The Athabasca River runs like a thread through the history of western Canada.

A native legend says, "If you drink from the waters of the Athabasca River, you will return to drink the water again."Many First Nations groups hunted and fished along the river prior to European colonization, including Sekani, Shuswap, Kootenay, Salish, Stoney and Cree — a practice that continues for many First Nations communities within the Athabasca watershed.

The Athabasca also holds the status of a Canadian Heritage River for its importance to the fur trade, construction of railways and roads opening up the Canadian west. Long before the arrival of the Europeans, the Sekani, Shuswap, Kootenay, Salish, Stoney and Cree tribes hunted and fished along the Athabasca River. In 1778, traders established an outpost on the northern shore of Lake Athabasca, making it Alberta's oldest Euro-Canadian community. Over the next 90 years, another 60 posts were built throughout Alberta. David Thompson first traveled through Athabasca Pass 1811, establishing Canada's first transcontinental route.

The river's upper valley played a significant role in the development of the Canadian west for more than 100 years. In addition to providing a major fur trade route, the valley has been linked to the surveying and mapping of western Canada. It also provided and with the building of railways and roads which have linked this country from east to west.

For more information:

• Royal Alberta Museum

• Canadian Heritage Rivers System

• AlbertaSource.ca: The Alberta Online Encyclopedia