Lac Île-à-la-Crosse is a Y-shaped lake in the north-central region of the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

along the course of the Churchill River. At the centre of the "Y" is the town of

Île-à-la-Crosse Île-à-la-Crosse () 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 the second oldest community in Saskatchewan, Canada, followin ...

, the second oldest town in Saskatchewan. Situated at the confluence of the Churchill and Beaver Rivers, the lake was an important fur trading centre in the 18th and 19th centuries. The lake, and the community of Île-à-la-Crosse, are named after the game of

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

as French

voyageurs Voyageurs (; ) were 18th- and 19th-century French and later French Canadians and others who transported furs by canoe at the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the ...

had witnessed local

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

playing the game on an island in the lake. Lac Île-à-la-Crosse is reached from the south by Highway 155, which follows the Beaver River. On the north side of the mouth of the Beaver River is the

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." ...

. On the south side is Fort Black, the site of a former Northwest Trading Company Post. Highway 918 runs along the eastern shore and provides access to

Patuanak Patuanak ()is a community in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dene First Nations reserve near Churchill River and the north end of Lac Île-à-la-Crosse. In Dene, it sounds similar to ''Boni Cheri'' (B� ...

and the Wapachewunak Indian reserve. The community of Île-à-la-Crosse is reached from Highway 908. There are two airports —

Île-à-la-Crosse Airport Île-à-la-Crosse Airport is located north of Île-à-la-Crosse, Saskatchewan, Canada. Road access is from Highway 908. See also *List of airports in Saskatchewan This is a list of airports in Saskatchewan. It includes all Nav Canada ...

and

Patuanak Airport Patuanak Airport is located adjacent to Patuanak, Saskatchewan, Canada, in the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District. Road access is from Highway 918. See also * List of airports in Saskatchewan This is a list of airports in Sa ...

— on the lake's shores. Around the lake there are recreational opportunities such as camping, boating, swimming, and fishing.

Description

The Churchill River exits the north-east arm of Lac Île-à-la-Crosse and flows east to Hudson Bay through a series of lakes. The Churchill enters the lake at the north-west arm, which is called the Aubichon Arm or Deep River. Upstream, the Churchill River leads north-west to

Athabasca Country In fur trade days the term Athabasca Country was used for the fur-producing region around Lake Athabasca. The area was important for two reasons. The cold climate produced some of the densest and thickest beaver fur in North America. The nu ...

passing through

Churchill Lake Churchill Lake is a large glacial lake in the north-western part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is the source of the long Churchill River, which flows east into Hudson Bay. Frobisher Lake flows into Churchill Lake from the no ...

Peter Pond Lake Peter Pond Lake is a glacial lake in the north-western part of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is located in the Boreal forest of Canada, boreal forest and Canadian Shield within the Churchill Riv ...

Lac La Loche Lac La Loche is a lake in north west Saskatchewan near the Alberta border. The lake is part of the Churchill River system that flows into the Hudson Bay. The La Loche River at the southern end flows into Peter Pond Lake which is connected ...

and then on to the

Methye Portage The Methye Portage or Portage La Loche in northwestern Saskatchewan was one of the most important portages in the old North American fur trade, fur trade route across Canada. The portage connected the Mackenzie River basin to rivers that ran east ...

, which leads to

Lake Athabasca Lake Athabasca ( ; French: ''lac Athabasca''; from Woods Cree: , " herethere are plants one after another") is in the north-west corner of Saskatchewan and the north-east corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N in Canada. The lake is ...

. The Beaver River flows into Lac Île-à-la-Crosse from the south and enters on the east-central side. The headwaters of the Beaver are south-west between the upper

Athabasca River The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') in Alberta, Canada, originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Much of the land along its banks is protected in nationa ...

and the upper

North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows event ...

in the Lac la Biche area in Alberta.

Fur trade posts

Given its strategic location, it was a natural stop for early canoe trade routes. Once trade was developed,

pemmican Pemmican () (also pemican in older sources) is a mixture of tallow, dried meat, and sometimes dried berries. A calorie-rich food, it can be used as a key component in prepared meals or eaten raw. Historically, it was an important part of indigeno ...

was carried up the Beaver River from the buffalo country on the North Saskatchewan. In 1767 Louis Primeau, in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, was reported on the Beaver River which means he must have passed through the lake. In 1776 Primeau, working for Thomas Frobisher of Montreal, built a post on the lake. In 1776-77,

Peter Pond Peter Pond (January 18, 1739 – 1807) was an American explorer, cartographer, merchant and soldier who was a founding member of the North West Company and the Beaver Club. Though he was born and died in Milford, Connecticut, most of his li ...

wintered here as did Thomas Frobisher. Around 1786, the Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie, working for Gregory & McLeod, competed with Patrick Small of the

North West Company The North West Company was a Fur trade in Canada, Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada a ...

