Taweh Creek is a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of Mess Creek, which in turn is a tributary of the

Stikine River The Stikine River ( ) is a major river in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada and southeastern Alaska in the United States. It drains a large, remote upland area known as the Stikine Country east of the Coast Mountains. Flowing west and ...

in northwest part of the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada. It flows generally northwest for about to join Mess Creek about northwest of Mess Creek's confluence with Raspberry Creek. Taweh Creek's

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

covers and its mean annual discharge is estimated at . The mouth of Taweh Creek is located about southeast of

Telegraph Creek Telegraph Creek is a small community located off Highway 37 in northern British Columbia at the confluence of the Stikine River and Telegraph Creek. The only permanent settlement on the Stikine River, it is home to approximately 250 members of ...

, about west-southwest of

Iskut Iskut is a small, mostly Indigenous community in the Stikine Country of northwestern British Columbia. It is located on Highway 37, at the north end of Eddontenajon Lake just south of Dease Lake and the crossing of the Stikine River. Communi ...

and about southwest of

Dease Lake Dease Lake is a small community in the Cassiar Country of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is 230 km south of the Yukon border on Stewart–Cassiar Highway (Highway 37) at the south end of the lake of the same na ...

. Taweh Creek's watershed's

land cover Land cover is the physical material at the land surface of Earth. Land covers include flora, concrete, built structures, bare ground, and temporary water. Earth cover is the expression used by ecologist Frederick Edward Clements that has as ...

is classified as 41.3%

barren Barren primarily refers to a state of barrenness (infertility) Barren may also refer to: Places * Barren, Missouri *Barren County, Kentucky *Barren Island (Andaman Islands) * Barren Island, Brooklyn * Barren River Lake Other uses * ''Barren Coun ...

, 21.1%

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

, 20.7%

conifer forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...

, 8.4%

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

, 8.1% snow/glacier, and small amounts of other cover. Taweh Creek is in

Mount Edziza Provincial Park Mount Edziza Provincial Park is a provincial park in Cassiar Land District of northern British Columbia, Canada. It was established on 27 July 1972 to showcase the Mount Edziza volcanic complex and the surrounding Tahltan Highland. Geography The ...

which lies within the traditional territory of the

Tahltan The Tahltan or Nahani are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group who live in northern British Columbia around Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake, and Iskut. The Tahltan constitute the fourth division of the ''Nahan ...

people.

Geography

Taweh Creek originates on the southern end of the

Big Raven Plateau The Big Raven Plateau is an intermontane plateau in Cassiar Land District of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It lies on the Tahltan Highland and is surrounded by several valleys, including those of Mess Creek, Kakiddi Creek, Chakima Creek ...

. From its source just south of

Mount Edziza Mount Edziza ( ; ) is a volcanic mountain in Cassiar Land District of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the Big Raven Plateau of the Tahltan Highland which extends along the western side of the Stikine Plateau. Mount Ed ...

between Coffee Crater and Cartoona Peak, Taweh Creek flows about southwest to the northern base of Keda Cone. It then flows about west to near the southwestern end of the Big Raven Plateau. From there, Taweh Creek flows about northwest to Hola Bluff where it flows north-northwest through a valley on the eastern edge of the Big Raven Plateau for an additional . Taweh Creek then flows about west through a

gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...

to empty into Mess Creek. Taweh Creek's only named tributary, Sezill Creek, is about east of Taweh Creek's confluence with Mess Creek. It is about long and flows northwest into Taweh Creek from the western side of Mount Edziza.

Geology

Taweh Creek flows from a linear group of

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

es called the

Mount Edziza volcanic complex The Mount Edziza volcanic complex ( ; abbreviated MEVC) is a group of volcanoes and associated lava flows in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. Located on the Tahltan Highland, it is southeast of Telegraph Creek and southwest of Dease Lak ...

. As a result, Taweh Creek has been engulfed by tongues of

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

from the neighbouring

Snowshoe Lava Field The Snowshoe Lava Field (SLF) is a largely buried volcanic field at Mount Edziza in British Columbia, Canada. It reaches an elevation of and engulfs more than of the Big Raven Plateau and adjacent valleys with blocky lava flows. The Snowshoe L ...

. Most of this lava issued from

cinder cone A cinder cone or scoria cone is a steep, volcanic cone, conical landform of loose pyroclastic rock, pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic ash, clinkers, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are forme ...

s but one of the youngest lava flows to enter Taweh Creek originated from a

fissure vent A fissure vent, also known as a volcanic fissure, eruption fissure or simply a fissure, is a linear volcanic vent through which lava erupts, usually without any explosive activity. The vent is often a few metres wide and may be many kilo ...

known as

The Saucer The Saucer is a cinder cone in northern British Columbia, Canada. It is thought to have last erupted in the Holocene epoch.head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

of Taweh Creek, some of it formerly extended more than downstream to near Mess Creek. An erosional remnant of this lava forms the lip of an waterfall at an elevation of . The Taweh Creek lava flows are of

Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

age and form part of the

Big Raven Formation The Big Raven Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Quaternary age in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is the youngest and least voluminous geological formation of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex (MEVC); it overlies at least eight older ...

History

The historic

Yukon Telegraph Trail The Yukon Telegraph Trail, also known simply as the Telegraph Trail, is a historic pathway in the Canadian province of British Columbia that extends from the village of Ashcroft, British Columbia, Ashcroft in the south to the community of Atlin, Br ...

crosses Taweh Creek in Mess Creek valley. It was built to serve the nearly Yukon Telegraph Line which was constructed by the Dominion Government Telegraph Service between 1897 and 1901 to send messages from

Ashcroft, British Columbia Ashcroft is a village municipality that straddles the Thompson River in the Thompson Country region of south central British Columbia, Canada. East of British Columbia Highway 1, BC Highway 1 and on British Columbia Highway 97C, BC Highway 97C, t ...

in the south to

Dawson City Dawson City is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest municipality in Yukon. History Prior t ...

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

in the north. The telegraph trail crosses other tributaries along the eastern side of Mess Creek, including Crayke Creek about north of Taweh Creek. Taweh Creek was formerly called Big Sheep Creek which appeared on a BC Lands map published in 1929. Its current name was suggested by the BC Geographic Division to avoid confusion with other similarly-named features; it first appeared on maps in 1945. Taweh means

mountain sheep The argali (''Ovis ammon''), also known as the mountain sheep, is a wild sheep native to the highlands of western East Asia, the Himalayas, Tibet, and the Altai Mountains. Description The name 'argali' is the Mongolian word for wild sheep. It i ...

in the

Tagish language Tagish is an extinct language spoken by the Tagish or Carcross-Tagish, a First Nations people that historically lived in the Northwest Territories and Yukon in Canada. The name Tagish derives from ''/ta:gizi dene/'', or "Tagish people", which i ...

References

{{Mount Edziza volcanic complex Cassiar Land District Rivers of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex Tahltan Highland Tributaries of Mess Creek Stikine Country Tahltan

Geography

Geology

History

See also

References