Saskatchewan River
Encyclopedia
The Saskatchewan River (Cree
Cree language
Cree is an Algonquian language spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Labrador, making it the aboriginal language with the highest number of speakers in Canada. It is also spoken in the U.S. state of Montana...

: kisiskāciwani-sīpiy, "swift flowing river") is a major river in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, approximately 550 kilometre long, flowing roughly eastward across 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....

 and 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...

 to empty into Lake Winnipeg
Lake Winnipeg
Lake Winnipeg is a large, lake in central North America, in the province of Manitoba, Canada, with its southern tip about north of the city of Winnipeg...

. Through its tributaries the North Saskatchewan
North Saskatchewan River
The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows east from the Canadian Rockies to central Saskatchewan. It is one of two major rivers that join to make up the Saskatchewan River....

 and South Saskatchewan
South Saskatchewan River
The South Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada that flows through the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan....

, its watershed encompasses much of the prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...

 regions of central Canada, stretching westward to the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...

 in 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 northwestern Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It reaches 1939 kilometres (1,204.8 mi) to its farthest headwaters on the Bow River
Bow River
The Bow River is a river in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River, and is considered the headwater of the Nelson River....

, a tributary of the South Saskatchewan in Alberta.

Description

It is formed in central Saskatchewan, approximately 40 km (25 mi) east of Prince Albert
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
Prince Albert is the third-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is situated in the centre of the province on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. The city is known as the "Gateway to the North" because it is the last major centre along the route to the resources of northern Saskatchewan...

, by the confluence of its two major branches, the North Saskatchewan
North Saskatchewan River
The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows east from the Canadian Rockies to central Saskatchewan. It is one of two major rivers that join to make up the Saskatchewan River....

 and the South Saskatchewan
South Saskatchewan River
The South Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada that flows through the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan....

, at the Saskatchewan River Forks
Saskatchewan River Forks
Saskatchewan River Forks refers to the area in Canada where the North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan rivers merge to create the Saskatchewan River...

. Both source rivers originate from glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...

s in the Alberta Rockies. The St. Mary River, draining the Hudson Bay Divide region of Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park may refer to:*Glacier National Park in British Columbia, Canada*Glacier National Park in Montana, USA-See also:*Glacier Bay National Park, in Alaska, USA*Los Glaciares National Park, in Argentina...

, also empties into the Saskatchewan River via
the south fork.

The combined stream flows east-northeast, into Codette Lake formed by the Francois Finlay Dam at Nipawin
Nipawin, Saskatchewan
There is, however, some dispute regarding the current population of Nipawin, with Tourism Saskatchewan's Saskatchewan Discovery Guide 2010 claiming a population of 5,074, which actually places Nipawin over the population threshold for applying for city status....

 then into Tobin Lake
Tobin Lake
Tobin Lake is a reservoir of Saskatchewan, Canada. Tobin Lake was formed by the E.B. Campbell Dam on the Saskatchewan River in 1963. The dam was originally named Squaw Rapids Dam, but was then renamed E.B. Campbell Dam due to the local first nations people who considered the name Squaw Rapids...

, formed by the E.B. Campbell Dam
E.B. Campbell Hydroelectric Station
E.B. Campbell Hydroelectric Station is a hydroelectric station on the Saskatchewan River owned by SaskPower, located near Carrot River, Saskatchewan, Canada. The dam created the artificial Tobin Lake. The station is named after Bruce Campbell, a former president of SaskPower who was also the...

. It then flows northeast, passing through a region of marshes, where it is joined from the northwest by the Torch River and the Mossy River. At the northern edge of the marshes it flows east, twisting between a series of small lakes into west-central Manitoba to The Pas
The Pas, Manitoba
The Pas is a town in Manitoba, Canada, located in Division No. 21, Manitoba in the Northern Region, some 630 kilometres northwest of the provincial capital, Winnipeg, near the border of Saskatchewan. It is sometimes still called Paskoyac by locals as the first trading post was called Fort Paskoyac...

, where it is joined from the southwest by the Carrot River
Carrot River
The Carrot River is a river in northeastern Saskatchewan, and northwestern Manitoba. The river begins at Waterhen Marsh located south of Kinistino, Saskatchewan and continues through northeast Saskatchewan until it empties into the Saskatchewan River north-west of The Pas, Manitoba.The Carrot...

