Qu'Appelle River
Encyclopedia
The Qu'Appelle River is a Canadian river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 that flows 430 km
1 E5 m
A length of 100 kilometers , as a rough amount, is relatively common in measurements on Earth and for some astronomical objects.It is the altitude at which the FAI defines spaceflight to begin....

 east from Lake Diefenbaker
Lake Diefenbaker
Lake Diefenbaker is a reservoir in Southern Saskatchewan, Canada. It was formed by the construction of Gardiner Dam and the Qu'Appelle River Dam across the South Saskatchewan and Qu'Appelle Rivers respectively. Construction began in 1959 and the lake was filled in 1967. The lake is long with...

 in southwestern Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

 to join the Assiniboine River
Assiniboine River
The Assiniboine River is a river that runs through the prairies of Western Canada in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It is a tributary of the Red River. The Assiniboine is a typical meandering river with a single main channel embanked within a flat, shallow valley in some places and a steep valley in...

 in Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, just south of Lake of the Prairies, near the village of St. Lazare
St. Lazare, Manitoba
St. Lazare is a small English and French-speaking village in western Manitoba, Canada. It is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Ellice. The village showed a population of 265 inhabitants in both the 2006 census and the 2001 census.-Radio:...

.

With the construction of the Qu'Appelle River Dam
Qu'Appelle River Dam
The Qu'appelle River Dam is the smaller of two embankment dams: which created Lake Diefenbaker in Saskatchewan, Canada. The larger dam is Gardiner Dam, the biggest embankment dam in Canada and one of the biggest in the world. Construction of both dams began in the 1959 and was completed in 1967...

 and Gardiner Dam
Gardiner Dam
The Gardiner Dam on the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatchewan is the largest embankment dam in Canada and one of the largest embankment dams in the world...

 upstream water flow was significantly increased and regulated. Most of the Qu'Appelle's present flow is actually water diverted from the South Saskatchewan River
South Saskatchewan River
The South Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada that flows through the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan....

. The river flows into several lakes in southeast Saskatchewan, including:
  • Eyebrow Lake, Buffalo Pound Lake
    Buffalo Pound Lake
    Buffalo Pound Lake is a eutrophic prairie lake in Saskatchewan, Canada, formed from glaciation about 10,000 years ago, on the Qu'Appelle River approximately 28 km north of Moose Jaw, 11 km east of Tuxford and 3 km north of Sun Valley...

     to the north of Moose Jaw
    Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
    Moose Jaw is a city in south-central Saskatchewan, Canada on the Moose Jaw River. It is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians. It is best known as a retirement and tourist city that serves as a hub to the hundreds of small towns...

    , which supplies water to Moose Jaw
    Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
    Moose Jaw is a city in south-central Saskatchewan, Canada on the Moose Jaw River. It is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians. It is best known as a retirement and tourist city that serves as a hub to the hundreds of small towns...

    , Regina
    Regina, Saskatchewan
    Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...

    , and the Mosaic
    The Mosaic Company
    The Mosaic Company is a Fortune 500 company based in Plymouth, Minnesota. Mosaic offers two key crop nutrients—phosphate and potash—plus specialty products K-Mag®, MicroEssentials® and Pegasus™...

     Potash Mine at Belle Plaine
    Belle Plaine, Saskatchewan
    -See also:*Highway 642*Highway 1*Qu'Appelle River Dam*Saskferco-External links:*********...

    ;
  • The Fishing Lakes (Pasqua, Echo Lake, Mission, and Katepwa Lakes) to the northeast of Regina; and,
  • farther downstream, to the north of Grenfell
    Grenfell, Saskatchewan
    Grenfell is a town in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. European settlement began in 1882 before the Canadian Pacific Railway reached the site of the town; the post office was established in 1883. It is situated at the junction of Highway 47 and the Trans Canada Highway east of Regina, the...

     and Broadview
    Broadview, Saskatchewan
    Broadview is a community in Saskatchewan along the #1 highway, the Trans Canada Highway, east of the provincial capital city of Regina. The local economy is based mainly on agriculture.-History:...

    : Crooked Lake
    Crooked Lake (Saskatchewan)
    Crooked Lake is located in the southeastern region of Saskatchewan. It is part of a chain of lakes in the Qu'Appelle Valley. The majority of the south side of the lake is undeveloped and part of the First Nation Reserve...

     and Round Lake.


