Bowsman is an unincorporated urban community in the

Municipality of Minitonas – Bowsman The Municipality of Minitonas – Bowsman is a rural municipality (RM) in the Parkland Region of Manitoba, Canada. More precisely, it is located in the Swan Valley area. History The RM was incorporated on January 1, 2015 via the amalgamation ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

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. The community is 16 kilometres north of the Town of Swan River. Bowsman was originally incorporated as a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in 1949, but lost that status upon its amalgamation with the Rural Municipality of Minitonas on 1 January 2015. The economy is supported by agriculture and logging. Currently the community offers a hotel with restaurant, lounge, and bar, K–8 school, hockey arena, curling rink, library, post office.

History

Bowsman School, Bowsman, Manitoba (1914)

Bowsman was originally incorporated as a

in 1949. J.B. Tyrell, a surveyor, came up with the name "Bowsman" after the first man out of the bow of the boat who touched the land. Originally known as "Bowsman River" because of the river, the name was shortened to Bowsman in 1952. On 1 January 2015, Bowsman lost its status as a village upon its amalgamation with the Rural Municipality of Minitonas.

Biffy Burning

Bowsman completed their first municipal sewer lines and sewage treatment plant in October 1966. The project connected the majority of homes in town to the town sewer lines. For many people, this was the day that their outdoor

pit toilet A pit latrine, also known as pit toilet, is a type of toilet that collects human feces in a hole in the ground. Urine and feces enter the pit through a drop hole in the floor, which might be connected to a toilet seat or squatting pan for user ...

or " biffy" was replaced by an indoor flush toilet. Trucks hauled the discarded wooden biffies to make a large pile near the new sewage plant. On

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

, 31 December 1966, residents gathered to celebrate the beginning of Canada's Centennial year and the arrival of community sewer service by burning the pile of their old outhouses. A monument to commemorate the day of the "Biffy Burning" was dedicated on Canada Day, 1970. In 1971,

postal codes A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal a ...

in Manitoba were introduced; Bowsman's postal code was changed to R0L 0H0 which is said to stand for "Roll Our Loyal Out Houses Over" in honour of this event.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Bowsman had a population of 237 living in 105 of its 127 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 262. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

References

{{coord, 52, 14, 09, N, 101, 12, 26, W, display=title Designated places in Manitoba Unincorporated communities in Parkland Region, Manitoba Unincorporated urban communities in Manitoba 1949 establishments in Manitoba Former villages in Manitoba Populated places disestablished in 2015