Sakwatamau

The Sakwatamau River joins the Athabasca near the mouth of the McLeod, where waters from the wooded foothills meet the larger river. Downstream, the Athabasca turns through northern forest towards its great lake. This stretch of river became part of a route connecting the interior with the mountain passes and the Pacific watershed.

In 1823 the Hudson's Bay Company built Fort Assiniboine farther downstream on the Athabasca River. Two years later a road to Fort Edmonton linked it to the North Saskatchewan River. Goods could be carried overland between the two posts and transferred to canoes for the long journey upriver towards Jasper House and the mountain passes. The new route gave the company a shorter way across western North America.