To get to Fort Steele Heritage Town, use the Crowsnest Highway (TransCanada Highway 3) running through southern Alberta and British Columbia. Alternatively take TransCanada Highway 1 to Golden, then head south on Highway 95 towards the U.S. frontier.
In 1864 gold was discovered by three American gold-diggers at Wild Horse Creek, in country
which until then had been penetrated only by the Kootenay Indians. Within a few weeks a gold-rush town had grown up, most of the inhabitants having come from the USA, since getting here from the west across the high mountain chains was too difficult. So the first politicians in Victoria heard about the finds of gold in the remote south-west of their territory was when they read about it in the American newspapers. Even before the completion of the Dewdney Trail the gold-boom at Wild Horse Creek reached its peak in 1865, when more than 5000 gold-diggers were at work, some even digging out deposits from under the very town itself.
A new town grew up on the Kootenay River near Galbraith's Ferry, the present-day Fort Steele, where visitors will find Fort Steele Heritage Town. Galbraith had soon realized the need for a ferry over the Kootenay and operated such a service until the first bridge was built in 1888.
Around 1880, after the gold-rush, farmers and ranchers settled here in increasing numbers. There were the inevitable conflicts with the original owners of the land, the Kootenay Indians. Chief Isadore and his warriors declined to enter the Indian reserve that was quickly set up and there continued to be many battles with the white settlers who refused to entertain the Indians' claims to ownership of land. There were fears of a new uprising only a few years after the Riel uprising had been quelled. In 1887 a unit of the Northwest Mounted Police was sent from Fort MacLeod to the Kootenay River with instructions to arbitrate. Only a year later this first troop of "Redcoats" to come west of the Rocky Mountains was able to withdraw, its task successfully accomplished, and the grateful settlers re-named the place Fort Steele, after Samuel Steele, the superintendent in charge of this troop of only a few dozen but nevertheless highly effective men.
The discovery of rich silver deposits in eastern Kootenay in the 1890s resulted in a fresh mining boom. Ore and supplies were transported by steamer along the Kootenay River between Fort Steele and Jennings in Montana, where there was a link with the Great Northern Railway to Seattle. Fort Steele became the region's administrative and supply center and following the boom there was strong speculation about a rail link. The town was hard hit therefore when, contrary to all expectations, it was the neighbouring town of Cranbrook which was in fact connected to the railway. As early as 1910 Fort Steele had become a ghost town, and by 1945 only 50 people still lived there.
The decision taken some years ago by the provincial government to build an open-air museum, Fort Steele Heritage Town, breathed fresh life into the town. Since then a growing stream of tourists has created further jobs and brought a new sense of optimism to the local employment scene. Now several hundred people are again resident in and around Fort Steele.
There are horse-rides with guides, coach drives, and special trips in an old steam train, covering a distance of 4.5km/2.75m.
In the Kershaw General Store the visitor can purchase goods such as were bought in the early 19th c. The region's varied history is portrayed in a building constructed on the lines of the old Wasa Hotel. Musicals, drama and comedies from that period can be watched in the Wild Horse Theatre.
Print this page
Add to Favorites
