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Origins of the Northern Trapper's Festival in The Pas, MB

The Northern Manitoba Trapper's Festival is a popular winter festival held annually in The Pas, Manitoba. It is the oldest winter festival in western Canada and has its roots in the wild fur industry. In the early 1900s, The Pas was the central meeting place for trappers bringing their furs to commercial markets. All varieties of furs were marketable, and many of the stores in The Pas traded in furs. A road system had not yet been developed in the wilderness of the north, so trappers traveled by dog sled, bringing their furs to town where they were sold to cash buyers on bid. It was not unusual for a trapper to leave the stores with tens of thousands of dollars in his pockets after trading.

The use of sled dog teams was vital during northern Manitoban winters. The technology originated with the First Peoples of the area. The use of dogs and sleds facilitated travel over frozen winter waterways. The arrival of European traders increased transportation needs in the region, and they quickly adopted the use of sled dogs in the winter months. As the fur trade moved into the twentieth century, trappers used their dog teams to haul supplies, travel their trap lines, and to transport their catch to The Pas. Some sled dog teams were also hired out to the lumber and mining companies and were often used to deliver mail.

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Trapper's Festival Street Dance
Circa 1948
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Sam Waller Museum Collection

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Bill Grayson and his dog, Ring
Circa 1922
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Sam Waller Museum Collection
Grayson, Diana

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It was essential that trappers be skilled at training their sled dogs. These dogs were strong, and had great endurance and speed. During a local poker game at The Pas, a few men began debating the relative speed and endurance of various local dog teams. A race was proposed with a first prize of $1000, an amount equal to two year's salary for a schoolteacher at the time. The inaugural The Pas Dog Derby was run in 1916. Since then, the annual dog races have attracted worldwide attention and continue to bring in new people to the north every year. Over the years, the race has had a variety of names including The Pas Dog Derby, The Canadian Championship Dog Race, The Hudson Bay Dog Derby, and The Pas Championship Dog Derby. The name was eventually finalized as The World Championship Sled Dog Race, which is still an integral part of the Northern Manitoba Trappers' Festival.

Aside from training their sled dogs, there were numerous other skills vital to the trapper's survival in the harsh wilderness environment. These included log sawing, log chopping, skinning animals, hunting and fishing, starting fires and snowshoeing. While in town to trade their furs, trappers would socialize and brag about their prowess in these various bush skills. Eventually impromptu competitions were held to showcase these survival skills, and these competitions evolved into the King Trapper and Queen Trapper events - cornerstones of the modern day Northern Manitoba Trappers' Festival.

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The Pas Dog Derby and Winter Carnival 1926
Circa 1926
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Sam Waller Museum Collection
The Pas Historical Society

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Walter Goyne
Circa 1924
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Sam Waller Museum Collection

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Morgan/Winterton Dog Team
Circa 1922
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Sam Waller Museum Collection

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History of the Northern Manitoba Trappers' Festival

Impromptu trapper-skills competitions and celebrations were held in conjunction with the annual sled dog race at The Pas beginning in the winter of 1915-16. This mid-winter event was called The Pas Dog Derby from 1915 to 1923. As various trapper competitions and celebrations became more established, the event came to be known as 'The Pas Winter Carnival' from 1924 to 1931. Events were suspended briefly during the late First World War years, and again through the lean times of the Great Depression and the Second World War.

In 1947, local business leaders, Henry Fishman, Harry Trager, and Ben Dembinsky, convened the first official Northern Manitoba Trapper's Festival. With winters being long and cold in northern Manitoba, they thought it would be a good season in which to hold a rendezvous for trappers and other people of the north. Such an event would be a time to come together and celebrate, and to compete in sports native to the north such as dog-mushing, ice fishing, snowshoe racing, rat skinning, and trap setting. It would be a Mardi Gras of the north!

Fishman thought that the cheerful, celebratory atmosphere of a festival before spring would provide people with a break in the long, cold winter season - giving them a last hurrah before the spring trapping and agricultural work began. A festival would also be a profitable business venture for locals and trappers alike, as the event would bring large crowds of visitors to town. With the input of many locals, Fishman soon had a festival plan created that was sent to the Game & Fish Department in Winnipeg. A report was also sent to the Department of Indian Affairs in Ottawa, as First Nations groups would be invited to be part of the Festival. Fishman received a positive response from Winnipeg, and the local Board of Trade signed on as sponsors.

In 1948 this wonderful northern cultural festival was revived as the 'The Northern Manitoba Trappers' Festival'. It has been held every year from 1948 to the present without a break.

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Bill Winterton and his dog, Saucy
Circa 1921
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Sam Waller Museum Collection
Grayson, Diana

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The first organizational meeting of the Trappers' Festival, with attendees handpicked by Mr. Fishman, was held in the Elk's Club Room. Fishman took on the position of Chairman; Mr. Truor Morgan was appointed the Treasurer; Mr. Wilf Walkinshaw acted as the Secretary; and Mr. Harry Shklov had responsibility for the planning committee, soliciting advertisements for a festival booklet and raising prize money.

They discussed plans, and christened the new festival: the 'Northern Manitoba Trapper's Festival'. They also decided that, since midwinter was slow for the local fur buyers, the festival should be held in January or February. The festival would last two days and begin the day after the annual meeting between the government and trappers.

Although starting without a 'nickel to its name', the success of the first Festival was noted worldwide. Harry Shklov's job was to find financial support. He sent out hundreds of requests for businesses to advertise in the booklet, sponsor sporting events (including the dog sled races), and donate prizes to the Fur Queen and her court. The Fur Queen Competition required funding for gifts for the young women competing for the title. Two major fur auction houses in Winnipeg responded to Shklov's request and covered the costs of the Queen and her court, including the donation of a fur coat for the Queen and the cost of a trip to Chicago.

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Trappers' Festival Board
Circa 1956
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Sam Waller Museum Collection
Opasquia Times

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The Trappers' committee knew that to make the festival successful, they would need more than a few competitions. To get the community at large to attend, they would need entertainment. To that end, Rendezvous dances, beer fests, a parade, and float and costume competitions were planned for the first Trappers' Festival.

Activities included a dance at the Elk's Hall and a lavish display of furs at the Legion Hall. Three hundred people attended a banquet, with a music program that featured singing, accordion solos, and a violin, banjo, and guitar trio. Afterwards models showed off a variety of fur fashions including coats and chokers.

These events brought in a combined profit of $1400 to support the following year's festival. Prior to the opening day, a "Getting to Know You" gathering began a tradition that evolved into the popular 'Mad Trapper's Rendezvous' in later years.

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Unidentified Man with Sled Dog Team
Circa 1925
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Sam Waller Museum Collection
The Pas Historical Society

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After the success of the first Trappers' Festival, the organizers felt that they had a good chance of making the festival an annual event. They were right - there has been a Northern Manitoba Trappers' Festival held every year since that first celebration.

As this volunteer-run festival grew, so did the size of the committee running it. Directors took on various responsibilities. In later years, the board has been generally comprised of 18 members. In addition, the Kinsmen Club took on responsibility for running the Dog Sled races and the Rotary Club took on the organization of the Festival Preliminaries and Highlights competition evenings.

The Committee began the practice of naming a theme for each year of the festival. One of the themes given to the festival was "Mushing into the 90's"(1990). Each year, Real Berard, a talented Manitoba artist and noted naturalist, designs a new logo for the festival incorporating the chosen theme. Real has provided this service free of charge every year since 1973.