These rivers are valued for their association with French Canadian explorers who accompanied Alexander MacKenzie’s exploration party, as well as their role as gateways through which French Canadian culture moved westward. Alexander Mackenzie’s exploration party, like Simon Fraser’s exploration party, relied heavily on the support from local Indigenous people.

As well, the significance of these routes is reflective of early contact and trading with Indigenous peoples, and the transformative impacts of these explorations on Indigenous peoples and their ways of life.