WEST KOOTENAY – HISTORY

MAN IN THE KOOTENAYS
This is a story of man in a challenging environment. These rugged, densely forested mountains with their heavy winter snowfalls posed a colossal obstacle to man’s civilizing activities. Only their mineral wealth and imposing beauty could lure him into the high country.

Native Americans
Ten thousand years ago, the land was still cloaked in the Pleistocene Ice Age. As the ice receded, life advanced. At least 3,000 years ago, the Salish Indians arrived from the southwest, following their lifeblood—the spawning Pacific salmon—up the Columbia River. They settled in the valleys along the Columbia and Slocan rivers but rarely ventured into the surrounding mountains. More recently, approximately 400 years ago, the Kutenai Indians descended the Kootenay River from the southeast. The Kutenais were seasonal visitors, travelling along the shore of Kootenay Lake and the West Arm, to hunt, gather huckleberries, and fish for spawning kokanee in the tributary streams. These valley people, though never numerous, concentrated their activities along the Kootenay shoreline, and their artifacts can still be found there.

Like the Indians, the early European explorers avoided mountain travel. The towering north-south ranges were almost impassable, and the only feasible route – the Kootenay Lake-West Arm system – was too hazardous for regular canoe travel.

David Thompson
The great explorer David Thompson (born in Westminster, England, 1770-1857) was the first white man to explore the region and to descend the Columbia River from its source to its mouth. He made trips into the interior and also created accurate maps. In 1808, he reached the south end of Kootenay Lake in his vain search for a route down the Columbia Valley.

Working for the North West Company, he was not only Canada’s greatest geographer-explorer but also the foremost in Canada. Beginning in 1807, Thompson spent 22 years in the west, travelling some 80,000 kilometres by canoe and horseback in the summer, and by snowshoes and dog team in the winter. He established a successful fur trade west of the Rocky Mountains and mapped most of the Columbia River watershed. His exploration covered much of the territory that is now Montana, Idaho, and Washington, and he took possession of all of it on behalf of England. British politicians attached little value to the region, and in the 1840s, it became part of the United States. 

He showed the way for many people, including the well-known geologist, geographer, and linguist (of B.C. Indian languages) Dr. George Dawson (born in Pictou, Nova Scotia, 1849-1901). In 1884, with F. Tolmie, he published comparative vocabularies of the Indian tribes of B.C. Dawson’s description of the physical geography of Canada (with Alfred R. C. Selwyn) added to the knowledge, and Dawson laid the foundation for the mining development to follow.

Because of the West Kootenay’s rugged topography, there were few Indians and no trading posts until 1856 when Fort Shepherd was built on the Columbia River near the border. Finally, in 1865, in an attempt to maintain British influence during the Fort Steele gold rush to the east, the first east-west land route was established across the southern reaches of the Columbia Mountains near the U.S. border. This was the Dewdney Trail, and although it made political sense and paved the way for today’s southern Trans-Canada Highway #3, it was not economically competitive against the far easier trade routes that came from the US to the south. By 1880, it was overgrown and largely forgotten.

Not until the 1880s did the West Kootenay become generally known, the stimulus not furs but minerals. 

Mining
While the Dewdney deteriorated, the valley routes from the US steadily developed. The Selkirks and the Purcells had base metals in huge quantities – the lead and zinc of the Blue Bell, copper of the Silver King, and lead-zinc-gold of the Ymir and Sheep Creek mines. Out of the Slocan poured a stream of silver-lead-zinc ore, matched only in value by the gold and copper of Rossland Camp. It was the latter that led to the erection of the smelter at Trail Creek Landing (today’s Trail) on the Columbia River.

The rich mineral wealth of the Selkirk region was well known, and the development of water and rail routes set the stage for the great mining boom that put the West Kootenay on the map. Lured by the promise of the mother lode, man for the first time invaded the rugged mountains, which were laced with veins of silver, lead, and gold. The hard-rock mining boom of the 1880s was an exciting time. Mines dotted the landscape from the valleys to the peaks, as hardy prospectors combed the mountains for new claims (frequently burning off the dense forests to expose the bedrock). Towns such as Nelson, Kaslo, Ainsworth, New Denver, and Silverton sprang up.

Much of the capital for early mine development came from the United States, and ore shipments were made by boat to American railroads and American smelters. The Northern Pacific Railway spanned Idaho and Washington and had feeder lines to the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers/Lakes and a fleet of steamboats and barges. Soon, British and Eastern Canadian capital poured in, and the Canadian Pacific Railway completed its main line through the Rockies by the mid-1880s. But it bypassed the border areas by going via Rogers Pass, Golden, Revelstoke, and the Fraser Canyon to Vancouver.

The Great Northern Railway bought the Spokane Falls & Northern Railway and its extension into Rossland (Red Mountain Railway). Then, in 1893, they built the Nelson & Fort Shepherd to 5-Mile on Kootenay Lake, and subsequently, the Kaslo & Slocan Railway.

