Little Salmon River
Encyclopedia
The Little Salmon River is a tributary of the Salmon River
in the U.S. state
of Idaho
. The river is some 51 miles (82.1 km) long and drains 576 square miles (1,491.8 km²) of land.
of south-central Idaho, close to Payette Lake. From there, it flows north, through the broad Meadows Valley past Meadows and New Meadows
, where it receives Goose Creek from the right and Mud Creek from the left.
The river then enters a canyon, cutting across the western edge of the Salmon River Mountains
, forming the boundary between Idaho County
and Adams County
and also running next to U.S. Highway 95. It receives Hazard Creek and Payette Creek both from the right, then receives Boulder Creek, the Rapid River and Squaw Creek from the left, and past Pollock
, before joining the Salmon River at the town of Riggins
, at 1720 feet (524.3 m) above sea level.
developing between the Rocky Mountains
and the Columbia Plateau
section of the Intermontane Plateaus
. Columbia River basalts underlie much of the western and central parts of the watershed, while other types of volcanic rock of closer origin form the foundations of the eastern mountains. The entire watershed is dissected by fault-block rifting. The water table
is high and soils are generally well drained and of volcanic origin. The upper section of the watershed is a broad and low-gradient, sediment-floored valley used primarily for agriculture
and ranching activities, and also has most of the basin's population. The rest of the river flows in a wild, deep, and narrow canyon mostly undeveloped with the exception of the highway. Logging
has also been a past activity in the valley, and tourism
and fishing
are growing industries. In a rare occurrence with rivers, the Little Salmon starts out in a developed, relatively flat area and flows through mountains further downstream, bearing some resemblance to the Klamath River
, which also begins in an agricultural valley before cutting through mountains to the sea.
and Bannock
Native American tribes inhabited the watershed of the Little Salmon River. Their lifestyle depended on the river for salmon
and on the surrounding lands for other animals, as well as precious natural minerals and resources that provided them with items to trade. Europe
ans introduced horse
s to the Bannock, who in turn spread their use to the Shoshones, allowing them to travel further and hunt buffalo
and other big game. Settlers began arriving in the 1850s and established farms, ranches and towns. Communications to the outside world was limited until the construction of roads and railroads in the early 20th Century. Despite that, the region has still remained relatively isolated.
The Payette National Forest
and Nez Perce National Forest
cover portions of the Little Salmon River watershed, but at no point does the river flow over federally protected lands. However, the river is also completely free flowing and unobstructed by dams or dikes. Most of the watershed receives about 20 to 25 in (508 to 635 mm) of rainfall per year. On higher mountain slopes rainfall can be up to 40 to 50 in (1,016 to 1,270 mm) annually, and on the highest west-facing mountains, precipitation can be much higher than that. About half of the river is inhabited by namesake salmon, but at river mile
24.7 (river kilometer 39.8) Little Salmon Falls, at the confluence with Round Valley Creek, marks the end of the limit for anadromous fish. However, this barrier may have been different at some point in the past, because Native Americans have traditionally fished on the Little Salmon well upriver of the falls. Other than salmon, steelhead, Pacific lamprey
, several different species of trout
and dace, and other species of fish, are also present. Cottonwood, willow
, dogwood
and alder
grow along the banks of the river.
is now the primary water use in the Little Salmon River watershed. Although irrigated farmland lies all along the river, most of it is in the Meadows Valley and also in the watershed of Round Valley Creek, a major western tributary. There are 18500 acres (74.9 km²) of irrigated farmland in the Meadows Valley and the Round Valley Creek area, and 700 acres (2.8 km²) closer to the mouth of the river. Although no dams have been built on the river, there are three dams in the headwaters of Goose Creek, a major tributary of the river, to regulate flows for irrigation water. The total water usage for irrigation is 74800 acre.ft per year.
Salmon River (Idaho)
The Salmon River is located in Idaho in the northwestern United States. The Salmon is also known as The River of No Return. It flows for through central Idaho, draining and dropping more than between its headwaters, near Galena Summit above the Sawtooth Valley in the Sawtooth National...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
. The river is some 51 miles (82.1 km) long and drains 576 square miles (1,491.8 km²) of land.
