User:Garykearl/sandbox

Kearl Lake
Kearl Lake is a body of freshwater located in the Canadian province of Alberta.

Location
The lake, formerly known as Muskeg Lake is a part of the Muskeg River watershed which is located North of Ft. McMurray, Alberta. The Muskeg river is a tributary of the Athabasca River and drains an extensive area of boreal forest wetlands. The area of the Muskeg River watershed is about 1,480 km. The following web page http://www.geodata.us/canada_names_maps/maps.php?featureid=IAQCY&f=258 presents a Google satellite map (zoomable and browsable) of Kearl Lake in Alberta province in Canada. Geographical coordinates are 57°17'38" North and 111°14'17" West.

History
The human history of the area dates back over 10,000 years and a recent discovery in the area now known as the “Quarry of the Ancestors” is of international significance and offers vital clues to North America's human history. .

Origin of current name
Muskeg Lake was renamed Kearl Lake in 1950, in honor of Eldon Eastham Kearl by the provincial government of Alberta. Eldon Kearl was born in southern Alberta in 1920. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941 and served as a pilot during World War II in the 408th "Goose" heavy bomber squadron which participated in the Allied strategic bombing  campaign of Germany during the war. Following series missions in which Flight Lt. Kearl brought his plane and crew home safely despite substantial damage to his aircraft, Kearl was recommended for a Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) (DFC). He was shot down and killed, 20 miles southeast of Berlin, Germany, on the night of 27 January 1944, before he could be presented with this medal. His parents, George Kearl and Rose Marie Enders, received their son's DFC posthumously in Ottawa, Canada from the Governor General of Canada Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis on 10 December 1947.

Today, Kearl Lake is the center of the controversial Kearl Oil Sands Project. Neither Eldon Kearl nor his family have any financial share in this oil mine project.