|
Lesser Slave Lake, 1168 km2, elevation 577 m, located in central Alberta, about 200 km northwest of Edmonton. Lesser Slave Lake is fed by numerous small rivers, including the Swan, Driftpile and East and West Prairie, and discharges east via the Lesser Slave River to the ATHABASCA RIVER. Explorer Alexander Mackenzie (although he never saw the lake) recorded the name the Cree had for the lake. They had named it for the "strangers" or slavey who earlier had lived in the area. "Lesser" was added later to distinguish it from GREAT SLAVE LAKE, further north. The first non-Native to arrive at Lesser Slave Lake was David THOMPSON in 1799 and he traversed it in 1802.
The earliest non-Native settlement in the area evolved at the west end of the lake, off Buffalo Bay, where the North West Company established a post (1802) and the Roman Catholic Church followed with a mission (1872). Ten kilometres south of this community, at Stony Point, Treaty 8 was negotiated with the district Cree in 1899. At the site of the treaty signing, another community began to grow and eventually become the town of GROUARD. The town of SLAVE LAKE on its southeastern end had its origins in the community of Sawridge. Located at the lake's outlet, Sawridge also began as a fur trade outpost. By 1910 it was a steamboat centre, until the arrival of the Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway in 1914, shortly after which the rail town of Slave Lake was subdivided. There are also several Cree Indian reserves along the south shore of the lake, held loosely together by the Lesser Slave Lake Regional Indian Council. Lesser Slave Lake is known for the sandy beaches on its south and northeast shores. It is an important staging and feeding area for tundra SWANS and other waterfowl and is the site of Canada's northernmost migration monitoring facility. Also located here is the Boreal Centre for Bird Conservation, an educational and research facility for studying boreal birds on their breeding grounds. Two provincial parks, LESSER SLAVE LAKE on its northeast shore and Hilliard's Bay on its northwest, protect sections of its shoreline. The main economic activities are oil and natural gas exploration and development and forestry. Tourists are drawn to its beaches and sport fishery. Its waters also support a commercial whitefish fishery.
 Lesser Slave Provincial ParkIn north-central Alberta (photo by Archie Landals).
Author
GAIL KUDELIK Revised: DAVID W. LEONARD
Links to Other Sites
Slave Lake
A profile of the Town of Slave Lake from AlbertaFirst.com. Features local economic data and related community information.
AlbertaFirst.com
Profiles of AlbertaFirst member communities provide important business, economic and lifestyle information to compliment the statistical information available for all communities.
South Peace Regional Archives
The website for the South Peace Regional Archives. Check out the stories about local pioneers in the “Photo Essays” and the “Finding Aids” for additional details about the region’s history.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| David Thompson was an outsider, struggling to find a foothold in the empire that had consumed his country... |
|
| Pierre Elliott Trudeau, politician, writer, constitutional lawyer, prime minister of Canada 1968-79 and 1980-84 (b at ... |
|
|
| Few countries were affected as severely as Canada by the worldwide Depression of the 1930s. It is estimated that ... |
|
|
| Louis Riel, Métis leader, founder of Manitoba, central figure in the NORTH-WEST REBELLION (b at Red River ... |
|
|
| Few countries were affected as severely as Canada by the worldwide Depression of the 1930s. It is estimated that ... |
|
|
| Evangelical Christian Church, often called the Christian Church (Christian Disciples), is a denomination stemming from ... |
|
|
| The Group of Seven was founded in 1920 as an organization of self-proclaimed modern artists. The original members - ... |
|
|
| Sears Canada Inc, headquartered in Toronto, is a Canadian retailer incorporated in 1952. In 1953 operating under the ... |
|
|
| John Ware, "Nigger John," horseman, rancher (b near Georgetown, SC 1845; d near Brooks, Alta 11 Sept 1905). ... |
|
|
| Land claims are dealt with by a process established by the federal government to enable INDIANS, INUIT and ... |
|
Browse the rich visual resources of The Canadian Encyclopedia through thematic galleries of Canadian Art, History, Nature, People, and Science and Technology.
Illustrations, lively text, animations, sounds and games help make learning about Canadian history, art, geography, architecture and other topics entertaining as well as informative.
The ultimate test of your knowledge of Canada, trivial and otherwise. You can choose from more than 60 dynamic quizzes with visual or text clues. Your scores depend on the speed with which you answer and the number of clues you need. Results are sent to you by email and high scores are posted on the site.
This unique resource includes more than 6000 events from Canadian and world history. It can be searched by era, subject, keyword or date. To find out what happened on your birthday, select the month and day of your birth.
This selection of the 100 "greatest" events in Canadian history was made by editor in chief James H. Marsh to draw attention to events that have left an indelible memory in the minds of later generations.
| THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MUSIC IN CANADA |
|
| Lanza, Alcides (Emigdio). Composer, conductor, pianist, teacher, b Rosario, Argentina, 2 Jun 1929, naturalized Canadian 1976. In Buenos Aires he studied piano with Ruwin Erlich, conducting with Roberto Kinsky, and composition ... |
|
|
