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The Kootenay or Kootenai river is a major river in the
Northwest Plateau The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...
, in southeastern
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
, Canada, and northern
Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
and
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...
in the United States. It is one of the uppermost major
tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or 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 drain the surrounding drain ...
of the
Columbia River The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...
, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Kootenay River runs from its headwaters in the
Kootenay Ranges The Kootenay Ranges, also known as the Western Ranges, are one of the three main subdivisions of the Continental Ranges which comprise the southern half of the Canadian Rockies, the other two subdivisions being the Front Ranges and the Park Rang ...
of the
Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part ...
, flowing from British Columbia's
East Kootenay The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Canada. In the 2016 census, the population was 60,439. Its area is . The regional district offices are in Cranbrook, the larges ...
region into northwestern Montana, then west into the northernmost
Idaho Panhandle The Idaho Panhandle—locally known as North Idaho—is a salient region of the U.S. state of Idaho encompassing the state's 10 northernmost counties: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, an ...
and returning to British Columbia in the
West Kootenay The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people. Boundaries The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Koot ...
region, where it joins the Columbia at Castlegar. The river is known as the Kootenay in Canada and by the
Ktunaxa Nation The Ktunaxa Nation or Ktunaxa Nation Council is a First Nations tribal council government comprising four Ktunaxa (Kutenai) bands in the south-east of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is one of three Kutenai governments, the others b ...
, and Kootenai in the United States and by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Kootenai Tribe of Idaho. Fed mainly by glaciers and snow melt, the river drains a rugged, sparsely populated region of more than ; over 70 percent of the basin is in Canada. From its highest
headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...
to its confluence with the Columbia River, the Kootenay falls more than in elevation. Above its confluence with the Columbia, the Kootenay is comparable in length, drainage area, and volume but has a steeper gradient and is characterized by larger falls and rapids. Part of the lower Kootenay forms
Kootenay Lake Kootenay Lake is a lake located in British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Kootenay River. The lake has been raised by the Corra Linn Dam and has a dike system at the southern end, which, along with industry in the 1950s–70s, has changed ...
, one of the largest natural lakes in British Columbia. The
Ktunaxa The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...
(Kootenai) were the first people to live along the Kootenay River. For hundreds of years, they hunted and fished on the river, quite isolated from neighboring indigenous groups. In the 19th century, a Canadian explorer, David Thompson, became the first recorded European to reach the Kootenay and established trading posts throughout the region. A
gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...
on the Kootenay and later silver and
galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cr ...
strikes in its western basins in the late 19th century drew thousands of miners and settlers to the region, who soon were followed by the arrival of
railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
s and
steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
s. The
Doukhobor The Doukhobours or Dukhobors (russian: духоборы / духоборцы, dukhobory / dukhobortsy; ) are a Spiritual Christian ethnoreligious group of Russian origin. They are one of many non-Orthodox ethno-confessional faiths in Russia a ...
s, a Russian religious sect, immigrated and established a short-lived colony,
Brilliant Brilliant may refer to: Music * ''Brilliant'' (album), a 2012 album by Ultravox *Brilliant (band), a British pop/rock group active in the 1980s * "Brilliant" (song), a song by D'espairsRay *Brilliant Classics, Dutch classical music record label * ...
, at the Kootenay's mouth; subsequently dispersing into many settlements, they contributed to the region's timber and agricultural industries. As with many Pacific Northwest rivers, many dams were built on the Kootenay in the 20th century to generate hydroelectricity and protect against floods and droughts. Today, over of the river have been impounded behind five dams, and a sixth controls the level of Kootenay Lake.


Name

The river was described with slightly different names by two groups of the local
Ktunaxa The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...
(Kootenai) Indian tribes. These indigenous people who lived along the upper river knew it as ''aqkinmiluk'', simply meaning "river". The people along the lower river called it ''aqkoktlaqatl'', a name whose meaning is not certain. The name "Flatbow River" comes from the name the
Blackfeet The Blackfeet Nation ( bla, Aamsskáápipikani, script=Latn, ), officially named the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, is a federally recognized tribe of Siksikaitsitapi people with an Indian reservation in Mon ...
used to call the Ktunaxa, for their "powerful, stylish bows", and was later recorded by French-Canadian fur traders. While searching for the ultimate source of the Columbia River, explorer David Thompson encountered Columbia Lake, where the Columbia River starts north as a small stream and the Kootenay rushes south, already a powerful river. Already knowing from earlier maps that the region included two rivers called the Columbia and the Kootenay, Thompson thought that what is now called the Columbia was the Kootenay, and he thought that he had not yet found the real Kootenay. Thence he applied the name "McGillivray’s River" to the real Kootenay in honor of his trading partners
William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
and
Duncan McGillivray Duncan McGillivray (April 9, 1808), born in Inverness-shire, Scotland, was an explorer and fur trader in the Western Canada. In the mid 1790s, he served as the North West Company's clerk at Fort George in what is now Alberta, and he later acco ...
. In his writings, the Columbia from Columbia Lake to the Big Bend was called the ''Kootenae''. The name "Kootenai" was also used by
French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fre ...
s to refer to the Ktunaxa in the 19th century. "Kootenai" is thought to be a word meaning "water people" in an Algonquian language. The river is still referred to as ''Kootenai'' in the United States, while in Canada, where two-thirds of its length and 70 percent of its
drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
lies, the river is spelled slightly different into ''Kootenay''. Comparisons of various U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) topographic maps from the 20th century show many misinterpretations or alternative names being applied to the segment of the river within the United States. These include "Kootanie", "Kootenie", and "Kootienay". The
Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...
of the USGS lists "Swan River" as an alternate name, although the origin of this name is uncertain. (There is, however, a Swan River further southeast in Montana.)


