Amisk Lake is a lake in the east-central part of the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, about south-west of

Flin Flon Flin Flon (pop. 5,185 in 2016 census; 4,982 in Manitoba and 203 in Saskatchewan) is a mining city, located on a correction line on the border of the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with the majority of the city located withi ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

. 'Amisk' means beaver in

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

. Along the lake's shores is the community of Denare Beach, a provincial recreation site with lake access and camping, and prehistoric limestone crevices. Access to the lake and its amenities is from Highway 167. Amisk Lake was on an important

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

route in the 18th century.

Forts

Amisk Lake is along the course of the Sturgeon-Weir River, an important part of the canoe route from eastern Canada to the rich

Lake Athabasca Lake Athabasca ( ; French: ''lac Athabasca''; from Woods Cree: , " herethere are plants one after another") is in the north-west corner of Saskatchewan and the north-east corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N in Canada. The lake is ...

country. There was an independent trading post on Amisk Lake (Beaver Lake) in 1775 and a

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

trading post in 1776.

Frobisher-Henry Fort

In June 1775,

Alexander Henry the elder Alexander Henry 'The Elder', in French: ''Alexandre Henri Le Vieux'' (August 1739 – 4 April 1824) was an American-born explorer, author, merchant who settled in Quebec following the Conquest of New France (1758–1760), Conquest of New France a ...

left Montreal with 16 canoes and goods worth £3,000. On Lake Winnipeg, he was joined by

Peter Pond Peter Pond (January 18, 1739 – 1807) was an American explorer, cartographer, merchant and soldier who was a founding member of the North West Company and the Beaver Club. Though he was born and died in Milford, Connecticut, most of his li ...

, Joseph Frobisher, and Thomas Frobisher. From the new Hudson's Bay Company post at Cumberland Lake, Henry and the two Frobishers went north up the Sturgeon-Weir hoping to reach Frog Portage where Thomas had traded successfully the previous year. They crossed Amisk Lake on 1 November and the next morning it was frozen over. Since there was good fishing they stopped at the mouth of the West Weir and built a fort. On 1 January, Henry set out on foot and spent three months visiting the Indians. Next spring they went north to Frog Portage and were successful in trade. Joseph Frobisher maintained the post of Amisk Lake until it was abandoned in 1778.

Amisk Lake Recreation Site

Amisk Lake Recreation Site () is a provincial recreation site on the eastern shore of Amisk Lake. The park is divided into two sections. The Sand Beach campground is located at the south-east corner of the lake and has a campground with 12 campsites and lake access. At the north-eastern corner of the lake, just north of Denare Beach, is Sawmill Bay Campground. Sawmill Bay also has lake access and includes 27 campsites. Both sites are accessed from Highway 167.

Fish species

The fish species include

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill fr ...

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

lake trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater Salvelinus, char living mainly in lakes in Northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, laker, and grey trout. In Lake Sup ...

lake whitefish The lake whitefish (''Coregonus clupeaformis'') is a species of freshwater whitefish from North America. Lake whitefish are found throughout much of Canada and parts of the northern United States, including all of the Great Lakes. The lake white ...

cisco Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, s ...

white sucker The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii'') is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is common ...

, longnose sucker, and

burbot The burbot (''Lota lota''), also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, or eelpout, is a species of coldwater ray-finned fish native to the subarctic regions of ...

References

External links

Plan shewing mining locations on Amisk Lake 1914 (gold mining)
{{Authority control Lakes of Saskatchewan