Now try following the Kootenay River .... it starts some two hundred miles north of the US/Canada border and flows just two miles south of Columbia Lake (Columbia river's head) down to Montana and west through Idaho north again into British Columbia and turns west to Castlegar, BC and joins the Columbia River. Then there's the Fraser River ! .....
I have been to that place where the Kootenay River starts...a bowl on the west side of the Wechemka Pas in Banff National Park...a wee stream coming from a glacier...it's quite the hike ..but beautiful scenery...try it if you can get there
@@tomthebomb557 It was back in the summer of 1992 we crossed the Kootenay at Cranbrook, BC by the Crowsnest Pass then again at Creston and again at Castlegar and the Columbia, then the Fraser in Hope BC. on our way to Hongcouver. On our way back by the US we again crossed the Columbia at Vantage WA. I've done many road trips but this was the best 5 weeks on the road and to think .... that was 32 years ago ! Cheers.
British Columbia was named by Queen Victoria for the "British" section of the Columbia River, although the river was named for the ship of John Jacob Astor who established Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Great River, the term "Columbia" has its origins from Christopher Columbus who was the first European to discover the Western Hemisphere in the Renaissance Period in 1492, although Vikings had a small settlement in Newfoundland and a large one in Greenland in the Middle Ages, proven by archaeology. National Geographic Magazine did a memorable article many decades ago establishing the island in the Caribbean where Columbus is thought to have landed based on available evidence.
Also the thumbnail of this video shows the Valley of the Town of Banff in Banff National Park, typical of the entire region talked about in this video but also just outside the boundaries of the Columbia River watershed as it is just east of the height of land that separates the Columbia from the Saskatchewan River and its tributaries flowing east, that height of land is also the border between Alberta and British Columbia Provinces.
Back in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic I had a career as a teacher, technologist, and marketing specialist (with a musicians background) who ended up in corporate. Yet this gave me the opportunity to write a class about property in Washington State and I was totally enamored by David Thompson as I did my research. I knew so little about him and not dissing Lewis & Clark, Thompson did so much that was so consequential to our PNW history. The fact that he did find the headwaters to the Columbia and explored it all the way to Astoria and created trading relationships along the way is truly amazing. Great episode and thank you for this story!
Was Thompson Creek, Manitoba named after David Thompson?
Месяц назад+1
@leechjim8023 I don’t think so. If northern Manitoba, it was named after Dr John F Thompson, and so was the town. The Thompson River In British Columbia was named after David Thompson.
Thompson had mapped the upper Missouri river, that Lewis & Clark used to start their expedition. That map is in the Thomas Jefferson collection in the Continental Library.
Correct ! And curiously, its source is just a few miles / kilometers from the headwaters of the SECOND largest river that drains into the Pacific Ocean from North America, the Fraser River in British Columbia (BC), which starts near the Alberta-BC border which is also the continental divide, the height of land separating watersheds.
The highest point of the Columbia is the Cowlitz glacier on Mt. Rainier. The highest mountain peak in the drainage is...wait for it...Mt. Columbia in BC/Alberta
I will walk my last comment back with apologies. The highest point in the drainage is Mt. Ranier. I forgot and looked it up. While the Cowlitz glacier originates below the summit of Mt. Ranier it is a tributary of the Ingraham glacier which originates at the summit. Sorry.
Fun fact….lewis and Clark used one of Thompson’s maps that Thomas Jefferson had got his hands on , Thompson possibly the greatest explorer and map maker ever to explore the continent.
Can't imagine having the fortitude to canoe from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta to Montreal in 9 months like Thompson did.. something like under 4,000 km...People were of a different cut back then.
@@tomthebomb557 Just this past summer a marathon swimmer from the UK swam nonstop for two and a half days down 510km of the Yukon River. If anything, people have become more formidable since Thompson's time.
In the fall of 2023, I paddled Columbia Lake, at Canal Flats, and would have loved to paddle more! 30 day later, I drove along the Columbia, on my way to the west coast, USA, on the way to California. And on the way back, beautiful!
One does not realize how mighty the Columbia is until you see closer to its outlet. That being said the river itself is wholly incredible. The turbines for the Revelstoke Dam were barged all the way up at high water until around Castlegar when the barges and tugs needed more depth. The Keenlyside Dam released more to facilitate this then the turbines went through the locks to Revelstoke. An amazing body of water. We may see this happen again when the last turbine is installed.
@@Bobcagon The Columbia River Bar is called the Graveyard of the Pacific for a reason. Some people figure around 2000 ships have sunk there since 1792.
I live within 2 km of the start of the river out of Columbia Lake, but south of me where the Kootenay river passes going south there is a mountain with a face of Rain in the mountain face, I cannot paste a photo of Rain but she still overlooks our Great Columbia River Valley,
Some accuracy issues in this video for sure... It's south east BC... And at 1:11 the map showing Calgary... That's the location of Banff.. Calgary is definitely East of that!
B.C. boy here. Source of the Columbia is much further north than indicated in this video. The Canoe river in Valemount B.C. runs into the Columbia, eventually. The video mentions Cartographer and explorer David Thompson, and he definitely deserves credit. Most Americans don't know much about the great Alexander MacKenzie, who was the first to cross the north American continent in 1793, Many years before Lewis and Clarke and farther North, even north of the Columbia. These journeys were during the 'Little Ice Age' a time that was a lot cooler than today.
It isn't determined by how far north it is. Or how far south. The Canoe river flows from South to North, mostly. It's the source of the mighty Columbia because I deem it to be! I have been on Canoe Mountain, Canoe river, I live not far away. Never been to Portland. Don't want to. Socialist hellhole. 😁
I canoed Revelstoke Lake from the Mica Dam to the Revelstoke Dam in 2023. That is the Columbia river, it's where the river starts to head south. It's where David Thompson found the famous "Dalles Des Morts" or death rapids. Now it's just a big 130 kilometer long and narrow flat water reservoir lying between two of the 3 largest dams in BC. When I was there, there was a lady in front of me that had already canoed the lake before the Mica Dam, Kinbasket Lake, and she was planning on paddling the Columbia river all the way to Oregon. Which is crazy! It was a cool trip, but later on the same trip I canoed some more of the Columbia River between Invermere and Radium Hot Springs. Then after that I stumbled across the source of the Columbia River trail in Canal Flats BC, and walked right to where the water bubles out of the ground south of Columbia Lake. I had a bit of an emotional moment there, and I've had Columbia River fever ever since. One day I want to paddle it's entire length, from Canal Flats BC to Astoria Oregon. We'll see what happens though.
19 дней назад+3
In 1966 an American Senator named Henry ( Scoop ) Jackson from the state of Idaho was asked about what the solution to a water shortage in the western US would be. His reply was this: Well, we’ll just have to get water from Canada. When asked what would happen if Canada was resistant to diverting water to the US he said: well, we’ll just have to take it. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about how Americans feel about us. We’re here for their use and convenience and that’s all.