Course

The Kootenay rises on the northeast side of the
Beaverfoot Range The Beaverfoot Range () is a mountain range of the Canadian Rockies, located in southeastern British Columbia. The range extends from Cedared Creek near Spillimacheen north to the Kicking Horse River The Kicking Horse River is in the Canadian ...
of southeastern British Columbia and flows initially southeast through a marshy valley in
Kootenay National Park Kootenay National Park is a national park of Canada located in southeastern British Columbia. The park consists of of the Canadian Rockies, including parts of the Kootenay and Park mountain ranges, the Kootenay River and the entirety of the V ...
. The river becomes significantly larger at its confluence with the Vermilion River, which is actually the larger of the two where they meet near Kootenay Crossing. The Kootenay continues southeast, receiving the
Palliser River The Palliser River is a tributary of the Kootenay River in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is part of the Columbia River basin, as the Kootenay River is a tributary of the Columbia River. The Palliser River is named in honor of John ...
from the left, and flows south into a gorge at the confluence with the White River. At the small town of Canal Flats the Kootenay River passes within of Columbia Lake, the headwaters of the Columbia River, as it merges into the
Rocky Mountain Trench The Rocky Mountain Trench, also known as the Valley of a Thousand Peaks or simply the Trench, is a large valley on the western side of the northern part of North America's Rocky Mountains. The Trench is both visually and cartographically a ...
along the eastern foothills of the
Selkirk Mountains The Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range spanning the northern portion of the Idaho Panhandle, eastern Washington, and southeastern British Columbia which are part of a larger grouping of mountains, the Columbia Mountains. They begin at Mica ...
. It receives the
Lussier River The Lussier River is a tributary of the Kootenay River in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is part of the Columbia River basin, as the Kootenay River is a tributary of the Columbia River. It was named by David Thompson in 1808 after ...
near Skookumchuck Station of the
Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...
and the
St. Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
and
Wild Horse The wild horse (''Equus ferus'') is a species of the genus ''Equus'', which includes as subspecies the modern domesticated horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') as well as the endangered Przewalski's horse (''Equus ferus przewalskii''). The Europea ...
rivers at the historic mining town of Fort Steele, then receives the Bull River at the settlement of the same name. At
Wardner, British Columbia Wardner, British Columbia is a small town located 27 km east of Cranbrook and 25.7 km west of Fernie. The unincorporated settlement runs parallel to the Kootenay River beside Highway 3/93. History Wardner began development in 18 ...
, the Kootenay widens into the
Lake Koocanusa Lake Koocanusa () is a reservoir in British Columbia ( Canada) and Montana ( United States) formed by the damming of the Kootenai River by the Libby Dam in 1972. The Dam was formally dedicated by President Gerald Ford on August 24, 1975. T ...
reservoir. The Elk River, the Kootenay's longest tributary, enters Lake Koocanusa south of
Elko, British Columbia Elko is located at the junction of Highway 93 and the Crowsnest Highway, to the north of the Roosville Canada–United States border crossing. A small sawmill town, Elko is situated near the southern end of the Rocky Mountain Trench at the e ...
. Stretching south and crossing the US-Canada Border,
Lake Koocanusa Lake Koocanusa () is a reservoir in British Columbia ( Canada) and Montana ( United States) formed by the damming of the Kootenai River by the Libby Dam in 1972. The Dam was formally dedicated by President Gerald Ford on August 24, 1975. T ...
is formed by
Libby Dam Libby Dam is a concrete gravity dam in the northwestern United States, on the Kootenai River in northwestern Montana. Dedicated on it is west of the continental divide, upstream from the town of Libby. At in height and a length of , Libby Dam c ...
east of
Libby, Montana Libby is a city in northwestern Montana, United States and the county seat of Lincoln County. The population was 2,775 at the 2020 census. Libby suffered from the area's contamination from nearby vermiculite mines contaminated with particularl ...
. It receives the Fisher River near the dam and turns west, forming the "Big Bend" around the
Purcell Mountains The Purcell Mountains are a mountain range in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. They are a subrange of the Columbia Mountains, which includes the Selkirk, Monashee, and Cariboo Mountains. They are located on the west side of the Rocky Moun ...
towards
Libby Libby as a feminine given name is typically a diminutive form of Elizabeth, which is less commonly spelled 'Libbie' or ' Libi'. In recent years, it has been used as a shortened version of the name Liberty. As a surname, it can also be spelled ' ...
. About below Libby it drops over
Kootenai Falls Kootenai Falls is a waterfall on the Kootenai River located in Lincoln County, Montana, just off U.S. Route 2. It is the largest undammed waterfall in the state and one of the largest waterfalls in the United States by flow rate. The falls is ...
. The Kootenai turns northwest at
Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...
, and the
Yaak River The Yaak River (spelled Yahk River in Canada) is a tributary of the Kootenai River in Montana. Course The Yaak River originates near Yahk Mountain, in the Yahk Range, part of the Purcell Mountains, in southeast British Columbia. The river flow ...
joins from the north. In Idaho the
Moyie River The Moyie River is a long tributary of the Kootenai River (spelled Kootenay River in Canada) in the U.S. state of Idaho and the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Moyie River is part of the Columbia River basin, being a tributary of the ...
enters near Moyie Springs before the river enters the gentle terrain of the Kootenai Valley and turns north, flowing past
Bonners Ferry Bonners Ferry (Kutenai language: ʔaq̓anqmi) is the largest city and the county seat of Boundary County, Idaho, United States. The population was 2,543 at the 2010 census. History When gold was discovered in the East Kootenays of British ...
back towards the US-Canada Border. The river re-enters Canada south of
Creston, British Columbia Creston is a town in the Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. By road, Creston is roughly equidistant between Cranbrook ( to the east) and Castlegar ( to the west) along the Crowsnest Highway. The town is approximately nor ...
, and flows through a marshy area called the Kootenay Flats before emptying into the -long
Kootenay Lake Kootenay Lake is a lake located in British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Kootenay River. The lake has been raised by the Corra Linn Dam and has a dike system at the southern end, which, along with industry in the 1950s–70s, has changed ...
. The lake is also joined by the Duncan River, the river's highest-volume tributary. Near Balfour an arm of the lake branches westward to
Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
, where the Kootenay River exits the lake below Corra Linn Dam. The final westbound stretch of the river flows through a deep canyon, forming several waterfalls including
Bonnington Falls Bonnington Falls were waterfalls submerged by dams on the Kootenay River between the cities of Castlegar and Nelson, in the West Kootenay region of southern British Columbia. The upper falls was named after the Falls of Clyde upper falls of Bo ...
, where four run-of-the river hydroelectric dams impound the river. Near
Brilliant Brilliant may refer to: Music * ''Brilliant'' (album), a 2012 album by Ultravox *Brilliant (band), a British pop/rock group active in the 1980s * "Brilliant" (song), a song by D'espairsRay *Brilliant Classics, Dutch classical music record label * ...
the Kootenay forms a small inland delta then enters the
Columbia River The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...
near Castlegar.


Watershed

At in size, the Kootenay river's
watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
is one of the largest sub-basins of the Columbia Basin. Its drainage basin encompasses an area almost from north to south and from east to west, roughly defining a region of the
Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...
known as the Kootenays.''Kootenai Subbasin Plan Introduction'', p. 11 In Canada, the term "Kootenays" is loosely defined although the
Kootenay Land District The Kootenay Land District is a cadastral survey subdivision of the province of British Columbia, Canada, created with rest of those on Mainland British Columbia via the Lands Act of the Colony of British Columbia in 1860. The British Columbia gov ...
, which includes the whole region, is formally defined; the name indirectly refers to the territory of the Kootenay indigenous people spanning from the Rockies on the east and the, Selkirks and Purcells (Percells in the U.S.) on the west in southeastern British Columbia (BC), and is used to mean more the area drained by the Kootenay River, namely including the lower Canadian stretches of the Columbia from Revelstoke to the US border, and also the reaches of the upper Columbia north from Canal Flats at least as far as Golden (the
Boundary Country The Boundary Country is a historical designation for a district in southern British Columbia lying, as its name suggests, along the boundary between Canada and the United States. It lies to the east of the southern Okanagan Valley and to the west ...
is sometimes referred to as being part of the
West Kootenay The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people. Boundaries The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Koot ...
). Over 70 percent of the Kootenay's watershed is in Canada, while the Montana and Idaho portions occupy 23 and 6%, respectively. The Kootenay is one of the few major rivers in North America that begin in one country, cross into another, and return to the first—others include the Milk River, a tributary of the Missouri River; the
Souris River The Souris River (; french: rivière Souris) or Mouse River (as it is alternatively known in the U.S., a calque of its French name) is a river in central North America. It is about in length and drains about . It rises in the Yellow Grass Mars ...
, a tributary of the
Assiniboine River The Assiniboine River (''; french: Rivière Assiniboine'') is a river that runs through the prairies of Western Canada in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It is a tributary of the Red River. The Assiniboine is a typical meandering river with a sin ...
; and the Kettle River, a tributary of the Columbia River. It is the third largest tributary of the Columbia by drainage basin and discharge.
Tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or 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 drain the surrounding drain ...
section of Wikipedia article on
Columbia River The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...
The Kootenay River is defined by rocky uplands and steep mountains, and there is relatively little flat land in the watershed. Most of the reasonably level terrain lies in the narrow Kootenay River valley from
Bonners Ferry Bonners Ferry (Kutenai language: ʔaq̓anqmi) is the largest city and the county seat of Boundary County, Idaho, United States. The population was 2,543 at the 2010 census. History When gold was discovered in the East Kootenays of British ...
to
Kootenay Lake Kootenay Lake is a lake located in British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Kootenay River. The lake has been raised by the Corra Linn Dam and has a dike system at the southern end, which, along with industry in the 1950s–70s, has changed ...
and in parts of the Rocky Mountain Trench from Canal Flats to
Lake Koocanusa Lake Koocanusa () is a reservoir in British Columbia ( Canada) and Montana ( United States) formed by the damming of the Kootenai River by the Libby Dam in 1972. The Dam was formally dedicated by President Gerald Ford on August 24, 1975. T ...
. Mountain ranges in the region generally trend from northwest to southeast and define drainage patterns with their steep and dramatic vertical relief, with the exception of the Kootenay itself, which cuts westwards at its southern bend. Of the Kootenay's many tributaries, the -long Duncan River is the largest. Hundreds of other tributaries join the river in its winding course, including the
Vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its corresponding color. It i ...
,
Cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a s ...
, Palliser,
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
,
Wild Horse The wild horse (''Equus ferus'') is a species of the genus ''Equus'', which includes as subspecies the modern domesticated horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') as well as the endangered Przewalski's horse (''Equus ferus przewalskii''). The Europea ...
,
St. Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
, Elk,
Fisher Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia *Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elect ...
, Yaak, Moyie,
Goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
, and Slocan rivers. Many river basins border the Kootenay—some are part of the Columbia Basin, while others drain to distant shores of the North American continent. On the south and southeast, the divide formed by the Cabinet and Whitefish ranges separate the Kootenay and
Flathead River The Flathead River ( fla, label= Salish, člq̓etkʷ ntx̣ʷetkʷ, , kut, kananmituk), in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Montana, originates in the Canadian Rockies to the north of Glacier National Park and flows southwest into Fla ...
watersheds. The Flathead is a tributary of the
Clark Fork River The Clark Fork, or the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, is a river in the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho, approximately long. The largest river by volume in Montana, it drains an extensive region of the Rocky Mountains in western Montana and ...
-
Pend Oreille River The Pend Oreille River ( ) is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately long, in northern Idaho and northeastern Washington in the United States, as well as southeastern British Columbia in Canada. In its passage through British Columbi ...
system which borders the Kootenay watershed on the southwest. The upper Columbia River basin forms the boundary on the north, and the
Kicking Horse River The Kicking Horse River is in the Canadian Rockies of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. The river was named in 1858, when James Hector, a member of the Palliser Expedition, reported being kicked by his packhorse while exploring the river. He ...
watershed also borders the north side of the Kootenay basin. To the southwest is the
Priest River The Priest River is a long tributary of the Pend Oreille River in the U.S. state of Idaho. It is part of the Columbia River basin, as the Pend Oreille River is a tributary of the Columbia River. The river's drainage basin is in area.
, a Pend Oreille tributary. On the east side, over the Continental Divide, the
Bow River The Bow River is a river in Alberta, Canada. It begins within the Canadian Rocky Mountains and winds through the Alberta foothills onto the prairies, where it meets the Oldman River, the two then forming the South Saskatchewan River. These w ...
and
Oldman River The Oldman River is a river in southern Alberta, Canada. It flows roughly west to east from the Rocky Mountains, through the communities of Fort Macleod, Lethbridge, and on to Grassy Lake, where it joins the Bow River to form the South Saskatchew ...
take rise. Both are tributaries of the
South Saskatchewan River The South Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada that flows through the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. For the first half of the 20th century, the South Saskatchewan would completely freeze over during winter, creating spectacular ...
, which is part of the
Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...
drainage basin.


