Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Arason, Skapti
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1850-1903
History
Skapti Arason, born in Iceland in 1850, immigrated to Quebec in 1874 with 360 other Icelanders on a ship operated by the Allen Ship Lines. He proceeded to Toronto with the majority of the other Icelanders. In 1875, the Canadian government sent Arason to scout out settlement prospects in the new province of Manitoba. It is believed that Arason was one of the first Icelanders to visit Manitoba. Upon arrival in Winnipeg, Arason and three other Icelanders traveled up the Red River to the western shore of Lake Winnipeg before choosing to begin a settlement near present day Gimli. In 1881, due to repeated crop failure, Arason left the settlement in the Interlake and resettled on a homestead near what would become the town of Glenboro. Arason farmed in the Glenboro area until his death in 1903.