Peace River, river in northern British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, forming the southwestern branch of the Mackenzie River system. From headstreams (the Finlay and the Parsnip rivers) in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, the Peace River flows northeastward across the Alberta prairies, receiving its major tributaries (the Smoky and the Wabasca rivers) before joining the Slave River in Wood Buffalo National Park near the Lake Claire–Lake Athabasca complex. The river’s total course (from the head of the Finlay) is 1,195 miles (1,923 km).
The river, named for Peace Point, Alta., where the Cree and Beaver Indians settled their territorial dispute, became an important fur-trade route after it was explored by Sir Alexander Mackenzie (1792–93). Farming, the valley’s economic mainstay during the early decades of the 20th century, is now supplemented by lumber, coal, petroleum, and natural gas. In 1967 the W.A.C. Bennett Dam (600 feet [190 m] high and 1.25 miles [2 km] long) near Hudson’s Hope, B.C., was completed, creating Williston Lake and providing the valley with hydroelectric power and flood control. The Peace is navigable from the town of Peace River, Alta., to the Slave, except for a stretch of falls near Fort Vermilion.