SASKATCHEWAN RIVER 



5217 



SASKATCHEWAN RIVER 



With these difficulties ahead of them, the 

 metis, in 1884, called on Louis Kiel, who was 

 then in Montana, to help them maintain their 

 rights. In the following March Kiel was 

 elected president of the provisional government 

 which the metis established at Saint Laurent. 

 At first Kiel was moderate, and there was hope 

 that the government would eventually make 

 the wanted concessions. Before the govern- 

 ment could make up its mind, an unfortunate 

 encounter took place at Duck Lake between 

 some of the Mounted Police and a band of 

 metis. This skirmish was followed by a rising 

 of the Cree Indians, who, led by Big Bear, at- 

 tacked a little settlement at Frog Lake. The 

 men were killed, and the women and children 

 carried away. The news of the outbreak caused 

 great excitement in Eastern Canada. A force 

 of 4,400 men was hastily collected, and in two 

 months time were in the field and ready for 

 combat. 



The commander of the government's forces 

 was General Middleton, who divided his army 

 into three units or columns. The first, under 

 General Middleton, was to advance from Qu'- 

 Appelle to Batoche ; the second, under Colonel 

 William D. Otter, was to advance from Swift 

 Current to Battleford; and the third, under 

 General Strange, was to march from Calgary 

 to Edmonton. All three columns were to use 

 the Canadian Pacific Railway as the base of 

 operations. All three of the columns were suc- 

 cessful. General Middleton's column defeated 

 Kiel's force at Fish Creek, near Batoche, and 

 three days later took Kiel prisoner. Big Bear's 

 forces were broken by a special flying column 

 under Major S. B. Steele, and Poundmaker, the 

 other Cree chief, surrendered at Battleford. 

 Kiel was tried at Regina, and was hanged for 

 treason. A number of the other leaders were 

 executed, and a few, including Poundmaker, 

 were imprisoned. 



Results of the Rebellion. Although insignifi- 

 cant from a military point of view, the rebel- 

 lion had important results. It led the Do- 

 minion government to recognize the claims of 

 metis, and to give them deeds to their 

 lands. The North West Territories, in view of 

 increasing importance, were given repre- 

 sentation in Parliament. But the most im- 

 portant effect was that it broupht home to all 

 Canadians the reality of Confederation and 

 stimulated national feeling. W.F.Z. 



SASKATCHEWAN, sas katch'e wan, RIVER, 

 a Canadian stream which forms, together with 

 the Nelson River, the greatest river system 

 327 



flowing into Hudson Bay. The Saskatchewan- 

 Nelson is one of the four great river systems 

 east of the continental divide of North 

 America; the other three are the Mississippi, 

 the Saint Lawrence and the Mackenzie. The 

 Saskatchewan has a length of 1,205 miles from 

 its mouth to the source of its chief tributary, 

 the Bow. The area which this system drains 

 includes 158,800 square miles, an area more 

 than one and one-half times as large as that 

 of the Great Lakes and seven times as large as 

 that of Nova Scotia. The combined Saskatche- 

 wan-Nelson has. a drainage basin of 370,800 

 square miles, or one-tenth of the total area of 

 the Dominion of Canada. See map, facing 

 page 1096. 



The Saskatchewan is formed by the junction 

 of two branches, the North and South Sas- 

 katchewan, which unite about twenty-five miles 

 east of Prince Albert, in the province of Sas- 

 katchewan. The Saskatchewan proper is 240 

 miles long, and flows east to the northwest cor- 

 ner of Lake Winnipeg. Shortly before enter- 

 ing Lake Winnipeg, the river flows through 

 several lakes, the largest of which is Cedar 

 Lake, thirty miles long. Below Cedar Lake 

 navigation is interrupted by rapids, but west of 

 the lake the river is navigable for large steam- 

 ers as far as the junction of the north and 

 south branches. Smaller, shallow-draught ves- 

 sels ascend the North Saskatchewan as far as 

 Edmonton, nearly 500 miles farther. The river 

 is narrow and rapid throughout most of its 

 course. "Saskatchewan," in fact, is a Cree In- 

 dian word meaning "rapid-flowing river." 



The North Saskatchewan has its rise in the 

 glaciers on Mount Hooker, in the Rocky 

 Mountains of Alberta. Flowing eastward across 

 Alberta, it skirts the southern border of the 

 northern coniferous forests, and meets the south 

 branch slightly more than halfway across 

 Saskatchewan. The North Saskatchewan is 

 about 760 miles long, and drains an area of 

 54,700 square miles. 



The South Saskatchewan, which is usually 

 regarded as the main stream, has several head 

 streams, of which the Bow is perhaps the most 

 important. The Bow rises in the foothills of 

 the Rockies west of Calgary, and after an cast- 

 southeast course of 315 miles unites with the 

 Belly Rive r. wh.ch comes from the southwest 

 corner of Alberta, to form the South Saskatche- 

 wan. Some of the head streams of the South 

 Saskatchewan rise in Northern Montana. The 

 South Saskatchewan is 865 miles long to the 

 head of the Bow, and has a drainage basin of 



