The Teslin River is a river in southern Yukon Territory and northwestern British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, that flows 393 miles from its source south of Teslin Lake

Teslin Lake

Teslin Lake is a large lake spanning the border between British Columbia and Yukon in Canada. It is one of a group of large lakes in the region of far northwestern BC, east of the upper Alaska Panhandle, which are the southern extremity of the basin of the Yukon River, and which are known in the...

 to its confluence with the Yukon River

Yukon River

The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...

.

During the Klondike Gold Rush

Klondike Gold Rush

The Klondike Gold Rush, also called the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the Last Great Gold Rush, was an attempt by an estimated 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1897 and 1899 in the hope of successfully prospecting for gold...

 of 1896-99, the river became a popular route to the Klondike gold fields near Dawson City with the stampeders who had crossed the Coast Mountains

Coast Mountains

The Coast Mountains are a major mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia. They are so-named because of their proximity to the sea coast, and are often...

 by routes such as the Chilkoot Trail

Chilkoot Trail

The Chilkoot Trail is a 33 miles trail through the Coast Mountains that leads from Dyea, Alaska in the United States, to Bennett, British Columbia in Canada....

 or the White Pass

White Pass

White Pass is a mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains on the border of the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia, Canada...

 trail.

The English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 name of the Teslin River is derived from native names. In the local Tutchone language

Tutchone language

Tutchone is a threatened Athabaskan language spoken in the Yukon Territory in Canada. It has two varieties that are sometimes considered separate languages, Southern Tutchone and Northern Tutchone....

. spoken north of the lake it was called Délin Chú and the Chilkat Tlingit called it Deisleen Héeni. In the Tlingit language

Tlingit language

The Tlingit language ) is spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada. It is a branch of the Na-Dené language family. Tlingit is very endangered, with fewer than 140 native speakers still living, all of whom are bilingual or near-bilingual in English...

 the local kwaan or tribe of Inland Tlingit call themselves Deisleen Kwáan", meaning "Big Sinew Tribe". Prospectors and explorers passing through the region recorded that the local natives called the river Teslin-tuh or Teslin-too, from which we get the English name. The portion of the river upstream of the lake (south of the lake) was officially designated the Whiteswan River from 1904 to 1951. The other major feeder streams of the system, via Teslin Lake, are the Jennings River

Jennings River

The Jennings River is a river in far northern British Columbia, Canada, rising in the northern reaches of the Stikine Ranges of the Cassiar Mountains, at first running southwest, then turning northeast near the Tuya Range to enter Teslin Lake at its southern end, just to the east of the estuary of...

, from the southeast, and the Swift River

Swift River (Teslin)

The Swift River is a river that begins in Yukon Territory and flows southwest into British Columbia to its mouth at the east side of Teslin Lake on the Teslin River system...

, from the east-northeast.

Black Spruce

Black Spruce

Picea mariana is a species of spruce native to northern North America, from Newfoundland west to Alaska, and south to northern New York, Minnesota and central British Columbia...

is a significant tree within the Teslin River watershed.