Colonial Despatches

Lake Winnipeg is located in central Manitoba, and it is Canada's 6th largest freshwater lake at roughly 416 km long.1 It connects to the Saskatchewan and Red Rivers among others. Henry Kelsey, an English explorer, was perhaps the first European to view this lake, the Cree name for which, “win-nipi”, means murky waters.2 Lord Selkirk travelled the length of the lake in 1812, prior to founding the Red River Colony.2

• 1. R. A. McGinn, Lake Winnipeg, The Canadian Encyclopedia.
• 2. Ibid.
• 3. Ibid.