Geology

The geologic story of the Kootenay is strongly connected to the geology of the Columbia, Selkirk, and Rocky Mountains. The mountains in much of the Kootenay River catchment are composed of
Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of th ...
sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...
of the
Belt Supergroup The Belt Supergroup is an assemblage of primarily fine-grained sedimentary rocks and mafic intrusive rocks of late Precambrian (Mesoproterozoic) age. It is more than thick, covers an area of some 200,000 km2 (77,220 sq. mi), and is considered to ...
, in turn, stratified into several subgroups with slightly different characteristics and ages. However, most of the rocks have one thing in common; the rocks are generally hard and erosion-resistant.''Kootenai Subbasin Plan Introduction'', p. 26 The Rocky Mountain Trench is thought to be a partial
graben In geology, a graben () is a depressed block of the crust of a planet or moon, bordered by parallel normal faults. Etymology ''Graben'' is a loan word from German, meaning 'ditch' or 'trench'. The word was first used in the geologic conte ...
, or a long narrow strip of land that has dropped in elevation over time because of parallel faults on both sides. Faults in the Kootenay River watershed trend north-northwest to south-southeast as is common in much of British Columbia. The underlying rock is generally stable and contains more outcroppings of
metamorphic Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causi ...
and
igneous rock Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma o ...
as one progresses westwards.''Kootenai Subbasin Plan Introduction'', p. 28 Formations of
Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million years ago ...
and
Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, wh ...
rock also appear in small amounts in the U.S. portion of the Kootenay.
Bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of be ...
composes much of the streambed in the upper and lower reaches of the Kootenay, but in the middle portion,
alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. ...
sediments allow the river to
meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ban ...
over a broader valley floor. The sediments probably originated through heavy
glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate bet ...
during the previous
Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
. About 15,000 years ago, the Cordilleran Ice Sheet advanced southwards into present-day BC, Montana, and Idaho, blocking the Kootenay River at the outlet of Kootenay Lake, which did not yet exist. Glaciers covered most of the northern Kootenay River watershed and heavily shaped the peaks and valleys one sees today. The glacier that formed Kootenay Lake caused the river to back up into an enormous body of water that stretched to
Libby, Montana Libby is a city in northwestern Montana, United States and the county seat of Lincoln County. The population was 2,775 at the 2020 census. Libby suffered from the area's contamination from nearby vermiculite mines contaminated with particularl ...
, near where the Libby Dam now stands, and possibly even connected to
Lake Pend Oreille Lake Pend Oreille ( ) in the northern Idaho Panhandle is the largest lake in the U.S. state of Idaho and the 38th-largest lake by area in the United States, with a surface area of . It is long, and deep in some regions, making it the fifth-deep ...
, which also was much enlarged at the time. Glacially deposited sediments buried the old streambed of the Kootenay River and created a natural dam where the Kootenay turns west out of Kootenay Lake. After the glaciers retreated, Kootenay Lake receded to its present level, and the Kootenay Flats were formed.


History


First inhabitants

The First Peoples of the Kootenay River valley (the residents at the time of European contact) were the
Ktunaxa The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...
people (often referred to as ''Kootenai'') from whom the river's name derives. Ktunaxa
creation myth A creation myth (or cosmogonic myth) is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develo ...
s state that their people were created by the Quilxka Nupika (''supreme being'') and have always lived in the region; one reads ''"I have created you Kootenai people to look after this beautiful land, to honor and guard and celebrate my Creation here."'' However, linguistic and other evidence suggests that they are descended from
Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, a ...
tribes that were driven out of their historic territory by the
Blackfeet The Blackfeet Nation ( bla, Aamsskáápipikani, script=Latn, ), officially named the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, is a federally recognized tribe of Siksikaitsitapi people with an Indian reservation in Mon ...
in the 16th century. The Ktunaxa are considered quite isolated from other Pacific Northwest and Great Plains tribes. Their language is an "isolate", which is only distantly related (if at all) to the
Salishan languages The Salishan (also Salish) languages are a family of languages of the Pacific Northwest in North America (the Canadian province of British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana). They are characterised by a ...
spoken by tribes of the Lake Pend d'-Oreille area. They were semi-nomadic people and inhabited a large area of the Kootenay valley from the headwaters to Kootenay Lake. Four villages provided their shelter in the winter, while in the rest of the year, they traveled between fishing, hunting and berry-picking areas. The northern Ktunaxa hunted buffalo, while the southerners mainly fished. Notably, the Ktunaxa were the first tribe west of the Rockies to capture and use feral European-introduced horses for their own use.Miller, p. 10 The origin and meaning of the name "Kootenai" are uncertain. Before their discovery by Europeans, they were known as ''Ksanka'', "people of the standing arrow". It is thought that French-Canadian
fur trapper Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanke ...
s of the
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...
and other companies in the early 19th century were the first to refer to them as ''Kootenai'', which means "water people" in an Algonquian language. It may also mean "deer robes," referring to their excellent skill for hunting deer. In some written records from the early 19th century, also by the French, the Ktunaxa were sometimes called the Flatbows (''Arcs plats'') and the river called the Flatbow River. Other inhabitants of the area included the
Montana Salish The Salish or Séliš language , also known as Kalispel–Pend d'oreille, Kalispel–Spokane–Flathead, or Montana Salish to distinguish it from other Salishan languages, is a Salishan language spoken (as of 2005) by about 64 elders of the Fla ...
(in the south), and Shuswap (in the north), but these tribes were mostly not on the main river.


