Manning Battle River Pioneer Museum
A dream years in the making became a reality in 1983 with the grand
opening of the
Battle River Pioneer Museum. The facility, located one kilometre east of the
town of Manning on Highway #69, is operated
entirely by volunteers and has a wide variety of artifacts on display
ranging from antique dairy implements to farm machinery. It offers
local visitors and passing motorists an opportunity to explore the
pioneering lifestyle of settlers to the Peace Country.
The museum consists of a large main building, a cabin, a post
office, a blacksmith shop and machine sheds. Artifacts donated from
all over the Peace Country, and as far away as the United States,
grace the displays at this unique rural museum.
Among the prized treasures are a full-mount albino moose, timber
wolf, two-headed calf, buffalo calf and other wildlife. Other items
include a Windigo moose skull, rocks, books household items, a
hand-carved three-strand wooden necklace, tools small engines,
clothing, office equipment, buggies and much more. There are two large
burls, and a stump with five trees growing from it, a length of tree
that separates to two trees then back to one, and other unusual tree
formations.
The highlight of the facility is a collection of antique farm
equipment. This collection, which is known province wide, numbers
close to 55 operational tractors, some built as early as 1918.
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