George Rivière

George Rivière, 560 km long, in northern Québec, drains N into the E side of UNGAVA BAY. Its southern and eastern divides, along with those of tributary rivers Ford and De Pas, extend along much of the Québec-Newfoundland and Labrador border. The river's 41 700 km² basin includes Lac de la Hutte-Sauvage (Indian House) and Lac aux Goélands (Whitegull) among many lakes that provide a mean discharge of 881 m³/s. Over granitic gneiss of the Churchill geological area, the vegetation is transitional - from boreal forest in the S and W to tundra in the E and N.

The river has supported a salmon sport fishery and the basin makes up much of the range of the George River CARIBOU herd. Native occupation of the area is by MONTAGNAIS-NASKAPI Indian and LABRADOR INUIT. Moravian missionaries named the river for George III in 1811, but European exploration of the extent of the river was not made until John MCLEAN's attempt to establish a transportation route for the HBC from Fort Chimo to LakeMELVILLE. McLean first crossed the area in 1838, on the exploratory journey on which he discovered CHURCHILL FALLS.

Author IAN MACCALLUM