Exploration

In 1806, explorer David Thompson set out from
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
to find the source of the Columbia. He crossed over the
Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part ...
through Howse Pass and eventually arrived on the banks of the Kootenay, which he thought to be the Columbia. Thompson traveled down the river ways but turned back when he was attacked by Native Americans. The following year, Thompson, his family, and several men made another attempt at finding the Columbia. They crossed over the Rockies at a more northerly spot and traveled down the Blaeberry River to the Columbia, eventually discovering Columbia Lake and establishing there the trading post Kootenae House. In the spring of 1808, he set off down the Kootenay River, this time reaching present-day Montana and Idaho, where he established Kullyspell House and
Saleesh House Saleesh House, also known as Flathead Post, was a North West Company fur trading post built near present-day Thompson Falls, Montana in 1809 by David Thompson and James McMillan of the North West Company. It became a Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) ...
, trading posts on
Lake Pend Oreille Lake Pend Oreille ( ) in the northern Idaho Panhandle is the largest lake in the U.S. state of Idaho and the 38th-largest lake by area in the United States, with a surface area of . It is long, and deep in some regions, making it the fifth-deep ...
and the Clark Fork, respectively. After spending a winter in Montana, he tried to reach the Columbia by traveling down the
Pend Oreille River The Pend Oreille River ( ) is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately long, in northern Idaho and northeastern Washington in the United States, as well as southeastern British Columbia in Canada. In its passage through British Columbi ...
but failed in this attempt, eventually returning to Kootenae House via the Kootenay River northwards the following spring. Through the early 19th century, Thompson continued to trade furs throughout the Kootenay region for the
North West Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...
, and for the few years when he had a total
monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...
over the Canadian fur trade west of the Rockies, he outlawed alcoholic drinks altogether. He was known to have written, "I had made it a law to myself that no alcohol should pass the mountains in my company". When two of Thompson's trading partners tried to make him take two barrels of rum to Kootanae House, Thompson "placed the two kegs on a vicious horse and by noon the kegs were empty and in pieces, the horse rubbing his load against the rocks to get rid of it … I told them what I had done, and that I would do the same to every keg of alcohol." Of course, wine, beer, rum, and other intoxicating drinks were imported in time.
John Palliser John Palliser (29 January 1817 – 18 August 1887) was an Irish-born geographer and explorer. Following his service in the Waterford Militia and hunting excursions to the North American prairies, he led the British North American Explor ...
crossed the Rockies through a pass in 1858 that led to the headwaters of the
Palliser River The Palliser River is a tributary of the Kootenay River in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is part of the Columbia River basin, as the Kootenay River is a tributary of the Columbia River. The Palliser River is named in honor of John ...
, a tributary of the Kootenay River now named in his honor. (However, at first, his party referred to it as ''Palliser's River''.) His expedition made it downstream to Columbia Lake but had some trouble making their way back to Alberta; the return route they had chosen proved too dangerous to negotiate. After trading for some horses and new supplies from a band of Ktunaxa, they made it back over the Rockies later that year through North Kootenay Pass near Lower and Upper Kananaskis Lakes, after traveling up the Elk River. The series of expeditions he would later lead through 1859 were to be known as the Palliser Expeditions, or officially, the British North American Exploring Expedition, which, although involved some travel west of the Rockies, was mostly limited to the east side of the
Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not c ...
. Palliser's earlier travels were credited for being a "vital forerunner to the European settlement of the Prairies f central Canada providing volumes of information on the resources of this vast region." In September 1859, Palliser traveled into the Kootenay River valley to find a suitable path for a trade route and possibly a railroad. Instead of crossing the Rockies, as Thompson did, Palliser set out from
Fort Colville Fort Colville was a U.S. Army post in the Washington Territory located north of current Colville, Washington. During its existence from 1859 to 1882, it was called "Harney's Depot" and "Colville Depot" during the first two years, and finally " ...
, a Hudson's Bay Company trading post near
Kettle Falls Kettle Falls ( Salish: Shonitkwu, meaning "roaring or noisy waters", also Schwenetekoo translated as "Keep Sounding Water") was an ancient and important salmon fishing site on the upper reaches of the Columbia River, in what is today the U.S. ...
on the Columbia River. He then proceeded up the Pend Oreille River (noted as 'Pendoreilles') and crossed into the Kootenay River valley, which in his records was either the "Kootanie" or "Flat Bow River". Kootenay Lake was called "Flat Bow Lake". Palliser was told by Ktunaxa tribal members that a trail already existed along the Kootenay River, terminating at Columbia Lake, but was in decrepit condition (having been out of use for many years) and "entirely impracticable for horses". They re-blazed the trail for many miles and returned to Kootenay Lake by mid-October of the same year. The expedition's findings were later to become important transportation routes through the Rockies to the Kootenays area, and the trail that they followed later became the route of the
Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...
.


Gold and silver boom

In 1863, a gold strike at the confluence of the
Wild Horse The wild horse (''Equus ferus'') is a species of the genus ''Equus'', which includes as subspecies the modern domesticated horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') as well as the endangered Przewalski's horse (''Equus ferus przewalskii''). The Europea ...
and Kootenay Rivers in the East Kootenay region resulted in the Wild Horse Gold Rush in which between three and ten thousand men descended upon the area and the gold rush town of Fisherville was built; it had to be moved when it was discovered the town sat atop some of the richest deposits. Originally, the river (and the area) were known as "Stud Horse" by the early miners, but government officials changed it to ''Wild Horse''. The new town's site was officially named Kootenai (though still known as Fisherville), also spelled Kootenay and Koutenais and also known as Wild Horse. Galbraith's Ferry was established across the Kootenay near Fort Steele to facilitate crossing by the incoming rush of prospectors and merchants. Most of the gold was mined out by 1864, in June of which one American prospector wrote that some 200 miners were arriving each day. By 1865 the peak of the rush was over, and the diggings had been found not as rich as previously believed when news arrived in 1865 of the strikes in the Big Bend of the Columbia and the bulk of the mining population moved there ''en masse''. Fisherville, which had a Hudson's Bay post and other businesses, continued on with a few hundred residents for a few years (most of them Chinese by the end, as was the case with many other BC gold towns also) but was eclipsed as a supply centre with the creation of nearby Fort Steele. The Chinese miners continued to work the "played-out" claims abandoned by American and Canadian miners, taking what little gold was left. Fisherville eventually was abandoned, its buildings left to ruin, and little remains of the settlement today. Other gold rushes on the Moyie and Goat Rivers, tributaries of the Kootenay, were followed by the discovery of silver and
galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cr ...
mines in the Kootenay Lake and Slocan Valley areas (Silvery Slocan), leading rapidly to the settlement of the region and the creation of various "silver city" boomtowns, notably
Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
, at the outlet of Kootenay Lake,
Kaslo Kaslo is a village on the west shore of Kootenay Lake in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. A member municipality of the Central Kootenay Regional District, the name derives from the adjacent Kaslo River. At 2016, the p ...
, midway up its north arm,
New Denver New Denver is at the mouth of Carpenter Creek, on the east shore of Slocan Lake, in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. The village is west of Kaslo on Highway 31A, and southeast of Nakusp and northeast of Slocan o ...
, Silverton,
Slocan City The Village of Slocan is in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. The former steamboat landing and ferry terminal is at the mouth of Springer Creek, at the foot of Slocan Lake. The locality, on BC Highway 6 is about by ro ...
and Sandon in the 1880s and 1890s. By 1889, a smelter had been constructed close to the mouth of the Kootenay, near Revelstoke, to process ore from the mines. Serving the mines and settlers, steamer companies plied the Kootenai River from
Bonners Ferry, Idaho Bonners Ferry (Kutenai language: ʔaq̓anqmi) is the largest city and the county seat of Boundary County, Idaho, United States. The population was 2,543 at the 2010 census. History When gold was discovered in the East Kootenays of Britis ...
to Nelson and to the Lardeau or "Lardo" district at the north end of Kootenay Lake, and also on the upper Kootenay River between the Cranbrook-Fort Steele area and points in Montana.


