Cove. While iron moorings are still visible, post-glacial land uplift has transformed the cove into a meadow. Houses of YORK Manitoba's iconic York boat is named for its main destination, the trading post of York Factory, near the mouth of the Hayes River about 250 kilometres southeast of Churchill. In use from 1684 until 1957, the site was Canada's main entry point for immigrants from 1812-1850. There's little trace left of the 50 buildings it contained in its bustling heyday, but along with a cemetery and wildlife, visitors can see an 1832 depot that ranks as the oldest and largest wooden structure standing on permafrost. It stands above archeological remains of a fort built in the 1700s. York Factory is accessible only by plane and, naturally, boat. CHURCHILL'S PRINCE OF WALES FORT