Porcupine River (Saskatchewan)
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Porcupine River (Saskatchewan)
OR:
Porcupine River (Saskatchewan) on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

The Porcupine River (''Ch’ôonjik'' in Gwich’in) is a tributary of the
Yukon River The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. From its source in British Columbia, it flows through Canada's territory of Yukon (itself named after the river). The lower half of the river continues westward through the U.S ...
in Canada and the United States. It rises in the
Ogilvie Mountains The Ogilvie Mountains are a mountain range in the Yukon Territory of northwestern Canada. Geologically they are part of the Yukon Ranges, in the upper Laramide Belt of the North American Cordillera. Geography The range lies north of Dawson Ci ...
north of
Dawson City Dawson City is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest municipality in Yukon. History Prior t ...
,
Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...
, Canada. From there it flows north through the community of
Old Crow Old Crow is a low-priced brand of Kentucky-made straight bourbon whiskey distilled by Suntory Global Spirits, which also produces Jim Beam and several other brands of whiskey. The current Old Crow product uses the same mash bill and yeast as ...
, veers southwest into the U.S. state of
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
, and enters the larger river at
Fort Yukon, Alaska Fort Yukon (''Gwichyaa Zheh'' in Gwich'in) is a city in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska, straddling the Arctic Circle. The population, predominantly Gwich'in Alaska Natives, was 428 at the 2020 census, down from 59 ...
. It derives its name from the Gwich'in word for the river, Ch'oonjik, or "Porcupine Quill River". The
Porcupine caribou The Porcupine caribou is a herd or ecotype of the mainland barren-ground caribou (''Rangifer arcticus arcticus'', Synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''R. tarandus groenlandicus''Harding LE (2022) Available names for Rangifer (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Cervid ...
herd, whose range includes the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR, pronounced as “''ANN-warr''”) or Arctic Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States, on traditional Inupiaq, Iñupiaq and Gwichʼin, Gwich'in lands. The refuge is of ...
(ANWR) in Alaska, gets its name from its calving grounds around the Porcupine River. Possible (but disputed) evidence of the oldest known human habitation in North America comes from a cave on one of the Porcupine's tributaries, the Bluefish River. Many apparently human-modified animal bones have been discovered in the
Bluefish Caves Bluefish Caves is an archaeological site in Yukon, Canada, located southwest of the Vuntut Gwichin community of Old Crow. It has been suggested that human occupation dates to 24,000 years Before Present (BP) based on radiocarbon dating of anim ...
.
Radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...
has assessed them as 25,000 to 40,000 years old—several thousand years earlier than the generally accepted date for human habitation of North America.


Boating

The Porcupine River offers the possibility of "an excellent novice river trip for those experienced in remote wilderness travel," according to author Karen Jettmar. Boaters can travel by canoe, kayak, or raft, though rafters may have difficulty with upriver winds. A float trip beginning at Summit Lake in the Yukon Territory, descending the Bell River to its confluence with the Porcupine, and continuing to Fort Yukon is all rated Class I (easy) on the international scale of river difficulty. However, in high water the difficulty may rise to Class II in Upper and Lower Rampart canyons, downstream of the international border, where the current is swift.


See also

* Old Crow River *
List of longest rivers of Canada Among the longest rivers of Canada are 47 streams of at least . In the case of some rivers such as the Columbia River, Columbia, the length listed in the table below is solely that of the main stem. In the case of others such as the Mackenzie Ri ...
*
List of rivers of Alaska This is a List of rivers in Alaska, which are at least fifth-order according to the Strahler stream order, Strahler method of stream classification, and an incomplete list of otherwise-notable rivers and streams. Alaska has more than 12,000 rivers, ...
*
List of rivers of Yukon This is a list of rivers of Yukon. Arctic Ocean watershed *Mackenzie River watershed **Upper Liard River *** Rancheria River **** Little Rancheria River *** Frances River *** Hyland River *** Coal River *** La Biche River *** Beaver River (Liard ...


References


Works cited

* Benke, Arthur C., ed., and Cushing, Colbert E., ed.; Bailey, Robert C. (2005). "Chapter 17: Yukon River Basin" in ''Rivers of North America''. Burlington, Massachusetts: Elsevier Academic Press. . .


External links


''Treasures of the snow'' Manuscript
at Dartmouth College Library {{Authority control Fort Yukon, Alaska International rivers of North America Rivers of Alaska Rivers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska Rivers of Yukon Rivers of Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska Tributaries of the Yukon River