View topic - Churchill River history

Side note.
Byran you said you were doing the Cree this summer, so am I. July 24th to Aug. 1st. Flying to Armatage Bay canoeing to Wapata Lake. What cost were you quoted for flying Points North Air? 5200 dollars for us in a single turbo otter!!! Thought that was pretty high!! Flew in and out of the Waterfound and Fond du lac. Can`t remember the price but am sure it was not 5000 bucks.

Second the recommendation on "The Lonely Land". Excellent read....

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Dave

"The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness, and of a freedom almost forgotten." Sigurd Olson, 1956

Off topic, but the tentative and approximate prices thy gave me for flying Points North to Armatage Bay, and pick up at Wapata Lake returning to PN were $5,100 for the twin otter (which probably is not available), $4,900 for the single turbo otter, and $3,577 for the beaver. That includes taxes & tie-on fees. Yup, it aint cheap.
Bryan

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ColdspringPaddling.com

If you were ambitious you could start at Patuanak and go up the Mudjatik to Cree Lake, and fly out commercial at Fond du Lac or Stony Rapids.

For a fraction of the flight costs you could probably convince some one to take you a ways up the Mudjatik in a wooden skiff. There are summer residences on the Mudjatik - we talked with some fellows going Moose hunting on the river (in June).

Just a thought - but time is usually money too. Plus I don't know anything about the height of land portage.

What's the other book I've read about the Cree Lake area? They're memoirs of a trapper during the depression.

"North to Cree Lake" - A.L. Karras?

Another good read in the same vein is "Face the North Wind" - Ed Theriau.

-jmc

I'm posting references to these books almost as fast as you guys give them.

Regarding Coolican's notes on the 1955 trip:
I had expected wooden boats and worries about getting the food packs wet.
But I was struck by how little information they had on the rapids and falls; they knew the names and had some of the journals but that's about it. Such details were not given in the old days, for sure, but I had expected more to be recorded between then and 1955.
Perhaps the trips of Morse, Olson and the others received so much attention in the press because the fur-trade routes had been abandoned by those of European descent and left to the native people, not, I expect, an original observation.

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A literal mind is a little mind. If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all. Good enough isn't.  None are so blind as those who choose not to see. (AJ)

Hi jmc,
The author of both North to Cree Lake (ISBN1-894856-19-8) and Face the North Wind (ISBN 1-894856-63-5) is Arthur L. Karras. Ed Theriau is one of the real-life characters of the Face the North Wind book and, I presume, the namesake for Theriau Lake on the Waterfound River. I have both books beside me right now, and I agree, they are both very interesting (oh, and there's a bit of a secret about the North to Cree Lake book).
Bryan

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ColdspringPaddling.com

From alibris:

Northern Rover: the Life Story of Olaf Hanson
UBC Press? 2009?
by A. L. Karras and Olaf Hanson
From 1919 to 1970, Olaf Hanson was a trapper, fur trader, prospector, game guardian, fisherman, and road blasting expert in northeastern Saskatchewan. He told his life story to popular Saskatchewan author A. L. Karras, who wrote this memoir in the 1980s.In an uncompromising, straightforward style, Karras and Hanson reveal the geography, wildlife, and natural history of the region as well as the business and social interactions between people. The book offers a look at the vanished subsistence and commercial economy of the boreal forest, based on a fascinating personal story of courage and physical stamina.

North to Cree Lake:
A. L. Karras
Trident Press, New York (1970)
This "is a story of the land before it was despoiled by promoters and developers. "

Face the north wind
A. L. Karras
Fitzhenry and Whiteside (2005).
Burn & McEachern, Don Mills (1975).
About this title: ... Face the North Wind is the compelling true story of cousins Fred Darbyshire and Ed Theriau, who spent almost five decades, from 1924 to 1975, trapping and living off the land in northern Saskatchewan. Working an area roughly defined by Cree, Wollaston, and Reindeer Lakes, Fred and Ed evolved from innocent greenhorns to expert trappers at a time when modern conveniences were unheard of in that part of the country. Intertwined with the two men's experiences are gripping accounts of the annual Hudson's Bay Company fur brigades along the Churchill River, encounters with wolves, trapper's lore, and exciting tales of memorable fur, game, and fish catches.

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A literal mind is a little mind. If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all. Good enough isn't.  None are so blind as those who choose not to see. (AJ)

Oops.

Thanks for setting that straight, Pawistik.

My personal RAM seems to be getting more random every year . . .

-jmc

Regarding today's cost to fly in to the Cree:
Several years ago we reduced the cost of flying in canoes and other gear by taking them into Cree Lake when the outfitter opened his winter road. With his permission we drove into Cree Lake Lodge near the north end of the lake and left our canoes and other non-perishable gear at the lodge. When it came time to paddle the Cree to Black Lake we drove to Stony Rapids and flew with TransAir to Cree Lake. One aircraft landed at the lodge where we gathered up our gear and for a small fee we were ferried by lodge staff to the rest of the group who had landed near the rivers mouth. We opted to end the trip at the bridge on the Cree River, called in the Beaver, picked up our vehicles at Stony, picked up the gear and paddlers at the bridge and drove home.
Admittedly we had an advantage as I live year round in Beauval, Sk which puts us close to the Key Lake Mine road which leads to the Cree Lake area. Also all 10 of our paddlers were from Central Saskatchewan. We reduced the cost of the trip by at least a third.