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 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 SnakeRiver Biographies.

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: theram 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