Fort Steele, British Columbia

Fort Steele, British Columbia is a heritage town in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada. It is located near the intersection of Highway 93 and Highway 95, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Cranbrook. [ [http://www.britishcolumbia.com/regions/towns/?townID=3495 Fort Steele, British Columbia, Canada ] ]

History

Fort Steele was a gold rush boom town founded in 1864 by John Galbraith. The town was originally called "Galbraith's Ferry", named after the ferry set up by the city's founder over the Kootenay River. It was the only ferry within several hundred miles so Mr.Galbraith charged very high prices to get across.The town was renamed Fort Steele in 1888, after legendary Canadian lawman Superintendent Sam Steele of the North-West Mounted Police solved a dispute between a settler who had unjustly accused one of the local First Nations men with murder. This dispute had caused a great deal of tension between the town and the native people. Sam Steele found the real killer and the innocent man was set free. Both the town and the First Nations people were so grateful that they renamed the town Fort Steele. Much to Steele's dismay, the "Fort" part of the name comes from the NWMP setting up a station in the town, whereas the town itself was never a real fort.

Demise

In the late 1890s, Fort Steele was growing rapidly, becoming the heart of the East Kootenays. The Canadian Pacific railway showed interest in Fort Steele. It was decided that a station was to be built. But as the document stating the railway was to go though Fort Steele was on its way to be approved, a gentleman named Colonel James Baker had other ideas. Baker, a member of the British Columbia legislature, owned a small logging camp named Joseph's Prairie. Baker bribed and blackmailed his fellow Members and convinced them to bypass Fort Steele and bring the railway through Joseph's Prairie. This was final after the document stating the railway was to go through Fort Steele was "lost" in the mail. After the railway was completed, Baker renamed the town to Cranbrook. He later sold the people of Fort Steele land. Fort Steele's population quickly dropped as the population moved to the more appealing Cranbrook.

New life of Fort Steele

After Fort Steele was abandoned, the site slowly started to decay. A highway was even built right through the town's current main street. In the mid 1960's, B.C parliament started to preserve many historic sites. In 1967, Fort Steele was designated a historic site and restoration began. The highway was abandoned in the early 1960s for a more favorable route. In 1969 Fort Steele opened to the public as Fort Steele Heritage Town. Over the past 45 years, millions of tourist have visited the site, and Fort Steele has become one of British Columbia's premier tourist attractions.

Attractions

Fort Steele offers many interesting activities to observe and participate in. Some of the activities include horse drawn carriage rides and 1800s household activities such as blacksmithing demonstrations, ice cream making, gold panning, leather working, and several other demonstrations. Other attractions include an old style candy shop, a store with old-fashioned goods for sale and a full service restaurant. The town also has several vintage buildings on display. one of the most popular is the theater show which payes every day at 2:00 in the summer.

Train rides

Fort Steele offers seasonal train rides behind one of three preserved steam locomotives, two of which are in operation. The short 25min 2.5 mile (4km) figure eight loop gives passengers an idea of a steam locomotive in use and is one of the most popular attractions. The trip includes a short stop at the "St. Mary's" look-out, a small platform overlooking the St. Mary's valley where the conductor will give a short speech about the area.

Locomotives

* The 1077 (Carries the name of "Herb Hawkins", the man who restored her) a 2-6-2 prairie class locomotive built in 1923 for logging services on Vancouver Island. The 1077 served with several companies over her career and was retired in the early 1960s with the purchase of a diesel locomotive, but remained with the company until 1969 as a back up locomotive for the diesel. This makes 1077 one of the last steam locomotives in active service in Canada. After being sold to the B.C government, The 1077 was re-built and used to run a rolling museum train until it was put into storage in 1979. The 1077 was moved to Fort Steele in 1989 as a replacement for the 115 Shay which was experiencing major problems. The 1077 is the main locomotive in use because the 115 is not in operation and the Dunrobin is too small for the cars in use. The 1077 was featured in several movies. Notable films are The Grey Fox 1892 (filmed at fort Steele), The Journey of Natty Gann 1985 and most notably Shanghai Noon in 2000.
* The 397 "Dunrobin" a 0-4-4 type built in 1895 for the private use of the Duke of Sutherland. The "Dunrobin" served in both world wars pulling light freight and switching duties. The locomotive ended up in Canada after a Victoria business man purchased it in the late 1950s. in the early 1960s and sold it to the B.C. government. During Fort Steele's conversion to a heritage site in 1964, a last minute idea to include a railway as part of the site was introduced. The Dunrobin was chosen as the locomotive along with one of its original coaches. [http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/sn-2B89CC9/cgi-bin/text2html/.visual/img_txt/dir_27/i_27711.txt]
* The 115, a massive Pacific Coast Shay locomotive built for logging operations on Vancouver Island. The 115 is unusual because it was constructed of two damaged shays #11 and #5. The company combined the numbers to 115. The 115 is currently the largest shay class locomotive in Canada. Unfortunately, due to major issues with the boiler, the 115 is not in operation.
* The railway also has two vintage 1950's era diesel switching locomotives. One is currently awaiting restoration while the other will be used for parts and a display.

Other rolling stock

* Three flat cars are part of the collection, two have been modified for use as open air passenger cars and are part of the three car train.
* A British coach is a unique part of the collection and is part of the three car train.
* A small parlor car that is a matching car to the Dunrobin locomotive was originally used as the main car but was quickly retired due to damage to the original interior.
* Morrrissy, Fernie and Michel railway baggage/coach combo #61. On display next to engine shed, part of a four car set, three remain (other two a Calgary heritage park
* Canadian Pacific caboose
* Morrrissy, Fernie and Michel railway snow plow.
* Two tank cars are used for fuel storage (one is just a tank)
* Several other railway vehicles and carts. The railway operates between June through September, starting on Father's Day and ending on Labor Day.

[

Fort Steele in 1910.]

ee also

*Barkerville, British Columbia, another ghost town purchased by British Columbia and operated as a heritage site.
*Snow Queen (2002 film), a fantasy film shot in Fort Steele.

External links

* [http://www.fortsteele.bc.ca official website]

Notes