The Chilkoot River is a river in Southeast Alaska, United States, that extends about from its source and covers a watershed area of . The source of the river is in the Takshanuk Mountains to the west and the Freebee glacier and unnamed mountains to the east. From its source, the upper reach of the river extends approximately to the point where it enters Chilkoot Lake. From the downstream end of the lake, the lower reach of the river flows for about until it enters the Chilkoot Inlet, a branch at the northern end of the Lynn Canal.
At the head of the lower reach of the river, on the shore of the lake, lies a prehistoric village which was a Chilkoot Indian settlement. The names of the village — Tschilkut, Tananel, or Chilcoot — have been given to the river and also to the lake.
thumb|Salmon drying on fish racks along the Chilkoot River, August 1911
The river and its precincts, known as the Chilkoot River Corridor, have been brought under the monitoring of the Chilkoot River Corridor Strategic Planning Project (CRC) to preserve its ecological and historical heritage.
Topography
The Chilkoot River near Haines has a short length of about from the source covering a watershed area of . The source of the river is in the Takshanuk Mountains to the west and the Ferebee glacier and unnamed mountains to the east.
There are three stretches of the river from its source. These are: the "Upper Reach of the Chilkoot River" from the lake's mouth upstream to the glacier head, which is about ; the "Chilkoot Lake" fed by the upper reach of the river extends to about length followed by the "Chilkoot Lower reach", which is till it joins the Lynn Canal.
The Upper Chilkoot River originates from the glacier fields and flows in a southeasterly direction. It is a braided river and has a bed slope of 1 ft in 50 ft in the first stretch from the lake and about 1 ft in 100 ft in the balance reach of the river. The river is blocked with debris, rifles, log jams and boulders. Hence, the upper reach of the river is not navigable. The lake is about long (3.6 miles is also mentioned in one source), and about in width and maximum depth of water in the lake is about . It has been declared as navigable. The land around the lake () is mostly under the control of the State. The lake area is generally windy. Canoes are the best form of boating facility for fishing on the lake as the shore line is considered difficult.
The lower reach of the Chilkoot River below the outlet from the Chilkoot Lake at is 1.5 miles (a figure of is also mentioned in some sources) long till it meets the Lynn Canal of the Chilkoot Inlet. The river runs in northwest-northeast direction and is really only a small stream. It has a width of about and has a depth of on an average. It is navigable up to about upstream of the Lynn Canal, extending to the fish and game weir site (established by the Department of Fish and Game to enumerate the fishes), when under the influence of tides. The river, in its first one eighth mile (below the lake) has formed a pool, and then flows through a number of rapids strewn with boulders covered with moss in some stretches and the remaining part is flat but with rocky bed. The estimated average discharge in the river varies widely from a minimum of per second in February to a maximum of per second in August. The Chilkoot Lake and the Chilkoot River outlet are about away from the town of Haines.
Another group of inhabitants of the Heines/Chilkoot River area are the Jilkoot Kwaan (Kwaan is Tlingit word meaning “to dwell”). They are a clan of the Tlingits who also owned land in the vicinity.
The history of the Chilkoot River and the Chilkoot Lake is directly linked to the Chilkoot village, where the Tlingits lived, after which the river and the lake are named. This village existed near the outlet of the Chilkoot River and was divided into two parts by the river; the western part was inhabited by Raven clan Tlingits while the Eagle Clan Tlingits lived on the eastern part. It was an important location for the southeast Alaskan Tlingits who reportedly settled here during pre-historic days when they became occupied in salmon and hooligan fishing. They used hooligan fish to make fish oil, their cooking medium, by cooking the fishes in a canoe lined with hot rocks.
Chilkoot is a Tlingit phrase which means without a storehouse. The Chilkoot band at one time stored fish packed in snow between alder or willow branches, instead of in storehouses.
