Paddy Ryan Lakes
“Paddy had some peculiarities, but he has a heart in him that is bigger than the average and as gentle and kind as a child’s.”19
Paddy Ryan
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Category Archives: Lakes
McLean
McLean Lake/Creek
“We sat down and sliding – not always smoothly or comfortably – from one foothold to another and making sharp angles around rugged corners of the bluff we got to the mouth of a tunnel. Dave… with a smile asked; “How would you like to pack these timbers on your back down there?” pointing at some timbering. No one replied as we were very anxious then to get further into the tunnel to take a long breath.”11
Lake of the Hanging Glacier
Other names: Lake Maye, Lake of the Hanging Glaciers
“The Glaciers are certainly a spectacle. They hang. They do hang.”30
Munn
Munn Lake (local name for Wilmer Lake)
You won’t likely find Munn Lake on a map: it’s a local name that many locals don’t even know is local. I certainly didn’t. If you want driving directions on your phone type in Wilmer Lake, but if you ask a local there’s a chance they won’t what you’re talking about.
Wilmer
Wilmer (Community), Wilmer Lake, Wilmer Creek
Other names: Columbia City (1898-1899), Peterborough/Peterboro (1899-1902), Klunwakaqlalali?it
“[Wilmer] remains a genuine native product, an epitome of the life of the Valley. Wilmer is not pushful. It is old enough to have acquired dignity, and if it ever adventures itself, it does so with becoming moderation.”
(Columbia Valley Times, 21 December 1912)
Armstrong
Armstrong Bay, Columbia Lake
Armstrong quickly developed a reputation in the valley as, “one of the most energetic little men I ever met.” Described as, “Short, compactly but cleanly built, with iron-grey hair, square, determined jaw and piercing black eyes,” Armstrong was also described as “the biggest little man on the Upper Columbia.”
Bunyan
Bunyan Lake, Located at the base of Castle Rock, near Invermere
The Bunyan mining claim was located on the shoulder of a bluff about 300 feet above the bench lands below, and in 1920 it was decided that the best way to access the ore was to blow off the shoulder with one massive blast and turn the mine into something more resembling an open quarry.
Windermere (Kananuk)
Windermere (Community), Windermere Lake, Windermere/North Windermere Creek, Windermere District, Windermere Mining Division [historical]
Other Names: Kananuk (Windermere), yaqunaki (Windermere), ?akisqnuk (Windermere Lake), Kootenae Lake (David Thompson), Lower Columbia Lake
” The story of Windermere is either very short and idealized, or a bit longer and far more complicated. I’ll share both, and you can decide whether you want to stick with the (extremely brief) somewhat romantic story, or if you want to carry on into some less cheerful corners of valley history. Your choice.”
In The Windermere 