Rooster Town: The History of an Urban Métis Community, 1901-1961

246 Pages·2018·5.015 MB·English

by  Evelyn Peters, Matthew Stock, Adrian Werner

E V E L Y N P E T E R S , M A T T H E W S T O C K , A N D A D R I A N W E R N E R
W I T H L A W R I E B A R K W E L L
The History of an Urban
Métis Community, 1901–1961
Rooster Town: The History of an Urban Métis Community, 1901–1961
© Evelyn Peters, Matthew Stock, and Adrian Werner 2018
22 21 20 19 18 2 3 4 5 6
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database
and retrieval system in Canada, without the prior written permission
of the publisher, or, in the case of photocopying or any other
reprographic copying, a licence from Access Copyright,
www.accesscopyright.ca, 1-800-893-5777.
University of Manitoba Press
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Treaty 1 Territory
uofmpress.ca
Cataloguing data available from Library and Archives Canada
isbn 978-0-88755-825-2 (paper)
isbn 978-0-88755-568-8 (pdf)
isbn 978-0-88755-566-4 (epub)
Cover design by Frank Reimer
Interior design by Jess Koroscil
Cover image: Winnipeg Free Press reporter outside 1145 Weatherdon
Avenue in Rooster Town, March 1959. Photo by Gerry Cairns, Winnipeg
Free Press Collection, Archives of Manitoba.
Printed in Canada
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the
Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards
to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
The University of Manitoba Press acknowledges the financial support for
its publication program provided by the Government of Canada through
the Canada Book Fund, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba
Department of Sport, Culture, and Heritage, the Manitoba Arts Council,
and the Manitoba Book Publishing Tax Credit.
C O N T E N T S
vi | List of Tables
vii | List of Illustrations
xi | Preface

1 | Chapter one : Settler Colonialism and the Dispossession
of the Manitoba Métis
21 | Chapter two : The Establishment and Consolidation of
Rooster Town, 1901–1911
51 | Chapter three : Devising New Economic and Housing
Strategies: Rooster Town During the First World War and
After, 1916–1926

85 | Chapter four : Persistence, Growth, and Community:
Rooster Town During and After the Great Depression,
1931–1946

118 | Chapter five : Stereotyping, Dissolution, and Dispersal:
Rooster Town, 1951–1961
154 | Conclusion

