The Finlay River is a 402 km long river in north-central

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, ...

flowing north and thence south from

Thutade Lake Thutade Lake is located in the Omineca Mountains of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. About in length, and no more than about wide, the lake is primarily significant as the ultimate source of the Mackenzie River. The lake i ...

in the

Omineca Mountains The Omineca Mountains, also known as "the Ominecas", are a group of remote mountain ranges in the Boreal Cordillera of north-central British Columbia, Canada. They are bounded by the Finlay River on the north, the Rocky Mountain Trench (here fil ...

Williston Lake Williston Lake is a reservoir created by the W. A. C. Bennett Dam and is located in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Geography The lake fills the basin of the upper Peace River, backing into the Rocky Mountain Trench which is ...

, the impounded waters of the

Peace River The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in th ...

formed by the completion of the

W.A.C. Bennett Dam The W. A. C. Bennett Dam is a large hydroelectric dam on the Peace River in northern British Columbia, Canada. At high, it is one of the world's highest earth fill dams. Construction of the dam began in 1961 and culminated in 1968. At the dam ...

in 1968. Prior to this, the Finlay joined with the

Parsnip River The Parsnip River is a long river in central British Columbia, Canada. It flows generally north-westward from the Parsnip Glacier in the Hart Ranges to the Parsnip Reach of Williston Lake, formed by the impounding of the waters of the Peace Rive ...

to form the Peace. The headwaters of the Finlay at Thutade Lake are considered the ultimate source of the Mackenzie River.''Atlas of Canada: Rivers of Canada'' page

Deserters Canyon Deserters Canyon is a canyon on the Finlay River in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located just upstream (north) from the head of the Finlay Arm of Lake Williston, the reservoir created by WAC Bennett Dam on the lower Pe ...

is located just north of Williston Lake. The Finlay drains an area of 43,000 square kilometres and discharges at a mean rate of 600 cubic metres per second. Major tributaries of the Finlay include the Ospika, Ingenika, Warneford,

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

, Toodoggone, and

Firesteel A fire striker is a piece of carbon steel from which sparks are struck by the sharp edge of flint, chert or similar rock. It is a specific tool used in fire making. History In early times, percussion fire making was often used to start fir ...

Rivers (the Ospika now enters Lake Williston directly, however). Located in a remote part of the

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

, there are no population centres along the river, however, there is a small

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

community,

Fort Ware Kwadacha, also known as Fort Ware or simple Ware, is an aboriginal community in northern British Columbia, Canada, located in the Rocky Mountain Trench at the confluence of the Finlay, Kwadacha and Fox Rivers, in the Rocky Mountain Trench upstrea ...

, located at the junction of the Finlay and Warneford.

Tatlatui Provincial Park Tatlatui Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located at the southern end of the Spatsizi Plateau and around the headwaters of the Firesteel River, part of the Finlay-Peace River basin and therefore in the Arctic ...

protects the area of the

Tatlatui Range The Tatlatui Range is a large and very alpine mountain range on the east flank of the upper Skeena River in northern British Columbia, Canada. It has an area of 2307 km2 and is a subrange of the Omineca Mountains which in turn form part of th ...

, where Thutade Lake is located. The Finlay River is named for the

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

John Finlay, who travelled a short way up the river in 1797. The first European to journey its length to its source was the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

r and

Samuel Black Samuel Black (May 3, 1780 – February 8, 1841) was a Scottish fur trader and explorer, a clerk in the New North Nest Company (XYC) and Wintering Partner in the North West Company (NWC), and later clerk, chief trader, and chief factor in the Huds ...

in 1824. The river was the eastern half of the northern boundary of the

Colony of British Columbia The Colony of British Columbia refers to one of two colonies of British North America, located on the Pacific coast of modern-day Canada: *Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) *Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871) See also *History of Br ...

at the time of its creation in 1858, north of which was the North-Western Territory; the western half of the boundary was the

Nass River The Nass River is a river in northern British Columbia, Canada. It flows from the Coast Mountains southwest to Nass Bay, a sidewater of Portland Inlet, which connects to the North Pacific Ocean via the Dixon Entrance. Nass Bay joins Portland In ...

and from 1862 to 1863 it was briefly the southern boundary of the Stickeen Territories (Stikine Territory) which had been formed from the North-Western Territory in response to the

Peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

and Stikine Gold Rushes and which was amalgamated with the Colony of British Columbia in the following year.

Tributaries

* Firesteel River *

Toodoggone River The Toodoggone River is a tributary of the Finlay River in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, flowing east into the upper reaches of the Finlay just south of the Fishing Lakes. At the head of the Toodoggone is Metsantan Pass, which ...

* Fox River *

Kwadacha River Kwadacha, also known as Fort Ware or simple Ware, is an aboriginal community in northern British Columbia, Canada, located in the Rocky Mountain Trench at the confluence of the Finlay River, Finlay, Kwadacha River, Kwadacha and Fox Rivers, in the ...

* Paul River *

Akie River Akie may refer to: * Akie people * Akie language * Akie (given name) {{disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ...

Ingenika River The Ingenika River is a river located in the Canadian boreal forest, in the province of British Columbia. The surroundings of the Ingenika River are mainly coniferous forest. The area around the river is almost uninhabited, with fewer than two in ...

* Davis River *

Mesilinka River Mesilinka River is a river in the Canadian boreal forest. It is located in the province of British Columbia, approximately 3,500 km west of the national capital, Ottawa, and about 900 km north of the provincial capital, Victoria Victoria mo ...

Osilinka River Osilinka River is a river in the Canadian boreal forest. It is located in the province of British Columbia, approximately 3,500 km west of the national capital, Ottawa, and about 900 km north of the provincial capital, Victoria Victoria mos ...

References

External links

A book about the exploration of the Finlay River
{{Authority control Northern Interior of British Columbia Rivers of the Omineca Mountains Cassiar Mountains Hudson's Bay Company trading posts Cassiar Land District