FORT ASSINIBOINE — Back in 2017, the Athabasca River Brigade put their canoes in the Athabasca River near Jasper on June 21 and arrived at Fort Assiniboine June 28 to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary.
Now, six years later, they are doing it again to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Fort Assiniboine, the second oldest fort in Alberta.
Quentin Olson, a lifetime Fort Assiniboine area farmer and one of the “ground crew” for both the 2017 and 2023 River Brigade trips, said there will be 14 canoes taking part for the entire journey from July 7-13.
Roughly the same number of canoes took part in 2017, though there will be one more joining them for the second day of the voyage from the bridge at Blue Ridge to Fort Assiniboine.
Although heavy rains over the month of June caused flooding in parts of Alberta, the high waters of the Athabasca River have luckily subsided in recent days.
“We’re looking pretty good. Everything’s looking good for us to go ahead as scheduled,” Olson said.
This year, they will put their canoes in the water at Whitecourt on Friday, July 7, and travel just a half day to the boat launch at the bridge near Blue Ridge. They will then camp at the recreation area near there that is a reclaimed gravel pit that has some ponds.
People will be able to join the paddlers there in the afternoon and have the opportunity to get in the canoes on the ponds with some experienced paddlers.
On Saturday, July 8, they will travel on down to Fort Assiniboine, with a mid-day crew change at Moose Wallow, he noted. “We will be going past the fort and the arena (at Fort Assiniboine) about 3 p.m. if anyone wants to watch them go by.”
Just as in 2017, the canoes will pull ashore just downstream from the village at Alan O’Brien’s Woodlands RV Park and River Marina. After a short ceremony, they will then parade from there up the street to the Legion hall for a free Community Supper at 5 p.m. and entertainment by Canadian fiddler Calvin Vollrath at 7:30 p.m.
The registration deadline for the supper was June 15, but tickets are not required for the show with Vollrath.
The action for the River Brigade doesn’t stop there. Olson says they will be staying over at Fort Assiniboine on Sunday, July 9. Again, Olson said they will be offering people rides in the boats, “snd this time, it will actually be on the river.”
He says they will start at the Marina and go downstream about two kilometres to the public boat launch. “It’s not real fast moving water (on that stretch),” he noted.
That evening, Capital Power will be providing a supper for the paddlers and the ground crew.
Then on Monday, July 10, the Brigade will carry on down the river, about 50 kilometres to the Klondyke Ferry, and camp there overnight.
“Neerlandia Co-op is going to provide a supper for us there,” Olson added. “They’re also donating to the Fort event as well.”
On Tuesday, July 11, they will paddle on down past the mouth of the Pembina River to Chisholm. The canoes will be left there overnight and paddlers will camp at Smith at the rec facility there.
On Wednesday, July 12, they will travel on down past Smith with a noon stop there for a lunch break and swap paddlers. “We’re hoping someone from the MD of Lesser Slave River will be there to welcome us there,” Olson said.
“This year, James Taylor from Victoria will be along for the journey and bring his black powder musket to announce our arrival (at the stops). Hope he doesn’t get his powder wet,” he laughs.
From Smith, they continue on downstream about 30 kilometres to the River Bend Lodge and tie up there for the night. “It’s a beautiful spot, right on the river. It’s an old homestead from about 1930, and he has the original little blacksmith shop fixed up for one of his cabins.”
On Thursday, July 13, they will make the final leg of their journey to Athabasca town, arriving about 4 p.m.
“They’ll have some music for us and a supper for us there and probably both Town and County Councillors to welcome us there.”
“It will be a total of 343 kilometres on the river from Whitecourt to Athabasca (for the brigade),” he says, and noted, “It’s actually 10 kilometres further than we did in 2017 from Jasper to Fort Assiniboine.”
Bicentennial events
In addition to the Athabasca River Brigade’s arrival, there are a number of other events occurring in Fort Assiniboine alongside the bicentennial.
On Friday, the Fort Assiniboine Legion will present a concert by Voices of Legends, who will play music from the great Elvis himself and The Beatles. Doors open at 7 p.m., with the show starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30 at the door.
The Fort Assiniboine Museum will also be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday for visitors to the hamlet to check out its collection of pioneer and fur trading artifacts.
Incidentally, the museum will also host a chili lunch at noon on Sunday for $10. This is a fundraiser for the museum.
An Indigenous Showcase and demonstrations involving dancers and music will also take place at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday, and noon and 3 p.m. on Sunday.
The Barrhead Spinners and Weavers Guild is also set to host demonstrations of carding, spinning, weaving and knitting on an antique circular sock machine from the early 1900s on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Finally, the Barrhead Walkie-Talkie Volkssport Walking Club will host a five-kilometre walk that afternoon. There will be a meet-up at the Fort Assiniboine Friendship Centre before proceeding by car to the start of the trail for the walk to begin at 2 p.m.
More information on the Fort Assiniboine bicentennial celebrations can be found at the Fort Assiniboine bicentennial website.
