Athabasca, Canada

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region, and downstream by way of Fort McMurray to the Mackenzie River and thence to Alaska. In 1887 the first steamship to be built here was launched. In 1912 the railroad ceased transporting freight along the troublesome 150 km (90 mi.) long Athabasca Landing Trail from Fort Edmonton. For more than 40 years - until the Northern Alberta Railroad to Waterways and Fort McMurray was completed - steamships on the river were the very life-blood of the town.

Today the townscape is dominated by the corn warehouses so typical of the Canadian prairies. Athabasca is also a favorite point from which to set out on tours and excursions into the largely undeveloped forest and lake regions of Northern Alberta.