Lac Île-à-la-Crosse

Lac Île-à-la-Crosse
NASA map showing Lac Île-à-la-Crosse
Location	Saskatchewan
Coordinates	55°26′40″N 107°50′55″W / 55.44444°N 107.84861°W / 55.44444; -107.84861Coordinates: 55°26′40″N 107°50′55″W / 55.44444°N 107.84861°W / 55.44444; -107.84861
Lake type	glacial lake
Primary inflows	Churchill Lake by Aubichon Arm or Deep River, Beaver River
Primary outflows	Churchill River
Catchment area	Churchill River
Basin countries	Canada
Islands	Big Island
Settlements	Île-à-la-Crosse , Patuanak is near the north end on the Churchill.

Lac Île-à-la-Crosse is a lake in North-Central Saskatchewan, Canada on the Churchill River. It is basically Y-shaped. At the center of the Y is the town of Île-à-la-Crosse, the second oldest town in Saskatchewan. The Churchill exits the northeast arm and flows east to Hudson Bay through a series of lakes. The Churchill enters at the northwest arm called Aubichon Arm or Deep River. Upstream it leads northwest to Athabasca Country passing Churchill Lake, Peter Pond Lake, Lac La Loche and on to the Methye Portage leading to Lake Athabasca.

The Beaver River comes from the south and west and enters on the east side. The headwaters of the Beaver are southwest between the upper Athabasca River and the upper North Saskatchewan River in the Lac la Biche area in Alberta. Lac Île-à-la-Crosse is reached from the south by Saskatchewan Highway 155 which follows the Beaver River. To the southeast is Lac la Plonge and to the southwest Canoe Lake. To the east are many lakes which are widenings of the Churchill.

Given its strategic location it was a natural stop for the fur trade. See Canadian canoe routes (early). Once the trade developed pemmican was carried up the Beaver from the buffalo country on the North Saskatchewan. In 1767 Louis Primeau, in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, was reported on the Beaver River which means he must have passed through the lake. In 1776 Primeau, working for Thomas Frobisher of Montreal, built a post on the lake.