The CPR laid track between Kootenay Lake and Arrow Lakes and put a fleet of sternwheelers on Arrow Lakes that connected with a branch line from the main line in Revelstoke. Access to the Slocan was provided by the Nakusp and Slocan Railway from Nakusp to Sandon. In 1898, the CPR began the southern line through Crowsnest Pass to the Kootenays.

Both Canadians and Americans operated vessels on the Arrow and Kootenay Lakes, and the CPR also offered sternwheelers on the Slocan and Trout Lakes as time went on. American competition disappeared, and the CPR extended its control. Its sternwheelers worked for over 60 years, transporting ore from all the mines, as well as fruit and produce from orchards and farms, until the automobile took over. 

Sandon
The story of Sandon, today a ghost town, reflects the energy, wealth, and disappointments of the mining boom. Sandon’s story began by chance in the fall of 1891 when two prospectors, Eli Carpenter and John Seaton, took a shortcut from the valley to Ainsworth over an unmapped region of the Selkirks. Bushwhacking their way east, they stumbled upon an outcrop of rich silver ore at the top of a 2133m (7000 ft) ridge and rushed to the assay office in Ainsworth with their exciting discovery. Greed often brings out the worst in people. While Seaton waited outside the office, Carpenter had submitted low-grade ore, planning to return to the find and stake the claim with another prospector. The angry Seaton quickly gathered together four Irishmen, raced back to the mountain, and, beating Carpenter, staked the Noble Five claim. The “Silvery Slocan”, one of the wealthiest and most famous silver producers on the continent, was born. The news of the Nobel Five claim brought a frantic rush of prospectors to the area. While some staked claims were worth millions, most had far less luck.

A classic hard-luck story unfolded in the summer of 1892 when a prospector named J. W. Cockle discovered an apparent bonanza—a 125-ton boulder of high-grade silver-lead ore. He quickly staked the entire area in anticipation of the riches to come. First, he sold the boulder for $2000, only to see the purchasers take over $20,000 worth of silver from it. Then, to top off his bad luck, he discovered that the boulder had rolled down the mountainside from a rich but already staked claim above. His claim was worthless!

Amid this drama, the town of Sandon boomed: the wealth from the surrounding mines fed the thriving community. Serviced by two narrow-gauge railways (one to Kaslo, one to New Denver), Sandon bustled with 23 hotels and saloons, general stores, brothels, mining offices, restaurants, and an opera house. It was a wild, exciting 24-hour-a-day town – while the silver lasted. Today, its ruins stand as a silent reminder of another era.

Exciting though it may have been, the mining boom in the Selkirks was a time of tremendous hardship for the men who worked the mines. Long, hard hours of backbreaking work, primitive living conditions, and isolation were all part of the miner’s life. Avalanches often swept away both mines and men. The winter snows were so deep that in some areas the packhorses had to be fitted with snowshoes.

Settlement
The silver rush opened up the West Kootenay. Towns grew, roads and railways were built, and a fleet of paddle wheelers soon plied the valley lakes and rivers. Once this base of civilization was established, settlers began to arrive. In the early 1900s, the British Empire was at peace, and many British military officers were retiring from service and seeking a new life in the “colonies”. The West Kootenay was promoted in England as a land of spectacular mountains and fertile valleys, where one could live a pastoral life of orcharding and still find adventure. The area became home to many of these British families, who brought with them not only their cultural interests but also their adventurous spirit. While they cleared their land and built their houses, they listened to the prospectors’ stories of life in the mountains. Some began to explore the mining trails, and soon the word was out – the West Kootenay was excellent hiking country.

Hiking
Hiking outings became a popular social activity, and in 1918, the Kokanee Mountaineering Club was formed. One favourite outing of the time began with a boat trip to Kitto’s landing, where Charles Busk owned a large, handsomely landscaped ranch. From the ranch, hikers headed up the Molly Gibson Mine road along Kokanee Creek to the mine, continuing by trail to the Slocan Chief Cabin and Kokanee Glacier. The mountaineering club initiated a campaign to have the area designated as a park. By 1922, Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park had become a reality, with the Busk ranch serving as its base.

But times change. Spent ore bodies and the Depression spelled the end of the mining era, and the high country regions were deserted. Valley residents still hiked the trails, but recreational use of the mountains waned as serious hikers were drawn to the more publicized national parks. Logging, which replaced mining as the chief industry in the West Kootenay, has been increasing steadily, with clearcuts creeping up virtually every watershed.

Man’s history in these mountains emphasizes a frontier mentality: conquer, exploit, desert. But some of our predecessors had the energy and the wisdom to fight for the preservation of this vanishing wilderness, and we must carry on their work so that we will not be the last to thrill to its majesty.

EARLY CLIMBING 
The earliest climbers here, as in many ranges, were large animals such as moose, bears, and mountain goats. A moose once climbed up the summit cone of Mount Washington, New Hampshire, and would probably have made it to the top had it not been spooked by all the buildings and people on the summit. Beorn Peak (Horsefly) in the Gold Range had grizzly diggings on the top.

