Pearl Lorentzen
Lakeside Leader

A trip of 1,300 km still takes around 13 and a half hours, but when the first printing press came to Fort Edmonton, it took a lot longer.

“Antoine Genaille freighted the first printing press on the prairies from Fort Garry to Fort Edmonton by dogsled,” says ‘Undaunted by cold, hunger, and injury,’ an article about Antoine’s life in the October 8, 1981 Western People.

According to Google Maps, this is around 1,300 km (808 miles).

“I cycled across the prairies twice before I came across this guy’s story,” says Slave Laker Robert Genaille. He was raising money for diabetes both times.

Antoine was Robert’s great-grandfather’s brother, which makes him Robert’s great grand uncle.

Robert first learned about Antoine at a museum in Calgary in about 1998. He’d brought some Métis youth to the museum. The curator asked Robert his last name. Upon hearing it, the man excused himself and came back a moment later with the aforementioned article.

Antoine was born in 1836 at lle a la Crosse (Saskatchewan), which at the time was the Northwest Territories, says the article. He was a mail runner for the Northwest Mounted Police for 25 years. He could cover up to 80 miles in one day with his dogsled. In summer, he carried the mail on foot. Antoine died at 93 in his home in Nut Lake, Sask.

Robert is Métis. He’s originally from Manitoba. He has lived in Slave Lake since 2012.

“I’ve kind of been interested in that stuff for a long time,” he says, referring to family history. He’s also developed “an interest in Aboriginal culture,” he adds.

Dancing is another connection Robert has with his Métis roots. He’s a two-time Provincial Red River Jig champion.