Pre-settlement Indigenous groups sourced berries from the area before European contact, including
saskatoons and
choke cherries. A 1965 excavation identified a
cairn and
stone circle in Manyberries, dated to around the
3rd century, that was originally believed to be the remnants of a
medicine wheel built by
Indigenous peoples. It was also posited to be a
burial site due to
phalanx bones found between rocks, and the presence of a pit containing human remains. He suggested the bones found there had been the result of self-sacrifices by participants, as some groups believed this practice would help induce visions. By 1911, a settlement stood in the area today known as Manyberries. In Manyberries' early years, the townsite contained services including a
general store,
blacksmith, and
hotel. Five
grain elevators were built in Manyberries shortly after the establishment of its train station, and a young
Wilfrid Eggleston briefly worked in one of Manyberries' stores. Manyberries' population halved to 200 residents by 1921, and by 1927, only one grain elevator remained operational.
Later 20th century: 1940-1999 In 1949, the federal government established a station in Manyberries to experiment with cross-breeding
cattle and
buffalo. The '
cattalo' project continued into the 1950s. The Manyberries School absorbed students from nearby hamlets as their schools closed due to low enrolment numbers. A new schoolhouse was constructed in 1956, followed by expansions in 1959 and 1968. In the fall of 1954, the federal government assessed Manyberries to be one of the "driest" places surveyed for
precipitation in Canada, alongside
Summerland. By 1970, only one grain elevator remained active in Manyberries. The society hosted a
homecoming event for early settlers in 1979, then published a local history,
Manyberries Chinook, in 1985. Around the mid-1980s, the hamlet began to host an annual
Manyberries Rodeo, which went on hiatus in 2000. CPR services ended to Manyberries by 1983, and the railroad was removed in the 1990s. The Manyberries Railway Station was converted into a residential dwelling and
bed and breakfast until around 2014, when it became solely private property. Fearing the unusual tracks would unsettle their neighbours, Dunlop told only his wife, Thelma, of his discovery. Best described it as "the weirdest thing [he had] ever encountered," though he declined to comment when asked if he agreed the prints were those of a mythical creature. Media interest in the story persisted throughout December. Thelma Dunlop expressed certainty that the prints had been left by Bigfoot, Prior to voting upon its closure, the
Prairie Rose School Division heard that some
grades had just one student. The Manyberries Community Association revived the Manyberries Rodeo in 2025, hosting live music and pancake breakfasts to accompany the exhibition. Organizers described attendance as having "greatly" exceeded expectations.
Paleontological discoveries In 2001,
University of Calgary graduate student Michael Ryan was camping in Manyberries when he discovered a fossil that proved to be an undiscovered species of
dinosaur, the
Albertaceratops. The land's owner, rancher Cecil Nesmo, aided Ryan in conducting further investigations; Ryan subsequently gave the dinosaur the specific name of
Albertaceratops nesmoi in Nesmo's honour. == Geography ==