Saskatchewan River - History

History

The Saskatchewan River and its two major tributaries formed an important transportation route during the precontact, fur trade, and early settlement periods in the Canadian West.

First Nations inhabiting the area of the rivers included at one time or another the Atsina, Cree, Saulteaux, Blackfoot Confederacy, Assiniboine, and Sioux.

Henry Kelsey penetrated the area in the 1690s for the Hudson's Bay Company, and Louis de la Corne, Chevalier de la Corne, established the farthest western post of the French Empire in America (See New France) just east of the Saskatchewan River Forks at Fort de la Corne. In addition to this the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company 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 settlements became important along stretches of the rivers (notably at the Southbranch Settlement, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and St. Albert, Alberta).

Riverboats were introduced from the Red River of the North 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 (Edmonton, Alberta), Fort Battleford (Battleford, Saskatchewan), Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and Cumberland House, Saskatchewan.

Fur trade on the lower river: The first European to ascended the river as far as the forks was Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye in the spring of 1739. The main posts on the river were (landmarks in parentheses): (Saskatchewan River Forks) Fort Le Jonquière (?), Fort de la Corne, Cumberland House, Saskatchewan, (The Pas):second Fort Paskoya, (inflow to Cedar Lake:) first Fort Paskoya and second Fort Bourbon, (Cedar Lake), (inflow to Lake Winnipeg:) Grand Rapids, Manitoba and first Fort Bourbon. There were also a number of temporary posts that have left few records. By far the most important post was Cumberland House which was the depot for the route northwest to the rich Athabasca country. To the west, the North Saskatchewan had the greatest number of posts.