To understand the excitement over the arrival of the first railway locomotive in Winnipeg in 1877, it must be realized that one of the basic modes of transportation was the "shrieking" Red River Cart pulled by oxen. In the pre-railway era all good sentering Winnipeg had to come in from one of three directions: from Eastern Canada over one thousand miles of rock, muskeg, and tangled waterways; from the Hudson's Bay by way of a gruelling overland route; or from St. Paul, Minnesota to the south. On the latter route, these Red River Carts were often used.