Steamboats

When the
Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...
(CPR) finished its transcontinental line across southern British Columbia,
steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
s began to ply the upper Columbia and Kootenay Rivers, carrying passengers, produce, ore, and other trade items through the region to be distributed via the CPR's line at Golden. The total run was about long, ranging from Golden to the north to Jennings, Montana in the south, with a
portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
at Canal Flats. Kootenay's steamboat era was short and lasted for only about 28 years. In 1882, as part of an incentive to help navigation on the Golden-Jennings run and possibly divert water northwards to the
Interior of British Columbia , settlement_type = Region of British Columbia , image_skyline = , nickname = "The Interior" , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subd ...
in order to provide flood control for a low-lying area south of Kootenay Lake, called Kootenay Flats, European adventurer William Adolf Baillie-Grohman proposed the creation of a canal between the Kootenay River and Columbia Lake. Construction of the -long, -broad channel was finished in 1889. The Baillie-Grohman Canal, as it was called, had one
lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...
which was long and wide. Because of the rugged terrain and rough waters on the two rivers, especially on the glacier-fed Kootenay, steamboat operation was extremely difficult and proved to be anything but cost-effective. The roughest water was in Jennings Canyon, now mostly submerged in the
Lake Koocanusa Lake Koocanusa () is a reservoir in British Columbia ( Canada) and Montana ( United States) formed by the damming of the Kootenai River by the Libby Dam in 1972. The Dam was formally dedicated by President Gerald Ford on August 24, 1975. T ...
reservoir behind
Libby Dam Libby Dam is a concrete gravity dam in the northwestern United States, on the Kootenai River in northwestern Montana. Dedicated on it is west of the continental divide, upstream from the town of Libby. At in height and a length of , Libby Dam c ...
. Two of the first steamers, the ''Duchess'' and the ''Cline'', sank when transporting miners to the Wild Horse gold rush on the Kootenay. Both ships had not even reached Canal Flats when they hit rocks in the Columbia. The first steamboat to run the Kootenay was the '' Annerly'' in 1893. Later vessels, such as the ''
Gwendoline Gwendoline is a feminine given name, a variant of Gwendolen. Notable people called Gwendoline * Gwendoline Maud Syrie Barnardo (1879–1955), a British interior decorator * Gwendoline Butler (born 1922), an English writer of mystery fiction *Gwen ...
'', had mixed success. Captain Frank P. Armstrong, who had piloted several earlier steamboats on the Golden-Jennings run, was her builder and when she was about three-quarters completed, Armstrong decided to take her to Golden to complete the job. ''Gwendoline'' sailed up to the canal, which unfortunately was unusable because the gates of the lock had been dynamited due to a Kootenay flood. Armstrong was forced to portage the vessel and eventually made it to Golden. ''Gwendoline'' eventually sailed back south to Jennings to haul
iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the ...
on the Kootenay. She was also the only ship to ever travel through the canal by proper means and made two of the only three steamboat trips through the canal. The last ship ever to pass through the canal and one of the last on the Kootenay was the ''
North Star Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that ...
'', also piloted by Captain Armstrong. In 1902, Armstrong decided to take ''North Star'' to sail on the Columbia instead, finding business on the Kootenay less and less profitable as the mines in the region played out, as the CPR established its Kootenay Central Railway branch, and for a variety of other reasons. In June of that year, Armstrong took ''North Star'' to the Baillie-Grohman Canal, which was in decrepit condition. The lock was also too small to accommodate the vessel. Armstrong had two makeshift dams built to create a temporary lock long, and then the forward dam was blown up so the ship could ride the surge of water ahead into Columbia Lake. The transit of ''North Star'' to Columbia Lake was the last time the canal was ever used by a steamboat and marked the end of the steamboat era on the Kootenay.


Doukhobor settlement

In the 20th century, members of a Russian religious sect called the
Doukhobor The Doukhobours or Dukhobors (russian: духоборы / духоборцы, dukhobory / dukhobortsy; ) are a Spiritual Christian ethnoreligious group of Russian origin. They are one of many non-Orthodox ethno-confessional faiths in Russia a ...
s living in the plains of
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
in central Canada were facing persecution, internal problems, and land confiscation by the Canadian government. Their leader, Peter Verigin, decided to move them to British Columbia in 1909, seeking land and improved life. He chose a townsite on the north bank of the Kootenay, where it joins the Columbia, across the big river from where the present-day town of Castlegar now stands.Holbrook, p. 199 In 1909, he purchased about adjoining the mouth of the Kootenay River partly using funds raised by sale of farm equipment in Saskatchewan, and added to other lands acquired throughout BC, Doukhobor-owned lands ultimately totaled . There was already a small settlement on the site, called Waterloo, but Verigin renamed it
Brilliant Brilliant may refer to: Music * ''Brilliant'' (album), a 2012 album by Ultravox *Brilliant (band), a British pop/rock group active in the 1980s * "Brilliant" (song), a song by D'espairsRay *Brilliant Classics, Dutch classical music record label * ...
, for the "sparkling waters" of the river. The whole area was known by the name, ''Dolina Ooteschenie'', meaning "valley of consolation". By 1913, there were already more than 5,000 Doukhobors living in the region. When they first arrived in British Columbia, the Doukhobors began felling trees in the Kootenay River valley to build their first homesteads. They also cleared areas of level ground in order to plant orchards and fields and constructed sawmills on the Columbia and Kootenay rivers to process the logs into lumber. After more settlers began arriving, they built larger buildings that housed multiple families instead of the small cabins then typical of the region. Each larger house or ''dom'', holding 70-100 persons each, was constructed on roughly plots of land that Verigin had divided the entire community into back in 1911. The Doukhobors then constructed a brick factory at the present-day site of
Grand Forks Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city ...
, from where they made bricks to be used mostly in the Brilliant settlement. Brilliant was one of the first cities in the area to have running water; a reservoir was constructed to hold water from the Kootenay River and a local
spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...
,Holbrook, p. 200 and by 1912, each household had running water. In 1913, Verigin converted an abandoned factory in
Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
, about up the Kootenay from Brilliant, to produce jam and marmalade. The Doukhobors then established a ferry across the Columbia River, and a
suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges, which lack vertical ...
serving the same purpose was completed in 1913. For many years, Brilliant continued to be a major center in the region's lumber industry. However, Doukhobor views on education and the extremist actions of a Doukhobor group called the Sons of Freedom eventually spelled the end of their settlement. In the 1920s, unknown
arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wate ...
ists destroyed several public schools in Brilliant as an act against British Columbia law. Then in 1924, on a routine rail trip to Grand Forks, Peter Verigin and seven other people were killed by a dynamite explosion that completely destroyed the coach that he was traveling in. Pieces of battery and alarm clock indicated that this was the work of people who intentionally wanted to kill Verigin, most likely members of the Sons of Freedom, or as some historians put it, by the lover of one of Verigin's handmaidens. Over 7,000 people attended Verigin's funeral. The Doukhobor leader was buried in an elaborate tomb on a
headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, J ...
overlooking the city of Brilliant and the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers. Verigin was succeeded by his son, Peter P. Verigin, who arrived from Russia in 1927. Despite the economic reforms he created in response to debt to the federal government, his arrival coincided with a terrible depression and bankruptcy which caused the Doukhobors to lose most of their lands. Verigin Jr. died in 1939 and by 1963, almost all Doukhobor lands were sold to the government. Today, little remains of the former settlement at Brilliant except for Verigin's tomb. The Doukhobor suspension bridge spanning the Kootenay River still stands, and was designated a
National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...
in 1995.


Ecology

The
Northwest Power and Conservation Council The Northwest Power and Conservation Council is a regional organization that develops and maintains a regional power plan and a fish and wildlife program to balance the Northwest's environment and energy needs. Based in Portland, Oregon, the Counci ...
divides the Kootenay River watershed into six biomes: aquatic (rivers and lakes),
riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...
s, wetlands, grassland/shrubs, moderately wet forest, and dry forest. The forested zones extend through the
alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...
and subalpine reaches of the watershed, while grasslands dominate the low terraces and plateaus surrounding the river, especially in the Lake Koocanusa area and the Montana-Idaho portion of the watershed.''Characterization of Biomes'', p. 85 In the Canada portion of the watershed, an
alpine meadow Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets ...
ecozone occupies most of the high ridges and valleys of the mountains.''Characterization of Biomes'', p. 87 In the Canadian portion of the Columbia Basin, almost half of which is part of the Kootenay River basin, there are 447 species of terrestrial vertebrates. Most of the Kootenay basin lies within the Columbia Glaciated
ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...
which encompasses much of northeastern Washington, northern Idaho, northwestern Montana and southern British Columbia. Fish fauna in the region are largely shared with those of the Columbia Unglaciated ecoregion to the south, which has about fifty species of fish and only one endemic species. There are no endemic fish within the Columbia Glaciated region itself. Riparian vegetation is mostly found along the lower two-thirds of the Kootenay and many of the tributaries that join within the United States. The other sections of the river flow through far more rugged terrain and are characterized by
braiding A braid (also referred to as a plait) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing two or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strande ...
, low nutrient content, shifting channels and coarse sediments, making it difficult for riparian zones to be established, as is with most of its upper and lower tributaries. Wetlands are found primarily where the river broadens into a series of sloughs, side-channels, marshes and small lakes before entering Kootenay Lake. This biologically diverse area, the Kootenay Flats, once supported over 1 million migratory birds every year, before the river was diked and many of the wetlands converted to agriculture. Naturally, the Kootenay has a high sediment content because of high erosion of glacial sediments in the mountains. Because of the steep rapids and falls between Kootenay Lake and the river's mouth, the Kootenay (with the exception of its tributary, the
Slocan River Slocan may refer to: Communities * Slocan, British Columbia or Slocan City, a village in the Slocan Valley, British Columbia, Canada * Slocan Valley or Slocan Country or Silvery Slocan, a valley in British Columbia, Canada * Slocan Park, British C ...
) has never been a significant stream for the annual runs of Columbia River salmon. However, landlocked salmon inhabit the upper reaches of the river above and in Kootenay Lake.''The Columbia'', p. 8 This is attributed to a Kootenay River flood a long time ago, before the construction of any dams on the Columbia (Columbia River dams now block salmon from reaching any of the
salmon run ''Salmon Run'' is a 1982 video game for the Atari 8-bit family created by Bill Williams and distributed via the Atari Program Exchange. ''Salmon Run'' was the first game in Williams's career, followed by a string of successes noted for their o ...
streams above
Chief Joseph Dam The Chief Joseph Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River, upriver from Bridgeport, Washington. The dam is upriver from the mouth of the Columbia at Astoria, Oregon. It is operated by the USACE Chief Joseph Dam Project Office and the ...
) which overflowed into Columbia Lake. It was with the creation of this temporary body of water that salmon somehow managed to swim over the submerged Canal Flats and into the Kootenay, where they became trapped. Populations of large land mammals such as caribou, moose, deer, elk, have been declining dramatically since the reintroduction of wolves. Species almost entirely gone that were once common in the area include the white-tailed jackrabbit, pygmy short-horned lizard,
band-tailed pigeon The band-tailed pigeon (''Patagioenas fasciata'') is a medium-sized bird of the Americas. Its closest relatives are the Chilean pigeon and the ring-tailed pigeon, which form a clade of ''Patagioenas'' with a terminal tail band and iridescent p ...
and
passenger pigeon The passenger pigeon or wild pigeon (''Ectopistes migratorius'') is an extinct species of pigeon that was endemic to North America. Its common name is derived from the French word ''passager'', meaning "passing by", due to the migratory habits ...
. After exploitation of the Kootenay basin by fur trappers, the
beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...
population was nearly exterminated as well.


