Gravel River.
Forty-one miles below the confluence of le Vieux Grand Lac river, or sixty-five miles, by the survey, above Fort Norman, a large river enters from the west. It is shallow at its mouth, as it is throughout its course, according to the reports of the Indians. The current, they say, is swift. They ascend it a long way in the winter to hunt, and descend in the spring on rafts. How far they go up, Mr. Ogilvie could not learn, their unit of distance being the unknown quantity of a day’s travel, but they go much farther than on any other tributary of the lower river.
Mr. Ogilvie obtained the name from some Indians who had travelled it and they called it “Pecat-ah-zah.” This translated means Gravel river, by which name it is known to all the white men in the vicinity, on account of its shallowness and numerous gravel bars.
Mr. Keele, reporting upon his descent of Gravel river in 1908, wrote:—“On Gravel river the high mountains approach to within a distance of about fifty miles of Mackenzie river, and are then replaced by a belt of foothills about three thousand feet in height above sea-level. These foothills in turn decline in elevation and finally die out in a broken, wooded plain, about six hundred feet above sea-level, bordering Mackenzie river. Gravel river has built up an alluvial flat at its mouth, and several alluvial islands in the Mackenzie below this point are probably due to the great load of sediment carried in at flood-time. On account of the long period of sunshine during the days, nearly all the snow disappears from Mackenzie mountains before the summer ends. Vegetation advances very rapidly in summer, and where the soil is good, vegetables of many kinds may be grown along the river banks in the principal valleys.”
Fort Norman.
Fort Norman is situated on the east bank of the Mackenzie just above the entrance of Great Bear river. This river is from two to three hundred yards wide at the mouth, with a moderate current, but a short distance up becomes shallow and the current increases. The color of the water is a beautiful greenish-blue, although when Mr. Ogilvie passed it was somewhat turbid.
Ten miles below Great Bear river, a stream about one hundred yards wide comes in on the westerly side.
Eighty-three miles below Fort Norman, or six and one-half miles above Sans Sault rapids, Carcajou river empties its waters into the Mackenzie from the west.
Nearly five miles lower down again, a river called Mountain river flows in from the west. It is from one hundred to one hundred and fifty yards wide, and shallow.
Sans Sault Rapid.