Goat River (Kootenay River tributary)

85 kilometres (53 mi) in length, the Goat River rises in the central Purcell Mountains just west of Mallaindane Pass and flows largely south until meeting Kitchener Creek.

[2] In the 1860s, the lower Goat River valley became part of the route for the Dewdney Trail, connecting the gold fields of Wild Horse Creek with the coast.

Surveyed and constructed by Edgar Dewdney and Walter Moberly, the trail was seen as a countermeasure to American encroachment into the southern Kootenays.

[3] The demand for electricity in the growing town of Creston led to the construction of the Goat River Dam in the early 1930s.

It operated until the large power projects of the 1950s in the Kootenays reduced the need for the generating station, which suffered from ice buildup in winter and an inconstant water supply.