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The Hard Ships of the West

http://www.civilization.ca/educat/oracle/modules/ckitzan/page01_e.html
Eking out a living, however, was never easy. They arrived with little money, few possessions and no ability to speak English. The land they chose was marginal, and the Canadian environment unpredictable. Despite these challenges they persevered. But they were just two out of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Eastern and Western Europe, Scandinavia, Britain, and America who arrived in the Canadian West between 1896 and 1914. In isolation, their individual stories may be of interest only to their ancestors.
http://www.civilization.ca/educat/oracle/modules/ckitzan/page02_e.html
In the meantime, the Canadian government began its push to settle the Prairies by introducing a new initiative aimed at attracting settlers. In 1872, the Dominion Lands Act was passed, granting 160 acres (647 497 m2) free to potential settlers so long as they met a number of conditions. These included building a dwelling, planting crops and living on the land for at least three years. Despite such incentives, a disappointingly low number of immigrants arrived before the late 1890s. The largest group to take advantage of the opportunities the new region had to offer was from Ontario. After Confederation, Ontarians arrived in Manitoba in such large numbers that Winnipeg was often referred to, tongue in cheek, as Ontario West.
http://www.civilization.ca/educat/oracle/modules/ckitzan/page03_e.html
The majority of the new immigrants did choose to settle in the grasslands. Once they had selected their homestead section, their first challenge was to build a home quickly using the material available to them. In those areas where wood was scarce, many created this first house out of piled up sod cut from the ground. Once this was accomplished, they had to begin breaking up the land in order to plant their crops. This long, wearying work was made easier for those who could afford tools, machines and animals. Not all could. Even if these farm families successfully built their homesteads and planted their crops, there were always factors beyond their control that could determine their success or failure. Drought, dust storms, hail, floods, frost, and blizzards were just some of the natural disasters a farming family might face.