Athabasca Pass (el. ) is a high

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

on the border between

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

and

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. In

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 ...

days it connected Jasper House on the

Athabasca River The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') in Alberta, Canada, originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Much of the land along its banks is protected in nationa ...

with Boat Encampment on the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

.Whittaker, John A.
"Athbasca Pass — BC — Alberta Heritage Trail"
''British Columbia History'', Vol. 44, No. 2, Summer 2011, p. 19. Victoria: British Columbia Historical Federation. The pass lies between Mount Brown and McGillivray Ridge. It is south of Yellowhead Pass and north of Howse Pass. The Committee's Punch Bowl, a glacial lake on the continental divide at the summit of the pass, is the headwaters of the Whirlpool River, a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

. It also has an outlet to Pacific Creek, a tributary of the

to the south. Athabasca Pass is first mentioned in the historical record in the papers of British explorer David Thompson, who was shown the route in 1811 by his

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

guide named Thomas. It became a major point on the fur trade route between

Rupert's Land Rupert's Land (), or Prince Rupert's Land (), was a territory in British North America which comprised the Hudson Bay drainage basin. The right to "sole trade and commerce" over Rupert's Land was granted to Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), based a ...

and the

Columbia District The Columbia District was a fur-trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, in both the United States and British North America in the 19th century. Much of its territory overlapped with the temporarily jointly occupi ...

, used by the York Factory Express. In recognition of that usage, it was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada () are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance. Parks C ...

in 1971.

References

External links

Athabasca Pass National Historic Site

Dr. Peter Murphy - La Grande Traverse Part 5
(22 Sept. 2013) — YouTube video of presentation by Dr. Peter Murphy, Professor Emeritus of Forestry with the Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, on the route through Athabasca Pass. * * {{coord, 52, 22, 35, N, 118, 11, 00, W, display=title Mountain passes of Alberta Mountain passes of British Columbia National Historic Sites in Alberta National Historic Sites in British Columbia Continental Ranges Jasper National Park Landforms on the National Historic Sites of Canada register Kootenay Land District

See also

References

External links