Clearwater River (Saskatchewan)

The Clearwater River south of Fort McMurray

The Clearwater River is ( clearwater English for " clear water "), a right tributary of the Athabasca River in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The 295 km long river rises to 460 m in the Broach Lake on the Canadian Shield. Then the river flows over several smaller waterfalls, rapids and a ravine in the Interior Plains, where it meanders between sandbanks and small islands. Further down the valley is again bounded by steep limestone slopes. Also, a dolomite gorge can be found on the path of the river. After 108 km of river running in Alberta flows into the river, which is also called The Chant in the lower reaches, near Fort McMurray to about 310 m altitude in the Athabasca River.

Tributaries

• Mirror River (left, Saskatchewan )
• Virgin River (left, Saskatchewan )
• Desch arms River (right, Saskatchewan )
• McLean River (left, Saskatchewan )
• Christina River (left, Alberta)

Protection

Since the Clearwater River - as the name suggests - is a river in pristine nature, there are in Saskatchewan the 2240 km ² large Clearwater River Provincial Park. The status as a Canadian Heritage River was the river in Saskatchewan in 1986 and Alberta in 2004.

History

Before the arrival of Europeans lived in the area of the river, the Indian tribes Chipewyan, Cree and Danezaa since 5000 years, which proved the rock paintings.

While the discovery of the Europeans and the fur trade in the 18th century, the underflow obtained as a trade route between the Athabasca district in the west and the Hudson Bay to the east significance. However, the upper reaches stopped - due to the Canadian Shield as a barrier - unaffected. The discoverer Peter Pond was the first of the Methye portage between the Lac La Loche and the headwaters of the river used on the path between Athabasca and Churchill. This connection was for nearly forty years the only one for the regional fur trade.