Burntwood River facts for kids

The Burntwood River is a river in northern Manitoba, Canada. It flows between two much larger rivers, the Churchill River and the Nelson River. Many people know it because it flows right through the town of Thompson, Manitoba.

The Burntwood River is over 320 km (200 mi) long. It mostly flows east until it joins the Nelson River at a place called Split Lake, Manitoba.

History of the Burntwood River

Near where the Burntwood River starts, there's a special path called the Kississing Portage. This portage connects the Burntwood River to the Churchill River. Long ago, Indigenous peoples used this route with their light canoes. They carried valuable animal furs from the Athabasca region all the way to Hudson Bay. They could also go up the Nelson River to trading posts on Lake Winnipeg.

This route wasn't used much by European fur traders, known as voyageurs, partly because there was more Pemmican (a type of dried meat) further south. Another river, the Grass River, runs parallel to the Burntwood just south of it and also ends at Split Lake. It was another canoe route.

In 1790, the Hudson's Bay Company built a trading post called Lake's House at the mouth of the Burntwood River. Later, in 1793, a famous explorer named David Thompson (explorer) explored a large part of the Burntwood River.

In 1825 and 1826, George Simpson (administrator), a leader of the Hudson's Bay Company, tried to use the Burntwood River as a direct way to travel from York Factory (a major trading post) all the way to the Pacific Ocean. However, this idea didn't work out and was stopped.

Today, the Burntwood River is part of a big project called the Churchill River Diversion. This project helps control water flow. The Wuskwatim Dam and Generating Station, located west of Thompson, was finished in 2012. It uses the river's water to create electricity.

See also