Three rivers converge here:
* the Mistaya River from the south - "mistaya" is Stoney for "much wind"
* the Howse River from the west - this was the route used in 1807 by fur trader and explorer David Thompson to cross the Great Divide
* the North Saskatchewan from the north - arising in the Columbia Icefield and emptying into Lake Winnipeg,
This extensive river corridor provided a major east-west link across Canada for over 100 years.