The earliest human climbers were likely the native people. Engaged in their daily work for sustenance, they probably paid little attention to the peaks above except to admire their beauty. Occasionally, however, some young Indian, on his quest for manhood and his trial of youth to find his personal totem animal or object, may have made his way to the heights and saw his goal on one of the peaks. Let us hope that such a story is preserved in their oral traditions.

Prospectors
The first known climbers were the prospectors. They shared much of their way of life with the Indians, as they lived in the area and often relied on the land, at least in the early days. Their existence was rugged and challenging, but it was not just a quest for gold and silver – it was a way of life and a source of enjoyment for many, in a new land of many wonders and mysteries. Little wonder that they loved it. But it was also dangerous. How many prospectors set out to replenish their larders, or to find mineral outcrops, and perished by breaking a leg on the rugged terrain, being overcome by a winter snowstorm, or being mauled by a grizzly bear? Although many of them were literate, they, like the Indians, left no (or few?) written records of their trips. Perhaps they felt overwhelmed by the vastness and difficulty of this wilderness.

Along with the quest for minerals comes the question of ownership, and thus, written records must be kept for mineral claims. Here lies our first clear glimpse of our recorded climbers, because a few claims were on the very summits of peaks. Mentioned are seven prospectors who were present before or just after the year 1900, who reached summits.
In the Badshots – Lemuel Arthur, N. Wilkie (a land surveyor, Trout Lake City), George S. McCarter (solicitor, Imp. Bank of Canada); in the Goat Group – James Cameron; in the Kokanee Group – Dan Henry Nellis, in the Spillimacheen Group – James Brady; and in the Carbonate Group – Frank Dick. The seven ascents were contemporaneous with the development of professional guided climbing at Glacier, B. C.

Other prospectors who probably gazed upon the beautiful landscape from the tops were:
George Richie – In 1905, he fought a grizzly bear and gave the name to the Battle Range. John Duncan – Duncan River area
Cy Hemlock and Hughie Brown – Duncan River area
Crockett – Badshots, Nettie L Mine
Elliott – Badshots 1890s
Eli Carpenter – Kokanee Group, Payne Mine; formerly a tight rope performer in a circus, 1891
James Brennan – Kokanee Group
John Seaton – Kokanee Group 1891
Hall brothers – Silver King Mine; Toad Mt 1887
This list is scarcely exhaustive and does not cover the more northerly Selkirks. Prospectors had reached the Northern Selkirks in the 1860s.

Surveyors
In addition to prospectors, surveyors were also active, and there are peaks named officially for Bridgland, Carson, Drewry, and Wheeler (listed below). Surveyors’ and prospectors’ names are often found associated with streams and mountains (e.g., Carpenter, Brennan).
The following list of surveyors is, of course, incomplete.
Wm. S. Drewry (Dogtooth, Spillimacheen, Albert, Melville, Kokanee Groups) 1891-1895
H. Boyd (Lardeau Group) 1903-1907
Morrison P. Bridgland (Central Selkirks, Monashees) 1910
Reginald W. Brock (Badshots) 1903-1904
Percy A. Carson (N. Purcells, Central Selkirks) 1906-1908
Arthur O. Wheeler (Central Selkirks) 1901-1902, a noted ACC member
Norman E. McConnell (N. Selkirks) 1937 Northeast Mtn. (Chapman Eccentric Survey Station) Poseidon Peak (Trident Eccentric Survey Station) and other peaks are listed in “Selkirks North”. McConnell’s surveys are almost unknown; the only information comes from the geologist and climber John O. Wheeler. McConnell also climbed four summits in the eastern Monashees, including Mount Wallis (Berthe Survey Station).

COLUMBIA RIVER TREATY
A significant change in West Kootenay’s transportation pattern occurred in 1965 when construction began on the $500 million Columbia River power and flood control project, a cooperative Canadian-US venture. Canada agreed to build three dams: two on the Columbia (Hugh Keeleyside and Mica) and one on the Duncan River at the northern end of Kootenay Lake.
Mica Dam. 136 km north of Revelstoke, it rises 650 feet (195 m) above the river bed and is 1 km wide. The world’s largest earth-filled dam created an inland sea called Kinbasket Lake, which is 216 km (135 miles) long.
Hugh Keenleyside Dam. At Castlegar, it is 52m (170′) high with a lock to permit log booms and small boats to utilize Arrow Lake. It backed up the Columbia River to Revelstoke, flooding the 32 km (20 miles) of river channel between the Lower and Upper Arrow Lakes, thus creating a lake 250 km (155 miles) long. It destroyed farms, summer homes, and communities.
Revelstoke Dam. Later, BC Hydro built this massive 150m (500′) dam three miles north of Revelstoke. It backs up water upstream almost to Mica Dam.