(NWC). In 1787,

William McGillivray Lt.-Colonel The Hon. William McGillivray (1764 – 16 October 1825), of Chateau St. Antoine, Montreal, was a Scottish-born fur trader who succeeded his uncle Simon McTavish as the last chief partner of the North West Company until a merger be ...

was a clerk here. In 1782-85, there were three groups of independent traders but, by 1789, they were consolidated into the NWC. Around 1790, McGillivray managed the Churchill River Department of the NWC from here. Here, in 1799, David Thompson married a thirteen or fourteen-year-old

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

daughter of Patrick Small. Unlike most "country marriages" this lasted until his death. William Linklater of the HBC built a post in 1799.

Peter Skene Ogden Peter Skene Ogden (alternately Skeene, Skein, or Skeen; baptised 12 February 1790 – 27 September 1854) was a British-Canadian fur trader and an early explorer of what is now British Columbia and the Western United States. During his many exped ...

and

Samuel Black Samuel Black (May 3, 1780 – February 8, 1841) was a Scottish fur trader and explorer, a clerk in the New North Nest Company (XYC) and Wintering Partner in the North West Company (NWC), and later clerk, chief trader, and chief factor in the Hu ...

of the NWC harassed it. In spring 1811,

Peter Fidler Peter Fidler (16 August 1769 – 17 December 1822) was a British surveyor, map-maker, fur trader and explorer who had a long career in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in what later became Canada. He was born in Bolsover, Derbyshir ...

was forced to abandon it and the Nor'westers burnt it to the ground. In 1814, the HBC built a new post at a different location. In 1817 or 1818, the NWC built a fence around it. The HBC built a third time and called its post Fort Superior. The two companies were merged in 1821. By around 1980, there was still an HBC warehouse. Most of the posts were located near the town of Île-à-la-Crosse, but either the NWC or the

XY Company The XY Company, also known as the New North West Company, was a joint-stock fur trading enterprise based in Montreal that conducted business chiefly in the Canadian Northwest between 1798 and 1804.

Recreation

Ile a la Crosse War Veterans Park Campground, also known as Lac Île-à-la-Crosse (South Bay) Recreation Site (), is a provincial recreation site situated on the western shore of Lac Île-à-la-Crosse's South Bay. The park has 22 free, un-serviced campsites, two sandy beaches, a floating dock, and a boat launch. Access is from Highway 155. Farther north along South Bay's western Shore, and also accessed from Highway 155, is Pemmican Lodge. It has lake access, three cabins, and a campground. Adjacent to the community of Île-à-la-Crosse is Northern Eagle Resort. It has a self-contained guest house, camping, and a boat launch. On the eastern shore of Lac Île-à-la-Crosse, is Bearadise Bay Wilderness Camp. It is an outfitters and a "wilderness adventure camp focusing on bear hunting, fishing and wilderness experience". Access is from Highway 918.

Fish species

Fish commonly found in Lac Île-à-la-Crosse include

burbot The burbot (''Lota lota''), also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, or eelpout, is a species of coldwater ray-finned fish native to the subarctic regions of ...

cisco Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, s ...

lake trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater Salvelinus, char living mainly in lakes in Northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, laker, and grey trout. In Lake Sup ...

lake whitefish The lake whitefish (''Coregonus clupeaformis'') 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. The lake white ...

longnose sucker The longnose sucker (''Catostomus catostomus'') is a species of cypriniform freshwater fish in the family Catostomidae. It is native to North America from the northern United States to the top of the continent. It is also found in Russia in riv ...

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

white sucker The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii'') is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is common ...

, and

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill fr ...

References

* Elizabeth Browne Losey, ''Let Them be Remembered: The Story of the Fur Trade Forts'', 1999 * Arthur Morton, ''A History of Western Canada'', no date (1940?)

External links

Île-à-la-Crosse, the Encyclopedia of SaskatchewanMemories Of Deep River
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ile-a-la-Crosse Lakes of Saskatchewan Division No. 18, Unorganized, Saskatchewan