Hayes River
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The Hayes River is a river in Manitoba, Canada. It is 483 km (300 mile) long, has a mean discharge of 590 m³/s (772 yd³/s), and its drainage basin is 108000 km² (41700 sq. mile) [1]. It drains into the Hudson Bay, just south of the Nelson River.
Long before Europeans came to Canada, Manitoba First Nations were using the Hayes River as ancient campsites according to pictographs. It traverses the traditional territory of four First Nations: Norway House Cree Nation, Bunibonibee Cree Nation, Shamattawa First Nation, and York Factory Cree Nation. It continues to be an important source of traditional harvesting for the First Nations.
After the arrival of Europeans in North America, the river became an important link in the development of Canada. At its mouth, the Hudson's Bay Company established York Factory in 1684, which served as its North American headquarters until 1957. The Hayes was the main route between York Factory and Norway House in the interior of western Canada for explorers, fur traders and European settlers from 1670 to 1870. To get to the Hayes from Norway House required a short trip down the Nelson River, then a turn onto the tiny Echimamish River to the Painted Stone portage. This tiny 10 meters of stone separates the Hayes watershed from the Nelson.
Today the river remains untouched. No dams or development mar its course. It is the longest naturally flowing river in Manitoba and therefore a favorite recreational canoe route. It offers visitors and local people recreational and heritage experience opportunities including canoeing and boating, hunting, fishing, and learning about Canada’s fur trade.
The Hayes flows through some of the most pristine natural areas of Manitoba. It is home to polar bear, wolverine, woodland caribou, the ivory gull, sturgeon, brook trout, beluga whales, bald eagles and moose, as well as a wide range of other wildlife. Traveling from south to north, its banks are lined with dense spruce forests, which change to a mosaic of stunted black spruce, tamarack and bogs. The river’s physical characteristics include whitewater rapids, large lake systems, waterfalls, deep valleys and gorges, as well as tidal flats.
Currently, environmental assessments are being conducted in view of the construction of an all weather bridge at Wipanipanis, near Painted Stone portage, across the Hayes River as part of a winter road. The Hayes River became a Canadian Heritage River on June 11, 2006.
[edit] References
- ^ Atlas of Canada