Former Castlegar guy, (North end of town, across the street from Kinsman Park, a block from the riverbank), here. Now in the Willamette Valley, between the forks of the North and South Santiam River, a tributary of the Willamette River, which in turn is a tributary of the Columbia. So, I'm never far from my "home-waters" after all...
Early Fall 1962, a friend & I chose to drive Canada's "Big Bend Highway" that parallels the Columbia River from its very humble beginnings...from glaciers to...basically in a swamp...all the way to Portland. We stood on a "signed" boardwalk in the swamp where we saw the water SLOWLY separate from us...with slow-but-distinct movements ...to the left [North]...and to the right [South - the ATHABASCA ]...then followed the Columbia's flow NORTH...even observing early construction stages of the PEACE RIVER DAM...at the northern "Big Bend" of the Columbia [east-to-west]...w/ side trips to Banff/Lake Louise...and other "sights/sites" between here [close to Portland] and there. There are so many [slowly melting] ice/snow fields in SE Alberta to keep the Columbia River flowing...and WELL,TOO...for MILLENIA! Dr. RM Kaufman/NW Oregon/US.
There is no "Peace River dam". The WAC Bennett dam on the Peace River is one of 3 major dams on that system, but they are miles away from the Columbia and drain to the Arctic Ocean. There is, however, the Mica Dam on the Columbia, north of Revelstoke and near the apex of the Big Bend.
The dam on the Columbia you're referring to is probably the Mica dam, which formed Kinbasket lake. This lake has now submerged most of the old Big Bend highway. A second dam was added downstream of the Mica dam years later, which I believe is called the Revelstoke dam.
That would have been an amazing trip ! I have explored that district by vehicle although most of the original Big Bend Highway was submerged by the Mica Dam built in the late 60's as part of the Columbia River Treaty with the USA for flood control, irrigation and power generation. There are very remote forestry roads for the very adventurous in the district and a new paved road to the dam from the town of Revelstoke, also there are some videos on YT of the Mica Dam and the Keenleyside Dam near the USA border being built, the latter very controversial as many homesteads were submerged and the shoreline of the narrow 200 mile long Arrow Lakes RUINED, a lovely long lake set among mountains low and high on the western fringes of the aptly named Columbia Mountains in eastern British Columbia, better known by their sub-ranges the Purcell, Selkirk, Monashee, and Cariboo Ranges.
At the south end of Columbia Lake there's a town called Canal Flats through which the Kootenay River flows south. It meanders across the US Canada border and joins the Columbia in Castlegar BC after flowing through Columbia Lake. I find it really interesting that at Canal Flats you could put in a canoe and head north or south and still end up in the same place. The two bodies of water (Columbia Lake and the Kootenay River) are separated by less than 3km.
Yes, I find that pretty remarkable. Was it always that way or was there a landslide in the geological history that separated the Kootenay River from Columbia Lake?
@@svenhodaka9145 My understanding is that the whole valley used to drain southward but the receding glaciers left a berm at Canal Flats which blocked the southward drainage.
There is a natural erosion event called "stream borrowing" that comes into play in regards to the marshes that feed Columbia Lake and the Kootenay River immediately south of Canal Flats. Right now, the marshes are at a very slightly higher elevation than the river just south of it, but the river is eroding it's northern banks just south of the marsh, across the land bridge Canal Flats is built on. Eventually (not within our lifetimes), the river will erode it's northern banks far enough north to reach the southern edges of the marsh and when that happens, the marsh will no longer drain into Columbia Lake but will drain instead into the Kootenay River. Over time, this will reverse the drainage of Columbia Lake into the Columbia River and instead Columbia Lake will drain into the Kootenay River. This type of stream borrowing has happened along both the Columbia and Kootenay Rivers in the past, as well as thousands of other watershed systems all over the world. Another great example of stream borrowing can be found along the Skagit River in the North Cascades, along Hwy 2 where it crosses both Rainy Pass and then Washington Pass. Rainy Pass was at one time the higher of the two passes, with drainage on it's west side flowing directly into Puget Sound and drainage on it's east side draining into the Columbia River and hence to the Pacific Ocean. Now, due to stream borrowing, Washington Pass is the higher pass and points west drain to Puget Sound, while points east drain to the Columbia.
I was involved w/ sports car racing...first as a spectator...in the early 60's...then racing my own...highly-modified '63 VW Beetle during the Racing Season of 1965...and this included a track...WESTWOOD [no longer there!]...about 25 miles east of Vancouver...including a 5-hour ENDURO at the end of the season. My VW was so well prepared, it ran PERFECTLY during the entire season. HOWEVER...included in my multiple trips to British Columbia I have managed three trips to Lake Louise/Banff...and Calgary...even managing to come into Dawson Creek...from the north...and Peace River! And my then-bride and I were in a brand new VW Fastback...LOVED that car! Dr. Rick Kaufman/NW Oregon/USA
Hey! I just turned 85! My memory is les-than-perfect at times! The Peace River Dam was visited on a separate trip....my honeymoon...June '66...Both trips very memorable! Lake Chelan was in that trip! Dr. RM Kaufman :-)
Yes, the Peace dam is in northwestern BC on the Peace river and forms Williston Lake. The Peace flows into Alberta and eventually becomes part of the MacKenzie river, which flows northward into the Arctic ocean.
You can be easily forgiven. Thanks for posting that once-in-a-lifetime adventure. It was remote territory back then, and still is among the wildest in southern Canada, along with the Coast Cascade Mountains between the USA border and the Alaskan border.
Jack & I camper along the "Big Bend Highway" on that trip...in an OLD umbrella tent. For our first night we could find no flat area suitable for the tent...so we chose a section of old timbers that had made up a bridge across a side stream. My left elbow was poking against the outside tent wall...and something [a critter] bumped against me before I fell asleep...and...whatever it was..."shuffled off" into the night. In the AM I checked on the outside of the tent...and learned that the "critter" had been a SKUNK [!]...but it had NOT "fired" at us! WHEW! AND...'tho we were in "Grizzly country", we had no further "incidences" w/ wild animals! This was in early September...1963....the DAM had NOT been completed yet...have not been back since...but HAVE visited it "on-line" since...NOW...at age 85+... it's just "memories"! :-)
If you look at the size of the entire Columbia River Basin, all the rivers that flow into it, it covers a huge area, and the Snake River contributes a very large volume... Headwaters is just a reference...
It's not Columbia Lake. It's the short little [but longest] creeklet that leads INTO the lake's south end - there's a labelled trailhead that leads out to the Source from a parking lot just north of Canal Flats. And it's not really wilderness...
I vanlifed at the trailhead 2 year in a row. I was driving through the area and I saw the source of the Columbia trail on Google maps. It was awesome, just a little trail in a small town that happens to be the start of one of the important rivers in North America. Pretty wild.
