NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



123 



northward. On its southern side, whose 

 shores are mainly low and sandy, Atha- 

 baska Lake receives the waters of Wil- 

 liam, Grand Rapid, and several smaller 

 rivers. 



Black River, draining a very large area 

 of rocky, sparsely wooded country, 

 flows into the extreme eastern end of 

 Athabaska Lake. Black Lake, the 

 principal expansion in its lower portion, 

 receives the waters of Chipman and 

 Cree Rivers. 



The climate of Athabaska Lake is not 

 radically different from that of other 

 parts of the Mackenzie region which are 

 practically removed from the influence 

 of the warm Pacific winds. Though it 

 lies at a low altitude, the proximity of 

 the lake to the Barren Grounds, from 

 which winds are frequent, keeps its 

 average temperature rather low. An 

 occasional warm west wind slightly 

 tempers the winter climate. The Peace 

 and Athabaska break up at their mouths 

 about the 1st of May, but the neigh- 

 boring part of the lake usually does not 

 open until about the middle of May, and 

 the eastern part probably not before 

 June. The lake usually closes at Fort 

 Chipewyan some time in November. 



C. The Peace River Valley. Peace 

 River is the largest of the affluents of 

 the Athabaska-Mackenzie system, and 

 being in fact much larger than the 

 Athabaska, may be considered the main 

 river. It rises on the western side of 

 the Rocky Mountains and is already a 

 a good-sized stream when it breaks 

 through that range. 



From the confluence of the Finlay and 

 the Parsnip, the Peace flows in a general 

 easterly direction for some 300 mi. to its 

 junction with the Smoky, falling in this 

 distance a little less than 800 ft. The 

 country through which it flows east of 

 the mountains may be considered as a 

 plateau, in which it has excavated a 

 rather deep valley. Back from the 

 river the country is mainly level or 

 rolling, and is thinly wooded. 



Smoky River is the largest tributary 

 of the Peace. Its principal branches 

 rise on the eastern slope of the Rocky 



Mountains, and it drains a large extent 

 of thinly wooded and prairie country. 



Below the mouth of the Smoky, the 

 Peace turns and pursues a winding 

 though general northerly course nearly 

 to Fort Vermilion. It is bordered at first 

 by steep sandstone cliffs, but its valley 

 gradually becomes wider and shallower. 

 Extensive plains, comparatively level 

 and clothed with grass or a sparse growth 

 of poplars, border it on both sides. 

 North of Fort Vermilion this character 

 of country is said to extend to the valleys 

 of Hay and Buffalo rivers. 



Between Fort Vermilion and the 

 Peace-Athabaska Delta the Peace is 

 very broad and contains many wooded 

 islands. Vermilion Falls, a formidable 

 rapid, interrupts navigation a short 

 distance above the mouth of Red 

 River, and another, usually called the 

 "Little Rapid," occurs at some distance 

 below. 



The Quatre Fourches, an offshoot of 

 the Peace, connects that stream with 

 Athabaska Lake, and few miles below, 

 Rocher River also joins the Peace. 

 These streams traverse the Peace-Atha- 

 baska Delta, and their currents run to or 

 from Peace River, being dependent on 

 the relative heights of the water in 

 Peace River and Athabaska Lake. The 

 delta is a vast marsh, partially wooded 

 with poplars and willows and studded 

 with hundreds of reedy lakes. This 

 marsh is one of the most important 

 breeding areas of waterfowl in North 

 America, and is also one of the principal 

 resting and feeding places for migratory 

 wildfowl on their semi-annual journeys. 

 Of the breeding birds, the following 

 may be noted: Holboells grebe, horned 

 grebe, black tern, American merganser, 

 mallard, baldpate, green-winged teal, 

 shoveler, pintail, canvasback, lesser 

 scaup, ringneck, American goldeneye, 

 bufflehead, Canada goose, little brown 

 crane, sora, Wilson snipe, yellowlegs, 

 alder flycatcher, yellow-headed black- 

 bird, northern redwing, rusty grackle, 

 Leconte's sparrow, Nelson's sparrow, 

 Lincoln's sparrow, swamp sparrow, 

 Alaska yellow warbler, Grinnell's water 



