NASA satellite image of north central Washington state and southern British Columbia with the Kettle River Range outlined in red (photo: MODIS Jacques Descloitres, 2001)
Prospectors and low-paid Chinese miners working claims in the Kettle River Range produced more than 839,000 ounces of gold between 1896 and 1959.[8] The largest amounts came from the Republic District although 6,000 ounces of gold came from the Danville and Columbia River Districts.[8] Terrace deposits 30 and 100 feet above the Columbia River at Keller also produced gold.[8] Records state that during this time period, 164 lode mines, where thick mineral veins were worked with pick axes and shovels, and 35 placer mines, where minerals exposed by erosion were recovered from rivers and loose surface soil, operated in Ferry County.[8]—From 1904 to 1928, the Kettle River Range was the largest producer of gold in the state.[8] Mining operations yielded silver, copper, lead, zinc, platinum, nickel, cobalt, tungsten, iron, and iron pyrite ("fool’s gold"), as well.[8]
Today, the Kettle River Range is a popular, all-season recreation area for hiking, sport and aided climbing, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. The Kettle Crest National Recreation Trail follows the backbone of the range, and may be accessed at the Kettle Crest Trailhead on the north or the Deer Creek Summit South/Sno-Park Trailhead on the south.[9]
Wildfires
The White Mountain fire burnt and destroyed 21,000 acres of timber in the southern half of the range in 1988, including all but the easternmost flanks of White Mountain, Edds Mountain, Bald Mountain, and Snow Peak, north to Sherman Peak. The State of Washington installed several interpretive sites and pull-outs along roads in the region that explain the causes and effects of the fire.[10]
On August 13, 2001, a series of major wildfires and complexes were ignited by regional lightning storms passing over eastern Washington.[11] Among them was the Mount Leona Fire which burned for several weeks and encompasses over 6,000 acres in the central Kettle River range northeast of Curlew Lake.[12]
The Kettle Complex fires occurred in late summer of 2015. The complex included three fires – the Stickpin, Renner and Graves Mountain fires – burning south of the Canada–US border, west of Highway 395, north of State Route 20 and east of Highway 21. An estimated 73,392 acres were burned.[13]
Major summits
Copper Butte, 7,142 feet (2,177 m), the highest summit in the Kettle River Range