Its headwaters are at the Marshall Flowage near Malay Falls and the mouth of the river is at the head of the Northeast Arm in Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia.

[10] The first sulphide pulp mill in Canada was built by the Halifax Wood Fibre Company in October 1885, at East River, Sheet Harbour.

[11] Since the discovery of the sulphite process in 1866, the news had traveled to William Chisholm, a lumber manufacturer in Halifax who had 60 thousand acres (24,000 ha; 240 km2) of woodland on the Sheet Harbour rivers.

[12] The mill was closed in January 1891, due to the high costs of importing sulphide from the United States.

[13] The cookhouse which was used at the mill was bought by the residents of Watt Section and was floated down the harbour to the community.