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The Pas, located north of the 53rd parallel in Manitoba, is a town defined by its industrial and transportation history. More importantly, it is the diversity of the industries in this northern community that allows it to continue to thrive. This virtual exhibit highlights the development of industry and transportation between 1912 (when The Pas was incorporated as a town) and 1950. Specifically, photographs and text explore the community’s history of the fur trade, agriculture, mining, lumber companies, commercial fishing, and how these key industries drove the development of, and were affected by, transportation networks via rail, air, water, and road. These varied opportunities drew men and women to The Pas to seek employment and put to use entrepreneurial skills to benefit from the natural resources of the area and the expanding transportation network.
On a wider scale, this virtual exhibit highlights the historical development of industries that touch on contemporary issues such as food security in the North, wildlife conservation, the dependence of a town’s economy on a major lumber company employer, foreign ownership, and transportation challenges in the North. Each of the industries and transportation networks at The Pas had their challenges and successes during the early 1900s. The growth and development of industry in The Pas, including the construction of the Finger (later known as The Pas) Lumber Company mill, the Pasquia Reclamation Project that protected farmland in Carrot Valley, fur rehabilitation blocks (also known as “muskrat ranches”), distribution of fish caught commercially in northern lakes, and mineral discoveries near Flin Flon, all contributed to the opening of the North – of which The Pas was the recognized gateway. The construction of the Hudson Bay Railway to Churchill and Highway 10 to The Pas were a valuable source of employment and helped open up the natural resources of Northern Manitoba to transportation networks in the south and overseas. During this period the Saskatchewan River, so heavily used during the fur trade era, saw its decline as the prominent transportation route in the region while the airplane proved its worth in the bush and lake covered northland.
