page_title: Northern Woods and Water Route
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Northern Woods and Water Route / History
caption_attribution_description: Typical boreal forest.
context_page_description: The Northern Woods and Water Route is a 2,400-kilometre route through northern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Western Canada. As early as the 1950s community groups came together to establish a northern travel route; this was proposed as the Northern Yellowhead Transportation Route. The Northern Woods and Water Route Association was established in 1974, and encouraged promotion of the route with the promise of an increase in tourist travel. The route was designated in 1974 and is well signed throughout its component highways. The route starts at Dawson Creek as the Spirit River Highway and ends at the Perimeter of Winnipeg, Manitoba, after running through the northern regions of the western provinces. From west to east, the Northern Woods and Water Route incorporates portions of British Columbia Highway 49; Alberta Highways 49, 2A, 2, & 55; Saskatchewan Highways 55 & 9; Manitoba Provincial Road 283 and Trunk Highways 10, 5, 68 & 6. The halfway point of the NWWR is approximately at Goodsoil, Saskatchewan.
context_section_description: The Long Trail followed the Peace River 100 miles (160 km)530 across northern AB.  As the flow of traffic increased due to the fur trade industry along the Long Trail, stopping places developed providing rest and food for travelers.  In 1923, the three routes out of Lac La Biche were to the west, which corresponds to the route of AB Hwy 55 along the south shores of Lesser Slave Lake. Edmonton or Saddle Lake trail departed to the south, which would be the initial stages of AB Hwy 55 out of Lac La Biche.   Heart Lake trail traveled northeast from Lac La Biche, which would form a base for secondary AB Hwy 858.  Work was done on the Athabaska Trail to make it passable for motor traffic as many roads had been graded.  Before stopping places developed, caches were set up at stopping points along the way.  Before the arrival of rails the waterways such as the Lesser Slave Lake near Athabasca, Alberta and the Saskatchewan River near Prince Albert were traversed by long boat, canoe, and steamship. The rail did not reach the northern areas until the early twentieth century due to the geological hurdles of mountains, muskeg, swamp, boreal forest, and river systems  to traverse.  A huge flood in 1899 near The Pas left no ground to walk upon, yet the railway track construction work began in 1906, with more continuing in 1911. In 1928, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) surveyed their line across the Saskatchewan River near Prince Albert, and contractors started work on the bridge.  The upper deck served the train, and the lower deck was built for highway traffic opening for vehicles in 1932. In 1929, travel was overland on trails, and rivers were forded in many places.
  As early as 1896 oil wells were drilled at Athabasca supplementing the rich soils and grain growing economy.  There was a rush of settlers to the area in the early 20th century, at this time transportation for goods was freighted on Lesser Slave Lake to connecting river routes or via early rail lines overland.  Fortune seekers during the gold rush of 1896 traveled north through Edmonton or took the rail as far north as Prince Albert.  The westerly route proceeded from Prince Albert to Green Lake, and from there to the Long Trail by following the Beaver River to the Churchill River, Athabaska, Slave and Mackenzie rivers until bearing north following the rivers of the Yukon to Dawson City.
  The first garage to service McLaughlin cars opened in High River as early as 1909.  In 1912 travelers could stop here at a filling station for their automobiles.  This same year the speed limit through town was not over ten miles  per hour (16 km/h) and not over five miles  per hour (8 km/h) upon approaching another horse or pedestrian, the fine was not more than C$50.00.  The Pas, Manitoba saw its first car arrive in 1916, yet it had been active with fur trading posts and explorers in the area since 1741.
  Settlers would not only haul gravel for the new roadways, but they also cleared brush for the road allowance.  Early roads did not follow the road allowances of the Dominion Land Survey, but rather kept to higher ground, however due to the nature of the Boreal transition ecoregion, muskegs and swamps still needed to be traversed.  The first pioneers filled these watery areas with branches and brush and proceeded along their trip.  Later corduroy roads were built across these areas were traffic got mired in the mud.  A corduroy road consisted of logs laid across the road as a rail tie is across the rail line, however the logs were placed one against another and mud filled between the logs for a smoother surface.  One log provided about 6 inches (15 cm) of roadway, so only the worst areas were constructed in this fashion.
  Debden, Saskatchewan had a horse and caboose taxi for settlers as early as 1912 providing regular trips to Prince Albert and taking children to school.  In 1945, the taxi service was provided by automobile. Bush planes arrived in the 1920s to the northern bus areas providing communication in an era where travel was limited when the snow fell, or the water froze. In 19
caption: Boreal forest
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