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The popular Louis Riel, a Metis, led the Red River Rebellion of 1869-70 (and was executed in 1885 for his role in the Northwest Rebellion). Regardless, on July 15, 1870, the tiny bilingual province of Manitoba (about 1/18th its current size and with a population of 25,000) entered Confederation.

TODAY Winnipeg is still one of the most interesting towns in Canada. With sizeable Ukrainian, Jewish, French, Metis, North American Indian, German, Scottish, Polish, Irish and even Icelandic communities, it is much more diverse than one would expect. It is also a city that has learned to entertain itself. It has an active schedule of festivals, outdoor activities and public events. And it's a nice place to be.

You can also follow Louis Riel all over town. There is the Riel House National Historic Site (his family home, restored to how it looked in 1886), the St. Boniface Museum (the old Grey Nuns Convent) that has the largest collection of Riel artifacts in the country, and even a tour with actors playing historical characters in St. Boniface Cathedral's cemetery, where his tomb is housed. HIDDEN TREASURES The HBC archives (www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/) are reputed to be the second deepest, privately collected archives in the world (after the Vatican). And, in 1994, the Company gave them to the Provincial Archives of Manitoba. The public is now welcome to dive into almost two kilometres of shelving (or access some of the collection by Internet).