The “Garden of Manitoba” is the term that has often been used to
describe the region between the Souris River and the Turtle
Mountains in which Boissevain and Morton municipality are
located. Eons ago, as the Lake Souris glacier retreated
northward it left behind a sand loam which is well suited to dry
land type farming. Sometime in the late 1500s, long after the
glacier had receded, the first inhabitants of the area were the
Assiniboine First Nation tribe. Their habitation has been
documented by the many artifacts discovered in this area in
recent years. The first white explorers arrived in 1738 and
Alexander Henry (1806). The arrival of these explorers
ultimately led to the further exploration and investigation of
this region. Between 1873 and 1875 the Boundary Commission
marked the international boundary. The trail they made was
followed by a trickle of settlers coming west from Ontario who
were looking for good land, good water and wood. In 1881 the
first of several parties from Britain arrived in the are