Methow River

{{Infobox river | name = Methow River | name_native = {{native name|und|Buttlemuleemauch|paren=omit}} | name_native_lang = | name_other = | name_etymology =  | image = Methow River.JPG | image_caption = The Methow River at [[Mazama, Washington|Mazama]] | image_size = 300 | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Washington#USA | pushpin_map_size = 300 | pushpin_map_caption= Location of the mouth of the Methow River in Washington  | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = [[United States]] | subdivision_type2 = State | subdivision_name2 = [[Washington (state)|Washington]] | subdivision_type3 = Region | subdivision_name3 = [[Okanogan County]] | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = Cities | subdivision_name5 = [[Winthrop, Washington|Winthrop]], [[Twisp, Washington|Twisp]], [[Pateros, Washington|Pateros]]  | length = {{convert|80|mi|km|abbr=on}}<ref name="gazetteer">[http://www.bartleby.com/69/86/M06586.html Methow River] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041224092826/http://www.bartleby.com/69/86/M06586.html |date=2004-12-24 }}, The Columbia Gazetteer of North America. 2000.</ref> | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= [[mouth]]<ref name="wdr">https://pubs.usgs.gov/wdr/2005/wdr-wa-05-1/ Water Resources Data-Washington Water Year 2005</ref> | discharge1_min = {{convert|150|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}} | discharge1_avg = {{convert|1522|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="wdr">https://pubs.usgs.gov/wdr/2005/wdr-wa-05-1/ Water Resources Data-Washington Water Year 2005</ref> | discharge1_max = {{convert|27200|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}  | source1 = [[Cascade Range]] | source1_location = Methow Pass | source1_coordinates= {{coord|48|35|9|N|120|44|44|W|display=inline}}<ref name="GNISmethow">{{Gnis|1523034|Methow River}}, [[USGS]] GNIS.</ref> | source1_elevation = {{convert|5677|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="GE">[[Google Earth]] elevation for GNIS coordinates.</ref> | mouth = [[Columbia River]] | mouth_location = [[Pateros, Washington|Pateros]] | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|48|3|2|N|119|53|43|W|display=inline,title}}<ref name="GNISmethow"/> | mouth_elevation = {{convert|784|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="GE"/> | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = {{convert|1825|sqmi|abbr=on}}<ref name=subbasin>{{cite web |title= Wenatchee Subbasin Plan |publisher= Northwest Power and Conservation Council |url= http://www.nwcouncil.org/fw/subbasinplanning/wenatchee/plan/ |access-date= 30 July 2009}}</ref> | tributaries_left = [[Lost River (Methow River tributary)|Lost River]], [[Chewuch River]] | tributaries_right = Early Winters Creek, [[Twisp River]] | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = }} The '''Methow River''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɛ|t|h|aʊ}} {{respell|MET|how}})<ref>''Webster's Geographical Dictionary''.</ref> is a [[tributary]] of the [[Columbia River]] in northern [[Washington (state)|Washington]] in the United States. The river's {{convert|1890|sqmi|km2|adj=on}} [[Drainage basin|watershed]] drains the eastern [[North Cascades]], with a population of about 5,000 people. The Methow's watershed is characterized by relatively pristine habitats, as much of the river basin is located in national forests and wildernesses. Many tributaries drain the large [[Pasayten Wilderness]]. An earlier economy based on agriculture is giving way to one based on recreation and tourism.

The Methow is inhabited by a population of [[steelhead]], [[Chinook salmon]], [[bull trout]], [[rainbow trout]], [[cutthroat trout]], [[mountain whitefish]], and [[coho salmon]]. This makes it a locally popular sport fishery.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fly Fishing Report On The Methow River, Washington - The Perfect Fly Store |url=https://perfectflystore.com/your-streams/fly-fishing-on-the-methow-river-washington/ |access-date=2026-03-20 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Reschke |first=Carter |date=2020-06-26 |title=Methow River Fishing: Catch Trout and (Maybe) Steelhead |url=https://www.bestfishinginamerica.com/washington-methow-river-fishing.html |access-date=2026-03-20 |website=Best Fishing in America |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Steelhead fishing open for first time in 9 years – Methow Valley News |url=https://methowvalleynews.com/2024/10/24/steelhead-fishing-open-for-first-time-in-9-years/ |access-date=2026-03-20 |website=methowvalleynews.com}}</ref>

==History== The river was named after the [[Methow people|Methow]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] (today part of the Confederated Tribes of the [[Colville Indian Reservation]]). The name "Methow" comes from the [[Colville-Okanagan language|Okanagan]] placename ''/mətxʷú/'', meaning "sunflower (seeds)".<ref name="Bright2004">{{cite book|last=Bright|first=William|author-link=William O. Bright|title=Native American placenames of the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5XfxzCm1qa4C&pg=PA280|access-date=11 April 2011|year=2004|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-3598-4|page=280}}</ref> The Native American name for the river was ''Buttlemuleemauch'', meaning "salmon falls river".<ref>{{cite book |last= Phillips |first= James W. |title= Washington State Place Names |url= https://archive.org/details/washingtonstatep00phil |url-access= registration |year= 1971 |publisher= University of Washington Press |isbn= 0-295-95158-3}}</ref> In 1841 the [[United States Exploring Expedition|Wilkes Expedition]] named the river "Barrier River". [[Alexander Ross (fur trader)|Alexander Ross]] said the native name was Buttle-mule-emauch. In 1811 [[David Thompson (explorer)|David Thompson]] met the tribe living along the river and wrote their name as Smeetheowe.<ref>{{cite journal |editor-last=Elliott|editor-first=T.C.|author-link= |title=Journal of David Thompson|journal=The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society|publisher=Oregon Historical Society|volume=15|issue=1 |page=51|date=1914|jstor=20609949|title-link=David Thompson (explorer) |language=en|last1=Elliott |first1=T. C. }}</ref> In 1853 George Gibbs called the river Methow or Barrier.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Meany |first= Edmond S. |author-link= Edmond S. Meany |year= 1920 |title= Origin of Washington Geographic Names |journal= The Washington Historical Quarterly |volume= XI |page= 204 |publisher= Washington University State Historical Society |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=dbsUAAAAYAAJ |access-date=2009-06-11}}</ref>

