Fort Steele: Gold Rush to Boom Town

Ann Turner is the financial and budget manager of the University of
British Columbia Library.

Overlooking the Kootenay River in southeastern British Columbia, the
site of Fort Steele was home to a variety of communities and activities
but never a fort. It was central to the Kootenay First Nations lands and
to the waterways and trails that gave access to the area for Natives and
traders.

When gold was discovered in Wild Horse Creek, a permanent population of
settlers developed nearby to farm and supply the miners’ needs. It
became known as Galbraith’s Ferry when a permanent cable ferry across
the Kootenay River was established there. In 1887, a North West Mounted
Police troop under the command of Major Sam Steele arrived and built a
barracks, which they called Kootenay Post. When the Mounties left in
1888, the community was renamed Fort Steele in their honour. The town
grew and flourished as the centre of business, government, religion, and
culture in the rapidly developing East Kootenay region. Its local
newspaper, The Prospector, reported in great detail on the town’s
activities, from 1895 to 1906. It is a major source of information for
this book, along with the town’s archives, personal papers, church
records, and government documents. In 1897, when the Canadian Pacific
Railway chose a route seven miles to the south of Fort Steele, the
population centre shifted to the new town of Cranbrook. Fort Steele
declined, but its earlier prominence in the area saved it from utter
oblivion. In 1961 it was declared a provincial park. Research and
restoration began in earnest and today it is an active tourist
destination as a living museum.

This carefully researched and well-written popular history records the
story of the old town and its many colourful citizens for all to enjoy.