Return to the rivers of discovery of western Canada

Abstract

The search for the North-West passage through the New World led to the discovery of a river passage to the interior of western North America. In the haste of the fur trade, the Indian manitou stone marking the river passage was destroyed and a gifted insight into the relationship between man and his environment was lost. Two centuries later, the major rivers of passage have been dammed, diverted, and partially abandoned. With the help. of an older culture, we must regain the lost insight to survive in an ancient landscape. “a monstrous blot on a swampy spot with a partial view of the frozen sea” R.M. Ballantyne, York Factory, 1848