Economy

Even before non-aboriginal people came to the region, the Kootenay River valley was an important path of trade and transport between the tribes of the Canadian Rockies and the Idaho Panhandle, mostly between the Ktunaxa (who practiced agriculture and
aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...
) and the Salish, Blackfeet and Pend d'Oreilles of the south and east, and with the Shuswap in the north. The physiographic continuation of the Kootenai Valley southwards from present-day
Bonners Ferry, Idaho Bonners Ferry (Kutenai language: ʔaq̓anqmi) is the largest city and the county seat of Boundary County, Idaho, United States. The population was 2,543 at the 2010 census. History When gold was discovered in the East Kootenays of Britis ...
into the Pend Oreille basin via the Purcell Trench formed a natural corridor through which natives of the area could interact. The barrier formed by the Rocky Mountains to the east, however, meant that tribes of the area, especially the Ktunaxa, were economically and linguistically isolated from the Great Plains tribes (with the exception of the
Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ) are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho * Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah * Goshute: western Utah, easte ...
, whose territory spanned both sides of the Rockies).
Logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply cha ...
began in the 19th century as a result of white emigration to the Kootenay region, and remains one of the primary industries of the area. In fact, much of the economy of the Pacific Northwest and Columbia Basin has historically been, and continues to be, to this day, dependent on the lumber industry. Lumber was required for the construction of buildings, forts, railroad tracks, and boats, and today is exported from the region in great amounts providing jobs and income for inhabitants of the area. Even in relatively uninhabited regions of the watershed,
logging road A gravel road is a type of unpaved road surfaced with gravel that has been brought to the site from a quarry or stream bed. They are common in less-developed nations, and also in the rural areas of developed nations such as Canada and the Unit ...
s criss-cross the hills and mountainsides. Over 90 percent of the Kootenay basin is forested, but only about 10 percent of the area is not affected by some kind of lumber-industry development, now defined as about twenty "roadless areas" or "blocks", with 18 in the US. To a limited extent, the Kootenay River has also been used for navigation. Commercial navigation began with steamboats in the 19th century to transport ores, lumber, passengers and other imported and exported products between the Kootenay River valley and the
Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...
station at
Golden, British Columbia Golden is a town in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, west of Calgary, Alberta, and east of Vancouver. History In 1807, David Thompsonrenowned fur trader, surveyor, and map-makerwas tasked by the North West Company to open a trading route ...
. Boat travel on the upper river ceased when a rail line was built along the Kootenay upstream of the big bend. Steamboats also operated briefly on the lower river and Kootenay Lake to service silver mines in the nearby mountains. In modern times, boats continue to ply Kootenay Lake and limited reaches of the Kootenay River. Mining is also an important economic support of the Kootenay River area. Although originally valuable minerals such as gold and silver were unearthed, today coal is the primary resource extracted from underground. Conventional coal deposits underlie much of the East Kootenay, especially in the Elk River valley which is home to the Elk Valley Coalfield, and the Crowsnest Coalfield in the
Purcell Mountains The Purcell Mountains are a mountain range in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. They are a subrange of the Columbia Mountains, which includes the Selkirk, Monashee, and Cariboo Mountains. They are located on the west side of the Rocky Moun ...
. The East Kootenay is the most important coal-producing area of British Columbia, has since 1898 produced over 500 million tons, and about 25 percent of the world's steel-making coal comes from the region. Most of the coal from the East Kootenay coalfields is exported to
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
and
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...
. Lead, zinc, copper and silver are still mined at some places in the Kootenay River basin, notably at the giant
Sullivan Mine The Sullivan Mine is a now-closed conventional–mechanized underground mine located in Kimberley, British Columbia, Canada. The ore body is a complex, sediment-hosted, sedimentary exhalative deposit consisting primarily of zinc, lead, and i ...
near
Kimberley, British Columbia Kimberley is a city in southeast British Columbia, Canada along Highway 95A between the Purcell and Rocky Mountains. Kimberley was named in 1896 after the Kimberley mine in South Africa. From 1917 to 2001, it was the home to the world's largest ...
, which is the largest in the Kootenay watershed.
Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...
, however, is a much less important industry, and many of the fertile riverside lands have been flooded by the construction of dams (most notably Libby Dam in Montana, which backs water into Canada). Only about two percent of the entire Kootenay basin ( is used for agriculture, and much of that is for pasture and foraging). Crops such as oats, barley and wheat account for 62 percent of the agricultural output of the region, much of which is used locally or exported by rail. The primary agricultural region is the Kootenai Valley of northern Idaho south of Kootenay Lake. The West Kootenay, however, is transitioning from a coal-mining to a tourism-based economy, and the rest of the Kootenay region is also starting to do so. The economy of southeastern British Columbia is becoming increasingly reliant on tourism, and several Canadian national and state parks have already been established, and several national forests in the U.S.


River modifications

Dams, power plants and diversions of the Kootenay River, of which there are many, have been built for a variety of reasons throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The seven dams on the Kootenay serve many purposes, ranging from generation of local electricity to regulation of Columbia River flow between Canada and the United States. None provide for navigation or fish passage. In former times, the Kootenay would rise each spring and early summers with "enormous freshets that every summer flood the Kootenay River valley",. Such extreme variations are no longer common on the river below Libby Dam.


The Falls

As early as 1898, without building a dam, the original Lower Bonnington Power Plant was generating
hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
from Bonnington Falls in the Kootenay River near the confluence of the
Slocan River Slocan may refer to: Communities * Slocan, British Columbia or Slocan City, a village in the Slocan Valley, British Columbia, Canada * Slocan Valley or Slocan Country or Silvery Slocan, a valley in British Columbia, Canada * Slocan Park, British C ...
in order to supply water to mines in
Rossland, British Columbia Rossland is in the West Kootenay region of south central British Columbia. High in the Monashee Mountains, the city lies immediately east of the intersections of BC highways 3B and 22. The facilities provide a winter base for the nearby multi-pea ...
. For Upper Bonnington, the first dam built on the river, the original goal was to improve navigation between Kootenay Lake and the Kootenay's mouth on the Columbia by drowning the dangerous Bonnington Falls rapids that also blocked fish migration, and hopefully introducing fish to the upper river by constructing a fish ladder. None of these amenities for steamboats or salmon were ever constructed — in fact, the dam ended up being built above the falls instead of below them— and Upper Bonnington Dam, when completed in 1906, only generated hydroelectric power, and has served that purpose ever since. Commercial demand led to two more dams at the falls, these were
South Slocan Dam South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
in 1928, and Corra Linn Dam, at the rapids above Bonnington in 1932. Three of the dams are of the
run-of-the-river Run-of-river hydroelectricity (ROR) or run-of-the-river hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric generation plant whereby little or no water storage is provided. Run-of-the-river power plants may have no water storage at all or a limited amou ...
type, the 4.5 km length of the falls is now impounded in small lakes. All except Corra Linn, which was built to raise and regulate the level of Kootenay Lake. The Kootenay Canal Generating Station, completed in 1976 by
BC Hydro The British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, operating as BC Hydro, is a Canadian electric utility in the province of British Columbia. It is the main electricity distributor, serving more than 4 million customers in most areas, with the exce ...
, has its inlet at Kootenay Lake next to Corra Linn. The canal travels several kilometers, parallel to and above the river to utilize the roughly high water drop in elevation between Kootenay Lake and South Slocan, bypassing the old dams. The canal is used to generate
hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
, as are the four dams.