The river also passes 4 Provincial RV park
RV park
A recreational vehicle park or caravan park is a place where people with recreational vehicles can stay overnight, or longer, in alloted spaces known as "pitches"...

s. These include Buffalo Pound Provincial Park
Buffalo Pound Provincial Park
Buffalo Pound Provincial Park is a Saskatchewan Provincial Park located in southern Saskatchewan about 25 km northeast of the city of Moose Jaw.The park centres around Buffalo Pound Lake, a prairie lake formed from glaciation about 10,000 years ago...

, Echo Valley Provincial Park
Echo Valley Provincial Park
Echo Valley Provincial Park is a provincial park in Saskatchewan, Canada, located west of the Town of Fort Qu'Appelle in the Qu'Appelle Valley between Echo Lake and Pasqua Lake.-External Links:*...

, Katepwa Point Provincial Park and Crooked Lake Provincial Park.

Fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

 species include: walleye
Walleye
Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...

, sauger
Sauger
The sauger is a freshwater perciform fish of the family Percidae which resembles its close relative the walleye. They are members of the largest vertebrate order, Perciforms. They are the most migratory percid species in North America. Saugers obtain two dorsal fins, the first is spiny and the...

, yellow perch
Yellow perch
The yellow perch is a species of perch found in the United States and Canada, where it is often referred to by the shortform perch. Yellow perch look similar to the European perch, but are paler and more yellowish, with less red in the fins. They have six to eight dark, vertical bars on their sides...

, northern pike
Northern Pike
The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...

, lake whitefish
Lake whitefish
The lake whitefish , also called the Sault whitefish or gizzard fish, is a species of freshwater whitefish from North America. Lake whitefish are found throughout much of Canada and parts of the northern United States, including all of the Great Lakes. A valuable commercial fish, they are also...

, cisco
Cisco (fish)
The ciscoes are salmonid fish of the genus Coregonus that differ from other members of the genus in having upper and lower jaws of approximately equal length and high gillraker counts...

, mooneye
Mooneye
The mooneyes are a family, the Hiodontidae, of primitive ray-finned fish comprising two living and three extinct species in the genus Hiodon. They are large-eyed, fork-tailed fish that physically resemble shads. Their common name comes from the metallic gold or silver shine of their eyes.The higher...

, white sucker
White Sucker
The White Sucker is a bottom-feeding freshwater fish inhabiting North America from Labrador in the north to Georgia and New Mexico in the south. It is a long, round-bodied fish with a dark green, grey, copper, brown, or black back and sides and a light underbelly. When fullgrown, it is between 12...

, shorthead redhorse
Shorthead redhorse
-Introduction:The Shorthead Redhorse is a wide-ranging species in North America that needs to be monitored throughout its range. The Shorthead Redhorse is native to central and eastern North America. However, its range has expanded to include areas like the Hudson estuary and Grayson County, Texas...

, bigmouth buffalo
Bigmouth buffalo
The bigmouth buffalo, Ictiobus cyprinellus, also known as the gourd head, redmouth buffalo, buffalo fish, bernard buffalo, roundhead, or brown buffalo, is a large species of the Catostomidae or "sucker" family....

, common carp
Common carp
The Common carp is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia. The wild populations are considered vulnerable to extinction, but the species has also been domesticated and introduced into environments worldwide, and is often considered an invasive...

, channel catfish
Channel catfish
Channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States they are the most fished catfish species with approximately 8...

, black bullhead
Black bullhead
The black bullhead, Ameiurus melas, is a species of bullhead catfish. Like other bullhead catfish, it has the ability to thrive in waters that are low in oxygen, brackish, turbid and/or very warm. It also has barbels located near its mouth, a broad head, spiny fins and no scales...

, brown bullhead
Brown bullhead
The brown bullhead, Ameiurus nebulosus, is a fish of the Ictaluridae family that is widely distributed in North America. It is a species of bullhead catfish and is similar to the black bullhead and yellow bullhead...

, burbot
Burbot
The burbot is the only gadiform fish inhabiting freshwaters. It is also known as mariah, the lawyer, and eelpout. It is closely related to the marine common ling and the cusk...

 and rock bass
Rock bass
The rock bass , also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, or red eye is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. They are similar in appearance to smallmouth bass but are usually quite a bit smaller...

