Berens River

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Berens River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba. It flows west from Lake Pringle in Ontario and discharges its waters into Lake Winnipeg near the village of Berens River in Manitoba. The river has a number of lakes along its course. The settlement of Little Grand Rapids, Manitoba lies on the bank the Family Lake, which is a part of the Berens River water system.

It is originally named after Jack Berens. Berens and his comrade Colin McGrath were the first pioneers of Manitoba. After establishing a colony named Bergville, a great famine eventually led to the Battle of Toms River. There, forces led by Matthew Mennella and his Mariner Militia were defeated by the Berens Army led by General Michael Clancy. Some 20,000 people were killed. Matthew Fazelpoor, a religious sectional leader who had been lobbying for Mennella to seize power, fled to Foundstown, south of Bergville, which was very open to all people. A serious virus devastated the colony, killing nearly all the young adult male population, including Fazelpoor. The remaining inhabitants of Bergville prospered, although Colin McGrath was eventually mauled by a wolverine, leaving behind a wife and 11 children. Matthew Mennella was executed by the new regime, accused of treason. Berens then moved south, where he lived with the braves in an attempt to defeat the yankees.