The Lower River

After the falls and the junction with the Slocan River the last of the river is a gradual slope to the merger with the Columbia. In 1944 the last privately owned development
Brilliant Dam Brilliant Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Kootenay River near Castlegar, British Columbia, Canada. It was built during the Second World War, mostly by Doukhobour men exempt from military service, and its 129 MW twin turbines first came into ope ...
was built, just before the Kootenay river flows into the
Columbia River The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...
at Castlegar.


Columbia River Treaty

The Columbia Basin is noted for its spring floods, major flood years were 1876, 1894, 1948 and 1964. As recently as the mid-1960s, the upper Columbia and Kootenay rivers in British Columbia were still free-flowing and unaffected by dams and reservoirs, resulting in the 1948 Vanport Oregon flood. The uncontrolled discharge past the Canada-U.S. border created problems for electricity generation in the US, and Canada also wanted to utilize the Columbia river for the production of hydroelectric power. Negotiated in 1961 between the governments of the two countries, the
Columbia River Treaty The Columbia River Treaty is a 1961 agreement between Canada and the United States on the development and operation of dams in the upper Columbia River basin for power and flood control benefits in both countries. Four dams were constructed under ...
attempted to ratify these problems. Construction of the first three of the four dams authorized by the treaty—
Mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...
, Keenleyside and
Duncan Duncan may refer to: People * Duncan (given name), various people * Duncan (surname), various people * Clan Duncan * Justice Duncan (disambiguation) Places * Duncan Creek (disambiguation) * Duncan River (disambiguation) * Duncan Lake ...
—was implemented in 1964. Of the four dams, the first two are on the Columbia, the third is on the Duncan River, a tributary of the Kootenay, and the fourth
Libby Libby as a feminine given name is typically a diminutive form of Elizabeth, which is less commonly spelled 'Libbie' or ' Libi'. In recent years, it has been used as a shortened version of the name Liberty. As a surname, it can also be spelled ' ...
, on the Kootenai in Montana. However, operation of the dams has led to environmental problems in both rivers because they have caused unnatural flow fluctuations, blocked fish migration, flooded fertile agricultural land, and forced over 2,000 people to relocate. Solely built for the purpose of regulating water flow into Kootenay Lake, Duncan Dam, the first dam built for the treaty, was raised in 1967 and increased the long size of Duncan Lake to a reservoir long. Because of its purpose, it has no power generation facilities. Libby Dam, the fourth and last dam built under the treaty, was completed in 1975 by the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...
. The other two dams built for the treaty, Keenleyside and Mica, are both on the Columbia River. Kootenay basin reservoirs provide nearly of storage which constitutes almost half of the stored in Columbia River Treaty reservoirs.


Diversion proposal

In the 1970s, it was proposed that the Kootenay River be diverted into the Columbia River (the two rivers are separated by a distance of no more than near Canal Flats in the Rocky Mountain Trench in southeastern British Columbia). This would allow for the generation of increased hydroelectric power on the Columbia. It would also make easier the reclamation of the Kootenay Flats, an area south of Kootenay Lake, for agricultural purposes—spring
freshet The term ''freshet'' is most commonly used to describe a spring thaw resulting from snow and ice melt in rivers located in upper North America. A spring freshet can sometimes last several weeks on large river systems, resulting in significant in ...
s once raised the level of the lake by up to , inundating the lowlands around it. There were also never-implemented plans to divert part of the Kootenay enlarged Columbia River through a tunnel to the headwaters of the
Thompson River The Thompson River is the largest tributary of the Fraser River, flowing through the south-central portion of British Columbia, Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches, the South Thompson River and the North Thompson River. The ri ...
in the northwest, and thence to the
Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual ...
valley of southwestern British Columbia. The proposal was strongly opposed by both environmentalists as well as local residents. The economy of southeastern British Columbia is strongly dependent on tourism, with the Columbia River, including Columbia Lake and Windermere Lake, being very popular for summer swimming and boating activities. Diversion of the glacier-fed Kootenay River would have resulted in the Columbia River becoming much deeper and colder, flooding riverside communities and damaging tourism. At the opposite end of the scale, it would dry the bed of the Kootenay River downstream of Canal Flats, cutting off water supply to residents of the upper Kootenay Valley and invalidating the effectiveness of Libby Dam, whose construction was to begin in a few years. As a result, this proposed river diversion was never undertaken.


Recreation

Many national, provincial and state parks, wilderness preserves, protected areas and national forests lie partially or wholly within the Kootenay River watershed. In Canada, these include those listed below as well as many others. *
Bugaboo Provincial Park Bugaboo Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located in the central Purcell Mountains. It was established in 1995 as an amalgamation of Bugaboo Glacier Park, Bugaboo Alpine Recreation Area, and various adjacent l ...
* Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area * Gilnockie Provincial Park * Goat Range Provincial Park * Kianuko Provincial Park *
Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park is one of the oldest provincial parks in British Columbia, established in 1922. The park has an area of and is located in the Selkirk Mountains in the West Kootenays region of BC. The park has three glaciers (Kok ...
* Kootenai Falls County Park *
Kootenay National Park Kootenay National Park is a national park of Canada located in southeastern British Columbia. The park consists of of the Canadian Rockies, including parts of the Kootenay and Park mountain ranges, the Kootenay River and the entirety of the V ...
*
Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located around Mount Assiniboine. History The park was established 1922. Some of the more recent history that is explorable within the park include Wheeler's Won ...
*
Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Provincial Park and Protected Area The Purcell Wilderness Conservancy (full name Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Provincial Park and Protected Area) is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. It was established in 1974, and encompasses six large drainages in the Purcell Mou ...
* St. Mary's Alpine Provincial Park *
Top of the World Provincial Park Top of the World Provincial Park is a provincial park Ischigualasto Provincial Park A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state p ...
*
Valhalla Provincial Park Valhalla Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. It was established on March 3, 1983, in the mountains above the Western shores of Slocan Lake, in the west Kootenays. The park consists of most of the Valhalla Ranges ...
*
West Arm Provincial Park West Arm Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. References

