Camperville has been governed by a mayor and council since May, 1970 and has accepted additional responsibilities through the Block Funding Program under The Northern Affairs act.

Camperville lies along one of the major early fur trade routes through Manitoba. The Earliest of the Camperville and Duck Bay settlements can be traced back to families of the Métis who at one time lived in Red River and the more western districts such as St.Francois Xavier (then known as la prairie du cheval blanc or white horse plains) St.Ambroise, and St.Laurent. 
These people, in quest of work and adventure became employees of the Hudson Bay Company and gradually found permanent places in small settlements along Lake Winnipegosis and throughout the Interlake region.

 

Salt deposits were found eight miles from the present-day town of Winnipegosis and also across the lake at salt point, and here some of these adventurers remained to prepare salt by an evaporation process for the Hudson’s bay company. This area was given the name La saline early permanent settlement resulted from this enterprise, as many of these Métis married Cree and Salteaux wives and remained there. On August 28, 1871, a treaty was signed at Manitoba House which created Pine Creek Reserve. This more or less confined first nations population to this particular area along the lake.

 

One of the Early Missionaries, who travelled in this area, using St.Laurent as a starting point, was the Reverend C.J. Camper. By that time the Hudson’s Bay Company had established a post at the present day Camperville on what is now lot 6, under the management of a Mr. McKenzie. Isaac Cowie, in his book “the Company of adventurers, states that in 1867, “there was an outpost of Shoal River at Duck Bay on Lake Winnipegosis.” With the encouragement of Father Camper, more Métis from the St.Laurent area began to settle there. Eventually this settlement became known locally as Camperville in honour of the ministrations of Father Camper. However, it wasn’t until around 1914 that this name was used on the map.

Until then it was till known geographically as Pine Creek Reserve.

 

Several Orders of Sisters served the mission as teachers, nurses, cooks and housekeepers. These included the Franciscans, the Sisters of St.Benedict, and the Oblate Sisters. When the Oblate sisters arrived in 1928, they set up a sawmill to furnish the lumber for their buildings and to provide employment for local residents.

 

The only store for many years was the Hudson’s Bay Company on Lot 6 in Camperville, which was sold to Magloire DeLaronde in 1908, and later became under the ownership of Mr. Rodier. This store also served the community of Duck Bay, which was a seasonal community in the early 20th century. In 1910, a competing store was started by J. Desrocher on the adjoining Lot 5. These merchants dealt in furs, fish, berried and Seneca roots, in exchange for tools, clothing, and other things that had become necessities to the local people by this time.

 

A road to Camperville was started from Winnipegosis just before the outbreak of war in 1939, and by the time public works came to a standstill, a construction had reached Smokey Island, five miles north of the town. Work was resumed in 1946-47 after the war and the road was completed to Duck Bay. Years later, a gravel highway was constructed from Cowan, east to Camperville, connecting the first road with PTH 10.