The Origins of St. Vital
The community of St. Vital dates back to the 1820’s when permanent homes were first set up just 10 years after the original party of Selkirk Settlers landed in Red River in 1812. Coming from down river from the Pembina region, these buffalo hunters and their families were the pioneer settlers of this locality.
When the Selkirk Settlers arrived in Red River in 1812, they discovered that the two fur companies maintained posts along the Red River (Fort Pembina) and along the Assiniboine River (Portage La Prairie, Brandon House, Montaigne La Basse near Birtle and Alexandria near Fort Pelly). These posts were established on the margins of Plains country and their trade was largely in provisions such as dried meat and pemmican.
They also found that a number of French-speaking people, who had been formerly employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company, had settled in the vicinity of Pembina and Devil’s Lake and were making a living as independent hunters selling their products to these fur trade establishments. The Selkirk colonists soon erected a post of their own, Fort Daer, to be near to the buffalo hunters where they spent the wint