My uncle Ken got his start with modern construction equipment building the Big Bend highway around the hairpin. Later went on to build the Trans Canada across the Rockies and design the Columbia Parkway.
Do you mean the famous Icefields Parkway road that connects Banff and Jasper National Parks just east of the Great Divide and BC-Alberta boundary that separates the Columbia River watershed from the eastward flowing Saskatchewan River watershed ?
Columbia Lake in the Kootenays of British Columbia is the source . In the Rocky Mountain Trench. Been there . River flows north from the lake before turning south. I think the Mica Dam which forms Kinbasket Lake is on the bend in the river . Next dam is Revestoke Dam . Maybe one more in BC before it flows into WA.
Thompson, who you mention, has his name attached to the North Thompson River, South Thompson River, and the Thompson River (formed by joining of the North and South rivers at Kamloops, British Columbia. And Kamloops is located in the district of Thompson-Nicola.
Not a word mentioned of the 2 communities surrounding Columbia Lake, Canal Flats on the southern shores and Fairmont on the Northern shores, the creek (aka Columbia River) goes right through the golf coarse in Fairmont
Yes indeed that's where I live ... near the beginning of the river where it passes going north to Golden and then goes on the other side of the Purcells
Fun fact: The Kootenay River, whose confluence with the Columbia is at Castlegar, BC -- also mapped by David Thompson, was originally named, "McGillivray's River" to honor Thompsons boss in the Hudson Bay Company.
The original Trans-Canada highway snaked alongside the Columbia River up to Big Bend, heading north and then around and south again. You can still see remnants of the old paved thoroughfare north of Revelstoke (all the way to Big Bend) and separately, a few kms north of Golden, BC, though one can no longer trace the old route in its entirety by car.
Wow!!! Could there still have been some ancient wooly mammoths alive back then??!! What an amazing thought! I’m so sorry they aren’t around now. Fascinating
I once spent the night camping at Columbia Lake and had no idea at the time that it was the source of the mighty river! (I found out after I left, sadly). Had I known it was the source, I might have stayed there a little longer!
Interesting,thank you. However i was really hoping you were going to actually start the presentation at the head waters and make your way along with various stops at towns, sites and dams to give us the run down of where this amazing river passed through to get to the ocean. Maybe someday that could be another video or two. Thanks again.
CANADA........... the still great unexplored and unknown region on the map to most Americans ! Maybe that is a good thing, they won't covet it as much......... especially them Dixie Boys !
NO, you are wrong. Banff and Jasper National Parks lie EAST of the height of land that separates the Pacific and Atlantic watersheds, called the Great Divide or continental divide, it is also the provincial boundary between southern British Columbia (BC) and southern Alberta provinces, and follows the high mountains of the Canadian Rockies. HOWEVER, the nearby smaller National Parks of Yoho and Kootenay, no less scenic, lie west of the Divide in BC and do form part of the Columbia River headwaters.
The main body of the icefield lies between 9000 - 11000 feet altitude and is not visible from the highway. It is still intact although the many outlet glaciers.at 5000 - 7500 feet altitude are receding rapidly as you have observed. Along with the nearby Clemenceau and Chaba Icefields which are not visible from the main highway (route 93) its total area is about 200 sq miles, the largest glacier system in the Rocky Mountains but tiny compared to icefields along the Alaska-Yukon-British Columbia border, or in the Denali-Wrangell region of Alaska.
The real question is - Where is that big valve that Trump was talking about? You know, that magic one that he just has to turn and water will flow from Canada, over the mountains and into California?
"Deep Northwest interior of British Columbia" the area known as South Eastern BC...Check out a map if you don't believe me. by this measure, Portland Or would be considered the deep south.
You have to forgive many Americans. For many of them the whole world starts and ends within USA borders, and the world beyond is irrelevant to many of them, unless it is one of their (and often our) enemies like North Korea, Iran, Russia or China. But remember there are 350 M people in the USA and we don't want to be inundated with visitors in Canada........ or annexed against our will. At present the famous Mountain Parks of Canada's Rockies are experiencing visitor overload due to people seeing photos of them on the internet worldwide.
I was surprised at the portion of water from Canada (30-40%). I think the Canadian land area is far less than that amount, although i stand to be corrected. Different rainfall regimes.
MASSIVE snowpack in the mountains surrounding the Canadian section, snow is often 25 feet deep on average on the ground after it packs, total falls can be 50 feet or more. Go to google maps satellite photos, taken in summer.
Its interesting this host turned the end of this clip into an environmental dooms day proclamation, YET didnt even mention the true souce of the Columbia River is actually the Kootenay River - the Kootenay turns south at the town of Canal Flats and flows through an underground gravel bar and bubbles up at the south end of the Columbia Lake. I have a house in Canal Flats and regularly hike the "Source of the Columbia Trail". The towns water supply is pumped straight out of the ground to the south of my property - the towns head of Utilities assured me we are never running out of water based on what the Kooteney flows.
Hmm. If by "start" you are strictly referring to where does the named water flow start, then yes, it is Columbia Lake. But there are bodies of water that flow into Columbia Lake. The longest of these is Dutch Creek, and therefore the headwaters of Columbia Lake is the headwaters of Dutch Creek, high in the Purcell Mountains. But the same definition applies to entire river systems: where is the headwaters of the longest tributary? In the case of the Columbia River, this is the headwaters of the Snake River, in Wyoming.
Despite its danger everyone who can should travel to the Athabasca Glacier while they can before it's gone forever. You can also see climate change in action as to where it used to cover vs where it now covers. It's astonishing how fast its retreated in just over 100 years...
Thank you for honoring Marilyn and the Sinixt She is the matriarch and has been the protector on the land for so long She has fought for water/caribou/ old growth for her whole life She repatriated her ancestors protected the graves and taught the children her culture and fought against the literal extinction of her people I'm honored to call her friend and elder Powerful and outspoken She has seldom got the respect for the work she does Lim limpt
Deep in BC’s Northwest? The Columbia actually starts in BC’s Southeast. BC is not part of the USA. We don’t call our coast the Pacific Northwest like Americans call Washington and Oregon -that’s because for us here in BC, the coast is the SOUTHWEST. By agreement after Britain ended the War of 1812 by occupying and torching the Capitol in DC in 1814 , the Oregon Territory was jointly administered between the Hudson Bay Company under British Charter and the US federal government. The southern boundary of this join administrative territory-the Oregon Territory- was the Columbia River, at the mouth of which was HBC’s Fort Vancouver. When it became apparent that American citiznes were rapidly settling the Willamette Valley, and disputes between indigenous and whites were becoming too much for HBC to put up with-it was primarily a fir-trading company, after all, not a police force-UK and USA agreed on the 49th parallel (with UK retaining all of Vancouver Island, which projects considerably south of the 49th, and about half of the Gulf Islands in the Salish Sea and Juan de Fuca Strait -then called the Gulf of Georgia, even though actually a strait). Many people wonder why it’s called “British Columbia.” That’s because, after the new border was agreed on, it was the upper reaches of the Columbia River, north of the 49th, which Britain retained. The southern reach which the USA acquired might just as well have been called “American Columbia.” However, Americans’ penchant for smaller states-much smaller than Canadian provinces-, what might have otherwise been called “American Columbia” was divided into Washington and Oregon states. Remember, in Canada and in BC, we don’t call it the “Pacific Northwest” because it’s actually our Pacific Southwest.