The population of the village dwindled over the years from a figure of 127 people (in 1880 census), just to 2 houses with 7 people in June 1990, and was finally abandoned. Another factor for desertion of the village is attributed to the cannery industries that got established in the area for processing salmons that were fished from the river and the lake, in Haines and other places in the late 19th and early 20th century; the last Tlingit reportedly left the place in the early 1940s and most of the families now live in Haines. The fishing tools that the Tlingits used for fishing in the river and the lake in the past, which were mostly nets and gaff hooks, have also since been replaced with modern fishing rods and reels.
The biologists of Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) constructed a fishing weir across the Lower Chilkoot River in 1976 to enumerate the movement of Sockeye fishes from the Chilkoot lake downstream.
The road from the Lynn Canal to the outlet of the lake was extended and improved over a period from 1953 to 1956 by the Alaska Road Commission; the intended purpose was to have access to the recreation area for quality fishing and access to small boats to the river shores for extracting timber from the area for commercial purposes.
Use of boats on the Chilkoot River and the lake from the Tlingit village was in the form of canoes rowed to the “Glory Hole,” at the upper end of the lake for harvesting salmons and also for hunting wild life in the hills. However, in the mid 20th century boats were used to transport construction materials and to the homestead built by Cox in the upper reach of the river. Now, commercial ships operate in the lake, catering to tourism for fishing, sightseeing and for hunting expeditions.
Aqua fauna
thumb|250px|Ecology of the Salmon Forest in the Chilkoot River Corridor
The aqua fauna found in abundance in the Chilkoot River, as one approaches along the Lynn Canal and the outlet stream from the Chilkoot Lake, are Bald eagles, harbor seals, bears feeding on salmon and mountain goats on the hill slopes. The aqua fauna found in the Chilkoot River moves down from the Chilkoot Lake. These are mostly Sockeye Salmon or red salmon found in profusion. According to the studies carried out by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 25% spawn of sockeye is from the sensitive habitat of the upper watershed in the upper reaches of the river, above the Chilkoot Lake. These studies also indicated that anadromous fish, coho, Dolly Varden, and an occasional chum salmon were found above the Chilkoot Lake in the spawning and rearing grounds.
;Fishing tools and tackles
The aqua fauna found in the Chilkoot River are caught by the Tlingit Alaskan tribes by using long-handled scoop nets known as go qtc (gukwC), which is wide at the mouth and deep. Fireweed fiber, also called nettle or sinew, is wound round this device and the mesh is formed by tying it with mesh sticks with a double strand cord. A pole with two extended arms is used to hang the net, and as hung, it forms a quadrangular shape. The net is then immersed right up to the bed of the river from the bow end of the canoe (when its broadside drifts along the flow). The net is then drawn up swiftly against the current and with a quick turn of the wrist the contents are tipped into the boat. Semi conical baskets made of spruce rods are used in the fishing weirs built across the river to capture eulachon. hook capture the salmon fish that traveled up the artificial channel.
Preservation issues
Conflicts have arisen in the Chilkoot River Corridor (CRC) between humans and Alaskan brown bears, which frequent this region in large numbers during the months of August–September in search of spawning salmon. Consequently, a large number of visitors travel to the area to watch bears and bald eagles harvesting salmon along the river. To minimize human activities that disrupt the feeding bears, the Haines Chamber of Commerce, the Lynn Canal Conservation, Inc., and the Chilkoot Indian Association jointly launched the Chilkoot River Corridor Strategic Planning Project (CRC). The basic objective of this project was to develop and enact a plan for the longterm sustainable management of the existing natural, cultural, historical, and socio-economic resources of the Chilkoot River Corridor. After several meetings, the CRC has identified for action the following, as a guide to the Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation to act upon:
See also
- List of rivers of Alaska
- Chilkoot Lake
- Deer Rock
Gallery
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File:The Chilkoot Inlet and harbor.jpg|Chilkoot Inlet and the harbour
File:Chilkoot Rainforest.jpg|Chilkoot catchment covered with rain forests
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