159 | Appendix A
169 | Appendix B
179 | Notes
203 | Bibliography
219 | Index
L I S T O F T A B L E S
2.1. Living Situation of Métis in Winnipeg, 1901. /25
2.2. Métis Families in Rooster Town in 1901. /32
2.3. Characteristics of Métis Housing in Southwest Fort Rouge, 1901.
/34
2.4. Changes between 1901 and 1906. /36
2.5. Changes between 1906 and 1911. /43
2.6. Characteristics of the 1911 Rooster Town Population. /46
3.1. Changes between 1911 and 1916. /57
3.2. Changes between 1916 and 1921. /63
3.3. Characteristics of the 1921 Rooster Town Population. /65
3.4. Characteristics of the 1921 Rooster Town Housing. /68
3.5. Changes between 1921 and 1926. /79
3.6. Year of Arrival of 1926 Rooster Town Households. /79
4.1. Changes between 1926 and 1931. /93
4.2. Changes between 1931 and 1936. /100
4.3. Rooster Town Employment, 1935. /100
4.4. Changes between 1936 and 1941. /106
4.5. Changes between 1941 and 1946. /112
5.1. Changes between 1946 and 1951. /137
5.2. Changes between 1951 and 1956. /147
A.1. Characteristics of River Lots in Fort Rouge, 1872. /160
A.2. Sales of Fort Rouge Lands. /162
A.3. Subsequent Location of Fort Rouge Families Who Presumably
Obtained Good Prices for Their River Lots after 1880. /165
B.1. Population Changes between 1901 and 1906. /169
B.2. Population Changes between 1906 and 1911. /170
B.3. Population Changes between 1911 and 1916. /171
B.4. Population Changes between 1916 and 1921. /172
B.5. Population Changes between 1921 and 1926. /173
B.6. Population Changes between 1926 and 1931. /173
B.7. Population Changes between 1931 and 1936. /174
B.8. Population Changes between 1936 and 1941. /175
B.9. Population Changes between 1941 and 1946. /176
B.10. Population Changes between 1946 and 1951. /177
B.11. Population Changes between 1951 and 1956. /178
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L I S T O F I L L U S T R A T I O N S
1.1. Red River Settlement parishes, Manitoba, 1870. Produced by Adrian
Werner. /9
1.2. Plan of river lots in the parishes of St. John, St. James, and St. Boniface,
1874. D. Sinclair and G. Phillips, “Plan of the Red River Lots in the
Parishes of St. John, St. James, and St. Boniface.” Scale not given.
Ottawa: Dominion Lands Branch, 1874. /12
2.1. Location of Métis in Winnipeg, 1901. Produced by Adrian Werner. /26
2.2. Map of Rooster Town, 1901. Produced by Adrian Werner. /28
2.3. Map of Rooster Town, 1906. Produced by Adrian Werner. /38
2.4. Rooster Town Berard family tree, 1906. Produced by Adrian Werner. /40
2.5. Rooster Town Morrissette family tree, 1906. Produced by Adrian
Werner. /41
2.6. Map of Rooster Town, 1911. Produced by Adrian Werner. /44
3.1. Map of Rooster Town, 1916. Produced by Adrian Werner. /58
3.2. Map of Rooster Town, 1921. Produced by Adrian Werner. /66
3.3. Louis Parisien’s building plan, 1920 City of Winnipeg Building Permits,
Ward 1, no. 1120, CWARC. /70
3.4. James (Jim) Parisien’s building plan, 1921 City of Winnipeg Building
Permits, Ward 1, no. 408, CWARC. /72
3.5. George Land’s building plan, 1923 City of Winnipeg Building Permits,
Ward 1, no. 254, CWARC. /74
3.6. Alexander Morrissette’s house, 2016. Photo by Evelyn Peters. /75
3.7. Roderick Morrissette’s building plan, 1922 City of Winnipeg Building
Permits, Ward 1, no. 530, CWARC. /75
3.8. Philius Laramee’s building plan, 1922 City of Winnipeg Building
Permits, Ward 1, no. 801, CWARC. /77
3.9. Philius Laramee’s house, 2016. Photo by Evelyn Peters. /77
3.10. Rooster Town Parisien family tree, 1926. Produced by Adrian Werner. /81
3.11. Alexander Smith and his family, c. 1926. Courtesy of Candace Hogue. /83
4.1. Winnipeg Free Press photo of Weatherdon houses, 1959. Photographer
unknown. Photo accompanying John Dafoe’s “Shack-Towners to Lose
Homes,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 March 1959, 1. Archives of Manitoba. /86
vii
4.2. Map of Rooster Town, 1931. Produced by Adrian Werner. /94
4.3. Rooster Town Cardinal family tree, 1936. Produced by Adrian
Werner. /96
4.4. Map of Rooster Town, 1936. Produced by Adrian Werner. /98
4.5. Map of Rooster Town, 1941. Produced by Adrian Werner. /104
4.6. Elise Sais and her daughter Mary in Rooster Town, c. 1940. Courtesy
of Frank and Darrell Sais. /107
4.7. Rooster Town Laramee family tree, 1941. Produced by Adrian
Werner. /109
4.8. Frank Pound’s greenhouse at 1044 Mulvey Avenue, 1930s. Courtesy
of Susan Campbell. /111
4.9. Pound delivery truck, early 1920s. Courtesy of Susan Campbell. /111
4.10. Map of Rooster Town, 1946. Produced by Adrian Werner. /114
5.1. Rooster Town images from the Winnipeg Free Press, 1969. They
appeared with Bill Leader’s article “Winnipeg’s Rooster Town . . .
Remembrance of Things Past,” 22 November 1969. /120
5.2. Frank Sais, his wife Elaine and his parents on Frank and Elaine’s wedding
day, 23 November 1963. Courtesy of Darrell and Frank Sais. /128
5.3. Laramees on Ash Street. Courtesy of Donald Laramee. /128
5.4. Four generations of Laramees. Courtesy of Donald Laramee. /130
5.5. Yvonne Parisien’s yearbook page. Courtesy of Loretta Smith. /131
5.6. Paul and Bernice Parisien at 510 Elgin Avenue, probably in the early
1960s. Courtesy of Loretta Smith. /132
5.7. Adolph Joseph Pilon and Marie Josephine Laramee, likely on their
wedding date, 16 July 1921. Courtesy of Donald Laramee. /133
5.8. Frank Sais’s water cart, 1951. A Winnipeg Tribune photograph appearing
with Bill MacPherson’s article “Have You Heard of Rooster Town? It’s
Our ‘Lost Suburb,’” 20 December 1951, 1, 8. University of Manitoba
Archives and Special Collections, Winnipeg Tribune fonds. /134
5.9. Ernest and Elizabeth Stock, 1959. Photograph included with the
article “Shack-Towners to Lose Homes,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 March
1959. /135
5.10. Map of Rooster Town, 1951. Produced by Adrian Werner. /138
5.11. Aerial photo with 1951 eastern Rooster Town households identified.
Produced by Adrian Werner using Natural Resources Canada’s
Photo A12650–145, 6 July 1950, National Air Photo Library. /142
viii
5.12. Aerial photo with 1951 western Rooster Town households identified.
Produced by Adrian Werner using Natural Resources Canada’s
Photo A12650–145, 6 July 1950, National Air Photo Library. /144
5.13. Rooster Town photo accompanying Joan Cohen’s article, “No Fuss,
No Excitement, Squatters ‘Just Moving,’” Winnipeg Free Press, 8 April
1959, 3. /149
5.14. Map of Rooster Town, 1956. Produced by Adrian Werner. /150
ix