The Argyle settlement extends almost from Glenboro to the north and to Baldur in the south. It stretches southwest to Belmont and northeast to Cypress River. The Hóla Settlement was then north and northeast of Cypress River.
Many villages and towns in Manitoba have been renamed, and Cypress River, in the southern part of the province, is a good example. Legend has it that two brothers, Robert and Nathaniel Little, were instrumental in forming the village, founded in 1879; it was named Littleton in their honor. The village is about 155 km (96 miles) west of Winnipeg, 16 km (10 miles) east of Glenboro. Although Cypress River has never been a large town, several Icelanders became part of its history. Let’s take a look at the Sögu Íslendinga í Vesturheimi, Volume 4, p. 212:
“Jónas Anderson, son of Halldór Árnason (Anderson) from Sigurðarstaðir on Slétta, was a big businessman there for decades and a leader of the Icelanders in the area. He served for a long time on the school and town councils. Helgi Helgason has run an agricultural tools store for many years. His colleague is Brian Arason, the grandson of Skafti Arason. Sveinbjörn Hjaltason, a native of Stykkishólmur, and Sigurður Pétursson (brother of Dr. Helgi Péturss) worked there for a long time as merchants, the latter still living there. Mention should be made here of the Icelanders who I remember living in the village to some extent: Ólafur Torfason from Þingeyjarsýsla, Sigurjón Stefánsson from Raufarhöfn (he died there in 1897 or 1898), Ingólfur Árnason from Eyjafjörður, Guðlaug Friðriksson from Skagafjörður and her son Jóhannes and her other people, Snorri and Árni Anderson (Jónas’ brothers), Halldóra Kingsley. Björn B. Halldórsson (son of Björn from Úlfsstaðir in Loðmundarfjörður) had the hotel there for a few years, Þorsteinn Indriðason had a general store there some time ago. Björn Helgason is a grain merchant there.”
To this can be added that Ingólfur Markússon, who was born in Hamrar in Eyjafjörður in 1863, came to the Cypress River in 1921 and became the superintendent of the primary and secondary school in the town.
In 1882 Jón Ólafsson, born in Eyjafjarðarsýsla on September 3, 1829, took land in the northeastern part of the Argyle Settlement and named his farm Brú. A post office and a meeting house were opened there, and the Freedom Church (Fríkirkja) was built east of Brú. That church was de-consecrated in 1997 and remodeled into a restaurant, Cafe Bru.
Cypress River about the turn of the century. Photo: Prairie Towns