THE KÜTNE READER

From 1907 to 1911, members of the Patrick family lived in Nelson while operating a lumber company that owned timber limits in the Slocan Valley. The Patricks shaped hockey as we know it, introducing innovations such as the blue line, assists, penalty shot, farm system and playoff system. Brothers Lester and Frank were all-star players, coaches, and managers who led Nelson to a provincial championship in 1909 and made noises about challenging for the Stanley Cup . Sisters Dora

Here’s a gallery of photos I took on March 3, 2003 during filming in Rossland of the Kurt Russell movie Miracle.

In 1893, a prospector named Baxter wrote two letters to the Northwest Mining Review of Spokane from the Salmo River (then called the Salmon). Both were printed in the May 22 edition and are available through Google Books , but to my knowledge they have never been reprinted. It’s unclear how the letters were mailed, but it was either via Northport, whose post office opened Nov. 1, 1892, or Waneta, where the office opened on May 1, 1893. Baxter comments in the second letter on

In 1989, Donna Bishop and Joan Field produced a report for the Salmo Arts and Museum Society entitled Dewdney Trail 1865. They wrote the following of the confluence of the Salmo and Pend d’Oreille rivers under the heading “Ghost Flats.” There are many stories as to who was buried here. Some say the graves have been there since the turn of the century. What we do know is that they were travellers or settlers on the Dewdney Trail. This gravesite was apparently moved in 1949 wh

During its 22 years as a bona fide city, Sandon had seven mayors — and four receivers. Sandon city hall was built in 1900 following a fire that consumed much of the downtown. Today it’s the Prospector’s Pick. Sandon was incorporated under Section 20 of the Speedy Incorporation of Towns Act (the same legislation that granted city status to Nelson, Rossland, Grand Forks, and Greenwood). However, the letters patent is confusing. It’s dated Dec. 30, 1897 but says Sandon “shall, f

I’ve long written a weekly series for the local Black Press newspapers about West Kootenay/Boundary place names. In my installment on Waneta , I said its name defies explanation (although my own best guess is that it comes from Waneta Lake, New York and was bestowed by the Kootenay Hydraulic Mining Co.). But three times I’ve been led to believe there might be a definitive answer, only to have my hopes dashed. Waneta Landing, ca. 1892-93 with what is presumably the SS Lytton

I just wrote a blog post for Nelson Kootenay Lake Tourism about Nelson’s Big Orange Bridge, which was originally silver, as seen in the postcard below. You can read it here . The same page has lots of interesting information about local attractions, historical and otherwise, including Streetcar 23, the Lardeau Valley Historical Centre, and Nelson Fire and Rescue Museum under the Arts, Culture, and Heritage tab. Here’s the front cover of the program from the bridge’s opening.

In 2018, the Kootenay Lake Historical Society reprinted the 1980 book Pioneer Families of Kaslo in a revised and expanded form. My contribution was providing notes about and securing photos of Jim Kee, a Chinese-Canadian merchant. Jim and Annie Kee, 1947. (Courtesy Russel Lang) One weak spot of the original book was that it only contained profiles of white families, and mostly British ones at that (not the fault of the folks who put it together; they put out a call for submi

The last surviving members of what was probably the strangest hockey team ever to play in the Kootenay have died. Terry Cavanagh (pictured above) passed away in Edmonton on Dec. 17, 2017 at 91 followed by Max Labovitch in Winnipeg on Jan. 14, 2018 at 93. Both skated for the Los Angeles Ramblers of the Western International Hockey League in 1946-47, a circuit that also included teams from Trail, Nelson, Kimberley, and Spokane. Whoever thought this was a good idea financially

In the early 20th century, Slocan City’s brothels were on the west side of Block 36, at the south end of Main Street between Giffin and Fitz avenues (pictured below on the original townsite map). Today Giffin does not connect to Main; the area in question is behind the W.E. Graham school field. This area was seldom spoken of. These are the only references I’m aware of in the Slocan Drill , published from 1900-05. Aug. 3, 1900: “Sunday evening Officer Christie was called upon