Fun Fact: David Thompson was also the cartographer who mapped the 49th Parallel, in order to establish the international boundary; he was supposed to work alongside a US designated cartographer, but that fellow's work was so shoddy, the map commission ignored his efforts, and both sides (Britain and US) agreed to employ, and trust, Thompsons maps. His modern nickname is the "god-fearing GPS." Thompsons maps are still so accurate that until satellite mapping of the late 20th century, they were used by government maps nearly everywhere he worked, and when compared to the satellite photo overlays, they are sometimes within feet of the modern photos.
@martinsweeney4563 All the Rivers on the Westcoast of Canada and the United States have to be protected, my kids love Salmon and Trout fishing, i don't know if yourself or children enjoy the outdoors as much as mine do
Check the history of "Myths" before they are presented as" true Myths". Coyotes were not present west of the Rockies until after the 1880's when the Railroad Industry built a path for the Coyote to follow west. There for the Sinixt Nation would not of had this story as an Origin Myth of the Columbia River.
Good story except for the climate change fear. The glaciers are going to be just fine as they go through cycles of retreating and expanding. No need to panic every time the cycles change. The weather cycles affect the rivers also with some decades of high precipitation and some lower. Witness Powell Lake and Mead lake on the Colorado. Witness the largest dam in the US, the Oroville dam and lake. The Oroville lake went through some drought years where it was perilously low then in two years it completely filled up again to overflow the dam down the spillways. Everything cycles, good years and not so good years.
Polite disagreement; only about 40% of the Columbia flow is contributed by the Pend Oreille and its' many tributaries. The Snake River contributes less than 20%.
@@lpeterman I understand the Pend Oreille inflow is greater than that from BC. This coming from my associate living at the headwaters in Idaho. At 60/40 it probably depends on who needs more electricity at the moment.
Absolutely ABSURD. One look at the Pend Oreille and it is obvious it is a fraction of the flow of the Columbia, obvious even on a map, provable in person.
Nice discussion. Of course where a river 'starts' is just as arbitrary as its naming. The Columbia also starts as the Salmon in Idaho, or the Owyhee also in Oregon, or the Snake, also in Wyoming, or the McKenzie in Oregon ...
No it does not. You clearly do not understand the definition of 'headwaters'. head·wa·ter /ˈhedˌwôdər,ˈhedˌwädər/ noun plural noun: headwaters a tributary stream of a river close to or forming part of its source. "these paths follow rivers right up into their headwaters" The American education system is an abject failure.
@@blackberrythorns There's an arbitrary distinction between headwater and tributary. Kind of like tracing word etymologies. The first one to "document" wins the truth prize.
Now try following the Kootenay River .... it starts some two hundred miles north of the US/Canada border and flows just two miles south of Columbia Lake (Columbia river's head) down to Montana and west through Idaho north again into British Columbia and turns west to Castlegar, BC and joins the Columbia River. Then there's the Fraser River ! .....
I have been to that place where the Kootenay River starts...a bowl on the west side of the Wechemka Pas in Banff National Park...a wee stream coming from a glacier...it's quite the hike ..but beautiful scenery...try it if you can get there
@@tomthebomb557 It was back in the summer of 1992 we crossed the Kootenay at Cranbrook, BC by the Crowsnest Pass then again at Creston and again at Castlegar and the Columbia, then the Fraser in Hope BC. on our way to Hongcouver. On our way back by the US we again crossed the Columbia at Vantage WA. I've done many road trips but this was the best 5 weeks on the road and to think .... that was 32 years ago ! Cheers.
I think I read that technically speaking, the Kootenay is a tributary of the Vermilion.
I thought everyone knew that, but then again I grew up in British Columbia and worked in the tourism industry for several years.
British Columbia was named by Queen Victoria for the "British" section of the Columbia River, although the river was named for the ship of John Jacob Astor who established Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Great River, the term "Columbia" has its origins from Christopher Columbus who was the first European to discover the Western Hemisphere in the Renaissance Period in 1492, although Vikings had a small settlement in Newfoundland and a large one in Greenland in the Middle Ages, proven by archaeology. National Geographic Magazine did a memorable article many decades ago establishing the island in the Caribbean where Columbus is thought to have landed based on available evidence.
Also the thumbnail of this video shows the Valley of the Town of Banff in Banff National Park, typical of the entire region talked about in this video but also just outside the boundaries of the Columbia River watershed as it is just east of the height of land that separates the Columbia from the Saskatchewan River and its tributaries flowing east, that height of land is also the border between Alberta and British Columbia Provinces.
Same… I’m in the Kootenay’s… it’s right here!!
I grew up in Oregon and I knew that.
I thought the video was joke ? But I’m also in BC
Back in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic I had a career as a teacher, technologist, and marketing specialist (with a musicians background) who ended up in corporate. Yet this gave me the opportunity to write a class about property in Washington State and I was totally enamored by David Thompson as I did my research. I knew so little about him and not dissing Lewis & Clark, Thompson did so much that was so consequential to our PNW history. The fact that he did find the headwaters to the Columbia and explored it all the way to Astoria and created trading relationships along the way is truly amazing. Great episode and thank you for this story!
So glad you enjoyed it!
The indigenous people called David "Koo-Koo-sint" or " the Stargazer"
Was Thompson Creek, Manitoba named after David Thompson?
@leechjim8023 I don’t think so. If northern Manitoba, it was named after Dr John F Thompson, and so was the town. The Thompson River In British Columbia was named after David Thompson.
Thompson had mapped the upper Missouri river, that Lewis & Clark used to start their expedition. That map is in the Thomas Jefferson collection in the Continental Library.
The northernmost tributary of the Columbia is the Canoe River near Valemount BC
Correct ! And curiously, its source is just a few miles / kilometers from the headwaters of the SECOND largest river that drains into the Pacific Ocean from North America, the Fraser River in British Columbia (BC), which starts near the Alberta-BC border which is also the continental divide, the height of land separating watersheds.
The highest point of the Columbia is the Cowlitz glacier on Mt. Rainier. The highest mountain peak in the drainage is...wait for it...Mt. Columbia in BC/Alberta
I will walk my last comment back with apologies. The highest point in the drainage is Mt. Ranier. I forgot and looked it up. While the Cowlitz glacier originates below the summit of Mt. Ranier it is a tributary of the Ingraham glacier which originates at the summit. Sorry.
