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The Sturgeon-Weir River is a river in east-central
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. It flows about south-southeast to join the
Saskatchewan River The Saskatchewan River (Cree: ''kisiskāciwani-sīpiy'', "swift flowing river") is a major river in Canada. It stretches about from where it is formed by the joining together of the North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan Rivers to Lake Winn ...
at
Cumberland House, Saskatchewan Cumberland House is a community in Census Division No. 18 in northeast Saskatchewan, Canada on the Saskatchewan River. It is the oldest settler community in Saskatchewan and has a population of about 2,000 people. Cumberland House Provincial P ...
. It was on the main
voyageur The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the ' ...
route from eastern Canada northeast to the Mackenzie River basin. The river is a popular wilderness canoe route in Canada.


Description

The river's source is Corneille Lake, near the community of Pelican Narrows. It travels southeast, crossing
Saskatchewan Highway 106 Highway 106, the Hanson Lake Road, is a fully paved provincial highway, with no cell service the entire way, in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from Highway 55 near Smeaton to Highway 167 in Creighton. Highway 106 is about long. ...
before reaching
Amisk Lake Amisk (Beaver) Lake is a lake in east-central Saskatchewan (south-west of Flin Flon) in Canada. 'Amisk' means beaver in Cree. Saskatchewan Highway 167 provides road access. Denare Beach, the largest settlement, is located on the east side of ...
. It then continues southeasterly to Sturgeon Landing and Namew Lake. It runs through the Churchill River Uplands ecoregion which is located along the southern edge of the Precambrian Shield. The area contains continuous coniferous and boreal forest, consisting of closed stands of
black spruce ''Picea mariana'', the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. It is the official tree of the province of Newfoundland and Labra ...
and
jack pine Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana'') is an eastern North American pine. Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and the north-central and ...
and a ground cover of mosses and lichens. Local relief rarely exceeds 25 m, but there are ridged steeply sloping rocky uplands and lowlands with exposed bedrock throughout. Wildlife includes
barren-ground caribou The barren-ground caribou (''Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus''; but subject to a recent taxonomic revision. See Reindeer: Taxomony.) is a subspecies of the reindeer (or the caribou in North America) that is found in the Canadian territories of ...
,
moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...
,
black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...
,
lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...
,
wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...
,
beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...
,
muskrat The muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over a wide range of climates and habitat ...
,
snowshoe hare The snowshoe hare (''Lepus americanus''), also called the varying hare or snowshoe rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet. The animal's feet prevent it from sink ...
and
red-backed vole Red-backed voles are small, slender voles of the genus ''Clethrionomys'' found in North America, Europe, and Asia. In recent years the genus name was changed to ''Myodes'', however a 2019 paper found that ''Myodes'' was actually a junior synonym ...
. Bird species include
raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...
,
common loon The common loon or great northern diver (''Gavia immer'') is a large member of the loon, or diver, family of birds. Breeding adults have a plumage that includes a broad black head and neck with a greenish, purplish, or bluish sheen, blackish o ...
,
spruce grouse The spruce grouse (''Canachites canadensis''), also known as Canada grouse, spruce hen or fool hen, is a medium-sized grouse closely associated with the coniferous boreal forests or taiga of North America. It is the only member of the genus ''C ...
,
bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...
,
Canada jay The Canada jay (''Perisoreus canadensis''), also known as the gray jay, grey jay, camp robber, or whisky jack, is a passerine bird of the family Corvidae. It is found in boreal forests of North America north to the tree line, and in the Rock ...
, hawk owl, and waterfowl, including ducks and geese. Trapping, hunting, fishing, and tourism are occasional uses of land in this region.


History

The river is a historically important route connecting the Saskatchewan and Churchill River systems. It has been used since prehistoric times and archeological digs have uncovered pottery dating to 1100 CE. The first European to explore the river may have been
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 ...
fur trader Isaac Batt in the winter of 1766–67. In 1776, Alexander Henry with
Joseph Frobisher The Hon. Joseph Frobisher (April 15, 1748 – September 12, 1810) M.P., J.P., was one of Montreal's most important fur traders. He was elected to the 1st Parliament of Lower Canada and was a seigneur with estates totalling 57,000 acres. ...
,
Thomas Frobisher Thomas Frobisher (1744 – September 12, 1788) was an English fur trader in Canada. The son of Joseph Frobisher and Rachel Hargrave, He was born in Yorkshire, England and came to Quebec City in 1769. Frobisher joined his brothers Joseph and Be ...
, and J. B. Cadotte travelled up the river from Cumberland House and established a fort at the river's outlet from Amisk Lake, called Fort Beaver Lake. This became the preferred
fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
route connecting the Saskatchewan River system to northern Canada. It linked the important trading posts of
Cumberland House Cumberland House was a mansion on the south side of Pall Mall in London, England. It was built in the 1760s by Matthew Brettingham for Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany and was originally called York House. The Duke of York died in 1767 a ...
to the Frog Portage,
Île-à-la-Crosse Île-à-la-Crosse, or ''Sakitawak'' ( Cree name: sâkitawâhk ᓵᑭᑕᐚᕽ), is a northern village in Division No. 18, northwestern Saskatchewan, and was the site of historic trading posts first established in 1778. Île-à-la-Crosse is th ...
and eventually
Lake Athabasca Lake Athabasca (; French: ''lac Athabasca''; from Woods Cree: , "herethere are plants one after another") is located in the north-west corner of Saskatchewan and the north-east corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N in Canada. The lake ...
. However, its steep gradient (about 4 feet per mile) led voyageurs to call it the Rivière Maligne or Bad River. A traveller in the early 19th century recorded "This river is most appropriately named by the Canadians; for I believe, for its length, it is the most dangerous, cross-grained piece of navigation in the Indian country." The explorer
Sir Alexander Mackenzie Sir Alexander Mackenzie (or MacKenzie, gd, Alasdair MacCoinnich; – 12 March 1820) was a Scottish explorer known for accomplishing the first crossing of America north of Mexico in 1793. The Mackenzie River is named after him. Early life ...
described it as "an almost continual rapid". In 1779
Philip Turnor Philip Turnor ( – c. 1799) was a surveyor and cartographer for the Hudson's Bay Company. Turnor hired on for three years as an inland surveyor with the HBC and landed at York Factory (Man.) in August, 1778. After mapping York itself, he set o ...
was the first to note it on a map as a "river leading northward and upon the back of the
Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...
." Its route was first recorded (unnamed) on an
Aaron Arrowsmith Aaron Arrowsmith (1750–1823) was an English cartographer, engraver and publisher and founding member of the Arrowsmith family of geographers. Life He moved to Soho Square, London from Winston, County Durham, when about twenty years of age, a ...
map published in 1802. David Thompson recorded its length and named it "Sturgeon Weir River" in his 1814 map of the North-West Territory.


See also

*
Amisk Lake Amisk (Beaver) Lake is a lake in east-central Saskatchewan (south-west of Flin Flon) in Canada. 'Amisk' means beaver in Cree. Saskatchewan Highway 167 provides road access. Denare Beach, the largest settlement, is located on the east side of ...
*
List of rivers of Saskatchewan This is a list of rivers of Saskatchewan, a province of Canada. The largest and most notable rivers are listed at the start, followed by rivers listed by drainage basin and then alphabetically. Principal river statistics ''SourcSt ...


References

{{authority control Division No. 18, Unorganized, Saskatchewan Rivers of Saskatchewan Tributaries of Hudson Bay