The Clark Fork, or the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, is a river in the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho, approximately 310 miles (500 km) long. The largest river by volume in Montana,[11] it drains an extensive region of the Rocky Mountains in western Montana and northern Idaho in the watershed of the Columbia River. The river flows northwest through a long valley at the base of the Cabinet Mountains and empties into Lake Pend Oreille in the Idaho Panhandle. The Pend Oreille River in Idaho, Washington, and British Columbia, Canada which drains the lake to the Columbia in Washington, is sometimes included as part of the Clark Fork, giving it a total length of 479 miles (771 km), with a drainage area of 25,820 square miles (66,900 km2). In its upper 20 miles (32 km) in Montana near Butte, it is known as Silver Bow Creek. Interstate 90 follows much of the upper course of the river from Butte to Saint Regis. The highest point within the river's watershed is Mount Evans at 10,641 feet (3,243 m) in Deer Lodge County, Montana along the Continental Divide.[12]
Clark Fork
Original name given by Lewis and Clark expedition: Clark's River
Clark Fork flowing through downtown Missoula (2003)
It rises as Silver Bow Creek[1] in southwestern Montana, less than 5 miles (8.0 km) from the Continental Divide near downtown Butte, from the confluence of Basin and Blacktail creeks. It flows northwest and north through a valley in the mountains, passing east of Anaconda, where it changes its name to the Clark Fork at the confluence with Warm Springs Creek, then northwest to Deer Lodge. Near Deer Lodge it receives the Little Blackfoot River. From Deer Lodge it flows generally northwest across western Montana, passing south of the Garnet Range toward Missoula. Five miles east of Missoula, the river receives the Blackfoot River.
There are three dams on the lower Clark Fork River. At Thompson Falls, about 100 mi (160 km) northwest of Missoula, the Thompson Falls Dam, actually a series of four dams that bridge between islands in the river, was built atop the falls in 1915. Next, at Noxon, Montana, along the Cabinet Mountains and the northern end of the Bitterroots near the Idaho border, the river is impounded by the Noxon Rapids Dam, completed in 1959 and forming a 20-mile-long (32 km) reservoir. It crosses into eastern Bonner County in north Idaho between the towns of Heron, Montana and the town of Cabinet, Idaho. In Idaho, just before the town of Cabinet, the Clark Fork River is dammed again at the Cabinet Gorge Dam. The Cabinet Gorge Dam was completed in the early 1950s, and its reservoir extends eastwards into Montana.
After passing the Cabinet Gorge Dam, the river enters the northeastern end of Lake Pend Oreille, approximately 8 miles (13 km) west of the Idaho–Montana border, near the town of Clark Fork, Idaho.
Drone shot of the upper portion of the Clark Fork River[14]
HistoryEdit
The mouth of the Clark Fork on Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho
During the last ice age, from approximately 20,000 years ago, the Clark Fork Valley lay along the southern edge of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet covering western North America. The encroachment of the ice sheet formed an ice dam on the river, creating Glacial Lake Missoula, which stretched through the Clark Fork Valley across central Montana. The periodic rupturing and rebuilding of the ice dam released the Missoula Floods, a series of catastrophic floods down the Clark Fork and Pend Oreille into the Columbia, which sculpted many of the geographic features of eastern Washington and the Willamette Valley of Oregon.
In the 19th century, the Clark Fork Valley was inhabited by the Flathead tribe of Native Americans. It was explored by Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition during the 1806 return trip from the Pacific. The river is named for William Clark.[15] A middle segment of the river in Montana was formerly known as the Missoula River. The river was also referred to as the Deer Lodge River by Granville Stuart.
In 1809, David Thompson of the North West Company explored the region and founded several fur trading posts, including Kullyspell House at the mouth of the Clark Fork, and Saleesh House on the river near the present-day site of Thompson Falls, Montana. Thompson used the name Saleesh River for the entire Flathead-Clark Fork-Pend Oreille river system.[16] For most of the first half of the 19th century the Clark Fork river and surrounding region was controlled by the British-Canadian North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company.
In the mid-19th century, the Clark Fork River wound through the valley where cattle had replaced bison. This was when Conrad Kohrs purchased a ranch from Johnny Grant that is now called the Grant-Kohrs Ranch,[17] a National Historic Site and Federal Park. For a history of the river and the people, see Grant-Kohrs family and history of Clark Fork River region.
The Clark Fork and the Blackfoot River experienced a record flood in 1908.[18]
Since the late 19th century many areas in the watershed of the river have been extensively mined for minerals, resulting in an ongoing stream pollution problem. Most pollution has come from the copper mines in Butte and the smelter in Anaconda. Many of the most polluted areas have been designated as Superfund sites. Nevertheless, the river and its tributaries are among the most popular destinations for fly fishing in the United States.
