This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Red River Ghost


The hardships faced by Manitoba’s first settlers are well documented. During the 19th century, extreme weather, with its accompanying floods and crop fail- ures, was just one of the hazards faced by the pioneers. There are many tragic stories of these hard times.


A much loved institution, the tea room and museum at Kennedy House closed permanently this past spring due to structural and safety issues.


sophistication); the St. Andrews Rec- tory and Anglican Church, the old- est stone church still being used for worship in Western Canada; and the Kennedy House. Tis stately home was the principal residence of Captain William Kennedy, an adventurer and leading figure in the Arctic search for Sir John Franklin. Shortly after passing Kennedy House, River Road descends nearer to water level. Marsh ecosystems, com- plete with bulrushes and lazy geese, replace the magnificent homes that marked earlier points of the drive. To the right, fishermen lazily drop their rods, trolling for channel cat. Tis sight becomes even more frequent the nearer you are to town. At the historic lock and dam in


Lockport, a wall of metal and concrete jolts you back to the present day with a reminder that, for all its late fall torpor, the Red River once presented consid- erable danger to riverboat traffic. Today, Lockport is still a favoured destination for Winnipeg’s Sunday adventure seekers. Families take a leisurely drive along scenic River Road with the thought of hot dogs and French fries at their journey's end. Te famous Skinner’s Restau- rant, opened in 1929 and with two locations in Lockport and one at Te Forks in Winnipeg, is the old- est continually-run hot dog stand in


thehubwinnipeg.com


One such tale is that of the Red River Ghost. Years ago, just off of Highway 9 near Selkirk, along the winding River Road, a rather strange premonition forever changed life for one local area man. Early one morning, he was deliver- ing milk along his regular route. Given his familiarity with the area and his customers, he was startled – especially at so early an hour – to see a woman he didn’t recognize rapidly making her way across the road and down to the river.


A feeling of extreme discomfort imme- diately overcame him, but thinking to help, he tried to approach her. He was puzzled to see that she was wearing mid-19th century clothing. Furthermore, as he approached her, the woman’s image began to dissolve until it faded completely away, leaving the milkman alternately confused and aghast.


Half Moon Drive-In at Lockport cele- brates it’s 77th anniversary this year.


Canada. Te ever-popular Half Moon Drive-In was opened in 1938 and still draws a crowd. Both are steeped in forties and fifties nostalgia and serve homemade fries and wonderful boiled, foot-long, Winnipeg Old Country Sausage hot dogs with a skin that pops deliciously in your mouth. You can take your food treasures


down to the Lockport Park on the lower east bank of the Red and watch the fishermen haul in their catch or, if you get lucky, maybe they will open the locks to let a large boat go through. It’s all worth the trip!


In the days and weeks that followed, the milkman could not shake the image of the woman running to the riverbank, nor the way her cries for help pierced the early morning. After confiding to friends and family, he was forced to acknowl- edge that he might have seen a ghost.


This was reinforced when he learned that, according to local legend, a century earlier a young boy fell into the river near the spot where the milkman spied his apparition. The boy’s mother, it is said, had been near her son at the time, but too late noticed his plunge into the river. Despite her frantic attempts to rescue the boy, he drowned.


It is also said the woman never forgave herself for her son’s drowning and that her anguish persisted until her death years later.


Fall 2015 • 35


Photos courtesy of Half Moon Drive In.


Photo from Pegasus Publications Inc. archives.


Photo by Bonny b Bendix.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104