@@brendawright5899 well, one could take it further then, and say the clouds are the head.
@@brendawright5899yes. Backcountry skiers do ski ascents of it approaching it via Columbia Icefield and the Icefield Parkway.
Fun fact….lewis and Clark used one of Thompson’s maps that Thomas Jefferson had got his hands on , Thompson possibly the greatest explorer and map maker ever to explore the continent.
Hear, hear! Thompson has been overlooked as a Cartographer extraordinaire; nicknamed a "god-fearing GPS" in modern times.
Can't imagine having the fortitude to canoe from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta to Montreal in 9 months like Thompson did.. something like under 4,000 km...People were of a different cut back then.
@@tomthebomb557 Just this past summer a marathon swimmer from the UK swam nonstop for two and a half days down 510km of the Yukon River. If anything, people have become more formidable since Thompson's time.
In the fall of 2023, I paddled Columbia Lake, at Canal Flats, and would have loved to paddle more!
30 day later, I drove along the Columbia, on my way to the west coast, USA, on the way to California.
And on the way back, beautiful!
One does not realize how mighty the Columbia is until you see closer to its outlet. That being said the river itself is wholly incredible. The turbines for the Revelstoke Dam were barged all the way up at high water until around Castlegar when the barges and tugs needed more depth. The Keenlyside Dam released more to facilitate this then the turbines went through the locks to Revelstoke. An amazing body of water. We may see this happen again when the last turbine is installed.
@@Bobcagon
The Columbia River Bar is called the Graveyard of the Pacific for a reason.
Some people figure around 2000 ships have sunk there since 1792.
I agree. Watching that river flow into the Pacific is utterly awesome.
I live within 2 km of the start of the river out of Columbia Lake, but south of me where the Kootenay river passes going south there is a mountain with a face of Rain in the mountain face, I cannot paste a photo of Rain but she still overlooks our Great Columbia River Valley,
I visit the area regularly and wish to view this mountain? Can you give me a clue how to find it?
It is not the deep North West of Eastern BC; it is the South East of BC. Surely one would know this ?
He does mention the northwest of the interior of BC, speaking of the region in BC. Definitely a complicated way of describing it and confusing.
Some accuracy issues in this video for sure... It's south east BC... And at 1:11 the map showing Calgary... That's the location of Banff.. Calgary is definitely East of that!
B.C. boy here. Source of the Columbia is much further north than indicated in this video. The Canoe river in Valemount B.C. runs into the Columbia, eventually. The video mentions Cartographer and explorer David Thompson, and he definitely deserves credit. Most Americans don't know much about the great Alexander MacKenzie, who was the first to cross the north American continent in 1793, Many years before Lewis and Clarke and farther North, even north of the Columbia. These journeys were during the 'Little Ice Age' a time that was a lot cooler than today.
Why is the Canoe the source of the Columbia if the so-called Columbia River begins much farther (by distance) upstream of Kinbasket?
@shawnfriesen1498
The Conoe River flows into the northern end of Kinbasket.
@@peterhessels2903 Right but the source of a river isn't defined by how far north it is
It isn't determined by how far north it is. Or how far south. The Canoe river flows from South to North, mostly.
It's the source of the mighty Columbia because I deem it to be!
I have been on Canoe Mountain, Canoe river, I live not far away. Never been to Portland. Don't want to. Socialist hellhole. 😁
The Columbia starts south of Invermere BC at Columbia lake and near Canal Flats. I lived in Golden BC, 90 minutes from Invermere.
I canoed Revelstoke Lake from the Mica Dam to the Revelstoke Dam in 2023. That is the Columbia river, it's where the river starts to head south. It's where David Thompson found the famous "Dalles Des Morts" or death rapids. Now it's just a big 130 kilometer long and narrow flat water reservoir lying between two of the 3 largest dams in BC. When I was there, there was a lady in front of me that had already canoed the lake before the Mica Dam, Kinbasket Lake, and she was planning on paddling the Columbia river all the way to Oregon. Which is crazy! It was a cool trip, but later on the same trip I canoed some more of the Columbia River between Invermere and Radium Hot Springs. Then after that I stumbled across the source of the Columbia River trail in Canal Flats BC, and walked right to where the water bubles out of the ground south of Columbia Lake. I had a bit of an emotional moment there, and I've had Columbia River fever ever since. One day I want to paddle it's entire length, from Canal Flats BC to Astoria Oregon. We'll see what happens though.
In 1966 an American Senator named Henry ( Scoop ) Jackson from the state of Idaho was asked about what the solution to a water shortage in the western US would be. His reply was this: Well, we’ll just have to get water from Canada. When asked what would happen if Canada was resistant to diverting water to the US he said: well, we’ll just have to take it. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about how Americans feel about us. We’re here for their use and convenience and that’s all.
I'm in Trail BC here it passes right through town.
That’s funny! I’m in Castlegar, BC! 😁
…the confluence of the Kootenay River and Columbia River
@@Butterflies-are-free It's a small world eh?
Former Castlegar guy, (North end of town, across the street from Kinsman Park, a block from the riverbank), here.
Now in the Willamette Valley, between the forks of the North and South Santiam River, a tributary of the Willamette River, which in turn is a tributary of the Columbia.
So, I'm never far from my "home-waters" after all...
@@lpeterman That's cool to still be connected to the big river!
@@JohnPalmer-hf5fz I'm just a two-month paddle and portage trip up the River to get home!
David Thompson was in that region 2 decades before the yank explorer's showed up, infact they used one of his trails to head West.
Hello actually I believe Columbia Lake is in the South East corner of BC. Not the north west.
Yeah, I thought that line was kinda awkward, too.
Starts at Columbia lake in the East Kootebays in BC
And only mere kilometers from the kootenay river... at the same elevation.
SPELLED Kootenay or Kootenai.......... after the K'tunaxa Indigenous People of the region.
Early Fall 1962, a friend & I chose to drive Canada's "Big Bend Highway" that parallels the Columbia River from its very humble beginnings...from glaciers to...basically in a swamp...all the way to Portland. We stood on a "signed" boardwalk in the swamp where we saw the water SLOWLY separate from us...with slow-but-distinct movements ...to the left [North]...and to the right [South - the ATHABASCA ]...then followed the Columbia's flow NORTH...even observing early construction stages of the PEACE RIVER DAM...at the northern "Big Bend" of the Columbia [east-to-west]...w/ side trips to Banff/Lake Louise...and other "sights/sites" between here [close to Portland] and there. There are so many [slowly melting] ice/snow fields in SE Alberta to keep the Columbia River flowing...and WELL,TOO...for MILLENIA! Dr. RM Kaufman/NW Oregon/US.
There is no "Peace River dam". The WAC Bennett dam on the Peace River is one of 3 major dams on that system, but they are miles away from the Columbia and drain to the Arctic Ocean. There is, however, the Mica Dam on the Columbia, north of Revelstoke and near the apex of the Big Bend.