Today, the Clark Fork watershed encompasses the largest Superfund site in America. As a mega-site, it includes three major sites: Butte, Anaconda, and Milltown Dam/Clark Fork River's Milltown Reservoir Superfund Site. Each of these major sites is split up into numerous sub-sites known as Operable Units.
Milltown Dam was removed in 2008 at the junction of the Clark Fork and Blackfoot Rivers. Stimson Dam (an old log crib dam) was removed in 2007 just upstream of the Milltown Dam on the Blackfoot River. Stimson Dam was normally under water due to the Milltown Dam. The area that used to be under Milltown Lake has recently become a State Park. Continued remediation and/or restoration of these sites is ongoing.[19]
ConservationEdit
"Tri-State Water Quality Council". Citizens, business, industry, tribes, government and environmental groups combined to oversee the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille river system
"Clark Fork – Pend Oreille Conservancy". non-profit land trust serving Sanders County, Montana and Bonner County, Idaho
"Clark Fork Coalition". The coalition was founded in 1985 and is dedicated to protecting and restoring the Clark Fork River basin.
"Watershed Education Network (WEN)".- WEN is a 501(c)(3) organization located in Missoula, Montana. WEN is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering knowledge, appreciation and awareness of watershed health through science, outreach, and education. Since 1996, WEN has been dedicated to growing the next generation of watershed stewards. WEN serves over 3,000 western Montana K–12 students annually through its School Stream Monitoring Program. Stream Monitoring field trips take place at 30 different stream sites across western Montana each fall and spring.
"Clark Fork Watershed Education Program". - The program uses outdoor activities and local experts to teach about the effects of settlement and industry on the Upper Clark Fork basin, and to give students and educators the scientific background to quantify the health of our watershed.
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site Riparian Restoration Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site is located within the middle of one of the largest superfund complexes in the country. The ranch contains approximately 2.44 miles of the Clark Fork River which flows through the middle of the ranch. The 2004 Record of Decision describes the cleanup approach, or Selected Remedy. In addition to the ROD, the NRDP developed a Restoration Plan to expedite the recovery time for injured aquatic and terrestrial resources in and along the Clark Fork River (Grant-Kohrs Ranch has its own Federal Restoration Plan).
^McLean, Bryce. "Drone Shot of Clark Fork River". guide-x.io. from the original on 2021-04-13. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
^Rees, John E. (1918). Idaho Chronology, Nomenclature, Bibliography. W.B. Conkey Company. p. 64.
^Nisbet, Jack (1994). Sources of the River: Tracking David Thompson Across Western North America. Sasquatch Books. pp. 144–145, 149, 159. ISBN1-57061-522-5.
^"Grant-Kohrs Ranch, National Historic Site". Retrieved 5 September 2013.
^. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
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Not to be confused with the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River located east of the Continental Divide The Clark Fork or the Clark Fork of the Columbia River is a river in the U S states of Montana and Idaho approximately 310 miles 500 km long The largest river by volume in Montana 11 it drains an extensive region of the Rocky Mountains in western Montana and northern Idaho in the watershed of the Columbia River The river flows northwest through a long valley at the base of the Cabinet Mountains and empties into Lake Pend Oreille in the Idaho Panhandle The Pend Oreille River in Idaho Washington and British Columbia Canada which drains the lake to the Columbia in Washington is sometimes included as part of the Clark Fork giving it a total length of 479 miles 771 km with a drainage area of 25 820 square miles 66 900 km2 In its upper 20 miles 32 km in Montana near Butte it is known as Silver Bow Creek Interstate 90 follows much of the upper course of the river from Butte to Saint Regis The highest point within the river s watershed is Mount Evans at 10 641 feet 3 243 m in Deer Lodge County Montana along the Continental Divide 12 Clark ForkOriginal name given byLewis and Clark expedition Clark s RiverThe Clark Fork at Missoula MontanaMap of the Clark Fork its main tributaries and downriver connection to the Columbia River via the Pend Oreille River LocationCountryUnited StatesStateMontana IdahoCitiesButte MissoulaPhysical characteristicsSourceSilver Bow Creek locationButte Silver Bow County Montana coordinates46 4 32 N 112 27 56 W 46 07556 N 112 46556 W 46 07556 112 46556 1 elevation6 882 ft 2 098 m 2 2nd sourceWarm Springs Creek Montana locationFlint Creek Range Granite County Montana coordinates46 15 39 N 113 8 12 W 46 26083 N 113 13667 W 46 26083 113 13667 3 elevation7 466 ft 2 276 m 4 Source confluence locationDeer Lodge County Montana coordinates46 11 12 N 112 46 18 W 46 18667 N 112 77167 W 46 18667 112 77167 5 elevation4 795 ft 1 462 m 6 MouthLake Pend Oreille locationBonner County Idaho coordinates48 11 0 N 116 16 9 W 48 18333 N 116 26917 W 48 18333 116 26917 5 elevation2 064 ft 629 m 7 Length310 mi 500 km 5 Basin