Hayes River

This article is for the river in Manitoba. For the river in far northern British Columbia see Hayes River (British Columbia).

The Hayes River is a river in Manitoba, Canada. It is 483 km (300 mile) long, has a mean discharge of 590 m³/s (772 yd³/s), and its drainage basin is 108000 km² (41700 sq. mile) ^[1]. It originates within several lakes, crosses the Canadian Shield, and drains into the Hudson Bay, just south of the Nelson River.^[2] Segments of the Hayes River have other names: Trout, Bourbon, Jack Tent, Factory, Steel, Rabbit, and Hill Rivers, and the Rivière du Roc.^[3]

Long before Europeans came to Canada, Manitoba First Nations were using the Hayes River as ancient campsites according to pictographs. It traverses the traditional territory of four First Nations: Norway House Cree Nation, Bunibonibee Cree Nation, Shamattawa First Nation, and York Factory Cree Nation. It continues to be an important source of traditional harvesting for the First Nations.

After the arrival of Europeans in North America, the river became an important link in the development of Canada. In 1684, the Hayes River was named for Sir James Hayes, a Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) charter member and secretary to Prince Rupert, by French trader/explorer Pierre Radisson. At its mouth, the HBC established York Factory in 1684, which served as its North American headquarters until 1957. The Hayes was the main route between York Factory and Norway House in the interior of the continent for explorers, fur traders and European settlers from 1670 to 1870. To get to the Hayes from Norway House required a short trip down the Nelson River, then a turn onto the tiny Echimamish River to the Painted Stone portage. This tiny 10 meters of stone separates the Hayes watershed from the Nelson. This route became the last leg of the York Factory Express known as "the Communication", once that was established in the early 19th Century, connecting the HBC regional headquarters of the Columbia District at Fort Vancouver to York Factory.

York Factory on the Hayes River, circa 1925.

Today, the river remains untouched. No dams or development mar its course. It is the longest naturally flowing river in Manitoba and therefore a favorite recreational canoe route. It offers visitors and local people recreational and heritage experience opportunities including canoeing and boating, hunting, fishing, and learning about Canada’s fur trade.

The Hayes flows through some of the most pristine natural areas of Manitoba. It is home to polar bear, wolverine, woodland caribou, the ivory gull, sturgeon, brook trout, beluga whales, bald eagles and moose, as well as a wide range of other wildlife. Traveling from south to north, its banks are lined with dense spruce forests, which change to a mosaic of stunted black spruce, tamarack and bogs. The river’s physical characteristics include whitewater rapids, large lake systems, waterfalls, deep valleys and gorges, as well as tidal flats.

Currently, environmental assessments are being conducted in view of the construction of an all weather bridge at Wipanipanis, near Painted Stone portage, across the Hayes River as part of a winter road. The Hayes River became a Canadian Heritage River on June 11, 2006.

References

External links

• Canadian Heritage Rivers System - Hayes River (includes also photos and map)

Coordinates: 57°02′24″N 92°12′40″W / 57.040°N 92.211°W / 57.040; -92.211