Churchill

River flowing through Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada; length 1,600 km/1,000 mi. It rises in Lac La Loche, northwest Saskatchewan, and flows through a series of lakes to Hudson Bay at Churchill, Manitoba. It has a number of hydroelectric plants, which have reduced its flow.

The river's lakes in Saskatchewan include Peter Pond Lake, Churchill Lake, and Lake Île à la Crosse, where the Beaver River joins from the south. In Manitoba are Granville Lake, Southern Indian Lake, and Northern Indian Lake.

History The Churchill has also been known as the Missinipi (‘big river’) and as the English River, because it was a main route long used by fur traders. Its mouth was discovered in 1619 by Jens Munk, but its upper reaches, where Cree and Chipewyan groups hunted, were not explored until the 1770s, when the North West Company established fur posts.