Course
It rises at 6280 feet (1,914.1 m) in elevation on Blue Bunch Ridge in the Sawtooth RangeSawtooth Range (Idaho)
The Sawtooth Range is part of the Rocky Mountains, located within a few miles south of Stanley, Idaho, in the Western United States. Much of mountain range is within the Sawtooth Wilderness, part of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area...
of south-central Idaho, close to Payette Lake. From there, it flows north, through the broad Meadows Valley past Meadows and New Meadows
New Meadows, Idaho
New Meadows is a rural city in Adams County, Idaho, United States, at the southern and upper end of the Meadows Valley, on the Little Salmon River. Located in the west central part of the state, just south of the 45th parallel north, the population was 496 at the 2010 census. New Meadows is...
, where it receives Goose Creek from the right and Mud Creek from the left.
The river then enters a canyon, cutting across the western edge of the Salmon River Mountains
Salmon River Mountains
The Salmon River Mountains are a major mountain range covering most of the central part of the U.S. state of Idaho. The range is over long and its boundaries are usually defined by the Salmon River and its large tributary forks. Part of the central Rocky Mountains, the entire range lies west of...
, forming the boundary between Idaho County
Idaho County, Idaho
Idaho County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2010 Census the county had a population of 16,267. The county seat is Grangeville...
and Adams County
Adams County, Idaho
Adams County is a rural county located in the state of Idaho. As of the 2010 census the county had a population of 3,976. The county seat and largest city is Council.Adams County was established in 1911 and was named in honor of President John Adams...
and also running next to U.S. Highway 95. It receives Hazard Creek and Payette Creek both from the right, then receives Boulder Creek, the Rapid River and Squaw Creek from the left, and past Pollock
Pollock, Idaho
Pollock is an unincorporated community in Idaho County, Idaho, United States. Pollock is located on U.S. Route 95 south-southwest of Riggins. Pollock has a post office with ZIP code 83547....
, before joining the Salmon River at the town of Riggins
Riggins, Idaho
Riggins is a city in Idaho County, Idaho, United States. It is nestled deep in a canyon at the confluence of the Salmon River and the Little Salmon River in west central Idaho, approximately 150 highway miles north of Boise, and 120 highway miles south-southeast of Lewiston...
, at 1720 feet (524.3 m) above sea level.
Discharge
A U.S. Geological Survey stream gauge at the mouth recorded an average flow of 731.1 cuft/s from 1952 to present. The highest flow ever recorded was 12600 cuft/s on June 17, 1974.Geology and land use
The Little Salmon River formed as a result of a rift valleyRift valley
A rift valley is a linear-shaped lowland between highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift or fault. This action is manifest as crustal extension, a spreading apart of the surface which is subsequently further deepened by the forces of erosion...
developing between the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
and the Columbia Plateau
Columbia Plateau
The Columbia Plateau is a geologic and geographic region that lies across parts of the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It is a wide flood basalt plateau between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains, cut through by the Columbia River...
section of the Intermontane Plateaus
Intermontane Plateaus
Physiographic regions of the U.S. InteriorSee:legendIn some places,high plateaus lie between the mountain ranges, for example,the plateau of Anatolia in Turkey and the plateau of Tibet.These are called "Intermontane plateaus"....
. Columbia River basalts underlie much of the western and central parts of the watershed, while other types of volcanic rock of closer origin form the foundations of the eastern mountains. The entire watershed is dissected by fault-block rifting. The water table
Water table
The water table is the level at which the submarine pressure is far from atmospheric pressure. It may be conveniently visualized as the 'surface' of the subsurface materials that are saturated with groundwater in a given vicinity. However, saturated conditions may extend above the water table as...
is high and soils are generally well drained and of volcanic origin. The upper section of the watershed is a broad and low-gradient, sediment-floored valley used primarily for agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and ranching activities, and also has most of the basin's population. The rest of the river flows in a wild, deep, and narrow canyon mostly undeveloped with the exception of the highway. Logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
has also been a past activity in the valley, and tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
and fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
are growing industries. In a rare occurrence with rivers, the Little Salmon starts out in a developed, relatively flat area and flows through mountains further downstream, bearing some resemblance to the Klamath River
Klamath River
The Klamath River is an American river that flows southwest through Oregon and northern California, cutting through the Cascade Range to empty into the Pacific Ocean. The river drains an extensive watershed of almost that stretches from the high desert country of the Great Basin to the temperate...
