The Severn River is a river in northern

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. The northern Ontario river has its headwaters near the western border of the province. From the head of the Black Birch River, the Severn River is long, Its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

area is , a small portion of which is in

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 ...

. Its source is Deer Lake and flows northeasterly into Severn Lake, then by a second section to

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...

where it ends at

Fort Severn Fort Severn, in present-day Annapolis, Maryland, was built in 1808 on the same site as an earlier American Revolutionary War fort of 1776. Although intended to guard Annapolis harbor from British attack during the War of 1812, it never saw act ...

. The First Nation communities of Sandy Lake, Bearskin Lake, and

are located along the river. These were formed at the sites of former

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...

s built when the Severn River was a prominent river during the

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 ...

era. The mouth of the river was located by the English in 1631 during expeditions by captains

Thomas James Thomas James (c. 1573 – August 1629) was an English librarian and Anglican clergyman, the first librarian of the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Life James was born about 1573 at Newport, Isle of Wight. In 1586 he was admitted a scholar of Winc ...

and

Luke Foxe Luke Foxe (or Fox) (20 October 1586 – c. 15 July 1635) was an English explorer, born in Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorkshire, who searched for the Northwest Passage across North America. In 1631, he sailed much of the western Hudson Bay before ...

. Later, Fort Severn was established there as a trading post in 1689 by the

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 ...

. It was captured by

Pierre le Moyne, sieur d'Iberville Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1706) or Sieur d'Iberville was a French soldier, explorer, colonial administrator, and trader. He is noted for founding the colony of Louisiana in New France. He was born in Montreal to French ...

in 1690. The post, rebuilt in 1759, has been in continuous operation to this day making this community one of the oldest European settlements in Ontario. At its source on Deer Lake is the small community of

Deer Lake, Ontario Deer Lake First Nation (Oji-Cree: ᐊᑎᑯ ᓴᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ) is an Oji-Cree First Nations band government in Northern Ontario, located north of Red Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the few First Nations in Ontario to have signed Treaty 5. ...

Tributaries

Tributaries of the northern Severn River include: *McInness River
Cobham River
(source in Manitoba) *Windigo River *Makoop River *Blackbear River *

Sachigo River The Sachigo River is a river in the Hudson Bay drainage basin in Kenora District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. It is a tributary of the Severn River. Course The Sachigo River begins at Broadside Lake and flows northeast through Pasateko Lake ...

**Wapaseese River **Beaver Stone River * Fawn River * Beaver River

References

Rivers of Kenora District Tributaries of Hudson Bay {{NorthernOntario-river-stub

Tributaries

See also

References