East Reserve 125

A brief historical sketch of Hanover–Steinbach, 1874 to 1999, in commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the settlement of the East Reserve, August 1, 1874. Published as a supplement to Preservings, no. 13 (December 1998).

From the book: A casual visitor driving through along Highway 12 or 59 and observing the well-tended fields of grain, canola, corn and potatoes, and the pleasant hamlets and villages, as well as the strikingly prosperous City of Steinbach [Manitoba], might well wonder, who are these people and what made them unique?

The rigors of the pioneering experience, so totally foreign to those who have known only the comforts of modern affluence, seem to intrigue modern North Americans more and more with each passing year. The exposition of these heroic times and the saga of the noble and courageous people who settled the Hanover Steinbach area in 1874, building a community with bare bleeding hands, brick by brick and acre by acre of thriving farmland, is slowly being retrieved from the journals, letters and other records which they left for posterity.

The abundance of historical material and writing now coming forth makes the availability of an interpretative analytical history possible. This booklet will provide an introduction and overview of the story of these people. It is the first historical work to consider the Hanover Steinbach settlement as a distinctive cultural and geographical community. It will also serve as a keepsake and memento of this important milestone in our history, the occasion of the 125th anniversary of Hanover Steinbach.

History, like life itself, is at best an inexact science. It is my hope that this booklet will in some way be the precursor to a more detailed analytical history which our community so desperately needs.