The dam on the Columbia you're referring to is probably the Mica dam, which formed Kinbasket lake. This lake has now submerged most of the old Big Bend highway. A second dam was added downstream of the Mica dam years later, which I believe is called the Revelstoke dam.
That would have been an amazing trip ! I have explored that district by vehicle although most of the original Big Bend Highway was submerged by the Mica Dam built in the late 60's as part of the Columbia River Treaty with the USA for flood control, irrigation and power generation. There are very remote forestry roads for the very adventurous in the district and a new paved road to the dam from the town of Revelstoke, also there are some videos on YT of the Mica Dam and the Keenleyside Dam near the USA border being built, the latter very controversial as many homesteads were submerged and the shoreline of the narrow 200 mile long Arrow Lakes RUINED, a lovely long lake set among mountains low and high on the western fringes of the aptly named Columbia Mountains in eastern British Columbia, better known by their sub-ranges the Purcell, Selkirk, Monashee, and Cariboo Ranges.
I didn't even know Bob Ross had a little brother who did geographical documentaries on PBS.
He looks like a mall Santa
At the south end of Columbia Lake there's a town called Canal Flats through which the Kootenay River flows south. It meanders across the US Canada border and joins the Columbia in Castlegar BC after flowing through Columbia Lake. I find it really interesting that at Canal Flats you could put in a canoe and head north or south and still end up in the same place. The two bodies of water (Columbia Lake and the Kootenay River) are separated by less than 3km.
I was going to comment something similar, but you did a better job than I would have done.
Yes, I find that pretty remarkable. Was it always that way or was there a landslide in the geological history that separated the Kootenay River from Columbia Lake?
@@svenhodaka9145 My understanding is that the whole valley used to drain southward but the receding glaciers left a berm at Canal Flats which blocked the southward drainage.
There is a natural erosion event called "stream borrowing" that comes into play in regards to the marshes that feed Columbia Lake and the Kootenay River immediately south of Canal Flats. Right now, the marshes are at a very slightly higher elevation than the river just south of it, but the river is eroding it's northern banks just south of the marsh, across the land bridge Canal Flats is built on. Eventually (not within our lifetimes), the river will erode it's northern banks far enough north to reach the southern edges of the marsh and when that happens, the marsh will no longer drain into Columbia Lake but will drain instead into the Kootenay River. Over time, this will reverse the drainage of Columbia Lake into the Columbia River and instead Columbia Lake will drain into the Kootenay River. This type of stream borrowing has happened along both the Columbia and Kootenay Rivers in the past, as well as thousands of other watershed systems all over the world. Another great example of stream borrowing can be found along the Skagit River in the North Cascades, along Hwy 2 where it crosses both Rainy Pass and then Washington Pass. Rainy Pass was at one time the higher of the two passes, with drainage on it's west side flowing directly into Puget Sound and drainage on it's east side draining into the Columbia River and hence to the Pacific Ocean. Now, due to stream borrowing, Washington Pass is the higher pass and points west drain to Puget Sound, while points east drain to the Columbia.
@@loragunning5394 thanx for that!
thompson went thru Howse pass, down the Blaeberry river when he first came to the columbia valley, not athabasca pass
I was involved w/ sports car racing...first as a spectator...in the early 60's...then racing my own...highly-modified '63 VW Beetle during the Racing Season of 1965...and this included a track...WESTWOOD [no longer there!]...about 25 miles east of Vancouver...including a 5-hour ENDURO at the end of the season. My VW was so well prepared, it ran PERFECTLY during the entire season. HOWEVER...included in my multiple trips to British Columbia I have managed three trips to Lake Louise/Banff...and Calgary...even managing to come into Dawson Creek...from the north...and Peace River! And my then-bride and I were in a brand new VW Fastback...LOVED that car!
Dr. Rick Kaufman/NW Oregon/USA
Hey! I just turned 85! My memory is les-than-perfect at times! The Peace River Dam was visited on a separate trip....my honeymoon...June '66...Both trips very memorable! Lake Chelan was in that trip! Dr. RM Kaufman :-)
Yes, the Peace dam is in northwestern BC on the Peace river and forms Williston Lake. The Peace flows into Alberta and eventually becomes part of the MacKenzie river, which flows northward into the Arctic ocean.
You can be easily forgiven. Thanks for posting that once-in-a-lifetime adventure. It was remote territory back then, and still is among the wildest in southern Canada, along with the Coast Cascade Mountains between the USA border and the Alaskan border.
Jack & I camper along the "Big Bend Highway" on that trip...in an OLD umbrella tent. For our first night we could find no flat area suitable for the tent...so we chose a section of old timbers that had made up a bridge across a side stream. My left elbow was poking against the outside tent wall...and something [a critter] bumped against me before I fell asleep...and...whatever it was..."shuffled off" into the night. In the AM I checked on the outside of the tent...and learned that the "critter" had been a SKUNK [!]...but it had NOT "fired" at us! WHEW! AND...'tho we were in "Grizzly country", we had no further "incidences" w/ wild animals! This was in early September...1963....the DAM had NOT been completed yet...have not been back since...but HAVE visited it "on-line" since...NOW...at age 85+... it's just "memories"! :-)
If you look at the size of the entire Columbia River Basin, all the rivers that flow into it, it covers a huge area, and the Snake River contributes a very large volume...
Headwaters is just a reference...
It's not Columbia Lake. It's the short little [but longest] creeklet that leads INTO the lake's south end - there's a labelled trailhead that leads out to the Source from a parking lot just north of Canal Flats. And it's not really wilderness...
Finally, yes ! My hometown is Cranbrook and I’ve generally considered the start of the Columbia River is at Canal Flats.
I vanlifed at the trailhead 2 year in a row. I was driving through the area and I saw the source of the Columbia trail on Google maps. It was awesome, just a little trail in a small town that happens to be the start of one of the important rivers in North America. Pretty wild.
Good information I didn't know before, thank you
Glad I read through the comments. There is more to headwaters than the video implies.
My uncle Ken got his start with modern construction equipment building the Big Bend highway around the hairpin. Later went on to build the Trans Canada across the Rockies and design the Columbia Parkway.
Do you mean the famous Icefields Parkway road that connects Banff and Jasper National Parks just east of the Great Divide and BC-Alberta boundary that separates the Columbia River watershed from the eastward flowing Saskatchewan River watershed ?
@DavidM-hn8qq Yup.
Columbia Lake in the Kootenays of British Columbia is the source . In the Rocky Mountain Trench. Been there . River flows north from the lake before turning south. I think the Mica Dam which forms Kinbasket Lake is on the bend in the river . Next dam is Revestoke Dam . Maybe one more in BC before it flows into WA.
Yes, there's the Keenleyside dam on the lower arrow lake just west of Castlegar.