, which also begins in an agricultural valley before cutting through mountains to the sea.
History
Historically, the Nez Perce, ShoshoneShoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe in the United States with three large divisions: the Northern, the Western and the Eastern....
and Bannock
Bannock (tribe)
The Bannock tribe of the Northern Paiute are an indigenous people of the Great Basin. Their traditional lands include southeastern Oregon, southeastern Idaho, western Wyoming, and southwestern Montana...
Native American tribes inhabited the watershed of the Little Salmon River. Their lifestyle depended on the river for salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
and on the surrounding lands for other animals, as well as precious natural minerals and resources that provided them with items to trade. Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans introduced horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s to the Bannock, who in turn spread their use to the Shoshones, allowing them to travel further and hunt buffalo
American Bison
The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
and other big game. Settlers began arriving in the 1850s and established farms, ranches and towns. Communications to the outside world was limited until the construction of roads and railroads in the early 20th Century. Despite that, the region has still remained relatively isolated.
The Payette National Forest
Payette National Forest
The Payette National Forest, is a U.S. National Forest located in central western Idaho, in parts of Valley, Idaho, Adams, and Washington counties. The land area consists of approximately 2.3 million acres of federally managed lands...
and Nez Perce National Forest
Nez Perce National Forest
The Nez Perce National Forest is located in Idaho County in central western Idaho in the northwestern United States. The forest is bounded on the east by the state of Montana, on the north by the Palouse region, and on the south and west by the Clearwater National Forest. It has a total area of...
cover portions of the Little Salmon River watershed, but at no point does the river flow over federally protected lands. However, the river is also completely free flowing and unobstructed by dams or dikes. Most of the watershed receives about 20 to 25 in (508 to 635 mm) of rainfall per year. On higher mountain slopes rainfall can be up to 40 to 50 in (1,016 to 1,270 mm) annually, and on the highest west-facing mountains, precipitation can be much higher than that. About half of the river is inhabited by namesake salmon, but at river mile
River mile
In the United States, a River mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometers is the River kilometer...
24.7 (river kilometer 39.8) Little Salmon Falls, at the confluence with Round Valley Creek, marks the end of the limit for anadromous fish. However, this barrier may have been different at some point in the past, because Native Americans have traditionally fished on the Little Salmon well upriver of the falls. Other than salmon, steelhead, Pacific lamprey
Pacific lamprey
The Pacific lamprey is an anadromous parasitic lamprey from the Pacific Coast of North America and Asia. It is also known as the three tooth lamprey and tridentate lamprey.-Biology:...
, several different species of trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
and dace, and other species of fish, are also present. Cottonwood, willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
, dogwood
Dogwood
The genus Cornus is a group of about 30-60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods. Most dogwoods are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and a few of the woody species are evergreen...
and alder
Alder
Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...
grow along the banks of the river.
Hydrology
IrrigationIrrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
is now the primary water use in the Little Salmon River watershed. Although irrigated farmland lies all along the river, most of it is in the Meadows Valley and also in the watershed of Round Valley Creek, a major western tributary. There are 18500 acres (74.9 km²) of irrigated farmland in the Meadows Valley and the Round Valley Creek area, and 700 acres (2.8 km²) closer to the mouth of the river. Although no dams have been built on the river, there are three dams in the headwaters of Goose Creek, a major tributary of the river, to regulate flows for irrigation water. The total water usage for irrigation is 74800 acre.ft per year.