. Rock bass
Rock bass
The rock bass , also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, or red eye is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. They are similar in appearance to smallmouth bass but are usually quite a bit smaller...

 are Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

's only native bass
Bass (fish)
Bass is a name shared by many different species of popular gamefish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species. All belong to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes, and in fact the word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch."-Types of basses:*The temperate...

.

In recent years, there has been some local civic-booster agitation to re-name the Fishing Lakes as the Calling Lakes, so as further to emphasize E. Pauline Johnson's "legend of the Qu'Appelle Valley" (see below); as yet this has not taken any authentic hold.

Assorted tributary coulees drain into the Qu'Appelle Valley at various junctures along its course, notably Echo Creek immediately upriver from Fort Qu'Appelle, and Last Oak Creek, north of Grenfell
Grenfell, Saskatchewan
Grenfell is a town in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. European settlement began in 1882 before the Canadian Pacific Railway reached the site of the town; the post office was established in 1883. It is situated at the junction of Highway 47 and the Trans Canada Highway east of Regina, the...

 and Broadview
Broadview, Saskatchewan
Broadview is a community in Saskatchewan along the #1 highway, the Trans Canada Highway, east of the provincial capital city of Regina. The local economy is based mainly on agriculture.-History:...

, in the past the locus of an extremely successful aboriginal-managed ski resort. The other tributaries include the Moose Jaw River, Wascana Creek
Wascana Creek
Wascana Creek originates in the fields east of Regina, Saskatchewan near Vibank, Saskatchewan and travels southeast for approximately 45 kilometers before turning back west at Tyvan, Saskatchewan. The creek then travels in a northwestwardly direction through Regina...

, Loon Creek, Jumping Deer Creek, Pheasant Creek
Pheasant Creek
Pheasant Creek is a creek that runs along the bottom of one of the many coulees that branch off the Qu'appelle Valley and empties into the Qu'Appelle River in southern Saskatchewan. The creek is located south of the village of Abernethy and north of the village of Sintaluta.-See also:*List of...

, Kaposvar Creek and Lanigan Creek.

Last Mountain Lake
Last Mountain Lake
Last Mountain Lake, also known as Long Lake, is a prairie lake formed from glaciation 11,000 years ago. It is located in south central Saskatchewan, Canada, about 40 km northwest of the city of Regina adjacent to the Qu'Appelle Valley, which it flows south into through Last Mountain Creek...

, also known as Long Lake, the largest natural lake in southern Saskatchewan (Lake Diefenbaker is larger but is a reservoir behind the Gardiner
Gardiner Dam
The Gardiner Dam on the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatchewan is the largest embankment dam in Canada and one of the largest embankment dams in the world...

 and Qu'Appelle River Dam
Qu'Appelle River Dam
The Qu'appelle River Dam is the smaller of two embankment dams: which created Lake Diefenbaker in Saskatchewan, Canada. The larger dam is Gardiner Dam, the biggest embankment dam in Canada and one of the biggest in the world. Construction of both dams began in the 1959 and was completed in 1967...

s), drains into the Qu'Appelle near the town of Craven
Craven, Saskatchewan
Craven is a village in Saskatchewan. It is located northeast of Lumsden, Saskatchewan in the Qu'Appelle Valley. It lies between the rural municipalities of Longlaketon No. 219 and Lumsden No. 189....

, through Lanigan Creek.

History

In 1787, the North West Company
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...

 established a fur trading
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...

 post at Fort Espérance
Fort Espérance
In 1787, Fort Espérance was constructed on the south side of the Qu'Appelle River near the present day Saskatchewan-Manitoba border. It was built by the North West Company and was one of the important pemmican forts for the Assiniboine River district...

 on the lower river. After it was abandoned in 1819, the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

 established a post at Fort Qu'Appelle
Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan
These figures do not include the substantial population living along the shores of the Fishing Lakes.-Origins:The current site is the third Fort Qu'Appelle. The first was a North West Company trading post , also in the valley but near what is now the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border...

 in 1852 immediately adjacent to the site of what became the town of the same name.

The Qu'Appelle River and Valley derive their name from a Cree
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...

 legend of a spirit that travels up and down it. The aboriginal people told the North West Company trader Daniel Harmon in 1804 that they often heard the voice of a human being calling, "Kâ-têpwêt?", meaning "Who is calling?" ("Qui appelle?" in French). They would respond, and the call would echo back (there is a strong echo phenomenon at Lebret). Pauline Johnson
Pauline Johnson
Emily Pauline Johnson , commonly known as E. Pauline Johnson or just Pauline Johnson, was a Canadian writer and performer popular in the late 19th century...

