Immigration Sheds Monument
History of the Site
In July of 1874, Ontario Mennonite businessman Jacob Y. Shantz employed local Métis men to build four 20’ by 100’ (6m x 30.5m) immigration ‘reception houses’ here at the corners of the four adjacent corner sections (NW17, NE18, SE19, SW20) which he would receive as a grant in return for expenses incurred (almost $3000). These buildings were divided into 12 sections each, and were intended to provide temporary albeit primitive shelter for 48 families and their possessions. While the women and children remained here, the men selected village sites and homesteads on the eight townships reserved for Mennonite settlement. The Reserve lay within Treaty No. 1 lands.
On August 1, 1874, the first contingent of Mennonites immigrating from what is now Ukraine disembarked from the paddle-wheeler S.S. International at the junction of the Red and Rat Rivers, five miles west of here. Supplies and baggage were loaded onto Red River carts and taken to the sheds by Métis freighters hired for the job by William Hespeler, the immigration agent. Small children and some women could ride the carts.
Many boatloads of Mennonites (roughly 440 families) rotated through the sheds in the summers of 1874 to 1876. Difficulties here included lack of water, leaking roofs, and disappointing reports of the Reserve land.A cemetery was established northeast of the sheds for the more than 30 deaths that occurred here, many of them children.
By the fall of 1875, Jacob Y. Shantz had dismantled two sheds to build a general store/warehouse in their place to permit storage of interim supplies while homes were being constructed. He anticipated that later arrivals would likely choose the newly-opened second Reserve, west of the Red River.
Project Details
Project completed by the MMHS’ EastMenn Historical Committee.
Our Mission
We seek to foster an understanding of and respect for the history and beliefs of the Mennonite people in the past and present, and to challenge them to give new expression to this heritage in the future.
Support Our Efforts
Help celebrate and preserve the Mennonite story, ensuring our history is passed on to the next generation.