It would also make easier the reclamation of the Kootenay Flats, an area south of Kootenay Lake, for agricultural purposes—spring freshets once raised the level of the lake by up to 8 metres (26 ft), inundating the lowlands around it. [58] Later vessels, such as the Gwendoline, had mixed success. To the southwest is the Priest River, a Pend Oreille tributary. [12][31] The Ktunaxa are considered quite isolated from other Pacific Northwest and Great Plains tribes. [117], The Columbia Basin is noted for its spring floods, major flood years were 1876, 1894, 1948 and 1964.

In the Kootenai River, they can grow to be larger than 200 pounds. [32] They were semi-nomadic people and inhabited a large area of the Kootenay valley from the headwaters to Kootenay Lake. In the Kootenai River, they can grow to be larger than 200 pounds. The Kootenay continues southeast, receiving the Palliser River from the left, and flows south into a gorge at the confluence with the White River. They are gray in color. The mountains in much of the Kootenay River catchment are composed of Precambrian sedimentary rock of the Belt Supergroup, in turn stratified into several subgroups with slightly different characteristics and ages. 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.

"[41] Of course, wine, beer, rum and other intoxicating drinks were imported in time. As a result, this proposed river diversion was never undertaken. [11], The name "Kootenai" was also used by French Canadians to refer to the Ktunaxa in the 19th century. Class I represents bodies of water that are navigable and suitable for recreation. Over 70 percent of the Kootenay's watershed is in Canada while the Montana and Idaho portions occupy 23 and 6%, respectively. Four run-of-the river hydroelectric dams impound this part of the river. Most of the reasonably level terrain lies in the narrow Kootenay River valley from Bonners Ferry to Kootenay Lake and in parts of the Rocky Mountain Trench from Canal Flats to Lake Koocanusa. The river turns northwest at Troy, and the Yaak River and Moyie River (both originating in BC) join from the north, the latter near Moyie Springs, Idaho. [64], The last ship ever to pass through the canal and one of the last on the Kootenay was the North Star, also piloted by Captain Armstrong. 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". [57] 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 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.

Prior to their discovery by Europeans, they were known as Ksanka, "people of the standing arrow". 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. Construction of the first three of the four dams authorized by the treaty—Mica, Keenleyside and Duncan—was implemented in 1964. [77] The Doukhobor leader was buried in an elaborate tomb on a headland overlooking the city of Brilliant and the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers. One may fish from banks, sandbars and islands, or from boats. MIGRATION: Kootenai River white sturgeon have historically migrated freely in the Kootenai River, but their upstream migration to spawn has been virtually halted by the effects of Libby Dam. [54] By 1889, a smelter had been constructed close to the mouth of the Kootenay, near Revelstoke, to process ore from the mines. They wanted the Native Americans to sign a treaty and move to the reservations. Armstrong was forced to portage the vessel and eventually made it to Golden. 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. [121] Libby Dam, the fourth and last dam built under the treaty, was completed in 1975 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

[135] 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. [16][17], Below Libby Dam the river, now known as the Kootenai, forms the "Big Bend" around the south side of the Purcell Mountains.

[88] 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. Both are tributaries of the South Saskatchewan River, which is part of the Hudson Bay drainage basin. 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 station at Golden, British Columbia. [82] The forested zones extend through the alpine 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. They continue to work to that purpose. [119], 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 25-kilometre (16 mi) long size of Duncan Lake to a reservoir 45 kilometres (28 mi) long. The Ktunaxa (Kootenai) were the first people to live along the Kootenay River. 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.[101]. The U.S.-Canadian border split the people into seven communities. "[30] However, linguistic and other evidence suggests that they are descended from Great Plains tribes that were driven out of their historic territory by the Blackfeet in the 16th century. [48], In 1863, a gold strike at the confluence of the Wild Horse and Kootenay Rivers in the East Kootenay region[49] 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. Several Canadian outfitters provide trips on the river near Kootenay National Park ranging from a few hours to several days. [134] 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. [98], Logging 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. [17][24], The geologic story of the Kootenay is strongly connected to the geology of the Columbia, Selkirk and Rocky Mountains. 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. [150] Larger craft such as houseboats are able to travel on Kootenay and Koocanusa Lakes. At 50,298 square kilometres (19,420 sq mi) in size, the Kootenay river's watershed is one of the largest sub-basins of the Columbia Basin.