Red River Furniture

With the arrival of settlers SELKIRK in 1812 and subsequent construction of permanent settlements by the COMPANY OF THE Hudson Bay (HBC) and COMPANY NORTHWEST, private residences are built gradually in the Valley Red River, and a tradition of rustic furniture begins. From the beginning, the geographical isolation of the RED RIVER COLONY and transport problems affect the importation of furniture. Indeed, the furniture sent by the HBC in London must be transported by boat each year at York Factory, and then transferred to the brigades of York boats and transported within the country to reach the Red River Valley, 1300 km away.

Besides the officers of the companies which import precious furniture, apply a limit to employees about what they can carry in small wooden chests or trunks. The early settlers of Red River are facing difficulties in transportation manufacturing their own furniture to scale. Settlers and employees of companies that have the tools necessary shape of tables, chairs (like the chair of the Red River, a sturdy pine chair with a seat on boards), chests and beds where the utility and construction going on before decorating.

Private collections, museums and historic parks such as the Museum of St. Boniface and Lower Fort Garry contain examples of rustic furniture (chairs, chests, cradles, sofas, sideboards). The wood used is mostly oak, pine and ash, which are abundant in the region. Once the structural elements carefully cut and assembled, the whole is firmly fixed using wooden pegs, which vary in diameter from a quarter inch (0.5 cm) for office chairs to the HBC half inch (1 cm) for beds and sofas.

Until about 1870, generally leaves the wood furniture in its natural state, then we start to die or polish many pieces decorated with carved flowers or various reasons. In the 1860s, improved transportation with the road passing through St. Paul and the arrival of professional cabinet makers mark the decline of rustic furniture manufactured in the Red River Valley.