Kootenai Falls

Kootenai Falls

Just downstream of Libby, Montana--where the brigade is this morning, June 9, is Kootenai Falls. The river falls over 300 feet in a few hundred yards, according to the Travel Montana website.

It was, and is, sacred to the Kootenai Indians, the centre of the world. For David Thompson, it was a significant barrier to navigation, necessitating in his journey down the Kootenay River in 1808 much scouting--not for the paddling line, but for the portaging. No wonder the Brigade isn't paddling it! They carefully walked 300 feet above the river, and did not recommend this way as a trade route. Too hard to portage, too hard to travel upstream.

In 1809, Thompson established Saleesh House near the present day town of Thompson Falls on what we know now as the Thompson River.. When Thompson paddled through in 1812, he damaged his canoes in the rapids nearby. It was March, and stormy. Their tent was blown down.

I wonder how much of those rapids are now under a resevoir.