Steamboats of the Mackenzie River

The Great Mackenzie River in Canada's north is a major artery. Used for thousands of years by the Dene, Beaver (Dunneza), Cree and Athabaskan natives, it was explored by the Scot who lent his name. The river was an important communication link to the north, in a land for years that did not have roads, trains or airplanes. Police, explorers, and gold prospectors travelled by canoe and barge to get to various destinations.

In 1898 the Klondike gold rush gave an impetus to the exploration of the north. Some sourdoughs even travelled to Dawson City using the Mackenzie River. It was a more difficult route than the more common but still onerous Skagway trails but what came out of this was a deep desire to explore and inhabit the north.

Police, government agents, and the Hudson's Bay Company were the main Canadian players in the Far North region for years 1910–1950. This was also the active period of steamers on the river. As the lower tributaries of the Mackenzie became settled with roads and railways, (the Peace, Athabaska, and Nehanni) the boats moved farther north, to work the trackless arctic. The Hudson's Bay Company ran the boat "Distributor" for many years.

The Northland Echo, Slave River, Athabaska River, Mackenzie River were several of the boats on the river. Others were " the "Weenusk", the "Northland Echo", the "Northern Light", the " Midnight Sun", the "Ingenika", the "Athabasca River" and "Grahame" -- and the rest. The gold mines of Goldfields, Yellowknife, the Uranium mines of Great Bear Lake, the oil wells of Norman Wells, and the mining exploration of Pine Point all provided trade for the vessels. As stated, Waterways on the Athabaska River near Fort McMurray became the southern service hub for the North. Boat yards and warehouses were built as were wharves and railways. Alberta Great Waterways railway arrived in the 1922. Portage links were built at Fort Fitzgerald. and so the cargoes could reach Hay River, the start of Navigation on Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River proper leading down to the Arctic Ocean.

There are no further rapids on the river's thousand mile course--Fort Providence, Fort Simpson, and Inuvik were destinations in the remote land. The great Depression drove many people north. While the Second World War gave huge impetus to northern shipping with the Eldorado Mine at Great Bear Lake, and the Canol war projects. To feed these needs, steel barges were built by the U.S. Army as were tugs. After the war the DEW Line Project expanded shipping. Northern Transportation Co Ltd. set up in the Hay River. Allied Shipyard of North Vancouver built a series of knocked down barges, which were transported and welded together at Waterways for service in the North.

The northern barge traffic is still essential to the heavy freight as fuel, food, and heavy equipment can be moved economically in the summer months to the North and oil fields of the Beaufort.

References

* MacGregor, James Grierson (1974) "Paddle wheels to bucket-wheels on the Athabasca" McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, ISBN 0-7710-5450-5

ee also

*Steamboats of the Peace River
*Northern Transportation Company Limited