Mission Lake, also known as Lebret Lake, is a lake in 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 ...

. It is one of four lakes in the

Qu'Appelle Valley The Qu'Appelle River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba that flows east from Lake Diefenbaker in south-western Saskatchewan to join the Assiniboine River in Manitoba, just south of Lake of the Prairies, near t ...

known as the Fishing Lakes. Echo Lake is upstream and

Katepwa Lake Katepwa Lake () is a recreational lake in the Qu’appelle Valley in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The lake's name likely originated from the Cree word , which means "What is calling?" Katepwa Lake is eastern most and farthest downs ...

is downstream. The lake was named ''Mission'' after the Catholic mission at Lebret. Highways 22 35, and 56 provide access to the lake. Mission Lake, as well as the other three Fishing Lakes, are all in the Qu'Appelle Valley, which was formed about 14,000 years ago during the last ice age.

Meltwater Meltwater (or melt water) is water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glaciers, glacial ice, tabular icebergs and ice shelf, ice shelves over oceans. Meltwater is often found during early spring (season), spring when snow packs a ...

from the glaciers carved out the valley and as water levels rose and fell,

alluvium Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

was left in the wake. These piles of alluvium are what created the separations between the lakes. The Qu'Appelle River is both the primary inflow and out flow. The river enters the lake at the west end, near the town of Fort Qu'Appelle, and exits the lake at the south-east end. Echo Creek is a small creek that rises to the south-west near McLean and enters the lake at the south-west corner.

Communities

Mission Lake is located in the RM of North Qu'Appelle No. 187. At the western end is the town of Fort Qu'Appelle, which sits between Mission and Echo Lakes. The village of Lebret and the adjoining Wa-pii-moos-toosis Indian Reserve are on the northern shore along Highway 56. The Qu'Appelle Indian Residential School was located on the Wa-pii-moos-toosis Indian Reserve.

Recreation

Mission Ridge Winter Park is a ski resort in the Qu'Appelle River valley near the south-west area of the lake. Syrian Beach is on the southern shore, near the east end and directly across the lake from Lebret. Lebret Provincial Recreation Site is at the village of Lebret. It is a small park at Haffner Beach with a picnic area and boat launch.

Fish species

Fish commonly found in Mission Lake 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 ...

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

, and

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 ...

Gallery

File:Lebretsaskatchewankjfmartin.jpg, Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church Lebret, Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, 1921.jpg, Mission Lake and Lebret, 1921 File:Lxx1255 Boating, bathing and fishing, Como Park, Lebret.jpg, Mission Lake, c. 1920s File:Echo Creek.jpg, Echo Creek, which flows into Mission Lake at the south-west corner, near Fort Qu'Appelle File:Qu'Appelle Industrial School 1885.jpg, Mission Lake and Fort Qu'Appelle Indian Industrial School, May 1885

References

External links