| Iskwao Creek Squaw Creek | |
|---|---|
 TheRed River drainage basin, with the Qu'Appelle River highlighted | |
  Location of the river's mouth in Saskatchewan Show map of Saskatchewan Iskwao Creek (Canada) Show map of Canada | |
| Etymology | Cree for 'woman' |
| Location | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Saskatchewan |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | RM of Willner No. 253,Saskatchewan |
| • coordinates | 51°17′08″N106°00′26″W / 51.2855°N 106.0071°W /51.2855; -106.0071 |
| Mouth | Qu'Appelle River |
• location | RM of Huron No. 223, Saskatchewan |
• coordinates | 50°52′47″N106°00′51″W / 50.8797°N 106.0141°W /50.8797; -106.0141 |
• elevation | 520 m (1,710 ft) |
| Basin features | |
| River system | Red River |
| Waterbodies |
|
Iskwao Creek,[1] formerlySquaw Creek,[2][3] is a river in theCanadian province ofSaskatchewan.[4] It begins just north ofDavidson and flows south into theQu'Appelle River downstream and east ofEyebrow Lake. Much of the river's course is through a deep-cut valley that was formed by glacial meltwaters near the end of the last ice age.
Davidson is the only community on the river. There are two reservoirs along its course and two highways cross it. In 1949–50Enbridge Line 1 was built through the river's valley.[5]
The valley that Iskwao Creek flows through was carved out near the end of the last ice age. As theWisconsinan Glacier was retreating, its meltwaters created spillways. In this case, are-entrant was created around theAllan Hills with ice lobes extending down into present-dayLast Mountain Lake to the east and along the eastern side of theSouth Saskatchewan River to the west. At that time, though, glacial Lake Milden filled the South Saskatchewan River Valley.Arm River and Iskwao Creek drained this re-entrant with Arm River flowing intoLast Mountain River and Iskwao Creek draining into theQu'Appelle River. At that time, theSouth Saskatchewan River followed the course of the present-day Qu'Appelle River as it flowed east intoLake Agassiz.[6]
Iskwao Creekbegins just north of the town ofDavidson in theRural Municipality of Willner No. 253 where it flows east into theRural Municipality of Arm River No. 252 and crossesHighways 653 and747. It then flows south into the Davidson Reservoir on the east side of town.[7][8][9] At the south end of the reservoir, the river exits at the dam and continues south crossingHighway 11. From Highway 11 it continues its southward travel through the valley for about 19 kilometres (12 mi) before emptying into Iskwao Lake.[10] Shortly after Iskwao Creek exits Iskwao Lake, it crossesHighway 732 and then flows in a south-westerly direction. As it nears the Qu'Appelle River, it makes a sharp right-angle turn to the south-east and flows down into Qu'Appelle Valley through acoulee to join the Qu'Appelle River in theRural Municipality of Huron No. 223.[11][12]