Bombardier
In 1935, Bombardier launched a seven-person wooden vehicle with tracks on the back and skis in the front. The first buyers were country doctors and ambulance drivers in remote areas. The market later expanded to retailers, transportation and utility companies, mail carriers, forestry operations and, eventually, outdoorsmen. The bombardier was also used for school transportation when there was no snow plow available to clear the roads. The vehicle is driven by a set of tracks, one on each side. A sprocket in the front drives the wheels that run on the metal track to provide traction.
During its first winter of production the Bombardier B7 sold eight units before a patent was secured with the Canadian Government. While production stopped in 1951, many of the vehicles are still being used today by commercial fishermen in Manitoba.
To this day, the Bombardiers are still used for ice fishing in Manitoba. The vehicles play an essential part in the cultural identity of the Métis in St. Laurent. Since the 1950s, when the ice freezes, many fishers in St. Laurent take Bombardiers to the lake. Before then, fishermen had to have horses to haul a caboose (basically a fishing shack on sled rails) out on the ice.
In 2004, St. Laurent and Hallow Water were selected by the internationally acclaimed Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., to present exhibits of Canadian Métis and First Nations culture and heritage. These exhibits included the Bombardier as a key symbol that represents Métis culture and heritage, both historically and in present day Manitoba.
Why St. Laurent is the 'capital of Bombardier' snow machine