HOW MANITOBA SETTLERS WERE SUPPLIED WITH WIVES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 575, 11 June 1913, Page 7

HOW MANITOBA SETTLERS WERE SUPPLIED WITH WIVES.

In 1879 and 1880, when Manitoba was opened to settlement, there was a rush of colonists there from Ontario and Quebec, and from Great Britain. The settlers were mostly men. Some of them had families, and would send for them as soon as they had got somewhat fixed. But very many were bachelors. They were making homes for themselves, and naturally they found that they needed wives. Not a few of them were sons of English farmers, and nearly all Were respectable and hardworkine fellows. They could not afford to go and get wives, and helpmates had to be imported for them. Young women, guaranteed as to respectability, were brought over from England in great numbers, and this business rapidly grew to be an important branch of the immigration traffic. The young women were given free tansportation, of course, the object being to make homes in Manitoba, and thus secure the permanent settlement of the country. The settlers who were bachelors applied for the girls as fast as they were brought in. Their applications were not considered unless they were properly guaranteed as to character and ability to support a wife. Some of them came to Winnipeg from a distance of 250 miles and over. Most commonly they were certified by let ters from land agents stating that John Smith, for example, was located to such-and-such a tract of land, was the owner of 1500 horses, was sound, and kind, and so forth. On making formal application for a wife, John Smith was asked what sort of a woman he preferred —whether blonde or brunette, tall or short, plump or thin, etc. Having stated his preferences, he wag introduced to one of the available ladies, whereupon matters were quickly arranged. One man drove over 700 miles to get a wife. He was present when a train load of girls arrived, and spotted the young woman he wanted offhand. Within seven minutes after the train came in the pair were united in matrimony, and the bridegroom started away with his bride in a buck* board waggon.