Deh Cho Trail

Deh Cho Trail – 1,800 km circle that follows the mighty rivers first canoed by the North’s earliest inhabitants.
(Fort Nelson, Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, Grande Praire, Grimshaw, Manning, High Level, Hay River, Kakisa, Yellowknife, Fort Simpson, Fort Liard)
This is the area we have been, and are traveling in. Haven’t had time to tell you about the areas, so here is a little about where we have been so far.
Aboriginal peoples, European explorers, Voyageurs, Fur Traders and even prospectors all used the Deh Cho as their gateway to the Artic. Deh Cho means “Big River” to the Dene (the name of the people who settled this region roughly 9,000 years ago), although the Europeans named the river after the 18th Century explorer Alexander Mackenzie. Some of the oldest prehistoric sites in North America can be found in Fort Liard.
At roughly 4,216 km long the mighty Mackenzie is Canada’s longest river.

Passing into NWT from Alberta makes Enterprise your first stop North of 60. Situated at the intersection of Highways 1 and 2, this settlement of 80 people is a key Northern crossroads. Heading west to the Deh Cho, north of the North Slave and Yellowknife, east to Hay River and Fort Smith. Tremendous scenery at the Twin Falls, Canyon trails lead to Alexandra and Louise Falls (pictures in previous post).

Hay River
On the East Bank, todays K’atl’odeeche First Nations Reserve dates back to the 1800’s, though no permenant settlement took hold until 1892-93, when Chief Chiatol brought a group to settle here, building log cabins and bringing dairy cattle around the south-west end of Great Slave Lake from Fort Providence. Chiatlo asked for missionaries to join his people and the Anglican Church sent in Rev. Thomas March in 1893. A church residential school and nursing station became part of the settlement in the ensuing years of the last decade of that century. The Anglicans were joined by the Roman Catholics, and by the 1930’s, not only was commercial fishing beginning to take hold, but a HBC post was established as were other trading ventures. In the early 1930’s Gold was discovered in the area By the late 30’s some people were living onVale Island, on the west side of the river as there was now three major Gold Mines in the area. In the early 1960’s, Cominco took up its option for development of the lead-zinc deposits at the site of the former Pine Point Mines, 60 miles east of Hay River. The mine development was contingent upon a rail line being built; this was duly done, finishing in 1964 with a branch line to Hay River.

In 1963 rampaging ice and water destroyed and devestated “Old Town” Hay River during the river break-up. Houses were upside down, big boats were floating loose in the streets, and telephone poles were down. This devestating flood led to a boom in the development of Hay River. It allowed the community to reorganize and rebuild the “New Town” we know today. The town of Hay River was first incorporated in 1956, and is today one of only six tax-based communities in the NWT.

Fort Providence – “Deh Gah Got’ie Koe” which in Slavey means “the place where the river comes”
Where the waters of Great Slave Lake begin their churning journey North to the Artic Ocean. One of the most popular tourist stops in the region, the community is also frequented by roaming herds from the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary (pictures in previous post). Also the gateway to Yellowknife this is a community of almost 900 people. They have great trophy fishing of pike and pickerel right from shore. This is where they are building the Deh Cho Bridge (pictures in previous post) across the Mackenzie River.

Yellowknife – poulation aprox. 20,000
The Europeans named Yellowknife for the copper handles on the knives the natives used. Before that it was called Fort Providence, which is now refered to as “Old Fort Providence” because of the town south of Yellowknife now called Fort Providence. Confusing Hey!
Members of three neighbouring Dene Nations, the Chipewyan (live at the edge of the treeline where southern forests end and Artic tundra begins), the Dogrib and the Slavey moved from their adjacent hunting grounds and began what would be the burgoning city’s first settlements. Though gold was first discovered in the area almost by accident in the late 1800’s by a prospector on his way to the Klondike, it wasn’t until the 1930’s that Yellowknife’s gold rush took off and the non-aboriginal population exploded. This boom was further fueled in 1938 when the Royal Canadian Signals station at Fort Rae was moved to Yellowknife. This opened up communications for transplanted southerners as radiotelephone service was provided for the general public. Aviation further opened the North and the city began to grow and expand its boundries in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Yellowknife became the NWT Capital in 1967 and was officially declared a city in 1970.
Today’s Yellowknifes live throughout the city, but there are two distinctly Dene neighbourhoods: Dettah and Ndilo. On the east side of the Yellowknife Bay is the Dettah community which has a pop. Of about 180. A traditionaly outpost camp for centuries, by 1950 a community had begun and permanent residents had settled. The mane Dettah means “Burnt Point” reflecting its rocky, almost treeless setting. Located on Latham Island just past Old Town, Ndilo, which means “End of the Point,” is home to about 180 Dene.


Fort Simpson – “Liidlii Kue” means “the place where the rivers come together”
Being one of the oldest settlements in Western Canada, was founded on the need for people to meet and conduct commerce.
It is located on a narrow island, at the confluence of the Mackenzie and Liard Rivers, in the heart of the Deh Cho Region.
There was no year round settlement on the island, but every spring people congregated on “the Flats”, arriving by canoe and moosehide boats, to celebrate the end of winter and trade. The North West Company opened a successful trading post on the island from 1803 to 1811 called “Fort of the Forks”. The post closed when the rabbits became scarce and three men stationed here died from starvation. Fort Simpson was established is 1822 when the Hudson’s Bay Company opened a fur trading post on the island, becoming the district headquarters for the HBC, and was considered the “Emporium of the North” the major trading post for the region. The community was named for George Simpson, the HBC Chief Representative in North America from 1820 to 1860. It was a company town and a monopoly up to the early years of the last century. The Anglican and Roman Catholic missionaries arrived together in Fort Simpson in 1858. In 1912 the island was surveyed and divided among the HBC, the Catholic Church, Anglican Church, RCMP, the Indian Agent, and the Crown. Today Fort Simpson is a community of 1,300 made up of Dene, Metis and non-aboriginal people. Fort Simpson is also known as “the Gateway to the Nahanni”. We are staying a few extra days here so the weather will clear up and we can fly in to the Nahanni.