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 History
Bites |
Fur
Trading Founder Explorer
John Bell, an officer
of the Hudson’s
Bay Company, thought
the Snake River was
part of the Peel when
he travelled to its
headwaters in the
summer of 1839. But
his glowing reports
of abundant fish and
wildlife led to the
founding of the Fort
McPherson trading
post on the lower
Peel in 1840. Learn
more in History.
 Fishy
Facts |
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Ice
Water
Elder
The
Arctic
Grayling,
found
in cold
northwestern
waters
from
Hudson
Bay
to Nunavut,
Northwest
Territories,
Yukon
and
Alaska,
spawns
in small
rock-bottomed
streams
just
after
spring
break-up.
Long-lived
graylings
may
be 6
to 9
years
old
before
they
mate. |
| Biographies |
| Learn
more about
our Expedition
members
in Snake
River
Biographies.
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t he
Snake
RIVER
Highway to the North
Click for a detailed map of the
Snake
River.
South
of the Peel, west of the Arctic
Red, next door to the Wind and
the Bonnet Plume–the Snake
River of the northeastern Yukon
falls 2500 metres from the Werneke
Mountains
to join a vast wilderness watershed,
flowing north to the Mackenzie
River and the Beaufort Sea. Splashing,
jutting and turning sharply through
alpine canyons and narrow valleys,
the Snake makes its way 300 kilometres
to the relative calm of its Peel
River junction. Descending
from arctic tundra to boreal
forest, awestruck adventure
canoeists train their binoculars
on glacier-capped mountain peaks,
alpine wildflower meadows, and
snow-white, cliff-hugging sheep.
They stop to hike on ancient
overland trails, through bone-coloured
lichens sought by grazing caribou
and berry patches frequented
by mighty grizzlies. They watch
as the slate-grey peaks and
orange and ochre slopes of mountain
scree turn to banks of spruce
and willow, and the teal green
water of the upper Snake grows
thick and brown with the silt
of the Peel Plateau.
Remote and
rugged, traditional land of
the Tetlit Gwich’in and
the Na-cho Ny’a’k
Dun, the Snake is a wild river
in a majestic, magnificent land.
Leader of the Band: Dall sheep
bands follow a simple organizational
rule: the ram with the largest
horns is the leader. Most ram
leaders are at least five years
old, indicated by the growth
rings on their horns. Leaders
may bear the scars of many clashes
with challenging rams. While
they reach an average age of
twelve, ewes may outlive them
by another four to five years.
Learn more in Ecosystem
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