The first real settlement was entirely Scottish.  Thomas Douglas (Lord Selkirk) is regarded as the founder of both Winnipeg and Manitoba.  He was on the verge of becoming an important figure in the British Government, but his concern for the plight of the Highlanders “prevented him from pursuing his goal”.  In 1810 he acquired control of the Hudsons Bay Company, which granted him a vast tract of land in the Red River Valley and the first Highland settlers came over in 1811.  By the time he died, having lost both his fortune and his health, in 1820, he had in effect established Manitoba.

The first school in Winnipeg was begun by Scot Archibald McDonald

The first farmer at Portage la Prairie in 1862 was Scot John McLean

In 1868, Simon Dawson, a civil engineer from Scotland, opened communications between Canada and Red River by what became known as the Dawson route.

In 1872 Winnipeg General Hospital was founded as a gift to the city, by two Scottish traders – Andrew McDermot and A.G.B. Bannatyne.

Of the 58 years between 1812 and 1870, Scots held the position of governor of the district for 42 years.

In 1869 the first quasi-governor of the new western province of Manitoba was William McDougall, a Scot, as were the first two official governors, Adams G Archibald in 1870 and later Alexander Morris, who was also the province’s first chief justice and the founder of the University of Manitoba.

John Norquay, born in the Orkney Islands, became Manitoba’s first Premier in 1870.