We had a great day exploring the Fort Steele Heritage Town. The origin of Fort Steele is closely linked to the discovery of gold on Wild Horse Creek in the 1860s. One would be miner recognized a need for a ferry across the Kootenay river (so the miners could have easier access to the gold) and started a ferry service (Galbraith’s ferry).
Houses and buildings sprung up around the ferry. Time goes on and gold came and went as did the number of people in the area. With the completion of the railway in 1885 more people ventured into the region. This resulted in land disputes especially with the Ktunaxa First Nation and the newcomers. There was murder, false accusations by the local constabulary, break-out of prisoners from the jail etc. To resolve the problem in came Superintendent Samuel Steele and 75 North West Mounted Police.
They established the first post west of the Rockies, Kootenay post. They did such a great job that the residents petitioned the Dominion Government to change the name of the settlement from Galbraith’s Ferry to Fort Steele although Fort Steele never was an actual fort. The boom continued when silver, lead and coal were discovered. However it didn’t last as the long awaited Crowsnest line of the CPR by-passed Fort Steele for Cranbrook . It had been ‘common knowledge’ that Fort Steele was the only and logical choice for the railroad.
So all the land was bought up at a record pace. Then when the railroad land buyers attempted to purchase the land, they were greeted by greed driven over inflated prices which they refused to pay. Plan B, go to Cranbrook and purchase land there for a fraction of the cost. By 1910 Fort Steele was in a state of decline. In the late 1950s local citizens petitioned the provincial government to protect the old town. In 1961 the government declared Fort Steele a historic park and it represents a typical turn of the century town of the East Kootenays.
Our day started with a train ride. The steam engine was built in the early 1900s and was used to haul logs. We went on a 30 minute ride and were able to get a great view of the Kootenay river as well as 4 deer sauntering beside the railway track. From there we walked around the “town” and visited all the homes and stores that were open. One of the first homes we went into had a quilt on and 2 women were quilting away.
The quilt frames were exactly like the ones we took to the museum in Gagetown. An added bonus were the cookies that just came out of the oven of the wood stove. We also found home made cookies and johnny cake at one of the other homes. So good! After exploring we took a break and attended the vaudeville show in the local theatre. It was kind of hokey but we enjoyed it. Not sure if the popcorn we could get in the lobby was in keeping with the 1880s.
I think we explored every spot we could and sampled some nice chili offered at the “International Hotel”. The “old city bakery” had ginger cookies that followed us home. The down side of the tour was that we were familiar with some of the furnishings. A fun day.
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