Stonewall

History

When the last ice age retreated, as well as the prairies, escarpments such as Riding Mountain were left behind. In addition to these, smaller elevations were left behind such as Stony Mountain and Stonewall. It is believed that these escarpments were used as look-outs by early hunters approximately 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. These formations were later used as buffalo jumps by the indigenous populations. Stonewall was founded by Samuel Jacob Jackson in 1878, after he acquired the land the town is built upon in 1875. However, Jackson did not move to Stonewall himself until 1881. During the peak times of the quarry, large amounts of dynamite was used for blasting the rock. The dynamite was kept in the powder magazine which has since been rebuilt near the entrance to Stonewall Quarry Park. On June 30, 1880, the CPR railway line between Winnipeg and Victoria Junction, east of Stonewall, was completed. The construction of the line continued west passing through Stonewall, Hanlan and Meadow Lea before turning south-west towards Portage la Prairie during the summer of 1880. The transcontinental line was originally planned to pass through Selkirk, but was actually built through Winnipeg following heavy lobbying from the city. The line west of Stonewall was therefore rebuilt through Rosser. The line north-west from Stonewall was subsequently extended through Teulon, Komarno before eventually reaching Arborg in 1910. In 2008, the RM of Rockwood decided that the line was obsolete. With the city of Winnipeg's help the line was taken out. The present town hall was built in 1912 using local limestone. Following the closure of the quarry, Kinsmen Lake was developed on the site and opened to the public on August 10, 1956. The lake has become a popular location for locals and…

Most-observed species

• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,776
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,934
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,569
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,687
• Barn Swallow

  Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,539
• Western Meadowlark

  Sturnella neglecta Audubon, 1844 · Aves
  2,443
• Killdeer

  Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,396
• Blue-winged Teal

  Spatula discors (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,384