The Lesser Known: A History of Oddities from the Heart of the Continent

by Darren Bernhardt

Shortlisted for the 2021 Manuela Dias Book Design Award A 2021 Manitoba Day Award Honorable Mention Manitoba's history is one of being carved. Ice sculpted the land before nomadic first people pressed trails across it. Southern First Nations dug into the earth to grow corn and potatoes while those in the north mined it for quartz used in arrowheads. Fur traders arrived, expanding on Indigenous trading networks and shaping new ones. Then came settlers who chiselled the terrain with villages, towns and cities. But there is failure and suffering etched into the history. In Winnipeg, slums emerged as the city's population boomed. There were more workers than jobs and the pay was paltry. Immigrants and First Nations were treated as second-class, shunted to the fringes. Rebellions and strikes, political scandals and natural disasters occurred as the people molded Manitoba. In  The Lesser Known , Darren Bernhardt shares odd tales lost in time paired with archival images, such as The Tin Can Cathedral, the first independent Ukrainian church in North America; the jail cell hidden beneath a Winnipeg theatre; the bear pit of Confusion Corner; gardening competitions between fur trading forts and more. Once deemed important enough to be documented, these stories are now buried. It’s time to carve away at them once again.

Genres: Nonfiction

120 pages, Paperback

Published November 27, 2020

Reviews

[Dave Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any Winnipegger. And to be honest, this is the sort of book I love seeking out when I visit other places. Lesser known parts of a places history.

And although I knew some of these stories going in, much of it I didn't, and the way the author tells the stories helped make even the familiar parts feel fresh and new.

There is a certain flow to the order in which the stories are organized, although it's not explicit or obvious. It just feels natural the way it moves from one point of history to the next.

Love it. I posted a bunch of moments that stood out for me along the way, and this is the kind of book I'll enjoy having sitting around just to chat about, revisit and respark my memory of the lesser known history of the city I live in bit all too often fail and neglect to really get to know.

[RunRiverRead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book on the hidden history of Winnipeg, organized in roughly chronological detail, from before Winnipeg itself up to the 1960's.

I learned several things about my city I hadn't been aware of before, and learned a bit more in-depth about things I did know.

The book lays out in a very detailed way the origins of a "Winnipeg oddity", the key players in it, and then traces its history until it disappears (or as it is in the modern era, as a couple of them are still here) and gives a "where are they now" status on who was involved.

100% recommend this book to any locals, or anyone interested in the smaller histories of a city.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super interesting book! Leaned many new things about Winnipeg I never knew - and I have lived here all my life.

[Virginia Cail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fun way to learn some unique Winnipeg history!