Other Names: Deadmans Creek, Murder Creek
“We used to call that creek “Deadman’s” and “Murder”, but people seem to be getting squeamish about such things and place names.”54
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)
Jack Taynton was described as “a bit of a renegade.” His brother, Bill, was “soft spoken, loved flowers and displayed gentlemanly manners.” Both brothers, and their sons, ended up living or retiring alongside Windermere Lake in an area that became known as Tayntonville or Taynton Bay.
The area of Law Creek (and now Mount Law) is interesting in that it is named after a man who, by all accounts, had left the Kootenays by 1892 never to return. It is also unique as the name “Law Creek” is the best evidence I’ve been able to find for Charles Frederick Law ever having done prospecting work in that area.
Sally Farnham was an established member of New York’s high society, a wife, and a mother, but she also became a successful and sought after sculptor, noted for her “keen eye and her ability to capture individual character.”
Other names:
Spallumacheen, Spallumcheen, Speylumacheen, Spillamachene, Spillemacheen, Spillemachene, Spillemachine, Spillemcheen, Spill-e-mu-chem, Spillimacheene, Spillimachine, Spillimachene, Spillimachin, Spillomochene, Spillumacheen
“[W]e had lunch and rested the horses after which we started out for ‘Spillimacheen.’ I have spelt the name as above but it is open to any one wishing to spell it any other way to do so if he likes, the only part of the work about which there is any agreement being ‘Spil.'” 4 I would disagree. From the list of spellings I’ve encountered, I would argue that the most anyone has agreed upon on is “Sp.”
Bugaboos / n / a nemesis; a real or imagined obstacle that cannot be overcome; something that always causes failure or bad luck.
Associated Names: Named after the Red Line group of mines at the head of the creek. The Red Line (1898-c.1902) was also known as the McDonald Mines (1902), the Ptarmigan Mines (1903-1920s), and Selkirk Ptarmigan Mines Ltd (1958-1964?)
“There is no doubt that the mine will never be reopened again, and there is also no doubt that a great deal more money was spent on the property than ever its showing of ore warranted.” (Report to the Minister of Mines, 1915)
“Jim considered the proposal with drunken gravity and when I mentioned that there was still a bottle of whiskey… he handed Kelly over on my promise that I would lock him up. I had to keep my hands on him until inside the government buildings and then the old brute abused me like a pickpocket. I’ll never forget the figure of fun he made, sitting behind his desk with a muzzle-loading Colt revolver in each hand.”
It is ironic, perhaps, that a man who had such a troubled relationship with the isolation of British Columbia now has a creek, a mountain, and a glacier named after him in one of the more isolated parts of the province.
In The Windermere 