Souris is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of Souris – Glenwood within the Canadian province of Manitoba that held town status prior to January 1, 2015 (2016 population: 1,876). It is located within the municipality at the confluence of Plum Creek and Souris River, from which it takes its name. Before 1882, the town was called Plum Creek. The community is home to Canada's longest historic cable-stayed footbridge (), known as the Swinging Bridge, which spans the Souris River that divides the community. The Swinging Bridge was built in 1904 as a means of transportation over the Souris River. Residents of Souris are referred to as Sourisites. History The area of Souris was first explored by Europeans when La Verendrye arrive in 1738, when it seems he initially mistook the Souris River for the Missouri River. The area of the townsite was later explored by David Thompson in 1797-98 and Alexander Henry the younger in 1805. Detailed accounts of life on the Souris plains in the early 1800s were diarized in detail by a Captain John Rogers. His diaries remain saved with the Government of Manitoba's Archive Division today. Rogers was later killed in the Battle of Seven Oaks, ending his exploration of the area. In the years after, considerable fur trade continued in the area, documented by Peter Garrioch in 1843-44. Buffalo still roamed these plains in the early 1800s before the herds were killed out. From the mid-century to the late 1800s, only the Assiniboine people roamed these areas. The first permanent settlers to the area arrived in 1880 when Captain Gilbert Wood, his wife, and two children came to the area. They travelled to Winnipeg by way of Chicago, from there they took a buckboard wagon west, pulled by oxen while a steamship carried their goods up the Assiniboine River. Captain Wood had heard of a man named Lang who told him the land at Plum Creek and the Souris River was a beautiful place to settle. Wood, curious by this notion, hired a guide by the name of Bangs and they set out to see the area for themselves. This resulted in a 3-4 day round trip from their camp at Millford which is on the south bank of the Assiniboine at Treesbank, Manitoba. When they returned his wife asked him what he thought of the area, to which he replied that it was