The Sheslay River is a

tributary 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 drainage ...

of the

Inklin River The Inklin River (Lingít: ''Héen Tlein'') is a tributary of the Taku River in the northwest part of the province of British Columbia, Canada. It originates at the confluence of its two main tributaries, the Nahlin River and the Sheslay River an ...

in northwest 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 ...

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It joins the

Nahlin River The Nahlin River is a river in far northwestern British Columbia, Canada, flowing northwest to meet the Sheslay River, forming there the commencement of the Inklin River, the main southeast fork of the Taku. The main tributaries of the Nahlin Rive ...

to form the Inklin River, one of the main tributaries of the

Taku River The Taku River (Lingít: ''T'aaḵu Héeni'') is a river running from British Columbia, Canada, to the northwestern coast of North America, at Juneau, Alaska. The river basin spreads across . The Taku is a very productive salmon river and its dra ...

. The lower Sheslay River marks the boundary between the

Taku Plateau The Taku Plateau is a sub-plateau of the Stikine Plateau in the far northwestern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It lies to the south of the Teslin Plateau, part of the Yukon Plateau and to the southeast of the Yukon Plateau's other major s ...

and the

Nahlin Plateau The Nahlin Plateau is a plateau in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, located between the Sheslay River and Tuya River on the west and east and the Nahlin River and the Stikine River to the north and south. It is a subplateau of the Stikine Pl ...

. Its mouth at the Nahlin River marks the junction of the Taku, Nahlin, and

Kawdy Plateau The Kawdy Plateau is a plateau in northern British Columbia, Canada, located between the Nahlin and Tuya Rivers. It includes the granitic Atsutla Range and Nazcha Hills and the volcanic Kawdy Mountain. See also *List of plateaus in British Co ...

s. All three of these are part of the larger

Stikine Plateau The Stikine Plateau is a plateau in northern British Columbia, Canada. It lies between the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains on the west and southwest and the Cassiar Mountains along its northeast, and between the Skeena Mountains on its sout ...

region. The Sheslay River is in the traditional territory of the

Taku River Tlingit First Nation The Taku River Tlingit First Nation are the band government of the Inland Tlingit in far northern British Columbia, Canada and also in Yukon. They comprise two ''ḵwaan'' (tribes) of the Tlingit people, who are otherwise coastal, the ''Áa Tlei ...

, part of the

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

people. The Sheslay River originates in the Cheja Range of the

Boundary Ranges The Boundary Ranges, also known in the singular and as the Alaska Boundary Range, are the largest and most northerly subrange of the Coast Mountains. They begin at the Nass River, near the southern end of the Alaska Panhandle in the Canadian p ...

, close to the headwaters of the

Chutine River The Chutine River, originally named the Clearwater River, is a major right tributary of the Stikine River in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is located west of the Stikine Icecap and just inside the boundary between Alaska and British C ...

and the

Stikine Icecap The Stikine Icecap (sometimes referred to as the Stikine Icefield) is a large icefield straddled on the Alaska–British Columbia boundary in the Alaska Panhandle region. It lies in the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. Within the Unite ...

. It flows generally north about Length measured using Google Maps path tool, BCGNIS coordinates, topographic maps, an
TopoQuest
to join the

. The confluence of the Sheslay and Nahlin Rivers marks the beginning of the Inklin River. The mouth of the Sheslay River is located about northeast of

Juneau, Alaska The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

and about northwest of

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

, British Columbia. The Sheslay River's watershed covers , and its mean annual discharge is . Major tributaries of the Sheslay River include Shearer Creek, Moosehorn Creek, Hackett River and Egnell Creek, Samotua River, and Tatsatua Creek. The middle Sheslay River, above the Samotua River, lies between the Chechidla Range and

Level Mountain Level Mountain is a large volcanic complex in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located north-northwest of Telegraph Creek and west of Dease Lake on the Nahlin Plateau. With a maximum elevation of , it is the second-hig ...

. The small settlement of Sheslay is located at the confluence of the Sheslay and Hackett Rivers. The lower Sheslay River, below the mouth of the Samotua River, flows just south and west of

Heart Peaks Heart Peaks, originally known as the Heart Mountains, is a mountain massif in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is northwest of the small community of Telegraph Creek and just southwest of Callison Ranch. With a maximum elev ...

, part of the

. The lowermost Sheslay River flows between the Taku and Nahlin Plateaus. Its confluence with the Nahlin River forms the Inklin River. The Sheslay River supports a number

salmonids Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish that constitutes the only currently extant family in the order Salmoniformes . It includes salmon (both Atlantic and Pacific species), trout (both ocean-going and landlocked), chars, freshwater whit ...

, including

Chinook salmon The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon in North America, as well as the largest in the genus ''Oncorhynchus''. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other ve ...

coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family (biology), family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientif ...

sockeye salmon The sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''), also called red salmon, kokanee salmon, blueback salmon, or simply sockeye, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it. This species is a P ...

steelhead trout Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and N ...

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 coasta ...

lake trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can also ...

Dolly Varden trout The Dolly Varden trout (''Salvelinus malma'') is a species of salmonid fish native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. It belongs to the genus '' Salvelinus'', or true chars, which includes 51 recognized ...

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 specie ...

, and

round whitefish The round whitefish (''Prosopium cylindraceum'') is a freshwater species of fish that is found in lakes from Alaska to New England, including the Great Lakes. It has an olive-brown back with light silvery sides and underside and its length is ge ...

. It also supports populations of

coastrange sculpin The Coastrange sculpin (''Cottus aleuticus'') is a freshwater sculpin of the genus '' Cottus''. They are commonly found near the ocean in western North America, namely Canada and the United States. It is also known as the Aleutian sculpin. Tax ...

and

slimy sculpin The slimy sculpin (''Cottus cognatus'') is a freshwater species of fish belonging to the family Cottidae, which is the largest sculpin family. They usually inhabit cold rocky streams or lakes across North America, ranging from the Great Lakes, so ...

References

External links

* * {{cite web , url= https://trtfn.com , title= Taku River Tlingit First Nation , publisher= Taku River Tlingit First Nation Atlin District Cassiar Country Rivers of British Columbia Rivers of the Boundary Ranges Taku Plateau Tlingit