Methow River
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Methow River Buttlemuleemauch |
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 The Methow River at Mazama |
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| Data | ||
| location | Okanogan County , Washington , United States | |
| River system | Columbia River | |
| Drain over | Columbia River → Pacific | |
| source | Cascade Range, Methow Pass 48 ° 35 ′ 9 ″ N , 120 ° 44 ′ 44 ″ W. |
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| Source height | 1730 m | |
| muzzle | at Pateros in the Columbia River Coordinates: 48 ° 3 '2 " N , 119 ° 53' 43" W 48 ° 3 '2 " N , 119 ° 53' 43" W. |
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| Mouth height | 239 m | |
| Height difference | 1491 m | |
| Bottom slope | 12 ‰ | |
| length | 129 km | |
| Catchment area | 4727 km² | |
| Left tributaries | Lost River, Chewuch River | |
| Right tributaries | Early Winters Creek, Twisp River | |
| Small towns | Winthrop , Twisp , Pateros | |
The Methow River ( ˈmɛt.haʊ ) is a tributary of the Columbia River in the northern part of the US state Washington . The 4727 km² catchment area drains the east of the Northern Cascade Range ; about 5000 people live in it. The catchment area of the Methow River is characterized by relatively original habitats; most of it lies within national forests or wilderness areas. Many tributaries drain the great Pasayten Wilderness . The earlier agriculture-based economy gives way to one based on recreation and tourism.
history
The river was named after the Methow , an Indian tribe (now part of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation ). The name comes from the Okanagan ( / mətxʷú / ) and means "sunflower (nsamen)". The name of the indigenous people was Buttlemuleemauch , which means "River of the Salmon Falls". In 1841 the Wilkes Expedition named the river the "Barrier River". According to Alexander Ross , the indigenous name was Buttle-mule-emauch. In 1811 David Thompson met the tribe living on the river and noted their name as "Smeetheowe". In 1853, George Gibbs named the river Methow or Barrier.
Course and catchment area
The Methow River rises together with its tributaries Twisp River, Cedar Creek and Early Winters Creek in a high mountain range to which the Golden Horn , Tower Mountain , Cutthroat Peak , Snagtooth Ridge , Kangaroo Ridge , Early Winter Spiers and the Belong to Liberty Bell Mountain . Several mountain passes are connected to the Methow River and its tributaries, such as the Methow Pass and the Twisp Pass . The Washington State Route 20 uses the Washington Pass and Rainy Pass , which also are the rivers in the catchment area of the headwaters.
The Pacific Crest Trail follows the highest stretch of the Methow River until the river turns east and flows into the Methow Valley near Mazama . Along its way it collects the tributaries of Robinson Creek and Lost River . In the Methow Valley, between Mazama and Winthrop , the Methow River joins the Early Winters Creek , Cedar Creek , Goat Creek and Wolf Creek . The Chewuch River flows into Winthrop; as one of the larger tributaries of the Methow, it and its many tributaries drain large parts of the Pasayten Wilderness in the north. One of the headwaters of the Chewuch, Cathedral Creek , extends almost to British Columbia in Canada .
The Methow Valley continues below Winthrop to Twisp , where the Methow River joins another major tributary, the Twisp River . Coming from the west, the Twisp River drains both the mountains south of Washington Pass and the eastern slopes of Sawtooth Ridge , a main mountain range with some of the highest peaks in Washington such as Star Peak and Mt. Bigelow .
Downstream of Twisp, the Methow River passes through the parishes of Carlton and Methow and receives several tributaries before flowing into the Columbia River at Pateros . This part of Columbia is the backwater of Wells Dam , a lake known as Lake Pateros .
The mean discharge at the mouth is 43.1 m³ / s, the maximum 770.22 m³ / s and the minimum 4.25 m³ / s
Ecology and protection
Since 2007, the Methow Beaver Project has relocated over 240 “problem” beavers ( Castor canadensis ) to 51 suitable locations in various headwaters of the Methow catchment area. The settlement sites were selected with the help of satellite images and computer models. The resettlement success was optimized by the fact that beaver pairs were brought together in artificially made beaver castles, which they should keep in the selected areas, so that the beaver dams should store rainwater, serve as sediment traps and repair channels created by erosion; In addition, they should serve as a nursery for salmon and other species and also represent fire boundaries in the eastern cascade chain, which is threatened by forest fires. One of the beavers fitted with an RFID transponder, which was released in the upper Methow Valley, swam to the mouth of the Methow River, then up the Okanogan River to almost the Canadian border - a journey of almost 200 km. The Methow Beaver Project is a joint venture between the US Forest Service , the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation . Beavers were almost wiped out by fur hunters in the Methow River basin in the early 20th century.
See also
- List of rivers in Washington
- List of tributaries of the Columbia River (on Wikipedia)
- Methow (Washington)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Methow River in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey , USGS GNIS.
- ↑ Methow River ( Memento of the original from December 24, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , The Columbia Gazetteer of North America. 2000.
- ↑ Wenatchee SubBasin plan . Northwest Power and Conservation Council. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
- ^ Webster's Geographical Dictionary .
- ^ William Bright: Native American placenames of the United States . University of Oklahoma Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4 , p. 280 (Retrieved April 11, 2011).
- ↑ James W. Phillips: Washington State Place Names . University of Washington Press, 1971, ISBN 0-295-95158-3 .
- ^ Edmond S. Meany: Origin of Washington Geographic Names . In: Washington University State Historical Society (Ed.): The Washington Historical Quarterly . XI, 1920, p. 204. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
- ↑ http://pubs.usgs.gov/wdr/2005/wdr-wa-05-1/ Water Resources Data-Washington Water Year 2005
- ↑ Ann McCreary: Beavers may be part of answer to climate change . In: Methow Valley News , January 24, 2016.
- ^ Ben Goldfarb: The beaver whisperer . In: High Country News , Nov. 9, 2015.