. Southeast of The Pas, it forms several streams in a delta
River delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...

 on the northwest side of Cedar Lake
Cedar Lake (Manitoba)
Cedar Lake is a lake just north of Lake Winnipegosis in Manitoba, Canada. Cedar Lake's water level is controlled by the Grand Rapids dam. The town of Grand Rapids and the First Nations town of Easterville are nearby....

, then exiting the lake on its southeast end and flowing approximately 5 km (3 mi) to Lake Winnipeg
Lake Winnipeg
Lake Winnipeg is a large, lake in central North America, in the province of Manitoba, Canada, with its southern tip about north of the city of Winnipeg...

, entering on the northwest shore north of Long Point. The waters of Lake Winnipeg eventually drain into Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...

, via the Nelson River
Nelson River
The Nelson River is a river of north-central North America, in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Its full length is , it has mean discharge of , and has a drainage basin of , of which is in the United States...

.

The river, like the province of 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....

, takes its name from the Cree
Cree language
Cree is an Algonquian language spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Labrador, making it the aboriginal language with the highest number of speakers in Canada. It is also spoken in the U.S. state of Montana...

 word kisiskāciwani-sīpiy, meaning "swift flowing river". The river and its tributaries provided an important route of transportation for First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 and early Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an trappers
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...

.

Hydroelectric power plants are built on the river at Nipawin
Nipawin, Saskatchewan
There is, however, some dispute regarding the current population of Nipawin, with Tourism Saskatchewan's Saskatchewan Discovery Guide 2010 claiming a population of 5,074, which actually places Nipawin over the population threshold for applying for city status....

, and E.B. Campbell Dam
E.B. Campbell Hydroelectric Station
E.B. Campbell Hydroelectric Station is a hydroelectric station on the Saskatchewan River owned by SaskPower, located near Carrot River, Saskatchewan, Canada. The dam created the artificial Tobin Lake. The station is named after Bruce Campbell, a former president of SaskPower who was also the...

 (formerly Squaw Rapids) 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....

 and at Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids, Manitoba
Grand Rapids is a town in Manitoba, Canada located on the northwestern shore of Lake Winnipeg where the Saskatchewan River enters the lake. As the name implies, the river had a significant drop at this point . In modern days, a large hydro electric generating plant has been built...

 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...

.

Fish species

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...

, 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...

, goldeye
Goldeye
The goldeye, Hiodon alosoides, is a species of fish in the mooneye family . It occurs from as far down the Mackenzie River as Aklavik in the north to Mississippi in the south, and from Alberta in the west to Ohio south of the Great Lakes, with an isolated population south of James Bay. It is...

, 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...

, longnose sucker
Longnose sucker
The longnose sucker, Catostomus catostomus, is a freshwater species of fish inhabiting cold, clear waters in North America from northern USA to the top of the continent. In addition, it is one of two species of sucker to inhabit Asia, specifically the rivers of eastern Siberia...

, 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...

, 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...

, rainbow trout
Rainbow trout
The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....

 and lake sturgeon
Lake sturgeon
The lake sturgeon is a North American temperate freshwater fish, one of about 20 species of sturgeon. Like other sturgeons, this species is an evolutionarily ancient bottomfeeder with a partly cartilaginous skeleton and skin bearing rows of bony plates...

.

History

The Saskatchewan River and its two major tributaries formed an important transportation route during the precontact, fur trade
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...

, and early settlement periods in the Canadian West.

First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 inhabiting the area of the rivers included at one time or another the Atsina, 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...

, Saulteaux
Saulteaux
The Saulteaux are a First Nation in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada.-Ethnic classification:The Saulteaux are a branch of the Ojibwe nations. They are sometimes also called Anihšināpē . Saulteaux is a French term meaning "people of the rapids," referring to...

, Blackfoot Confederacy, Assiniboine, and Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...

.

Henry Kelsey
Henry Kelsey
Henry Kelsey , aka the Boy Kelsey, was an English fur trader, explorer, and sailor who played an important role in establishing the Hudson's Bay Company. Kelsey was born and married in East Greenwich, south-east of central London...

 penetrated the area in the 1690s for 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...

