Rocher River is an abandoned community in the
South Slave Region
The South Slave Region is one of five administrative regions in the Northwest Territories of Canada. According to Municipal and Community Affairs the region consists of seven communities with the regional office situated in Fort Smith and a sub ...
of the
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
, Canada. The community was situated near the mouth of the Taltson River (aka Rocher River, or Roche River), which drains into
Great Slave Lake
Great Slave Lake (french: Grand lac des Esclaves), known traditionally as Tıdeè in Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì (Dogrib), Tinde’e in Wıìlıìdeh Yatii / Tetsǫ́t’ıné Yatıé (Dogrib / Chipewyan), Tu Nedhé in Dëne Sųłıné Yatıé (Chi ...
. Dene trading chief Pierre Snuff built the first cabins in this area in the early 20th century, on what is called Snuff Channel, east of the later village. By 1921, the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
established a trading post at Rocher River. Independent traders followed including Northern Traders Limited (1923), Frank Morrison (1924), and Ed Demelt (1935) and the area grew into a bustling trading centre. At the time, the area was a very rich hunting and trapping area for the Dene and Metis people living on the south shore of Great Slave Lake including the
Slavey
The Slavey (also Slave and South Slavey) are a First Nations indigenous peoples of the Dene group, indigenous to the Great Slave Lake region, in Canada's Northwest Territories, and extending into northeastern British Columbia and northwestern ...
,
Chipeywan, and
Yellowknives
The Yellowknives, Yellow Knives, Copper Indians, Red Knives or T'atsaot'ine (Dogrib language, Dogrib: ''T'satsąot'ınę'') are indigenous peoples of Canada, one of the five main groups of the First Nations in Canada, First Nations Dene who live ...
tribes. By the 1950s Rocher River included a government day school, two trading posts, post office, and a church, with a population of about 150. The manager of the Hudson's Bay Company post at Rocher River in the early 1940s was Ralph Jardine. On April 25, 1944, the warehouses of the HBC burned down but were immediately rebuilt.
The decline of the community occurred in several stages: In February 1960, the school was destroyed by fire and the government decided not to rebuild in favour of centralizing education services at
Fort Smith,
Yellowknife
Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the ...
and
Fort Resolution
Fort Resolution (''Denı́nu Kų́ę́'' (pronounced "deh-nih-noo-kwenh") "moose island place") is a hamlet in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is situated at the mouth of the Slave River, on the shores o ...
instead. Many families and their children moved away as a result. In 1963, the Hudson's Bay Company closed its post, and in 1964 Ed and Rose Demelt's store burned down,
[Tapwe newspaper, December 24, 1964] leading to an eventual retirement from trading business by 1968. Furthermore, the construction of the
Taltson River
The Taltson River is a roughly river in the Northwest Territories of Canada that drains into the Great Slave Lake.
There are three hydroelectric power control structures on the river, and one power station.
Name
The river was formerly known as t ...
hydro dam upstream of Rocher River in 1965 flooded many trap lines and gave further reason for the few remaining residents to move away. The population of Rocher River, according to the federal voter's list, declined from 99 in 1949, to 26 in 1968; in the 1972 voters list Rocher River was not included.
Former residents of Rocher River can be found living throughout the Northwest Territories with some still maintaining seasonal cabins at Rocher River.
Rocher River should not to be confused with Rat River, a smaller trading outpost upstream on Taltson River that was occupied in the 1926-1940 period.
References
External links
1968 Rocher River: The Decline of a Northern Trapping SettlementNWT Historical Timeline,
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre
The Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre (PWNHC) (''Centre du patrimoine septentrional Prince-de-Galles'' in French) is the Government of the Northwest Territories' museum and archives. Located in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, the ...
Ghost towns in the Northwest Territories
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