Last year I bought three letters on eBay mailed in 1905-06 by Alexander Howard McIntyre from Nelson to his family in Middleville, Lanark County, Ont. I’ve transcribed and annotated them — they’re fun reading, and it was fun to figure out what happened to the man who wrote them. As a preface, it helps to know that McIntyre was born in 1883 in Middleville, the youngest of five children of Alexander Robb (Allie) McIntyre and Mary Somerville. Mary died scarcely two months after H

In the summer of 2017, Dian Aylwin made a remarkable discovery in her father’s garage in New Denver: tacked to the wall was the townsite plan of Aylwin, a phantom city in the Slocan that her grandfather and his brother started in the 1890s. Although the town is mentioned in a few history books, the map was not thought to have survived. It provides new insight into a pioneer family and the vagaries of real estate development associated with the Silvery Slocan mining rush. This

There’s an oft-heard tale about the burial of a black brothel keeper in the Slocan cemetery. According to the Castlegar News of June 24, 1976: [Harry] Nixon recalls a story told him of a grave just outside the cemetery. A lady of ill repute died and the women of the church refused to have her buried in the cemetery. In a history of Slocan, Frank Hufty wrote: They had a red light district in Slocan too. When the madam died, the townspeople wouldn’t let her be buried in the ce

Some of the most amazing West Kootenay postcards ever produced show the Rossland mines underground in the 1900s. I don’t know how the photographer managed to get such excellent images in extremely difficult light conditions. There are at least 13 cards in the series, taken in the LeRoi and Centre Star mines. While the photographer is unknown, it was probably someone from out of town given that some of them are labelled “Rosland, BC.” I have a couple, including the one seen be

Below is an ad that appeared in Trade and Commerce magazine in March 1962. It’s a fascinating aerial photo of Nelson from an unusual angle. Judging from the lack of snow, I presume it was taken sometime in 1961. Of particular note is the bottom section (which I really wish they they hadn’t obscured with a black bar). It shows the seldom-photographed intersection of Front and Hall streets, including several buildings that no longer exist. The large building on the far left (la

A clear syphon from the Lion Bottling Works of Rossland and Greenwood (pictured below) sold on eBay this afternoon for $1,382 US, which is $1,722 Cdn. That’s the most I’ve ever seen paid for a local syphon. The auction attracted 19 bids from five bidders. The seller is in Brantford, Ont. According to Beer Barons of BC, published in 2011 by Bill Wilson, the Lion Brewery was formed in 1897 by Louis Blue and managed by James McCreath. The Columbia Bottling Works was built in 189

The clipping below from the Rossland Miner of Oct. 11, 1938 is about the Knudsgaard brothers, Einer, Erik, and Frankie. They were not the first triplets born in West Kootenay, but were probably the first to all survive into adulthood. They were born on Feb. 12, 1938. This item appeared in the Rossland Miner that month: Interest in Triplets is Wide-Spread, Progress Good, Sister’s Hospital Three little babies in Mater Misericordia hospital, sons of Mr. And Mrs. Hans Knutsgaar

Jada Regis of the Northport Historical Society recently came across a gunnysack full of old paper from the Kendrick store and Northport State Bank. Although in poor condition, several items were intriguing, including this letterhead from the New Zealand Hotel at Hedley. There was a New Zealand House hotel in Northport, which burned in 1914. It was rebuilt and burned again in 1958. Regis asked: was the New Zealand a chain of hotels? And was there any connection with the countr

Only one building from Nelson’s red light district survives: 601 Lake Street (pictured below in the fall of 2017), now home to Full Circle Family Health, Little Dragon Medicinals, and Starr Healing. According to Nelson: A Proposal for Urban Heritage Conservation , the legal description is Parcel A of Block 61, Lots 23 and 24, and it was built in 1900. (The BC Assessment Authority puts the date as 1901, but that is usually code for “we don’t know how old it is.”) I don’t know

Western Canada’s most infamous bootlegger was once in the ice cream business in Trail. Emilio Picariello immigrated from Capriglia Iprina, Italy to the US in 1899, moved to Toronto in 1902, and then came west to Fernie in 1911, where he worked in a macaroni factory. He later went into the liquor business as a representative of the Pollack Wine Co. By 1916, he cornered the local market on bottles, earning him the nickname the Bottle King. Legendary bootlegger Emilio Picariell