The Kettle River is a tributary 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 ...

, encompassing a

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, t ...

, of which are in southern

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, ...

, Canada and in northeastern

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, US.Upper Columbia Subbasin Overview
, p. 29-8; Northwest Power and Conservation Council

Name

The indigenous name of the river in the

Okanagan language Okanagan, or Colville-Okanagan, or Nsyilxcən (n̓səl̓xcin̓, n̓syilxčn̓), is a Salish language which arose among the indigenous peoples of the southern Interior Plateau region based primarily in the Okanagan River Basin and the Columbia R ...

is nxʷyaʔłpítkʷ (Ne-hoi-al-pit-kwu.

USGS 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, a ...

; ; retrieved May 4, 2007.) Although British officials used this name, Kettle River was in popular use by 1860. The most likely name origin is from the

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. ...

, which early explorers called "La Chaudiére" ("The Boiler"), because of the effervescent water. A possible alternative is the round holes, shaped like cauldrons, which water had hollowed out in the rocks.

Course

From its source at the outlet of Holmes Lake in the

Monashee Mountains The Monashee Mountains are a mountain range lying mostly in British Columbia, Canada, extending into the U.S. state of Washington. They stretch from north to south and from east to west. They are a sub-range of the Columbia Mountains. The highes ...

of British Columbia, the Kettle River flows south to

Midway, British Columbia Midway is in the West Kootenay region of south central British Columbia. The village lies west of Greenwood and east of Osoyoos along Highway 3. Name origin Around 1884, Louis Eholt obtained a preemption that as a popular stopping place for ...

. Along the way it is joined by many tributaries, most notably the

West Kettle River The West Kettle River is a tributary of the Kettle River in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is part of the Columbia River basin, as the Kettle River is a tributary of the Columbia River. Course The West Kettle River originates in St ...

. Below Midway, the river loops south, crossing the Canada–US border into the United States, through

Ferry County, Washington Ferry County is a county located on the northern border of the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,178, making it the fourth-least populous county in Washington. The county seat and largest city is Republic. Th ...

, before flowing north back into Canada, passing by

Grand Forks, British Columbia Grand Forks, population 4,112, is a city in the Boundary Country of the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Granby and Kettle Rivers, a tributary of the Columbia River. The city is just nor ...

, where the Granby River joins. After flowing east for about , the river turns south again, just south of Christina Lake, entering the United States again. It then flows south, forming part of the Ferry- Stevens County line, before joining the Columbia River near

Kettle Falls, Washington Kettle Falls is a city in Stevens County, Washington, United States, named for the nearby Kettle Falls on the Kettle River. The city itself is located on the Colville River immediately upstream from its confluence with the Columbia River. The ...

. The Columbia River at this point is a large reservoir impounded behind

Grand Coulee Dam Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerh ...

, called Lake Roosevelt. The Kettle enters the lake at the Columbia's

river mile A river mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometers is the river kilometer. They are analogous to vehicle roa ...

706. The Kettle River is undammed, making it one of the few rivers with constant flow in the Pacific Northwest.

Natural history

The Kettle River once supported

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

and other

anadromous Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousan ...

fish. The construction of Grand Coulee Dam, along with

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 ...

, blocked fish migration up the Columbia and its upper tributaries, including the Kettle River. In addition, Grand Coulee Dam's reservoir, Lake Roosevelt, flooded traditional fishery sites, including Kettle Falls near the mouth of the Kettle River.

References

{{authority control Boundary Country Rivers of Ferry County, Washington Monashee Mountains Rivers of British Columbia Rivers of Washington (state) Rivers of Stevens County, Washington Tributaries of the Columbia River International rivers of North America

Name

Course

Natural history

See also

References