Navigations History
This is from; Manitoba, Canada, Its Development and Opportunities, 1923, page 133
RED RIVER NAVIGATION.—The principal systems of inland navigation in Manitoba are those on Red river and Lake Winnipeg and on the Saskatchewan river and adjacent waters. The headquarters of navigation on lake Winnipeg and Red river is at West Selkirk, some 24 miles north of Winnipeg. Between Winnipeg and Selkirk are found St. Andrew’s rapids, to overcome which the Dominion Government constructed the St. Andrew’s canal and lock at a point about 12 miles north of Winnipeg. The canal was opened for traffic in 1910 and the total tonnage of freight passing through from that date to the close of 1920 amounted to some 331,000 tons, an average of but little over 30,000 tons a year. This freight consisted mainly of lumber, pulpwood and other forest products which was brought up stream, the traffic down stream being very light. Canadian vessels only use this canal as shipping on the Red river south of Winnipeg has practically disappeared.
LAKE WINNIPEG.–Lake Winnipeg is over 250 miles in length and nearly 300 miles from the head of navigation at Selkirk to Norway House at the northerly outlet. Fleets of steamboats, tugs, sail boats and other craft employed in the fishing industry ply up and down these waters during the open season. The headquarters for the summer fishing industry are at Selkirk, with other important stations. This lake has about 1,000 miles of shore line, and, save for a few points at the southern end served by railways, the only means of transportation is that afforded by water traffic.
SASKATCHEWAN RIVER.—The Saskatchewan waterway extends from The Pas, as headquarters, down stream to Cedar lake, and up stream to Cumberland lake. Below The Pas the Saskatchewan river is wide and sluggish and breaks up into numerous intricate channels winding through a low-lying, flat country. Smaller boats are able to connect with Moose lake where there is a small settlement. Cedar lake is an expansion of the Saskatchewan and lies immediately north of Lake Winnipegosis. At the entrance to the lake is situated the old Hudson’s Bay Company’s post, Chemahawin, and a couple of short portages lead from the south shore of the lake to the north shore of Lake Winnipegosis. Between Cedar Lake and Lake Winnipeg the Saskatchewan river once more contracts and flows through a rocky gorge. There is considerable fall between these lakes giving rise to the famous Grand rapids of the Saskatchewan which act as a barrier to navigation and unfortunately prevent the connection of the lake Winnipeg and Saskatchewan river steamboat routes. In earlier days a tram line was operated around these rapids.
Canal Groups and Organizations
Manitoba Historical Society has information about the use of the rivers. Check out the page on Northern Prairie Ships.
Major Repositories and Archives
Library and Archives Canada is the national repository.
Canal Index Pages
The “canal index” project is an on-going project of the ACS to document canal sites. Most of the information is from the 1970-1990 time period, however new pages are being added. Feel free to contribute to this project by submitting a form.
Note: Canals in blue and underlined have index sheets which are accessible by double clicking on the hyperlink. Canals listed in green below do not yet have index sheets. They are listed here to make the list more complete. It is intended to add index sheets for them in the future.
- Manitoba
Please note that many of these are the actual pages done in the early 1970s. Changes have occurred since and there are some inaccuracies in the information on the pages.