Meadow River (Saskatchewan)

Meadow River
Churchill River drainage basin
Location of the mouth in Saskatchewan
Meadow River (Saskatchewan) (Canada)
Location
CountryCanada
ProvincesSaskatchewan
Physical characteristics
SourceMeadow Lake
  locationRM of Meadow Lake No. 588
  coordinates54°07′37″N 108°24′04″W / 54.1269°N 108.4011°W / 54.1269; -108.4011
MouthBeaver River
  location
RM of Meadow Lake No. 588
  coordinates
54°18′05″N 108°11′19″W / 54.3013°N 108.1886°W / 54.3013; -108.1886
Basin features
River systemChurchill River drainage basin
Tributaries 
  leftMorin Creek

Meadow River is a river in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The river's source is Meadow Lake, which is the lake adjacent to the city of Meadow Lake. The river and its drainage basin are in the transition zone between the boreal forest and prairies ecozones of Canada. Meadow River's mouth is at Beaver River, which flows northward into Lac Île-à-la-Crosse, a lake along the course of the Churchill River, which is a major river in the Hudson Bay drainage basin.

The first European to explore the river was a Hudson's Bay employee named Peter Fidler. In 1799 he had come down the Beaver River and travelled up Meadow River to Meadow Lake while mapping and exploring the region. Near the lake's shore where the river flows out, near the present day city of Meadow Lake, he built a log fort that he named Bolsover House, after his home town of Bolsover, England. The fort lasted one season before being abandoned and relocated to nearby Green Lake House.