Watino

History

Watino was established on the banks of the Smoky River, downstream from its confluence with the Little Smoky River. The name Watino is derived from the Cree word , meaning 'valley'. When the Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway began to construct a railway bridge over the Smoky River in 1915, two temporary hamlets sprang up on either side of the river. On the east bank was the main railway camp, called Pruden's Crossing, and on the west, connected by a small cable ferry, was the hamlet of Smoky River, or "Old Smoky". The community was renamed Watino in 1921, and the post office name changed to the same in November 1925 . Eventually Watino contained a school, two grocery stores, two hardware stores, post office, three machine agencies, garage, grain elevator, restaurant, pool hall, community hall, and skating rink . There was also a railway station, a pump station, and coal dock for the steam trains, and stockyards on the railway, from which Egg Lake Ranch shipped 13 carloads of cattle to Chicago in 1920. The railway was the main mode of transportation until 1938, when the bush trail into the community was replaced by a highway and a connecting ferry over the Smoky River. In 1950, the establishment of the Park Brothers sawmill and planer made Watino boom. Watino declined in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1972, the Smoky River flooded, washing away much farmland in the valley, and in 1975 the grain elevator was removed. In 1987 another flood caused heavy damage to the east and west sides of the railroad bridge and forcing the closure of the CNR train system through Watino.

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  6
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  5
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  4
• Bufflehead

  Bucephala albeola (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4

Most recent

• M 4.2 — 2023-03-16
  Alberta, Canada
• M 4.7 — 2023-03-16
  44 km ESE of Peace River, Canada
• M 4.6 — 2023-03-16
  Alberta, Canada
• M 4.3 — 2022-11-30
  Alberta, Canada
• M 3.9 — 2022-11-30
  42 km ESE of Peace River, Canada
• M 4.3 — 2022-11-30
  42 km ESE of Peace River, Canada