size22 905 sq mi 59 320 km2 8 Discharge locationWhitehorse Rapids near Cabinet ID 9 average21 930 cu ft s 621 m3 s 10 minimum762 cu ft s 21 6 m3 s maximum195 000 cu ft s 5 500 m3 s Basin featuresTributaries leftBitterroot River rightBlackfoot River Flathead River Bull RiverThe Clark Fork is a Class I river for recreational purposes in Montana from Warm Springs Creek to the Idaho border 13 Contents 1 Description 2 History 3 Conservation 4 See also 5 Further reading 6 References 7 External linksDescription Edit nbsp Clark Fork flowing through downtown Missoula 2003 It rises as Silver Bow Creek 1 in southwestern Montana less than 5 miles 8 0 km from the Continental Divide near downtown Butte from the confluence of Basin and Blacktail creeks It flows northwest and north through a valley in the mountains passing east of Anaconda where it changes its name to the Clark Fork at the confluence with Warm Springs Creek then northwest to Deer Lodge Near Deer Lodge it receives the Little Blackfoot River From Deer Lodge it flows generally northwest across western Montana passing south of the Garnet Range toward Missoula Five miles east of Missoula the river receives the Blackfoot River Northwest of Missoula the river continues through a long valley along the northeast flank of the Bitterroot Range through the Lolo National Forest It receives the Bitterroot River from the south southwest approximately 5 5 miles 8 9 km west of downtown Missoula Along the Cabinet Mountains the river receives the Flathead River from the east near Paradise It receives the Thompson River from the north near Thompson Falls in southern Sanders County There are three dams on the lower Clark Fork River At Thompson Falls about 100 mi 160 km northwest of Missoula the Thompson Falls Dam actually a series of four dams that bridge between islands in the river was built atop the falls in 1915 Next at Noxon Montana along the Cabinet Mountains and the northern end of the Bitterroots near the Idaho border the river is impounded by the Noxon Rapids Dam completed in 1959 and forming a 20 mile long 32 km reservoir It crosses into eastern Bonner County in north Idaho between the towns of Heron Montana and the town of Cabinet Idaho In Idaho just before the town of Cabinet the Clark Fork River is dammed again at the Cabinet Gorge Dam The Cabinet Gorge Dam was completed in the early 1950s and its reservoir extends eastwards into Montana After passing the Cabinet Gorge Dam the river enters the northeastern end of Lake Pend Oreille approximately 8 miles 13 km west of the Idaho Montana border near the town of Clark Fork Idaho source source source source source source Drone shot of the upper portion of the Clark Fork River 14 History Edit nbsp The mouth of the Clark Fork on Lake Pend Oreille in IdahoDuring the last ice age from approximately 20 000 years ago the Clark Fork Valley lay along the southern edge of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet covering western North America The encroachment of the ice sheet formed an ice dam on the river creating Glacial Lake Missoula which stretched through the Clark Fork Valley across central Montana The periodic rupturing and rebuilding of the ice dam released the Missoula Floods a series of catastrophic floods down the Clark Fork and Pend Oreille into the Columbia which sculpted many of the geographic features of eastern Washington and the Willamette Valley of Oregon In the 19th century the Clark Fork Valley was inhabited by the Flathead tribe of Native Americans It was explored by Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition during the 1806 return trip from the Pacific The river is named for William Clark 15 A middle segment of the river in Montana was formerly known as the Missoula River The river was also referred to as the Deer Lodge River by Granville Stuart In 1809 David Thompson of the North West Company explored the region and founded several fur trading posts including Kullyspell House at the mouth of the Clark Fork and Saleesh House on the river near the present day site of Thompson Falls Montana Thompson used the name Saleesh River for the entire Flathead Clark Fork Pend Oreille river system 16 For most of the first half of the 19th century the Clark Fork river and surrounding region was controlled by the British Canadian North West Company and Hudson s Bay Company In the mid 19th century the Clark Fork River wound through the valley where cattle had replaced bison This was when Conrad Kohrs purchased a ranch from Johnny Grant that is now called the Grant Kohrs Ranch 17 a National Historic Site and Federal Park For a history of the river and the people see Grant Kohrs family and history of Clark Fork River region The Clark Fork and the Blackfoot River experienced a record flood in 1908 18 Since the late 19th century many areas in the watershed of the river have been extensively mined for minerals resulting in an ongoing stream pollution problem Most pollution has come from the copper mines in Butte and the smelter in Anaconda Many of the most polluted areas have been designated as Superfund sites Nevertheless the river and its tributaries are among the most popular destinations for fly fishing in the United States Today the Clark Fork watershed encompasses the largest Superfund site in America As a mega site it includes three major sites Butte Anaconda and Milltown Dam Clark Fork River s Milltown Reservoir Superfund Site Each of