Kootenai River

Kootenay
Kootenai, Flatbow, Swan
River
the Kootenay (Kootenai) River downstream from Libby Dam in Montana
Countries	Canada, United States
States/Provinces	British Columbia, Montana, Idaho
Tributaries
- left	Palliser River, White River, Bull River, Elk River, Fisher River, Tobacco River, Lake Creek
- right	St. Mary River, Yaak River, Moyie River, Goat River, Duncan River, Slocan River
Cities	Libby, MT, Bonners Ferry, ID, Creston, BC, Nelson, BC, Castlegar, BC
Source	South flank of Castle Mountain
- location	Beaverfoot Range, Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, Canada
- elevation	2,261 m (7,418 ft)
- coordinates	51°02′21″N 116°26′33″W / 51.03917°N 116.44250°W / 51.03917; -116.44250
Mouth	Columbia River
- location	Castlegar, British Columbia, Canada
- elevation	420 m (1,378 ft)
- coordinates	49°19′0″N 117°39′4″W / 49.31667°N 117.65111°W / 49.31667; -117.65111Coordinates: 49°19′0″N 117°39′4″W / 49.31667°N 117.65111°W / 49.31667; -117.65111
Length	780 km (485 mi)
Basin	50,298 km2 (19,420 sq mi)
Discharge	for Corra Linn, BC
- average	782 m3/s (27,616 cu ft/s)
- max	4,930 m3/s (174,101 cu ft/s)
- min	104 m3/s (3,673 cu ft/s)
Map of the Kootenay River, its main tributaries and lakes, and major cities.

The Kootenay (Kootenai in the U.S. and historically called the Flatbow) is a major river in southeastern British Columbia, Canada and northern parts of the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho. It is one of the uppermost major tributaries of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Kootenay River runs 781 kilometres (485 mi) from its headwaters in the Kootenay Ranges of the Canadian Rockies, flowing from British Columbia's East Kootenay region into northwestern Montana, thence into northernmost Idaho Panhandle and returning to British Columbia in the West Kootenay region, where it joins the Columbia at Castlegar.

Born in glaciers and flowing through a rugged landscape of mountains and valleys, the river drains an isolated and sparsely populated region of the Pacific Northwest. From its highest headwaters to its confluence with the Columbia River, the Kootenay falls more than two kilometers in elevation. Although comparable in length, watershed and discharge to the Columbia above the confluence, the Kootenay is of a notably different character; its much steeper gradient results in the formation of many rapids.

People of the Ktunaxa (Kootenai) tribe were the first to live along its banks, and for hundreds of years, they hunted and fished on the river, quite isolated from neighboring indigenous groups . In the 19th century, a Canadian explorer, David Thompson, became the first recorded European to reach the Kootenay and established trading posts throughout the region. A gold rush on the Kootenay and later silver and galena strikes in its western basins in the late 19th century drew thousands of miners and settlers to the region, who soon were followed by the arrival of railroads and steamboats. The Doukhobors, a Russian religious sect, immigrated and established a short-lived colony, Brilliant, at the Kootenay's mouth; subsequently dispersing into many settlements, they contributed to the region's lumber and agricultural industries.