THE REDISCOVERY OF PETITOT'S RIVIERE LA RONCIERE‐LE NOURY

• Published in: Canadian Geographies / Géographies canadiennes
• Main Author: Fraser, J.K.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1952
• Subjects: Arctic; Mackay; Great Bear Lake; Stefansson
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0064.1952.tb01705.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1541-0064.1952.tb01705.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1541-0064.1952.tb01705.x

ABSTRACT The country between Great Bear Lake and the Arctic coast is drained by three long rivers, the Anderson, the Horton and the Hornaday. A map published in 1875 by Father Emile Petitot showed a river called La Roncière‐Le Noury, and its existence was doubted by later explorers. These doubts were based on the fact that no large river entered the sea where Petitot had marked it on the map. Evidence was advanced to support the opinion that the Roncière is the same river as the Hornaday. The evidence included a similarity in the character of the rivers as described by Petitot and from recent field work by the author, the description by Stefansson of a misfit delta where Petitot's river was shown entering the sea, and the discovery by Mackay of a post‐glacial drainage channel terminating in this delta.