The Willow series was way better than it deserved
Thompson, who you mention, has his name attached to the North Thompson River, South Thompson River, and the Thompson River (formed by joining of the North and South rivers at Kamloops, British Columbia. And Kamloops is located in the district of Thompson-Nicola.
Not a word mentioned of the 2 communities surrounding Columbia Lake, Canal Flats on the southern shores and Fairmont on the Northern shores, the creek (aka Columbia River) goes right through the golf coarse in Fairmont
Yes indeed that's where I live ... near the beginning of the river where it passes going north to Golden and then goes on the other side of the Purcells
Awesome video! 👍😎🇨🇦
Beautifully wide river!
Fun fact: The Kootenay River, whose confluence with the Columbia is at Castlegar, BC -- also mapped by David Thompson, was originally named, "McGillivray's River" to honor Thompsons boss in the Hudson Bay Company.
Wonderful vid, thanks!
The original Trans-Canada highway snaked alongside the Columbia River up to Big Bend, heading north and then around and south again. You can still see remnants of the old paved thoroughfare north of Revelstoke (all the way to Big Bend) and separately, a few kms north of Golden, BC, though one can no longer trace the old route in its entirety by car.
Wow!!! Could there still have been some ancient wooly mammoths alive back then??!! What an amazing thought! I’m so sorry they aren’t around now. Fascinating
I once spent the night camping at Columbia Lake and had no idea at the time that it was the source of the mighty river! (I found out after I left, sadly). Had I known it was the source, I might have stayed there a little longer!
Interesting,thank you. However i was really hoping you were going to actually start the presentation at the head waters and make your way along with various stops at towns, sites and dams to give us the run down of where this amazing river passed through to get to the ocean. Maybe someday that could be another video or two. Thanks again.
2024 and Americans do not know anything about their two closest allies.
But, boy, do WE (Canucks) know ALL ABOUT the US history, politics, et al.
CANADA........... the still great unexplored and unknown region on the map to most Americans ! Maybe that is a good thing, they won't covet it as much......... especially them Dixie Boys !
@@DavidM-hn8qq A-men!
That’s not exactly correct. Ask any College age American about Canada and they’ll tell you: Toronto. that’s it, just Toronto.
LOL. Yeah, and maybe Vancouver.
That closing line really hurts.
Great video. I live on Columbia Lake.
It starts in Jasper Nation Park. Or North Banff Park.
NO, you are wrong. Banff and Jasper National Parks lie EAST of the height of land that separates the Pacific and Atlantic watersheds, called the Great Divide or continental divide, it is also the provincial boundary between southern British Columbia (BC) and southern Alberta provinces, and follows the high mountains of the Canadian Rockies. HOWEVER, the nearby smaller National Parks of Yoho and Kootenay, no less scenic, lie west of the Divide in BC and do form part of the Columbia River headwaters.
In Canada of course!
The Columbian ice fields aren't just shrinking they're disappearing .it shocking to see how far that has gone in my lifetime.
The main body of the icefield lies between 9000 - 11000 feet altitude and is not visible from the highway. It is still intact although the many outlet glaciers.at 5000 - 7500 feet altitude are receding rapidly as you have observed. Along with the nearby Clemenceau and Chaba Icefields which are not visible from the main highway (route 93) its total area is about 200 sq miles, the largest glacier system in the Rocky Mountains but tiny compared to icefields along the Alaska-Yukon-British Columbia border, or in the Denali-Wrangell region of Alaska.
6:29 mt. Edith cavell! Alberta might not have rats, but there’s so many marmots there you’ll feel like you’re in New York
Excellent video!
Indeed, the river starts in Canada. I wish you would talk about how mining in Canada nearly kills this river.
Well, no, not really, but you've made a nice little video. The headwaters of the Columbia are quite a ways from Columbia Lake.
You got the car heart suspenders?
Huh, The Ktunaxa might have something to say about those Synix claims.
Mines damps have not contaminated the beautiful rivers?
Silly question, the answer is Guam. Or Norway. It could be in Tibet. Lots of run off there.
The real question is - Where is that big valve that Trump was talking about? You know, that magic one that he just has to turn and water will flow from Canada, over the mountains and into California?
Southeast British Columbia, tho I'm sure northeast BC probably seems right to those south of the border. Thanks for sharing!
Somebody just figured this out???? Astounding!... In other news the sun rises in the east!
Caught a mistake. The meltwaters don’t flow to the Atlantic from the Columbia Ice Fields
I noticed that too. Technically Hudson Bay is an inland sea of the Arctic Ocean, but I can see why people would think it is part of the Atlantic.
@@treechairhat --- Parks Canada has been calling Hudson Bay the Atlantic Ocean for decades in their descriptions of that icefield.
@@treechairhat it’s not though is it?
@@DavidM-hn8qq Parks Canada is run by easterners who think Toronto is the centre of all mankind.
"Deep Northwest interior of British Columbia" the area known as South Eastern BC...Check out a map if you don't believe me. by this measure, Portland Or would be considered the deep south.
Lewis and Clark came after Thompson by guite a bit.😊
Lewis and Clark would still be tramping around Nebraska if they didn’t have that little strumpet Saqawegeha to show them the way.
That is why I really enjoy pissing it in knowing you are down stream!
Bad Attitude. Some Americans are that way too, but most are respectful towards Canada. Ukraine cannot say the same about Russia.
This is only surprising to those who have never looked at a map! Back to grade 4.
You have to forgive many Americans. For many of them the whole world starts and ends within USA borders, and the world beyond is irrelevant to many of them, unless it is one of their (and often our) enemies like North Korea, Iran, Russia or China. But remember there are 350 M people in the USA and we don't want to be inundated with visitors in Canada........ or annexed against our will. At present the famous Mountain Parks of Canada's Rockies are experiencing visitor overload due to people seeing photos of them on the internet worldwide.
I was surprised at the portion of water from Canada (30-40%). I think the Canadian land area is far less than that amount, although i stand to be corrected. Different rainfall regimes.
MASSIVE snowpack in the mountains surrounding the Canadian section, snow is often 25 feet deep on average on the ground after it packs, total falls can be 50 feet or more. Go to google maps satellite photos, taken in summer.
It starts in the sky.
Ok wondering around the stores and never got a conclusion. Love your work, still wanting more, but just the fax ma'am. thank you
about a hour from my home
Wow just learning that now , yup , its a Canadian born river , your welcome .
The Missouri River originates south in Montana.
Southwest Montana
Im 600 meters from the fraser...
I guess having the name "Columbia" in British Columbia's name wasn't enough of a clue...
As a former resident of Castlegar, I have to say: one would think so...
