Sturgeon-Weir River
The Sturgeon-Weir River is a river in east-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It flows about 110 miles south-southeast to join the Saskatchewan River at Cumberland House, Saskatchewan. It was on the main voyageur route from eastern Canada northeast to the Mackenzie River basin. Its steep gradient (about 4 feet per mile) led voyageurs to call it the Rivière Maligne or Bad River. Mackenzie described it as "an almost continual rapid." For modern canoeists the gradient is nearly ideal when going downstream.
For background see Canadian canoe routes (early). The voyageur route left the Saskatchewan River about 125 miles west of Lake Winnipeg through a very short channel north to Cumberland Lake, with the important depot of Cumberland House, Saskatchewan on its south shore. The river goes east and north through another lake to Amisk Lake which now has a road connection to Flin Flon. It crosses modern Saskatchewan Highway 106 to Pelican Lake with Pelican Narrows, Saskatchewan and then northwest to the river's source in what is described as a 'stagnant lagoon'. From here the short 400-yard Frog Portage leads north to Trade Lake on the Churchill River. The route then went at least 250 miles west up the Churchill River and over the Methye Portage to the Mackenzie River basin.
See also
References
- Eric C. Morse, 'Fur Trade Canoe Routes of Canada/Then and Now',1979
- Sturgeon-Weir River
Coordinates: 54°16′00″N 101°49′01″W / 54.26667°N 101.81694°W