, the half-Mohawk
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...

 poet, whose "work was well received by critics and was popular with the public during her lifetime, but faded into obscurity after her death," and who made speaking tours of Canada, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 between 1892 and 1909, learned of the legend and elaborated upon it with Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 sentiment. In her version, a young Cree swain heard his name while crossing one of the lakes and replied, "Who calls?" Only his echo could be heard (hence Echo Lake), and he realized it had been his bride-to-be calling out his name at the instant of her death. Despite its evidently fictional nature, it is the trumped-up romantic version that holds sway today.

Recreation and environment

In addition to the popularity of its lakes as summer recreational locales, the valley also contains popular venues for winter sports including the following:
  • White Track ski resort on Buffalo Pound Lake
    Buffalo Pound Lake
    Buffalo Pound Lake is a eutrophic prairie lake in Saskatchewan, Canada, formed from glaciation about 10,000 years ago, on the Qu'Appelle River approximately 28 km north of Moose Jaw, 11 km east of Tuxford and 3 km north of Sun Valley...

  • Mission Ridge Winter Park, a popular skiing and snowboarding destination on the south shore of Mission Lake immediately adjacent to Fort Qu'Appelle
  • Last Oak Golf Course to the north of Broadview
    Broadview, Saskatchewan
    Broadview is a community in Saskatchewan along the #1 highway, the Trans Canada Highway, east of the provincial capital city of Regina. The local economy is based mainly on agriculture.-History:...

    , some 80 miles (128.7 km) east of Regina

  • Hang gliding
    Hang gliding
    Hang gliding is an air sport in which a pilot flies a light and unmotorized foot-launchable aircraft called a hang glider ....

     (and, less often, paragliding
    Paragliding
    Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure...

    ) from the valley slopes, especially in the Crooked Lake and Round Lake regions. In this area the valley is up to 450 feet (137.2 m) deep and a mile wide, allowing for strong, smooth airflow up the side of the valley and ample landing areas on top and down in the valley, and providing a strong upward component of wind as it flows over the (in some places) optimally rounded valley edge, allowing pilots to soar in the "ridge lift" for many hours at a time. Pilots commonly travel from Manitoba
    Manitoba
    Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

     and Alberta
    Alberta
    Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

     and of course other locations in Saskatchewan
    Saskatchewan
    Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

     to fly this natural wonder of the Prairies.
  • The river valley contains relatively undisturbed grassland and coulee
    Coulee
    Coulee is applied rather loosely to different landforms, all of which refer to a kind of valley or drainage zone.The word coulee comes from the Canadian French coulée, from French word couler meaning "to flow"....

    s which provide habitat for native plant and animal species, such as the Loggerhead Shrike
    Loggerhead Shrike
    The Loggerhead Shrike is a passerine bird. It is the only member of the shrike family endemic to North America; the related Northern Shrike occurs north of its range but also in the Palearctic....

     and the coyote
    Coyote
    The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...

     (locally ˈ). The easternmost slopes contain bur oaks, the only natural occurrence of oak trees in Saskatchewan.

Notable residents

  • James Henderson
    James Henderson (artist)
    James Henderson is considered to be one of Saskatchewan's pre-eminent first generation artists. Henderson is the subject of a significant retrospective exhibition organized by and first exhibited at the Mendel Art Gallery in 2009...

    , the pre-eminent first-generation Saskatchewan artist, spent the latter part of his life in Fort Qu'Appelle, painting valley landscapes and aboriginal portraits until his death in 1951.
  • Ice hockey player Eddie Shore
    Eddie Shore
    Edward William Shore was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman, principally for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, and the longtime owner of the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League, iconic for his toughness and defensive skill.Shore won the Hart Trophy as the...

     was born in Fort Qu'Appelle.
  • The folksinger and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie
    Buffy Sainte-Marie
    Buffy Sainte-Marie, OC is a Canadian Cree singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire includes...

     was born on the Piapot
    Piapot, Saskatchewan
    Piapot is a small village located in the southwest part of the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Once a thriving community, it has seen a steady decline since the 1950s and in the present day it resembles a ghost town. The hotel and saloon had been closed since June 2006 but has reopened in May...

    Cree Reserve in the Qu'Appelle Valley. One of her songs is entitled "Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan".

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK