Tag Archives: East Kootenay History

Horsethief

Posted on by
Reply

Horsethief Creek (flows into Columbia River just below Invermere), Horsethief Falls

Other Names: No 1 Creek, Horse Thief Creek

“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.”

– Read More>

Advertisement

Armstrong

Posted on by
Reply

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.”

– Read More>

Canal Flats (?akamukul)

Posted on by
Reply

Canal Flats Village, South end of Columbia Lake

Other Names: ?akamukul, Yaqa•n Nukiy, McGillivray’s Crossing/McGillivray’s Portage, Grohman, Canal, Canal Flat

“We… coast[ed] along the low rush-grown shore [of Columbia Lake] towards the south-western corner … We soon became aware that this marshy waste of rushes, grass, willows, and water swarmed with every sort of moisture-loving bird, from geese down to sand-pipers. … we began to paddle up what we guessed to be the arm leading to the landing. More than a mile we followed this delusive stream, remarkable for the numerous springs which everywhere gushed up from crater-like basins at the bottom, while round them grew the most beautiful and luxuriant water-weeds ever seen, their delicate filigree-work of many-hued leaves and tendrils all clearly defined in the limpid water.” (Lees and Clutterbuck, B.C. 1887: A Ramble in British Columbia, p 178-179.)

– Read More>

Bunyan

Posted on by
Reply

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.

– Read More>

Nelson

Posted on by
2

Mount Nelson, Invermere area

This prominent peak was the first mountain in the Windermere Valley to be named by a European. It was then renamed, renamed, and renamed again before the powers that be finally decided to return back to that first European name: after a heroic British naval commander who was also known for an extended affair with another woman while both were married.

– Read More>

Baillie Grohman

Posted on by
Reply

Baillie Grohman Avenue (Canal Flats)

After the canal flats project failed to succeed, the entire venture was titled as “The Grohman Canal Swindle” and Baillie Grohman himself was shouldered with much of the blame for it.

– Read More>

Athalmer (Kwataqnuk)

Posted on by
3

Athalmer (Community), Athalmer Road

Other Names: Athalmere, Athelmar, Athelmer, Kwataq̓nuk, Salmon Beds

‘I like Athalmer. It has the air of a city, it carries itself well, with an assurance that sits well on it. … The town is planned on a generous scale, with wide streets and plenty of breathing space. … Who knows but some day the Canadian navy will ride at anchor in Lake Windermere.’
(The Columbia Valley Times, 7 December 1912)

– Read More>

Vowell

Posted on by
Reply

Vowell Creek, Vowell Peak, Vowell Glacier

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.

– Read More>

Pedley

Posted on by
3

Pedley Pass, Mount Pedley, Pedley Creek, Peddley [sic] Road, Pedley Heights Drive

The origins of the name “Pedley” aren’t recorded, however circumstances suggest that the name came from a man on the run from the law. When a warrant was issued for the arrest of Alfred Pedley he left his family, fled for the hills, and stayed hidden out in the mountains for nearly a year before turning himself in.

– Read More>

Farnham

Posted on by
1

Mount Farnham, Farnham Tower, Farnham Creek, Paulding Creek

George Paulding Farnham was an American jewellery designer and sculptor who worked for Tiffany & Co from the 1880s until 1908, including as head jewellery designer from 1891. His designs won multiple international awards and established Tiffany’s reputation as a world class jewellery house while pushing American jewellery design in entirely new directions.

– Read More>