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The Riel House National Historic Site , 330 River Rd (mid-May to early Sept daily 10am-6pm; donation; tel 257-1783 or 1-888/748-2928, bus #16 from the Portage Place Mall), in the suburb of St Vital, about 10km south of the city centre, is just about worth the trip. The main feature of the site is a tiny clapboard house that was built by the Riels in 1880-81 and stayed in their possession until 1968. Louis Riel never actually lived here, but this was where his body was brought after his execution in 1885, and the house has been restored to its appearance at that time, complete with black-bordered photographs and a few artefacts left by his wife, Marguerite. Other period furnishings and fittings give a good idea of the life of a prosperous Metis family in the 1880s. The railway had reached St Boniface in 1877, a time when the simple products of the Red River could be supplemented by manufactured goods from the east with relative ease - the iron stove, the most obvious import, improved the tel quality of the Riels' life immeasurably. Costumed guides provide an enjoyable twenty-minute tour of the house and garden, the sole remnant of the once sizeable Riel landholdings. Across the Red River from the suburb of St Vital, at the city's southern limits, is the Fort Whyte Centre , 1961 McCreary Rd (summer Mon & Tues 9am-5pm, Wed-Fri 9am-9pm, Sat, Sun & holidays 10am-9pm; rest of year Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat, Sun & holidays 10am-5pm; $3.50; www.fortwhyte.org ), an environmental education centre dealing with the diversity of plants and animals of the prairie ecosystem. It's a real outdoors experience, with a wildlife observation tower, herd of bison, deer enclosure and a maze of self-guiding trails through woodlands and marsh, plus an interpretive centre. There's no public transport to Fort Whyte.
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