Along its course there are dozens of historic signs and markers which relate some local aspect of the Peace River. We especially like this one, as it relates the uniqueness of the river, qualities of which no other river can boast.
Though not particularly wordy, his marker imparts information of which the majority of passers by will not be aware:
South of the Peace, the Rockies form the Continental Divide. Rivers which originate in its western watershed flow to the Pacific Ocean. Rivers which originate in its eastern watershed flow to the Gulf of Mexico or to Hudson's Bay. The Peace is the only river which breaks these rules. 1,923-kilometres long, The Peace rises at the head of Finlay River in northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta, discharging 68.2 billion cubic metres of water annually into Lake Athabasca.
THE FIRST HIGHWAY
In 1793 Alexander Mackenzie and North West Company adventurers discovered this route through the Rocky Mountains. During 1805 - 08 Simon Fraser built forts and trading posts west of the mountains. Furs of the Pacific watershed began moving eastward. Thus the Peace, the only river to breach the Rockies, became the "First Highway" through them.
DEPARTMENT OF
RECREATION & CONSERVATION
Peace River
Course
This river is 1,923 kilometres (1,195 mi) long (from the head of Finlay River to Lake Athabasca). It drains an area of approximately 302,500 square kilometres (116,800 sq mi). At Peace Point, where it drains in the Slave River, it has an annual discharge of 68.2 billion cubic metres (55,300,000 acre·ft).
A large man-made lake, Williston Lake, has been formed on the upper reaches by the construction of the W. A. C. Bennett Dam for hydroelectric power generation. Prior to its flooding, the confluence of the Finlay and Parsnip Rivers at Finlay Forks was distinct. A half mile east of that location were the half-mile long Finlay Rapids and a further seven miles east is the Peace Pass, which separates the Muskwa Ranges and the Hart Ranges of the Canadian Rockies.
The only river cutting completely through the Rockies, it nowadays flows into Dinosaur Lake, a reservoir for the Peace Canyon Dam. After the dams, the river flows east into Alberta and then continues north and east into the Peace-Athabasca Delta in Wood Buffalo National Park, at the western end of Lake Athabasca. Water from the delta flows into the Slave River east of Peace Point and reaches the Arctic Ocean via the Great Slave Lake and Mackenzie River.
From Wiki
1792–93 Peace River expedition to the Pacific Ocean
Mackenzie left Fort Fork on 9 May 1793, following the route of the Peace River. He crossed the Great Divide and found the upper reaches of the Fraser River, but was warned by the local natives that the Fraser Canyon to the south was unnavigable and populated by belligerent tribes. He was instead directed to follow a grease trail by ascending the West Road River, crossing over the Coast Mountains and descending the Bella Coola River to the sea. He followed this advice and reached the Pacific coast on 20 July 1793, at Bella Coola, British Columbia, on North Bentinck Arm, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. Having done this, he had completed the
first recorded transcontinental crossing of North America north of Mexico, 12 years before Lewis and Clark. He had unknowingly missed meeting George Vancouver at Bella Coola by 48 days.
He had wanted to continue westward out of a desire to reach the open ocean, but was stopped by the hostility of the Heiltsuk people. Hemmed in by Heiltsuk war canoes, he wrote a message on a rock near the water's edge of Dean Channel, using a reddish paint made of vermilion and bear grease, and turned back east. The inscription read: "Alex MacKenzie / from Canada / by land / 22d July 1793" (at the time the name Canada was an informal term for the former French territory in what is now southern Quebec and Ontario). The words were later inscribed permanently by surveyors. The site is now Sir Alexander Mackenzie Provincial Park and is designated a First Crossing of North America National Historic Site. In 2016, Mackenzie was named a National Historic Person.
From Wiki