The Athabasca River Story

Publication - The Athabasca Historical Society put together this brief history of travel on the Athabasca River from the late 1800s to the end of commercial transportation on the river in 1952. The river was used by traders, missionaries, police and explorers as a means to get north. In 1883 the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) went as far as Calgary, so a trading post was set up on the river, creating Athabasca Landing. This would serve as a trading post for many years. Soon after, the Hudson Bay Company began building scows in Athabasca Landing which were used to ship goods to the northern communities. The men who rode on the scows became known as the "Athabasca Brigade", and were known to be very skilled at handling the scows on the river, which got quite rough in a few places. Few scows were returned to Athabasca Landing, as this was a difficult and dangerous job to maneuver them back; often taking eight to ten men to navigate back up the river with furs. Sternwheelers began to be used on the river in 1882, although the goods being shipped would have to be moved into scows before completing the northernmost part of the trip. In 1898 a large number of Klondikers began arriving in Athabasca Landing to make the trek to the Yukon for gold. Some of these Klondikers returned and stayed in Athabasca. By 1906 there were a lot of settlers on the north side of the river, which required a ferry service to start up. In 1934 a cable cage service was started assist in transportation, and in 1952 a new bridge was built. This would mark the end of the river being used for commercial transportation (8 pages)