Its interesting this host turned the end of this clip into an environmental dooms day proclamation, YET didnt even mention the true souce of the Columbia River is actually the Kootenay River - the Kootenay turns south at the town of Canal Flats and flows through an underground gravel bar and bubbles up at the south end of the Columbia Lake. I have a house in Canal Flats and regularly hike the "Source of the Columbia Trail". The towns water supply is pumped straight out of the ground to the south of my property - the towns head of Utilities assured me we are never running out of water based on what the Kooteney flows.
Hmm. If by "start" you are strictly referring to where does the named water flow start, then yes, it is Columbia Lake. But there are bodies of water that flow into Columbia Lake. The longest of these is Dutch Creek, and therefore the headwaters of Columbia Lake is the headwaters of Dutch Creek, high in the Purcell Mountains. But the same definition applies to entire river systems: where is the headwaters of the longest tributary? In the case of the Columbia River, this is the headwaters of the Snake River, in Wyoming.
So is Trump going to slap a 25% tariff on this Canadian import ??? 😂😂😂😂
Despite its danger everyone who can should travel to the Athabasca Glacier while they can before it's gone forever. You can also see climate change in action as to where it used to cover vs where it now covers. It's astonishing how fast its retreated in just over 100 years...
tornado creek
I can guess when was this made, we have gone from a global ice age by 2020 to no polar icecap's by 2030 to just climate cange, thats 10 years ago
Bogota Colombia is where it starts. "Circuitous" would be an understatement
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
2050 a new ice age will be born
Columbia lake British Columbia.
Thank you for honoring Marilyn and the Sinixt
She is the matriarch and has been the protector on the land for so long
She has fought for water/caribou/ old growth for her whole life
She repatriated her ancestors protected the graves and taught the children her culture and fought against the literal extinction of her people
I'm honored to call her friend and elder
Powerful and outspoken
She has seldom got the respect for the work she does
Lim limpt
Deep in BC’s Northwest? The Columbia actually starts in BC’s Southeast. BC is not part of the USA. We don’t call our coast the Pacific Northwest like Americans call Washington and Oregon -that’s because for us here in BC, the coast is the SOUTHWEST.
By agreement after Britain ended the War of 1812 by occupying and torching the Capitol in DC in 1814 , the Oregon Territory was jointly administered between the Hudson Bay Company under British Charter and the US federal government. The southern boundary of this join administrative territory-the Oregon Territory- was the Columbia River, at the mouth of which was HBC’s Fort Vancouver. When it became apparent that American citiznes were rapidly settling the Willamette Valley, and disputes between indigenous and whites were becoming too much for HBC to put up with-it was primarily a fir-trading company, after all, not a police force-UK and USA agreed on the 49th parallel (with UK retaining all of Vancouver Island, which projects considerably south of the 49th, and about half of the Gulf Islands in the Salish Sea and Juan de Fuca Strait -then called the Gulf of Georgia, even though actually a strait).
Many people wonder why it’s called “British Columbia.” That’s because, after the new border was agreed on, it was the upper reaches of the Columbia River, north of the 49th, which Britain retained. The southern reach which the USA acquired might just as well have been called “American Columbia.” However, Americans’ penchant for smaller states-much smaller than Canadian provinces-, what might have otherwise been called “American Columbia” was divided into Washington and Oregon states.
Remember, in Canada and in BC, we don’t call it the “Pacific Northwest” because it’s actually our Pacific Southwest.
Fun Fact: David Thompson was also the cartographer who mapped the 49th Parallel, in order to establish the international boundary; he was supposed to work alongside a US designated cartographer, but that fellow's work was so shoddy, the map commission ignored his efforts, and both sides (Britain and US) agreed to employ, and trust, Thompsons maps.
His modern nickname is the "god-fearing GPS."
Thompsons maps are still so accurate that until satellite mapping of the late 20th century, they were used by government maps nearly everywhere he worked, and when compared to the satellite photo overlays, they are sometimes within feet of the modern photos.
The coast of BC is just WEST.
Our River our Salmon, just kidding, just don't let anyone build anymore Hydro Electric Plants on it or near it
Or smelters.
@martinsweeney4563 All the Rivers on the Westcoast of Canada and the United States have to be protected, my kids love Salmon and Trout fishing, i don't know if yourself or children enjoy the outdoors as much as mine do
@@George-gf5xs Living on Haida Gwaii. Grew up in the Yukon.
@@martinsweeney4563 Great Fishing and Hunting in both those areas
Cheeto is going to be upset when Canada closes off the water flow.
Look up how all the dams on the Columbia were financed. Then you'll realize "Cheeto" has nothing to worry about
Check the history of "Myths" before they are presented as" true Myths". Coyotes were not present west of the Rockies until after the 1880's when the Railroad Industry built a path for the Coyote to follow west. There for the Sinixt Nation would not of had this story as an Origin Myth of the Columbia River.
Dah!
Good story except for the climate change fear. The glaciers are going to be just fine as they go through cycles of retreating and expanding. No need to panic every time the cycles change. The weather cycles affect the rivers also with some decades of high precipitation and some lower.
Witness Powell Lake and Mead lake on the Colorado.
Witness the largest dam in the US, the Oroville dam and lake. The Oroville lake went through some drought years where it was perilously low then in two years it completely filled up again to overflow the dam down the spillways.
Everything cycles, good years and not so good years.
This is news? Wouldn't be nice if the US got rid of their dams on the Columbia and we can have Salmon spawning a stones throw from Alberta.
well no kidding. Just look at a map.
The greater volume of Columbia water comes out of Pend Oreille.
Polite disagreement; only about 40% of the Columbia flow is contributed by the Pend Oreille and its' many tributaries. The Snake River contributes less than 20%.
@@lpeterman I understand the Pend Oreille inflow is greater than that from BC. This coming from my associate living at the headwaters in Idaho. At 60/40 it probably depends on who needs more electricity at the moment.
@@candui-7 Point taken.
Absolutely ABSURD. One look at the Pend Oreille and it is obvious it is a fraction of the flow of the Columbia, obvious even on a map, provable in person.
Jeez, this has been known for ages. Stale news that is just clickbait.
Columbia River starts in Canada
So wait? The river was created by a woman and coyote? is this what they think?
Is this not basic knowledge?
Nice discussion. Of course where a river 'starts' is just as arbitrary as its naming. The Columbia also starts as the Salmon in Idaho, or the Owyhee also in Oregon, or the Snake, also in Wyoming, or the McKenzie in Oregon ...
No it does not. You clearly do not understand the definition of 'headwaters'.
head·wa·ter
/ˈhedˌwôdər,ˈhedˌwädər/
noun
plural noun: headwaters
a tributary stream of a river close to or forming part of its source.
"these paths follow rivers right up into their headwaters"
The American education system is an abject failure.
there's the headwater and then the tributaries.
Valid in the discussion of contributions to the total flow -- but unequivocally, the Columbia River headwaters/begins in Canal Flats, BC.
@@blackberrythorns There's an arbitrary distinction between headwater and tributary. Kind of like tracing word etymologies. The first one to "document" wins the truth prize.