, and Louis de la Corne, Chevalier de la Corne
Louis de la Corne, Chevalier de la Corne
Louis de la Corne or Louis Chapt, Chevalier de la Corne was born at Fort Frontenac in what is now Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and began his career in the colonial regular troops as a second ensign in 1722 and was made full ensign five years later.He married in 1728 and began investing heavily in...

, established the farthest western post of the French Empire in America (See New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...

) just east of the Saskatchewan River Forks at Fort de la Corne
Fort de la Corne
Fort de la Corne was built in 1753 by Louis de la Corne, Chevalier de la Corne at the same time that the second Fort Paskoya was built. It was built a little lower than the Saskatchewan River Forks at the mouth of the Pehonan Creek, a new establishment which originally bore the name of Fort des...

. In addition to this the Hudson's Bay Company and 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...

 both ran numerous fur posts up the river and its two branches throughout the late eighteenth to late nineteenth centuries. York boats and canoes formed the primary means of travel during the fur trade period.

In the mid nineteenth century Metis
Métis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...

 settlements became important along stretches of the rivers (notably at the Southbranch Settlement
Southbranch Settlement
Southbranch Settlement was the name ascribed to a series of French Métis settlements on the Canadian prairies in the 19th Century, in what is today the province of Saskatchewan...

, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
Prince Albert is the third-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is situated in the centre of the province on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. The city is known as the "Gateway to the North" because it is the last major centre along the route to the resources of northern Saskatchewan...

 and St. Albert, Alberta
St. Albert, Alberta
St. Albert is a suburban city in Alberta, located northwest of Edmonton, on the Sturgeon River. It was originally settled as a Métis community, and is now the second largest city in the Edmonton area. St...

).

Riverboats were introduced from the Red River of the North
Red River of the North
The Red River is a North American river. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers in the United States, it flows northward through the Red River Valley and forms the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota before continuing into Manitoba, Canada...

 in the nineteenth century and remained an important means of transportation until the 1890s and the coming of railways to the area.

The earliest settlements in Saskatchewan and Alberta generally were established around the rivers. Examples include Fort Edmonton
Fort Edmonton
Fort Edmonton was the name of a series of trading posts of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1795 to 1891, all of which were located in central Alberta, Canada...

 (Edmonton, Alberta), Fort Battleford
Fort Battleford
Fort Battleford was the sixth North-West Mounted Police fort to be established in the North-West Territories of Canada, and played a central role in the events of the North-West Rebellion / Resistance of 1885...

 (Battleford, Saskatchewan), Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and Cumberland House, Saskatchewan
Cumberland House, Saskatchewan
Cumberland House is a village in Census Division No. 18 in north-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada on the Saskatchewan River. It is the oldest community in Saskatchewan and has a population of about 2000 people...

.

In popular culture

The Saskatchewan River is featured in The Arrogant Worms
The Arrogant Worms
The Arrogant Worms are a Canadian musical comedy trio that parodies many musical genres. They are well known for their humorous on-stage banter in addition to their music.-History:...

' song "The Last Saskatchewan Pirate", which implies incorrectly that it flows past Regina, Saskatchewan
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...

.

See also

  • List of longest rivers of Canada
  • List of rivers of Manitoba
  • List of rivers of Saskatchewan
  • List of rivers of Alberta
  • Manitoba Hydro
    Manitoba Hydro
    Manitoba Hydro is the electric power and natural gas utility in the province of Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1961, it is a provincial Crown Corporation, governed by the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board and the Manitoba Hydro Act. Today the company operates 15 interconnected generating stations. It has...

  • Watershed management
    Watershed management
    Watershed management is the study of the relevant characteristics of a watershed aimed at the sustainable distribution of its resources and the process of creating and implementing plans, programs, and projects to sustain and enhance watershed functions that affect the plant, animal, and human...

  • North Saskatchewan River
    North Saskatchewan River
    The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows east from the Canadian Rockies to central Saskatchewan. It is one of two major rivers that join to make up the Saskatchewan River....

  • 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....


External links

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