August 3: Treaties 1 and 2 signed; Manitoba's first Olympian; John Loaring, track star.

August 3, 1871 – Treaties 1 and 2 are signed between the Dominion of Canada the Ojibway and Cree Nations at Lower Fort Garry. The preamble states, in part:

“…..whereas the said Indians have been notified and informed by Her Majesty's said Commissioner that it is the desire of Her Majesty to open up to settlement and immigration a tract of country bounded and described as hereinafter mentioned, and to obtain the consent thereto of her Indian subjects inhabiting the said tract, and to make a treaty and arrangements with them so that there may be peace and good will between them and Her Majesty, and that they may know and be assured of what allowance they are to count upon and receive year by year from Her Majesty's bounty and benevolence.”

You can read the handwritten Treaty One, in all its legal mumbo-jumbo goodness, here.

August 3,1878 - Richard "Dick" Grant is born in Dufferin, Manitoba. He is the first Manitoba-born Olympian, competing in the marathon at the 1900 Paris Olympics while attending Harvard University. He finished 7th of 13, one place ahead of fellow Canadian Ronald McDonald of Antigonish N.S..

Dick's brother Alex also competed at the same games. Even the New York Times mention the racing brothers at one of their final races before their journey to Paris.

Canada didn’t have an Olympic organization at the time so they went with the American delegation. As a result the four Canadian members are sometimes listed as Americans. George Orton, for instance, won bronze in the 400 m hurdles and gold in the 3,000 m steeplechase for the U.S., despite being a Canadian.

Also see CBC's Paris Almost Put an End to Olympic Movement and Wamsley's Canadian participation in the Games of 1900.

August 3, 1915 – John Wilfrid Loaring is born in Winnipeg. The Loarings moved to Windsor, Ontario when John was 11 and it was while attending Western University that he became an international track star.

Loaring competed at three events in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and won silver in the 400m hurdles. He also anchored the 4 x 400m hurdle relay that came in fourth. World War II kept Loaring from competing during his prime running years.

Despite leaving Winnipeg as a child, local media still covered his every move on and off the track. Loaring died in 1969 in Windsor, Ontario.

Here's a blog post from his grandson talking about Loaring as well as Usain Bolt's August 2009 world record time !