these major sites is split up into numerous sub sites known as Operable Units Milltown Dam was removed in 2008 at the junction of the Clark Fork and Blackfoot Rivers Stimson Dam an old log crib dam was removed in 2007 just upstream of the Milltown Dam on the Blackfoot River Stimson Dam was normally under water due to the Milltown Dam The area that used to be under Milltown Lake has recently become a State Park Continued remediation and or restoration of these sites is ongoing 19 Conservation Edit Tri State Water Quality Council Citizens business industry tribes government and environmental groups combined to oversee the Clark Fork Pend Oreille river system Clark Fork Pend Oreille Conservancy non profit land trust serving Sanders County Montana and Bonner County Idaho Clark Fork Coalition The coalition was founded in 1985 and is dedicated to protecting and restoring the Clark Fork River basin Watershed Education Network WEN WEN is a 501 c 3 organization located in Missoula Montana WEN is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering knowledge appreciation and awareness of watershed health through science outreach and education Since 1996 WEN has been dedicated to growing the next generation of watershed stewards WEN serves over 3 000 western Montana K 12 students annually through its School Stream Monitoring Program Stream Monitoring field trips take place at 30 different stream sites across western Montana each fall and spring Clark Fork Watershed Education Program The program uses outdoor activities and local experts to teach about the effects of settlement and industry on the Upper Clark Fork basin and to give students and educators the scientific background to quantify the health of our watershed Grant Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site Riparian Restoration Grant Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site is located within the middle of one of the largest superfund complexes in the country The ranch contains approximately 2 44 miles of the Clark Fork River which flows through the middle of the ranch The 2004 Record of Decision describes the cleanup approach or Selected Remedy In addition to the ROD the NRDP developed a Restoration Plan to expedite the recovery time for injured aquatic and terrestrial resources in and along the Clark Fork River Grant Kohrs Ranch has its own Federal Restoration Plan See also Edit nbsp Montana portalClarks Fork Yellowstone River Grant Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site List of longest streams of Idaho List of rivers of Idaho List of rivers of Montana Milltown Reservoir Superfund Site Montana Stream Access Law Paradise Dam Montana Further reading EditSullivan Gordon 2008 Saving Homewaters The Story of Montana s Streams and Rivers Woodstock VT The Countryman Press ISBN 978 0 88150 679 2 References Edit a b Silver Bow Creek Geographic Names Information System United States Geological Survey United States Department of the Interior USGS GNIS Google Earth elevation for GNIS Silver Bow Creek source coordinates Warm Springs Creek Montana Geographic Names Information System United States Geological Survey United States Department of the Interior USGS GNIS Google Earth elevation for GNIS Warm Springs Creek source coordinates a b c Clark Fork Geographic Names Information System United States Geological Survey United States Department of the Interior USGS GNIS Google Earth elevation for GNIS Clark Fork source coordinates Google Earth elevation for GNIS Clark Fork mouth coordinates Pend Oreille subbasin overview PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2007 07 13 Retrieved 2007 05 06 Northwest Power and Conservation Council Montana Water Resources Data 2004 file Mill Creek above Bassoo Creek near Niarada to Clark Fork at Whitehorse Rapids near Cabinet ID PDF Montana Water Resources Data 2004 file Mill Creek above Bassoo Creek near Niarada to Clark Fork at Whitehorse Rapids near Cabinet ID PDF Clark Fork Info Clark Fork Watershed Education Program Retrieved 20 April 2015 Mount Evans Montana Peakbagger Retrieved 22 May 2014 Stream Access in Montana Archived from the original on 2009 03 10 McLean Bryce Drone Shot of Clark Fork River guide x io Archived from the original on 2021 04 13 Retrieved 2021 05 04 Rees John E 1918 Idaho Chronology Nomenclature Bibliography W B Conkey Company p 64 Nisbet Jack 1994 Sources of the River Tracking David Thompson Across Western North America Sasquatch Books pp 144 145 149 159 ISBN 1 57061 522 5 Grant Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site Retrieved 5 September 2013 The Great Flood of 1908 Archived from the original on 2013 11 12 Retrieved 2014 01 05 Milltown Dam Removal amp Clean up Project External links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Clark Fork river Watershed Education Network WEN Clark Fork Watershed Education Program EcoRover a blog about Superfund and other environmental issues in the upper Clark Fork River basin Clark Fork Coalition Upper Clark Fork Restoration Program Archived from the original on 2007 06 07 Retrieved 2007 06 11 Clark Fork River Operable Unit US EPA Region 8 Clark Fork River Technical Assistance Committee Archived from the original on 2014 06 30 Retrieved 2007 06 11 Butte Citizens Technical Environmental Committee CTEC Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Clark Fork River amp oldid 1170042553, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
