Rivers
Multiple countries show individual rivers on stamps. This section has a smattering of scenic stamps, mostly from Canada, but a few others as well. Think how many more there are to see.
Rivers are usually made of freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another waterway. We all remember some major ones – the Nile, Amazon, Yangtze, Mississippi, Congo… but many, many others are also shown on stamps.
- Canada #1256 - A painting of a stream in winter, by Suzor-Cote, issued for Christmas 1989
- Russia #2272 - the Chusovaya, Urals
- Russia #2274 - the Lena, Siberia
This set of Canadian Heritage Waterway stamps, at 40¢ face value from 1991, has scenes from them and a sketch of something of historical significance found there.
In the top group:- #1321 – South Nahanni, North West Territories. Sketch is a swan taking off.
- #1322 - the Athabasca, Alberta – flows north to Great Slave Lake in the North West Territories. Sketch is a man in a canoe, with possibly a load of furs for trading.
- #1323 Boundary Waters – Voyager Waterway, Northwestern Ontario. Drawing shows some of the rock art of the area.
In the second group:- #1324 Jacques Cartier, Quebec. Sketch is a canoe with several people paddling, representing fur traders.
- #1325 - the Main, Newfoundland. A moose is shown in the added art.
Other sets like this were issued: #1485-89 and #1855 a-e Fresh Waters of Canada 95¢ (Int’l rate), some of which are shown below.
The following set of Heritage Waterways, at 43¢ value from 1994, also has added artwork, but smaller.
Top set:- #1511 Heritage Waterways 43¢ – Saguenay, Quebec. Dwellings of birch bark are shown in the corner.
- #1512 - the French, in Ontario, was a route west for fur traders from the Ottawa R. to Lake Huron. Artwork shows a canoe being paddled by several men.
- #1513 McKenzie, North West Territories flows from Great Slave Lake to the Beaufort Sea in the western Arctic Ocean. Sketch depicts a double-ended boat with oars.
The pair:- #1514 - the Churchill flows into Hudson’s Bay at Churchill, Manitoba, and drains the northern parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Trees are shown in fall colours, and a pair of pelicans sits in the bottom corner.
- #1515 - the Columbia begins in the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia and flows south into Washington state, and then west to the Pacific, forming part of the Washington-Oregon border. Its drainage basin is about the size of France. A frog is shown in the corner.
The first 2 above:- #1411 - the Niagara, 42¢, which goes over the famous falls. Others in this set of Heritage Rivers include the Margaree, West (Eliot), Ottawa and South Saskatchewan. This stamp has an image of electric power lines, a reference to the power generation provided by the falls.
- #1854a 55¢ (US rate), is Helmcken Falls, on a river in Wells Grey Park in B.C. The smaller image on the right is Howe Sound on the coast of BC, with an evergreen tree in the foreground.
There are 2 pictures on the second one in the top group and the next 2 stamps as well: a wide one with ‘Canada’ on it, and a smaller one with the face value. But no names to identify the locations is included on the stamps. Note the wavy edges top & bottom (a bit hard to see). These stamps were self-adhesives in a booklet, with “perfs” of about 3 in 2cm.- #1854d 55¢ (US rate) is the Red River & Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba.
- #1855c 95¢ (Int’l rate) shows the Saint John R., New Brunswick, in 2 views.
The following stamps are from other countries.
The top set is:- US #C134 Rio Grande which marks the border between Texas and Mexico.
- Australia #1980 - Murrumbidgee R. begins near Canberra, the capital of Australia, and flows westward to join the Murray R.
The lower set from New Zealand contains:- #730 - Kaiauai R., 30¢
- #731 Mangahao R., 35¢
- #732 Shotover R., 40¢
- #733 Cleddau R., 60¢
Did you notice that the first 2 stamps are vertical, and the last two are horizontal?
Scenes of rivers naturally lead to thoughts of
waterfalls
.
Return from Rivers to Mother Nature
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