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Between Fitzgerald and Fort Smith, the Slave River cuts through a seventeen mile bar of
granite rock. In that distance the river falls 109 feet -- mainly at four separate
rapids.
Mountain Portage is an ancient portage, man and beast have tugged belongings, boats,
and barter goods from Lake Athabasca in the South to the Mackenzie River down North.
Here, river travelers were, without question, forced to portage. At the end of
the Mountain Portage peninsula they met with the most treacherous and narrowest river drop
and rapids. To the south were the Cassette and Pelican Rapids, ten and three miles
upstream. In the western Canada river network, the Slave River Rapids have always
been considered the toughest to navigate and to portage.
From time immemorial, over this portage came the Chipewyan, the Beaver, the Cree and
the Slave Indian people. During the 18th century the first white traders and
explorers started to record the rapids in their journals. In the mid-1780's, with
native guides and hunters, the Northwest Company sent Leroux and Grant over these rapids
to build a trading post on the shore of Great Slave Lake, some 200 miles downstream.
Alexander Mackenzie, led by Francois Beaulieu, an Indian Chief, and a party of hunters,
spent all of June 5, 1789, covering some 17 miles of narrow channels and primitive trails
around the rapids. As they toiled, the travelers were tormented by swarms of
mosquitoes. They paddled and carried birchbark canoes.
Prior to 1821 the canoe was almost exclusively in transporting goods around these
rapids. The York boat was introduced by the Hudson's Bay Company in the mid-1800's.
This boat was replaced by the "scow" or "sturgeon" and the
"Chipewyan Skiff" until a primitive cart road was in use inland in the late
1800's.
Before Fort Smith was established in 1874, there was a small settlement at the foot of
the rapids (Thebacha) with Joseph King Beaulieu, son of "Old Man Beaulieu" as
the first trader.
In the York boat and scow-brigade era, wooden cradles and a Spanish windlass, or
capstan, were used to pull the boats up to the highest point of the portage. Here,
twenty or thirty men soaked the summer sand with their sweat, man and beast being driven
mad by the bulldog-fly and mosquito.
Until the turn of this century, oxen were the main beast of burden. They were
replaced by tractors in the 1920's. Oxen, mules, horses, tractors and trucks finally
drew freight attention to an improved but primitive trail that spanned all the rapids, but
was well inland near the highway which now joins Fort Smith and Fort Fitzgerald.
Mountain Portage Rapids was used and last "shot" by Louis Mercredi, with a
free traders' scow in 1921. Their trip through the rapids and over this one portage
took seven hours.
Above is an image map of the waterway system that visually
depicts the obstacles that the Slave River rapids represented.
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Cassette Rapids Located
nearest to Fort Fitzgerald, the Cassette Rapids have some of the most spectacular scenery
this side of the river. Due to its wide open area, you can view these rapids in all of its
beauty. Being first of the four rapid areas, the Cassette Rapids were a definite
experience for those who first challenged to cross or portage this beautiful but rugged
landscape. To portage this set of rapids it took four hundred and sixty paces which was a
long way considering all the cargo, canoes, and other equipment which were carried in
about twenty-six minutes. |
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Pelican Rapids The
Pelican Rapids are one of the most scenic rapids on the Great Slave River. Also called
home to many pelicans who have set up nesting sites near the rapid area, it is definitely
a must see to those who wish to tour the sites and sounds of the north. Aside from the
scenic aspects, these rapids are also very swift and rugged. Surrounded by boreal forest,
portaging this set of rapids was time consuming and difficult. Some smaller water vessels
like canoes and skiffs may have been able to navigate around these rapid waters, but
larger vessels and heavy cargo had to be portaged to keep from losing it to the many huge
rocks that lay as a foundation for these swift waters. |
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Mountain Rapids Standing
175 feet high and 335 paces long, this ancient portage has had man and animal hauling
belongings, boats and other goods coming from the Athabasca in the south to the Mackenzie
River down north. This portage was created so travelers could avoid the treacherous
Mountain Rapids. With the water moving at such a dangerous pace over tugging currents and
solid rock, it would take the most skilled traveler to even think of trying to cross. The
Mountain Rapids are but one of four different sets of rapids stretching about seventeen
miles and cutting through granite rock. Over that seventeen mile stretch, the river drops
109 feet, mainly at the rapid areas. |
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Rapids of the
Drowned The Rapids of the Drowned are the last set of rapids close
to Fort Smith. The name comes from a misfortunate accident that happened many years ago. A
couple of canoes arrived at the upper end of the portage, in one of which was an
experienced guide. This guide, seeing the height of the river, thought it practical to
shoot the rapid and determined to get to the other side. He accordingly placed himself in
the bow of his canoe, having earlier agreed that if the passage was found easy, he should,
on reaching the bottom of the rapid, fire a musket as a sign for the other canoe to
follow. The rapid turned out to be dangerous requiring all of the guide's skill and the
utmost exertion of his crew. For all their efforts they narrowly escaped destruction. On
the verge of landing an unfortunate fellow, seizing a loaded rifle, fired at a duck which
rose at the instant. The guide, anticipating the consequences, ran with the utmost haste
to the other end of the passage but he was too late. The other canoe had pushed off and he
arrived only to witness the fate of his five comrades. They became distressed in the
middle of the rapid, the canoe was upset and every man perished. |
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