Red River Front Range Lighthouse Photograph courtesy Library and Archives Canada

The Red River originates at the confluence of the Boise de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers and then flows north, forming most of the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota. For its final portion, the river flows through southern Manitoba before emptying into Lake Winnipeg. The Red River was a key trade route for the Hudson’s Bay Company and contributed to the settlement of British North America.

In 1880, a lightship, built by John and Charles Short at a cost of $2,468, was placed in Lake Winnipeg at the mouth of the Red River. This vessel was scow shaped and had a small tower amidships from which a fixed white catoptric light was exhibited at a height of twenty-one feet above the water. Joseph Monkman was appointed the first keeper of the lightship at an annual salary of $250. He served for three years, and then Northwest Navigation apparently took charge of the vessel until William Hughes became its keeper in 1885.

The Red River empties into Lake Winnipeg by several mouths through a delta. The lightship was initially placed at the eastern mouth, but a few years later it was relocated to the western mouth as it carried the best water. The lightship was beached when it was relocated to the western mouth, and it served as a shore light until 1893, when the eastern channel became the deepest. At this time, the lantern was removed from the lightship and established atop a pole at the east channel.

After an inspection by the chief engineer of the Department of Marine in August 1894, the decision was made to placed a pair of range lights at the mouth of the eastern channel. These lights were accordingly erected and then placed in operation on September 2, 1895.

Red River Rear Range Lighthouse in 1922 Photograph courtesy Marine Museum of Manitoba

The following description of the lights was published that year:

The back tower is built on a pile foundation in a hay marsh on the east side of the channel, 2,020 feet south 10° W. of the position of the temporary pole light above described.

The tower is a wooden building, square in plan, rising with a taper, and surmounted by a square wooden lantern. It is 47 feet high from the pile foundation to the vane on the lantern. The lantern and lantern base down to the cornice on the tower are painted red, the remainder of the tower is painted white, with a red stripe three feet wide, extending from top to foot of the tower upon the north side, or the side facing the channel.

The light is a fixed while catoptric light, elevated 46 feet above the summer level of the lake. It should be visible 12 miles from all points of approach by water.

The front range light tower is located on a pile foundation on the shoals on the west side of the channel, and is distant about 3,600 feet N. 1° 15' W. from the back tower and is so placed that the line of range leads up the lake to a point midway between the two outermost pile beacons.

The tower is a wooden building, square in plan, tapering to the lantern, which is of wood and square. It is 27 feet high from its base to the vane on the lantern. In the lower portion the framework is left open; the upper portion is inclosed. The lantern is painted red and the remainder of the tower white with a red stripe three feet wide in the middle of the side facing the channel.

The light is a fixed white catoptric light, elevated 23 feet above the summer level of the lake. It should be visible in, and over a small arc on each side of, the line of range, ten miles. It should also be visible in the dredged channel and the mouth of the river.

The two lights in one, bearing N. 1 15' W., lead vessels, coming up the lake to enter Red River, to the dredged channel midway between the two outermost beacons. The dredged channel is a curved one, and is marked by pile beacons on each side surmounted by barrels. After making the outermost beacons the range lights must be left on the starboard hand, and after passing the bend the channel leads midway between the two buildings.

William Hughes, who had been in charge of the lightship since 1883, served as keeper of the range lights until 1924, a span of forty-one years. James Aikins, the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, awarded Hughes the Imperial Service Medal, not longer after the keeper retired. This medal was presented, upon retirement, to government servants who had given at least 25 years of faithful and meritorious service.

”Forty-one years is a long time to be on the job,” Keeper Hughes remarked. “Too long, I guess. Anyway, the lighthouse game was always kind of tame There never was much doing. Some storms, of course, but they were the only excitement I ever had. When I first went on there was only one steamer on the lake, the Coleville, and I had worked for a couple of years on her. She came to another sad end, burned to lake waters’ edge in the late eighties. Now, of course, there are plenty, but it never was hard work. Just the lights have to be tended at night. Two of them, one small one on the left bank and a big one quite a way back from the river mouth. By day things were pretty slack, except in later years with visits from campers from Winnipeg and the beaches.”

Roderick E. Spence replaced Hughes as keeper and served through at least 1937. According to a newspaper article, Keeper Spence famous for three things: his family of twelve children, his ability to talk at great length, and his prowess at catching catfish, which became a remunerative hobby. This same article noted that Keeper Hughes was known for his 10-gauge shotgun and the brace of mallards he seemed to always have ready to exchange for a few whitefish from the local fishermen.

In 1913, new range lights were built to mark the entrance to the Red River. A twenty-seven-foot-tall wooden tower on a pile foundation was built for the front light, and a two-section steel skeletal tower topped by a wooden tower and also supported by a pile foundation was built for the rear light. A dioptric lens was placed in the front light, and a catoptric apparatus was installed in the back light. M.J. Egan oversaw the project, which cost $3,091. This new set of lights served until 1992, when the front lighthouse was relocated to the grounds of the Marine Museum of Manitoba in Selkirk and the 1913 rear light was demolished.

Modern towers were placed at the entrance to Red River in 1992. These range lights served until 2019, when the front light was discontinued and the rear light was renamed Red River Mouth Light. This light is a flashing white light displayed from a skeletal tower.

Keepers: Joseph Monkman (1880 – 1883), William Hughes (1883 – 1924), Roderick E. Spence (1924 – at least 1937), Hughie Reed.

References

1. Annual Report of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, various years.
2. “Light Keepers Are The Sailors’ Best Friends,” Captain Ed Nelson, Winnipeg Free Press, June 19, 1965.
3. “Lighthouse Keeper Trims His Lamps on Red River 41 Years Without a Skip,” The Winnipeg Tribune, August 17, 1925.

From Winnipeg, travel north on Main Street (Hwy 9A) for 35 km to Selkirk, Manitoba. Once in Selkirk, turn right on Queen Avenue, continue one block, and you will see the lighthouse on the grounds of Marine Museum of Manitoba.

The lighthouse is owned by Marine Museum of Manitoba. Grounds open, tower closed.

Find the closest hotels to Red River Lighthouse