A Trip to Manitoba

"A Trip to Manitoba" by Mary Agnes FitzGibbon is a travel story, maybe from the late 1800s, that looks at the growing Canadian province of Manitoba, filled with different people. It shows what it was like for people traveling there, especially how much things changed after the Canada Pacific Railway was finished. FitzGibbon writes about the province's natural resources and the mix of cultures that came from immigrants moving there. She describes the local people, including Indigenous groups and settlers from Europe, to create a lively image of a frontier that was rapidly changing. The story begins with the author getting on the steamer "Manitoba" in Sarnia, capturing the eagerness and slight chaos of passengers starting a journey. As the ship sails across Lake Huron, the author shares her views of the land, her conversations with other travelers, and the overall feeling on the boat, setting the scene for adventures and observations in the Canadian wilderness.