Danny's Card

This wallet card of Fort Chipewyan was a gift from Danny Johnson. Danny died in a fiery car crash in June 1967 while commuting to Edmonton from Fort Saskatchewan. I was a pall-bearer. School children at recess watched the funeral procession through the playground link fence. We drank all night at Danny's folks' home, walked the dewy golf course in bare feet at 4am, ended up having breakfast at the Red Hat on Highway 16, in remembrance of a great guy.

This was my playground! Through my early teens I explored the myriad channels, islands, bush-paths and hills around Fort Chipewyan, by boat, canoe, hydroplane, bicycle, motorcycle, skis, and on foot. We swam all summer long, and skated sometimes for weeks before the snow came. The lake was incredibly varied depending on wind and river levels. For a few years, until I left for high school, I worked for Water Resources Branch taking daily recordings of lake levels and wind conditions at a meter stick on the point below the old fort buildings, for $30 per month. This was my first regular income, with savings going to boats and motors, guns and shells, a bicycle, various collections, cameras and photo processing.

The Peace, Athabasca and Slave Rivers join here - these channels were the highways of the fur trade, and the reason for the site's strategic importance. The North West Company, Hudson's Bay Company and the XY Company had a lively competition for furs from posts on Fort Chipewyan Point, Potato Island, English Island, and Old Fort Point, changing allegiances and locations for several years  between 1788 and the 1821 merger. My great great great great grandfather Peter Fidler established Nottingham House on English Island for the HBCo. I recall setting foot on English Island only once, in late June 1965, when we rescued our boat from floundering on the rocks not 30 meters from the building site for the post. We never realized either its location or our family connection to the site where my ancestor Andrew Fidler was probably conceived in late winter 1806. I wasn't particularly interested in history at the time, was more focused on exploring, hunting, and having fun with friends! We built forts, had rock wars (!), cowboys and Indians, some organized sports such as football, softball, boxing and curling, and lots of time on the lake. I knew most of the islands, channels and bays on the card above very well.

In retrospect, my parents were very trusting that I would keep out of trouble. After all, this was a big dangerous lake, with conditions that changed quickly in any season.

This Google Earth image illustrates the complex water relationships near Fort Chipewyan. The clear cold water of Lake Athabasca, fed for millenia by melt off the Canadian Shield, mixes with the muddy waters of the Peace, Athabasca and wetland lakes. These rich wetlands provided habitat for the huge beaver and muskrat population that attracted the fur trade. 

The lake has changed dramatically since we lived there. The WAC Bennett Dam on the Peace River in BC had a profound effect on the Peace-Athabasca delta, causing lower water levels, lack of spring surge and unprecedented winter flooding from releases that cause aquatic mammals wintering below the ice, such as beaver and muskrat, to either drown or freeze. Contaminating effluents from the Tar Sands projects on the Athabasca River have also created health issues for residents drinking the water and eating local fish.