A Bit of History Before the Mystery

The town of Hay River sits aside the waterway of its namesake. Known as the “Hub of the North”, it is set at the South shore of Great Slave Lake, at the mouth of the Hay River. The area is divided into two sections, Old Town and New Town, with the airport in the middle.

Population has varied over the past decade, but the recent number rests near 4,000, with approximately 350 of those residents living on the Hay River Reserve of the Katl’odeeche First Nation. The total Aboriginal population of the town is about 1600, which is made up of First Nation, Metis, and Inuit. While English is the predominant language in the town, other oft spoken tongues include South Slavey, Chipewyan, and Michif.

Hay River has proven to provide an almost city feel while keeping the appearance of a town. The full service H. H. Williams Hospital also houses an ambulance service, and a dental clinic and senior care home are not too far from the property. For those in need, a woman’s shelter and transition house can be found on Woodside Drive, the town’s main drag. A Museum in the Old Town section houses over a century of history, containing information on the origins of the Hudson’s Bay Company in Hay River, and ultimately in the North.

Also in town is a Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment with eight officers. The South MacKenzie Correctional Center is just outside of town, with most of its occupants held on charges of mischief, drug and alcohol related offences, spousal abuse, and one person brought in this year for the murder of a local RCMP officer.

The area has been in use by the Long Spear People, a First Nations tribe, reportedly since about 7000 BC. As to permanent settlements and habitation, there are some discrepancies between the accounts of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, and the accounted history of the town itself.

According to the LANT, the first buildings put up were those of the Hudson’s Bay Company in the 1868, followed by a Roman Catholic Mission in 1869, and then an Anglican Mission in 1894. The Assembly also states that the first permanent settlement was founded on what is now the Katl’odeeche First Nation Reserve.

On the other hand, the town’s history contests that the settlement came first, with the ground broken by Chief Chiatlo in the early 1890’s. At his request, the Anglican Mission was raised in 1893, the Roman Catholic Mission a few years later, and then the HBC outposts.

However the origins of Hay River occurred, it seems fair to rely on the history passed on through the town itself rather than that of a distant and disconnected Legislation. At the time, the settlements were more barren and spread out than even now, so the records and relations of those times may be somewhat vague or speculative from a distance. It is also widely stated that some dates may have been inaccurate to an almost purposeful fault for bragging rights, something not strictly localized to this fair town, but rampant across the Arctic and other damning areas of exploration worldwide. When the history still remains in the town, both on tongues and on display, the information seems much more reliable.

No matter which version suits you, it was around 1900 when schools, health centers, and an RCMP detachment began to spring up, making for a true town. Around the same time, on nearby Vale Island, a runway was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers for the Canol Road Project, a pipeline and road constructed from Norman Wells, Northwest Territories to Whitehorse, Yukon during World War II. The pipeline no longer exists, but the 450 kilometer-long Yukon portion of the road is maintained by the Yukon Government during summer months.

In the mid to late 1940’s, the Government of Canada built a gravel road from Grimson, Alberta to Hay River. This road, which today is known as the MacKenzie Highway, made Hay River the first community in the Northwest Territories connected to Southern Canada.

Since 1959, the Northern Transportation Company has had its main base in town. This has been a major staging point for the annual sealift along the MacKenzie River. An annual trip for cargo ships and tugboats alike, the sealift occurs on the rivers and sea between July and October to deliver supplies of fuel, food, vehicles, and other materials and goods to the isolated communities in the Arctic. Most of these communities have no port or cranes, so the ships and barges have to cozy up to a simple dock, or sometimes ground themselves to be unloaded. Via, Inuvik, Tuktoyaktuk, and other Arctic Ocean communities, the sealift along the MacKenzie reaches as far East as Taloyoak, Nunavut, and West to Barrow, Alaska.

Around 1965, the MacKenzie Northern Railway was laid, with the Canadian National Railway now reaching Hay River from a starting point in Edmonton, Alberta. This made Hay River the northernmost point in North America on the Continental Rail System, a titled held to this day. Although there are tracks in Alaska that have bearings on higher latitudes, they are not connected to the greater system, and are for use mainly within the state.

In regards to its history, some things about Hay River may be up for debate. However, no matter when the first settlement was founded, those unfortunate souls would never disagree with today’s inhabitants on one subject: the cold.

Hay River begrudgingly withstands a subarctic climate, with only 3 months of summer. Winter temperatures almost always remain below freezing, but some relief is offered in that every month of the year will see one day above five degrees Celsius. From December through January, the windchill rarely rises above -30(C), a temperature which can cause severe frostbite to exposed skin in less than half an hour.

Summers in the climate are known for round the clock beauty, and an average temperature of approximately 18 degrees Celsius. The daylight seems to not fade, with the communities enjoying a mere dusk from 3am to 7am, as opposed to the total darkness of winter from 4pm to 10am. A majority of the average rainfall, a lowly 10 inches, comes in the summer months, although rain can be in the forecast year round.

Aside from your humble author, notable residents of Hay River have included two National Hockey League veterans: Rob McVicar, a goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks, and Geoff Sanderson who, among other teams, spent time with the Hartford Whalers, Vancouver Canucks, and Columbus Blue Jackets. A number of Members of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies have also called Hay River home.