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The first settlers appear to have been ranchers. By 1903 settlers were taking up homesteads near Elbow, and by the end of the decade lands in the elbow were extensively occupied. The CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY, which arrived in 1908, has accounted for the continued existence of the village.

Before a national program of designating historic places was developed, the Government of Canada erected a monument commemorating the Battle of Crysler's Farm on the battlefield in 1895.

Whatì, NWT, established as community government in 2005, population 492 (2011c), 460 (2006c). The community of Whatì (earlier spelling Wha Ti) is located on Lac La Martre, 164 km northwest of Yellowknife.

Pinawa, Manitoba, incorporated as a local government district in 1963, population 1444 (2011c), 1450 (2006c). The Local Government District of Pinawa is located 110 km northeast of Winnipeg on the Winnipeg River at the entrance of the Pinawa Channel.

Déline, NWT, incorporated as a charter community in 1993, population 472 (2011c), 525 (2006c). The Charter Community of Déline is located on the shores of GREAT BEAR LAKE, 544 air km northwest of Yellowknife.

Nahanni Butte, NWT, Settlement, population 102 (2011c), 115 (2006c). The settlement of Nahanni Butte is located on the north side of the SOUTH NAHANNI RIVER near its junction with the LIARD RIVER, about 125 km north of the Northwest Territories and British Columbia border.

The Second Battle of Ypres was fought during the First World War from 22 April to 25 May 1915. It was the first major battle fought by Canadian troops in the Great War. The battle took place on the Ypres salient on the Western Front, in Belgium, outside the city of Ypres (now known by its Flemish name, Ieper). The untested Canadians distinguished themselves as a determined fighting force, resisting the horror of the first large-scale poison gas attack in modern history. Canadian troops held a strategically critical section of the frontline until reinforcements could be brought in. More than 6,500 Canadians were killed, wounded or captured in the Second Battle of Ypres.

The Rideau River flows 100 km northwards from the Rideau Lakes in eastern Ontario to the Ottawa River at Ottawa.

Wrangel Island lies in the Arctic Ocean 200 km N of the coast of eastern Siberia. Discovered in 1849, it was named in 1867 after Baron Wrangel, the Russian governor of Alaska. Though uninhabited, it served for 6 months in 1914

The Canadian Broadcasting Centre was developed as the result of a proposal call process in which the Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited was selected to develop the 9.3 acre site, owned by the CBC, and build the centre, which was then leased to the CBC on a long-term basis.

Watson Lake became an important communication centre after the construction of a major airport (1943), and remains a transportation hub, linking roads from BC with main routes to the interior and to the Northwest Territories. The town is also the centre for forestry and mining in the region.

Williston Lake, 1761 km2, is the largest freshwater body in BC. Created in 1968 as the reservoir of the W.A.C.

Wollaston Lake, 2681 km2, elev 398 m, lies in the wooded Shield country of NE Saskatchewan.

Vinland, see NORSE VOYAGES.

Salaberry-de-Valleyfield draws its labour force from the local population and its history is marked by often violent labour disputes (see COMPANY TOWNS). Originally (1874) it was called Salaberry, in honour of Charles d'Irumberry de SALABERRY.

Westport, NS, incorporated as a village in 1946, population 234 (2011c), 249 (2006c). The Village of Westport is located at the southern tip of Digby Neck, on the eastern side of Brier Island.

Wetaskiwin, Alta, incorporated as a city in 1906, population 12 525 (2011c), 11 689 (2006c). The City of Wetaskiwin is one of Alberta’s oldest cities. It began (1891) as Siding 16 on the Calgary-Edmonton Railway and was a point of departure for early, predominantly Scandinavian homesteaders.

Winisk River, 475 km long, rises in Wunnummin Lake in the Kenora District of northern Ontario.

Windsor, NS, incorporated as a town in 1878, population 3785 (2011c), 3709 (2006c). The Town of Windsor is located in central Nova Scotia, at the mouth of the Avon and St Croix rivers.

Winnipegosis, Lake, 5370 km2, 195 km long, elev 254 m, maximum depth 12 m, Canada's eleventh-largest lake, is located in west-central Manitoba.