Winnipeg River

Winnipeg River
Aerial view of Winnipeg River between Lac du Bonnet and Pinawa
Nelson River drainage basin
Location of the mouth of the river in Manitoba; Lake of the Woods is the large lake at the bottom right of the shaded area. Show map of Manitoba Winnipeg River (Canada) Show map of Canada
Location
Country	Canada
Provinces	Manitoba Ontario
Physical characteristics
Source	Lake of the Woods
• location	Kenora District, Ontario
• coordinates	49°46′18″N 94°31′27″W / 49.77167°N 94.52417°W / 49.77167; -94.52417
• elevation	322 m (1,056 ft)
Mouth	Lake Winnipeg
• location	Manitoba
• coordinates	50°37′54″N 96°19′13″W / 50.63167°N 96.32028°W / 50.63167; -96.32028[1]
• elevation	217 m (712 ft)
Length	235 km (146 mi)
Basin size	106,500 km2 (41,100 sq mi)[2]
Basin features
River system	Nelson River

Winnipeg River is a Canadian river that flows roughly northwest from Lake of the Woods in the province of Ontario to Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba. This river is 235 kilometres (146 mi) long from the Norman Dam in Kenora to its mouth at Lake Winnipeg. Its watershed is 106,500 square kilometres (41,100 sq mi) in area, mainly in Canada. About 29,000 square kilometres (11,000 sq mi) of the watershed is in northern Minnesota, United States.^[2]

The Winnipeg River watershed was the southeasternmost portion of the land granted in 1670 to the

This river route was used by natives for thousands of years before European contact. French and English colonists also began to use the river in order to reach First Nations for the fur trade, with trade interactions for hundreds of years. It is the only major water route between what is now Ontario and southern Manitoba that was easily navigable by canoe. The Red River route was much farther south and had a longer portage. La Vérendrye was one of the first explorers to establish fur trade forts near the First Nations camps along the river.

The river section through Whiteshell Provincial Park has many petroforms near the Whiteshell River forks where the two rivers meet. These petroforms are an ancient reminder of the importance of the area for native travel, trade, ceremonies, harvesting, and settlements.

The Winnipeg River watershed stretches to the height of land about 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of Lake Superior.

Major modern communities along the banks of the Winnipeg River include

In Ontario, dams were built on the Winnipeg River at Kenora, exiting Lake of the Woods, and at Whitedog Falls. Power from the dams have supplied Kenora and a local pulp and paper mill, while local Anishinaabe populations have been negatively impacted by consequent environmental degradation.^[3] In Manitoba, there are six hydroelectric dams: Pointe du Bois Generating Station at Pointe du Bois, Slave Falls a few kilometres downstream, Seven Sisters Generating Station at Seven Sisters Falls, MacArthur Falls Generating Station, Great Falls Generating Station, and Pine Falls Generating Station at Powerview, Manitoba.

Flows on the Winnipeg River are controlled through the various dams by the Lake of the Woods Control Board. It maintains a website with detailed descriptions of the river basin and water flow characteristics.^[4]

Tributaries

Major tributaries include the Black Sturgeon River, English River, Bird River, Lee River, Whiteshell River, Whitemouth River, and Macfarlane River.

Manitoba:

Ontario:

Lakes

Areas where the Winnipeg River widens markedly have been identified as lakes, including Gun, Roughrock and Sand lakes in Ontario; and Nutimik, Eleanor, Dorothy, Margaret, Natalie, and Lac du Bonnet, all in Manitoba. Nutimik, Dorothy, and Margaret lakes are all entirely within the Whiteshell Provincial Park.

Exploration and fur trade

The Winnipeg River was the main route from the

Opening of the land west of Lake Superior by a European is credited to La Vérendrye in 1731–1743. In 1731 his men built a post on Rainy Lake. In 1732 he built Fort Saint Charles on Lake of the Woods. In 1733 one of his sons almost reached Lake Winnipeg but was blocked by ice. In 1734 two explorers reported that they had reached the south end of Lake Winnipeg, and La Vérendrye ordered the first Fort Maurepas to be built there soon after. By 1743 the French had reached the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan rivers and had sent explorers to present-day North Dakota and, probably, Wyoming in what is now the United States.

All this drew trade away from the Hudson's Bay Company. After the British conquest of Canada as part of its victory in the

• Lake Superior: 1.Fort Kaministiquia (1717), later called Fort William, Ontario (NWC, 1803) and 2. Grand Portage with Fort Charlotte;
• Rainy River: Fort Saint Pierre (1731), Fort Lac la Pluie (NWC, circa 1780), Asp House (HBC 1794), Hungry Hall (HBC 1825);
• Lake of the Woods: Fort Saint Charles (1732);
• Winnipeg River Mouth:Fort Maurepas (Canada) (c 1739), Fort Bas de la Rivière (NWC, 1792), Fort Alexander (HBC, before 1800)

See also

• La Vérendrye Trail
• List of longest rivers of Canada
• List of rivers of Ontario
• List of rivers of Manitoba

References