==Course== The Methow River, along with its tributaries the Twisp River, Cedar Creek, and Early Winters Creek, originates in a cluster of high mountains including [[Golden Horn (Washington)|Golden Horn]], [[Tower Mountain (Washington)|Tower Mountain]], [[Cutthroat Peak]], [[Snagtooth Ridge]], [[Big Kangaroo|Kangaroo Ridge]], [[Early Winters Spires]], and [[Liberty Bell Mountain]]. Several mountain passes are associated with the Methow River and its tributaries, such as Methow Pass and Twisp Pass. [[Washington State Route 20|State Route 20]] utilizes [[Washington Pass]] and [[Rainy Pass]], also in the general areas of headwater streams.

The [[Pacific Crest Trail]] follows the uppermost reach of the Methow River, until the river turns east, flowing into the Methow Valley near [[Mazama, Washington|Mazama]]. Along the way, it collects the tributary streams of Robinson Creek and Lost River. In the Methow Valley, between Mazama and [[Winthrop, Washington|Winthrop]], the Methow River is joined by Early Winters Creek, Cedar Creek, Goat Creek, and Wolf Creek. The [[Chewuch River]] joins at Winthrop. One of the Methow's larger tributaries, the Chewuch River, and its many tributaries drain large parts of the Pasayten Wilderness to the north. One of its headwater streams, Cathedral Creek, reaches nearly to [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]].

The Methow Valley continues below Winthrop to [[Twisp, Washington|Twisp]], where the Methow River is joined by another important tributary, the [[Twisp River]]. Flowing from the west, the Twisp River drains the mountains south of Washington Pass as well as the eastern slopes of Sawtooth Ridge, a major mountain range with some of Washington state's highest peaks (such as Star Peak and Mt Bigelow).

Downriver from Twisp, the Methow River passes by the communities of Carlton and Methow, receiving several minor tributaries, before joining the Columbia River at [[Pateros, Washington|Pateros]]. This part of the Columbia is the impoundment of [[Wells Dam]], a lake known as [[Lake Pateros]].

==Ecology and conservation== In Robertson v. Methow Valley Citizens Council (a 1989 [[John Paul Stevens|Stevens]] decision) the [[Rehnquist Court]] concluded {{cquote|that [[National Environmental Policy Act|NEPA]] does not require a fully developed plan detailing what steps will be taken to mitigate adverse environmental impacts and does not require a "[[worst case analysis]]." In addition, we hold that the Forest Service has adopted a permissible interpretation of its own regulations.}} [[File:Two beavers being relocated.jpg|thumb|Beavers being reintroduced along the Methow River, in 2014]] Since 2007, the Methow Beaver Project has translocated over 240 "problem" [[North American beaver|beaver]] (''Castor canadensis'') into 51 suitable sites in various headwater tributaries of the Methow watershed. The sites were selected using satellite imagery and computer modelling. Translocation success was optimized by putting pairs of beavers together in man-made lodges that tended to keep them in the desired sites so that the beaver ponds would store rainwater, trap sediment and repair channel incision/erosion, serve as nurseries for [[salmonid]]s and other species, and act as firebreaks in the fire-prone eastern Cascades. One beaver that was [[PIT tag|PIT]] (passive integrated transponder) tagged and released in the upper part of the Methow Valley swam to the mouth of the Methow River, then up the [[Okanogan River]] almost to the Canada–US border, a journey of {{convert|120|mi|km}}. The Methow Beaver Project is a partnership between the [[U.S. Forest Service]], the [[Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife]] and the Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Beavers may be part of answer to climate change |author=Ann McCreary |date=Jan 24, 2016 |newspaper=Methow Valley News |url=http://methowvalleynews.com/2016/01/23/beavers-may-be-part-of-answer-to-climate-change/ |access-date=Jan 24, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The beaver whisperer |author=Ben Goldfarb |date=Nov 9, 2015 |newspaper= High Country News |url= http://www.hcn.org/issues/47.19/the-beaver-whisperer |access-date=Jan 24, 2016 }}</ref> Beaver were nearly exterminated in the Methow watershed by the early 1900s by fur trappers.

==See also== * [[List of rivers of Washington (state)]] * [[Tributaries of the Columbia River]] * [[Methow, Washington]] {{commons category}}

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Rivers of Washington (state)]] [[Category:Tributaries of the Columbia River]] [[Category:Rivers of Okanogan County, Washington]] [[Category:Valleys of Washington (state)]]