Provincial parks of British Columbia Regional District of Central Kootenay {{BritishColumbia-park-stub ...
Popular
Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous terrain, with many glaciers and ice fields, dense co ...
lies just across the BC-Alberta border,
Yoho National Park Yoho National Park ( ) is a national park of Canada. It is located within the Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide of the Americas in southeastern British Columbia, bordered by Kootenay National Park to the south and ...
sits to the north, and Glacier National Park in the northeast. The U.S. portion of the watershed includes
Kootenai National Forest The Kootenai National Forest is a national forest located in the far northwestern section of Montana and the northeasternmost lands in the Idaho panhandle in the United States, along the Canada–US border. Of the administered by the forest, ...
and
Kaniksu National Forest The Kaniksu National Forest (pronounced "Kuh-NICK-su") is a U.S. National Forest located in northeastern Washington, the Idaho Panhandle, and northwestern Montana. It is one of three forests that are aggregated into the Idaho Panhandle National ...
(part of the
Idaho Panhandle National Forest The Idaho Panhandle National Forests are a jointly administered set of three national forests located mostly in the U.S. state of Idaho. In 1973, major portions of the Kaniksu, Coeur d'Alene, and St. Joe National Forests were combined to be a ...
s, which stretch southwards into the state). In Kootenay National Park alone, there are over of hiking trails, ranging from short day hikes to long backpacking trips.
Cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreatio ...
and
snowshoeing Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footwe ...
are popular on the park's trails in the winter. Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, which sits right next to Kootenay in the Rocky Mountains, also has an extensive trail system affording extensive views of the surrounding ranges. Kikomun Creek Provincial Park, on the northeast shore of Lake Koocanusa, includes campgrounds and access to boat launches on the east shore of the lake. The Kootenai River Trail along the Montana section of the river, about long, follows the river from
Libby Libby as a feminine given name is typically a diminutive form of Elizabeth, which is less commonly spelled 'Libbie' or ' Libi'. In recent years, it has been used as a shortened version of the name Liberty. As a surname, it can also be spelled ' ...
to
Kootenai Falls Kootenai Falls is a waterfall on the Kootenai River located in Lincoln County, Montana, just off U.S. Route 2. It is the largest undammed waterfall in the state and one of the largest waterfalls in the United States by flow rate. The falls is ...
and the well known Swinging Bridge across the Kootenai. Skattebo Reach Trail, on the lower river, is about long, running from
Brilliant Brilliant may refer to: Music * ''Brilliant'' (album), a 2012 album by Ultravox *Brilliant (band), a British pop/rock group active in the 1980s * "Brilliant" (song), a song by D'espairsRay *Brilliant Classics, Dutch classical music record label * ...
to Glade. Further downstream, five separate sites around Kootenay Lake form the Kootenay Lake Provincial Park. West Arm Provincial Park is on the impounded stretch of the Kootenay River just west of Kootenay Lake, and to the northeast of Nelson. Smaller
Kokanee Creek Provincial Park Kokanee Creek Provincial Park is a provincial park on the west shore of Kootenay Lake in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. Highway 3A bisects the park east of Nelson. Established as a BC Provincial Park in 1955, it e ...
, one of the more popular recreation areas in the West Kootenay, sits across the river from West Arm. Fishing is generally good on the middle reaches of the Kootenay River and in Kootenay Lake.
Westslope cutthroat trout The westslope cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi''), also known as the black-spotted trout, common cutthroat trout and red-throated trout is a subspecies of the cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii'') and is a freshwater fish in t ...
,
bull trout The bull trout (''Salvelinus confluentus'') is a char of the family Salmonidae native to northwestern North America. Historically, ''S. confluentus'' has been known as the " Dolly Varden" (''S. malma''), but was reclassified as a separate speci ...
, kokanee salmon (the landlocked
Pacific salmon ''Oncorhynchus'' is a genus of fish in the family Salmonidae; it contains the Pacific salmon and Pacific trout. The name of the genus is derived from the Greek ὄγκος (ónkos, “lump, bend”) + ῥύγχος (rhúnkhos, “snout”), i ...
),
rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coast ...
and
white sturgeon White sturgeon (''Acipenser transmontanus'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae of the order Acipenseriformes. They are an anadromous fish species ranging in the Eastern Pacific; from the Gulf of Alaska to Monterey, California. ...
are among the many species found in the river. Kokanee and rainbows are commonly found in Lake Koocanusa.
Kootenai Falls Kootenai Falls is a waterfall on the Kootenai River located in Lincoln County, Montana, just off U.S. Route 2. It is the largest undammed waterfall in the state and one of the largest waterfalls in the United States by flow rate. The falls is ...
, which drops some within a run of a few hundred meters, forms a natural boundary between fishes of the upper and lower river, but Libby Dam, several kilometres upstream, is an even more formidable barrier. Fish in the Kootenay have traditionally been abundant but the construction of the dam may have led to declines in the population of sturgeon, among other fishes, because of changes in water flow. The best season for fishing is from June to November. One may fish from banks, sandbars and islands, or from boats. Because of the size and strength of the river, fishing from
drift boat A Drift Boat is an evolution of the open-water dory, converted for use in rivers. The design is characterized by a wide, flat bottom, flared sides, a narrow, flat bow, and a pointed stern. A Rocker is used along an arc from bow to stern along th ...
s is easier than from the shore. Also, because the Kootenay's primary sources are glaciers, fishing conditions are quite different from most rivers in Montana and Idaho, which are fed by snowmelt. In the United States, the Kootenay, with its "exceptional" trout fishing, is considered a Blue Ribbon fishery. Steep and strewn with rapids, the Kootenay, despite being unsuitable for commercial transportation of agricultural and mineral products, is considered an outstanding whitewater river.
Whitewater rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...
is popular on the Kootenay in two stretches: in Jennings Canyon between the Libby Dam in Montana and Bonners Ferry in Idaho, and in the upper reaches of the river in Kootenay National Park in British Columbia. Rafting the middle Kootenay between Libby Dam and Bonners Ferry is best at flows of . The run, about from east to west, includes Class IV+ rapids and includes
Kootenai Falls Kootenai Falls is a waterfall on the Kootenai River located in Lincoln County, Montana, just off U.S. Route 2. It is the largest undammed waterfall in the state and one of the largest waterfalls in the United States by flow rate. The falls is ...
, which rarely has been run safely, in the middle of its course. In Montana, the river is rated a Class I water under the
Montana Stream Access Law The Montana Stream Access Law says that anglers, floaters and other recreationists in Montana have full use of most natural waterways between the high-water marks for fishing and floating, along with swimming and other river or stream-related ...
for recreational purposes from Libby Dam to the Montana-Idaho border. Class I represents bodies of water that are navigable and suitable for recreation. Rafting is also popular in some of the Canadian stretches of the river, especially those near the headwaters that have the steepest gradient and the most challenging rapids. Several Canadian outfitters provide trips on the river near Kootenay National Park ranging from a few hours to several days. Canoeing in the numerous sloughs, side-channels and distributaries of the Kootenay that thread through the wetlands of the Kootenay Flats has the additional benefit of watching birds and wildlife in the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Unit and other surrounding marshes. Larger craft such as
houseboat A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a home. Most houseboats are not motorized as they are usually moored or kept stationary at a fixed point, and often tethered to land to provide utilities. Ho ...
s are able to travel on Kootenay and Koocanusa Lakes. Rafting and kayaking is also an activity on the swift-flowing
Slocan River Slocan may refer to: Communities * Slocan, British Columbia or Slocan City, a village in the Slocan Valley, British Columbia, Canada * Slocan Valley or Slocan Country or Silvery Slocan, a valley in British Columbia, Canada * Slocan Park, British C ...
, the lowermost major tributary of the Kootenay, and in parts of other major Kootenay tributaries as well.Landers et al, p. 306


See also

* Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes *
Dewdney Trail The Dewdney Trail is a trail in British Columbia, Canada that served as a major thoroughfare in mid-19th century British Columbia. The trail was a critical factor in the development and strengthening of the newly established British colony of Bri ...
*
List of crossings of the Kootenay River This is a list of bridges and other crossings of the Kootenay River from its source downstream to the Columbia River. Crossings See also * List of crossings of the Columbia River * List of British Columbia-related topics * List of Montana-r ...
*
List of dams in the Columbia River watershed There are more than 60 dams in the Columbia River watershed in the United States and Canada. Tributaries of the Columbia River and their dammed tributaries, as well as the main stem itself, each have their own list below. The dams are listed i ...
*
List of longest rivers of Canada Among the longest rivers of Canada are 47 streams of at least . In the case of some rivers such as the Columbia, the length listed in the table below is solely that of the main stem. In the case of others such as the Mackenzie, it is the combin ...
*
List of longest streams of Idaho A total of seventy streams that are at least long flow through the U.S. state of Idaho. All of these streams originate in the United States except the Kootenai River (third-longest) and the Moyie River (thirty-first-longest), both of which begi ...
*
List of rivers of British Columbia The following is a partial list of rivers of British Columbia, organized by watershed. Some large creeks are included either because of size or historical importance (See Alphabetical List of British Columbia rivers ). Also included are lakes tha ...
*
List of rivers of Idaho This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Idaho. By drainage basin This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. Pacific Ocean *''Columbia River (WA)'' ** Snake River *** Palo ...
*
List of rivers of Montana The following is a partial list of rivers of Montana (U.S. state). East of Continental Divide Water in these rivers flows east and south from the Continental Divide of the Americas, also known as the Great Divide, into the Gulf of Mexico vi ...
*
List of tributaries of the Columbia River Tributaries and sub-tributaries are hierarchically listed in order from the mouth of the Columbia River upstream. Major dams and reservoir lakes are also noted. List of major tributaries The main river and tributaries are (sorted in order from t ...
*
Montana Stream Access Law The Montana Stream Access Law says that anglers, floaters and other recreationists in Montana have full use of most natural waterways between the high-water marks for fishing and floating, along with swimming and other river or stream-related ...


References


Works cited

* * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading


Bathymetric Surveys of the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry, Idaho
United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
* {{Authority control Rivers of Boundary County, Idaho Rivers of Lincoln County, Montana Regional District of Central Kootenay Regional District of East Kootenay Rivers of the Canadian Rockies Rivers of Idaho Rivers of Montana Tributaries of the Columbia River Kootenays Rivers of British Columbia International rivers of North America