[4] It shares this feature with its neighbors, the Cross, Poplar, and Cascade rivers, which gives it a warmer water temperature and more steady flow than streams further to the south.

[6] Near Lake Superior, the river has dug deep potholes into the bedrock, some of which connected to form a narrow gorge and a system of waterfalls.

[10] The Temperance River is located within the Superior National Forest, and its upper portions are within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, thus it remains largely undeveloped.

[16][17] During the 1920s, Edward Wellington Backus was attempting to build hydroelectric dams on northern Minnesotan rivers,[18] and the blasting was likely connected to this development.

It has been variously blamed on land speculators trying to convince buyers that the Brule had enough flow to be a viable source of hydroelectric power,[17] or upon employees of a local development company working towards the same purpose.