The Flathead River ( fla, label=
Salish
Salish () may refer to:
* Salish peoples, a group of First Nations/Native Americans
** Coast Salish peoples, several First Nations/Native American groups in the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest
** Interior Salish peoples, several First Nat ...
, člq̓etkʷ ntx̣ʷetkʷ, , kut, kananmituk),
in the northwestern part of the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
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 Columbi ...
, originates in 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 ...
to the north of
Glacier National Park and flows southwest into
Flathead Lake
Flathead Lake ( fla, člq̓etkʷ, label=Salish, kut, yawuʔnik̓ ʔa·kuq̓nuk) is a large natural lake in northwest Montana.
The lake is a remnant of the ancient, massive glacial dammed lake, Lake Missoula of the era of the last interglacial. ...
, then after a journey of , empties into the
Clark Fork. The river is part 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, C ...
drainage basin, as the Clark Fork is a tributary of 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 Columbia ...
, a Columbia River tributary. With a drainage basin extending over and an average discharge of , the Flathead is the largest tributary of the Clark Fork and constitutes over half of its flow.
Course
The Flathead River rises in forks in the Rocky Mountains of northwestern Montana. The largest tributary is the
North Fork, which runs from the
Canadian province
Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...
of
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, ...
southwards. The North Fork is sometimes considered the main stem of the Flathead River. Near
West Glacier the North Fork combines with the
Middle Fork to form the main Flathead River.
The river then flows westwards to join the
South Fork and cuts between the
Whitefish Range
The Whitefish Range is a mountain range stretching north-south from British Columbia, Canada to Montana, United States. It is about long and wide. Water flowing from its east side drains down the North Fork Flathead River and its west side drains ...
and
Swan Range
The Swan Range is a mountain range in western Montana in the United States. Its peaks typically rise to around . The range is bounded by the South Fork Flathead River to the east, the Flathead River to the north and northwest, the Swan River to ...
via
Bad Rock Canyon
Bad Rock Canyon is a river canyon lying east of Columbia Falls, Montana. The Flathead River, flanked by U.S. Highway 2, flows through the canyon and enters Montana's Flathead Valley. Rock slides occur frequently along the northern side of the ...
. All of the headwaters forks are entirely or in part designated
National Wild and Scenic River
The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...
s. After the river leaves the canyon it flows into the broad Flathead Valley and arcs southwest, passing
Columbia Falls and
Kalispell, before it is joined by the
Stillwater River and its
Whitefish River tributary, and then empties into
Flathead Lake
Flathead Lake ( fla, člq̓etkʷ, label=Salish, kut, yawuʔnik̓ ʔa·kuq̓nuk) is a large natural lake in northwest Montana.
The lake is a remnant of the ancient, massive glacial dammed lake, Lake Missoula of the era of the last interglacial. ...
, where the
Swan River joins.
Near Polson the river leaves the natural basin of Flathead Lake, but first passes through Seli’š Ksanka Qlispe’ Dam (formerly Kerr Dam), which raises Flathead Lake
Flathead Lake ( fla, člq̓etkʷ, label=Salish, kut, yawuʔnik̓ ʔa·kuq̓nuk) is a large natural lake in northwest Montana.
The lake is a remnant of the ancient, massive glacial dammed lake, Lake Missoula of the era of the last interglacial. ...
's level by 10 feet.[Kerr Dam Essay]
/ref> After flowing through the dam the river turns south and meanders through the Flathead Valley west of the Mission Mountains
The Mission Mountains or Mission Range are a range of the Rocky Mountains located in northwestern Montana in the United States. They lie chiefly in Lake County and Missoula County and are south and east of Flathead Lake and west of the Swan Ra ...
, and at Dixon it is joined by the small Jocko River. At the Jocko River confluence it turns west, and a few miles after flows into the Clark Fork near Paradise
In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...
.
History
David Thompson (explorer)
David Thompson (30 April 1770 – 10 February 1857) was a English Canadian, British-Canadian fur trader, surveying, surveyor, and Cartography, cartographer, known to some native people as "Koo-Koo-Sint" or "the Stargazer". Over Thompson's care ...
first explored the area in 1807. 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 ...
rs employed by 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 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 div ...
entered the Flathead Valley in the early 19th century. Trading posts were established north of Flathead Lake. The 1846 settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute
The Oregon boundary dispute or the Oregon Question was a 19th-century territorial dispute over the political division of the Pacific Northwest of North America between several nations that had competing territorial and commercial aspirations in ...
established the border with British North America
British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English overseas possessions, English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland (island), Newfound ...
and that the Flathead Valley was firmly American. The first settler
A settler is a person who has human migration, migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a ...
s began arriving in the 1860s. Irrigation agriculture began in the 1880s.
The river was affected by the 2022 Montana floods.
Recreation
The river is a Class I river in Montana for purposes of recreational access.[Stream Access in Montana]
The South fork of the Flathead, from Youngs Creek to Hungry Horse reservoir; Middle fork of the Flathead – from Schaffer creek to its confluence with the Flathead River; and the Flathead River – to its confluence with the Clark Fork River, are designated.
Conservation
It is part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System
The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...
. Reaches designated wild and scenic include the entire North Fork south of the Canada–US border, the entire Middle Fork, and the South Fork above Hungry Horse Reservoir.
The North Fork Flathead River in Montana is designated a National Wild and Scenic River. The river is not afforded any protection in British Columbia. This has been the subject of 33 years of dispute between the United States and Canada. In 1988 the International Joint Commission
The International Joint Commission (french: Commission mixte internationale) is a bi-national organization established by the governments of the United States and Canada under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. Its responsibilities were expa ...
, ruled that a proposed open pit coal mine would violate the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty.
Energy development once threatened the North Fork, which was deemed the "wildest river in the continental United States" by ''The New York Times'' in 2004. On February 21, 2008, BP announced to drop plans to obtain drilling rights for coalbed methane extraction in the river's headwaters. However, the ''Cline Mining Corporation'' still intends to start a mountaintop-removal coal mining project.
On February 9, 2010, the British Columbia government announced that it would not permit mining, oil and gas development and coalbed gas extraction in British Columbia's portion of the Flathead Valley, which was praised by environmental groups and the U.S. Senators from Montana.[Senators praise Canada’s commitment to protect flathead valley : ]
'', February 9, 2010
There is a proposal to protect one-third of British Columbia's Flathead River by adding it to the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park
The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is the union of Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada and Glacier National Park in the United States. Both parks are declared Biosphere Reserves by UNESCO and their union as a World Heritage Site.
H ...
. In 2003 Parks Canada
Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 48 National Parks, th ...
requested the province of British Columbia to take part in a park feasibility study. British Columbia has yet to agree to this.
Further reading
*
See also
* 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 via 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 act ...
* Montana Wilderness Association
* 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 ...
* Flathead Lake
Flathead Lake ( fla, člq̓etkʷ, label=Salish, kut, yawuʔnik̓ ʔa·kuq̓nuk) is a large natural lake in northwest Montana.
The lake is a remnant of the ancient, massive glacial dammed lake, Lake Missoula of the era of the last interglacial. ...
References
External links
* http://www.nwcouncil.org/fw/subbasinplanning/flathead/plan/
Flathead Wild.
Keep it Wild. Keep it Connected.
Wildsight
{{authority control
Rivers of Flathead County, Montana
Rivers of Lake County, Montana
Rivers of Sanders County, Montana
Rivers of Montana
Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States