M E T A L M A N 9

M E T A L M A N 9

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March 1, 2024 Museums as a Research Tool

March 1, 2024 Museums as a Reasearch Tool

March 1, 2024 Museums as a Research Tool. Metal detecting in Manitoba is a quiet hobby in winter albeit I got lucky this December. ( See: December 7, 2023 - A Gift. Detecting in December ). Winter is time to do research and to follow up on questions that you may have had about specific finds. This year, I chose to do a little bit of “At Home Tourism” and went to visit two of Winnipeg’s finest museums. My first stop was the Le Musée de St. Boniface Museum. Located at 494 Tache Ave., it overlooks the historic Red River where it has done so for over 170 years. I believe it is North America’s oldest remaining oak framed structure. In my humble opinion, the Louis Riel Room was the highlight of the visit. The $7.00 admission is very reasonable. Parking is a bit of a problem in that you must use a side street off of Tache Ave. Watch for and carefully read the parking signs as they can be very confusing. I found a spot two blocks away on Rue Despins and just walked the distance. You should plan for about two hours. It’s not a huge facility but then it’s not overwhelming either. The exhibits are on two floors. My second stop was the Manitoba Museum located at 190 Rupert Ave, just off of Main Street. Lots of available parking there. Admission was $15.75 and again, well worth the fee. I had allowed myself two hours… simply not enough. You could easily spend twice that much time. So much information, so many quality exhibits and so much to see. Wow ! My research objectives were to see if I could find, match and identify some of my metal detecting finds. Specifically, I was looking to match 17 or so aluminum bottle caps that I keep finding in old school yards. Also on my list was to perhaps see an odd shaped whetstone of which I only have a partial piece. (See: October 19, 2023 - Permission granted and the hunt continues ). The visit also opened my eyes to new possibilities. For example, I had often read about the early surveyor’s “Chains”. Yup, just like the ones Louis Riel stepped on to stop the surveyors. Well I had no idea what these even looked like until I saw sets of these at both museums. In fact, I might easily have metal detected a link or two of these and simply not have known what I was holding. Now I’m going back through all of my photos just to see if I’ve ever found a piece of one. One chain contained 100 links, were 66 feet long and 80 chains equaled 1 mile. Another interesting artifact to look for, now that I know that it exists, are stones called Red Pipestone or Red Minnesota Catlinite. It is a softer rock that was traded between aboriginal tribes. They were used to carve designs on or to make items like pipes. Yes, I know that metal detectors do not pick up on rocks but eyesight and surface finds have served me well. Now I’m much more aware of what to look for. A valuable research tool is maps. I took pictures of quite a few of the various maps that were part of the exhibits. Maps are always a great reference, be it the aboriginal trade routes or the early pioneer trails, and more. I discovered that a trail existed between what is now Morris, Manitoba and headed towards Walhalla, North Dakota, passing a bit west of present day Altona. It was called the St. Joseph Trail. It split off of the Pembina Trail at Morris and proceeded in a south and westward direction. No one that I have spoken to has ever heard of it yet, there it is. More discoveries in the making, more research to do and maybe even new metal detecting opportunities to be had. Oh the joy of history and discovery… Take time to visit your local museums. Roger Reference: https://msbm.mb.ca/ https://manitobamuseum.ca/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunter%27s_chain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catlinite https://dawsontrailtreasures.ca/index.php?page=early- surveyors-meet-with-resistance