The Voyageur Brigade Society presented council with a keepsake to commemorate last year’s Athabasca River Brigade

 

Last year during the Canada 150 celebrations, the Voyageur Brigade Society took part in a 333-kilometre trip along the Athabasca River. Starting in Jasper on June 22, the group made its way along the river and arrived at its destination, Fort Assiniboine, on June 28. On the way they stopped in riverside communities including Whitecourt. The experience was once in a lifetime for many and helped educate local citizens about how important Canada’s waterways and the voyageur canoes were to the establishment of the country.

Dan Moore was one of 170 paddlers that took part in the brigade and on Monday, June 11, he presented council with a book to commemorate the trip. Filled with pictures and information, the book details the entire trek along the Athabasca and includes images from the brigade’s stop at Riverboat Park. While in Whitecourt they brought several boats to Rotary Park and the public was invited to a spin around the pond.

“The town helped support the brigade and I believe you guys (speaking to council) won a canoe race, too,” said Moore to which Mayor Chichak excitedly said yes. “There was very little cheating in our win over Woodlands County. It was all skill,” she laughed. Moore said the event was a great way to celebrate Canada 150 and that he enjoyed getting to share the heritage of the region in terms of the Athabasca River. “That’s how Whitecourt would have first started, through the trade on the river.”

Mayor Chichak thanked Moore and his crew for the hard work put into the project during the year-long planning process. “He and his crew spent so much time putting this together and co-ordinating the communities. He put the people together who rode down the river and arranged to have people at each of the communities doing celebrations and educational components.”

At each stop, paddlers shared their knowledge of the history involved in river transportation and explained how voyageurs used the rivers to gain access to new areas and trade products. During the stop in Whitecourt, residents even experienced black muskets and canyons firing off from the side of the pond as the canoes floated by.

“Getting this book and seeing the pictures that reflect the journey is absolutely incredible. It’s very exciting for us to have such a great memorial. It goes through the entire trip, step-by-step,” said Mayor Chichak as she flipped through the pages pausing to point out certain moments. “Whitecourt is in here. Fort Assiniboine is in here. Each community they stopped in as they went down the river is in here. The pictures are absolutely fantastic. They truly reflect what it would have been like years ago when the fur traders went down the river as this would have been their mode of transportation. I think it’s excellent when you can look back at something that has been recreated, especially for our youth.”

Anyone who is interested in taking a closer look at the book is invited to pop down to the town office. “I encourage anyone interested in seeing it to come down to the office. It is a public book and it’s something we would love to share with you,” said Mayor Chichak.