M E T A L M A N 9

M E T A L M A N 9

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August 31, 2024 The Letellier Church Site

August 31, 2024 The Letellier Church Site

August 31, 2024 The Letellier Church Site There is an empty lot in Letellier, situated on 1st Street East, right in the center of town. It was the site of the local church. The Church building is now gone. It was sold and moved in 2019 but the grounds remain. The land itself is now in private hands. It is an old and historic site and this is where our adventure begins. The original old church was moved from St. Pie to Letellier in 1891 - 133 years ago. In 1967, the year of Canada’s Centennial, a new church was built on this same site. Fast forward 48 years and the church building moves to Miami Manitoba. About a year ago, I was able to obtain the coveted “Land Owner’s Permission” to metal detect on this property. Permission to detect on private property is one of the key foundations of metal detecting. I rounded up the usual suspects: Randy, Monty and off to Letellier we went. The three of us say “Thank You” to the property owners for the opportunity. We spent about four hours plus on site. The center part of the lot, where this large building sat has been backfilled with soil. There is a bit of undisturbed space at the front end between the street curb, sidewalk, and it extends up to where the church’s front entrance would have been. There is also quite a bit of open space at the back of the lot. It’s a deep lot. The north side of the church was positioned close to the cemetery. On the south side, the ground space is a bit wider but it was neither clear nor obvious as to where the next lot starts and the church’s lot ends. There had also been a path leading to the presbytery. Care and respect was given to stay within these boundaries and we tried to stay out of the center filled portion so as to not introduce items that don’t belong or relate to the church yard itself. Nothing very old was found. I have a feeling that a lot of fill might have been brought in as landscaping back in 1967. With a site that is 133 years old, I had expected to find much older relics and artifacts. If these exist…. And they should, then, I believe that they are covered over at depth and presently out of the reach of our metal detectors. Found and worthy of note are the following. 1 – Horseshoe nail and a horse tack ring. The door frame piece with keyhole is relatively old and predates the 1967 build. All three of us found coins: 1 – US .10c piece dated 1951 and a US penny dated 1959. The quarters are from 1974. The remaining coins are all 1970’s and 1980’s. Randy did find one ring that I believe dates back to the 1960’s and says “PEACE”. Monty found the Chrysler car wheel hub. The beer cans came out of the edge of the recent fill. The Eveready flashlight was found between the curb and the sidewalk. It’s crushed but the overall condition is surprisingly good with very little rust or corrosion. A bit of a surprise to all of us were the three different sized swather cutter bar teeth. These would have come from three different machines. This is after all a farming community. We were also met and greeted by some of the friendly Letellier town folks: Dennis, Luke and Bonnie. Overall it was a pleasure to have access to such an old and historic site. I will certainly return for a second go around. From here, we drove about 3 or 4 miles south along the old Pembina Trail, now called Manchester Ave., to the actual site where the 1890’s church stood. A huge white cross marks the spot. From there we visited the National Historic site of Fort Dufferin. It’s a very interesting site indeed and a great way to end the day. Roger Reference: http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/stpieromancatholiccemetery.shtml https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/fortdufferin.shtml