David Thompson began extensive exploration on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains for the North West Company.  With a party of Kootenay Indians, Le Gasse and La Blanc were sent west of the mountains by Thompson.  They were the first white men to enter the Kootenays.

Thompson entered East Kootenay and built Kootenae House near present-day Lake Windermere (approximately 120 km north of Fort Steele).

The gold rush on the Fraser and Thompson Rivers began and the Crown Colony of British Columbia was created with its capital at New Westminster (near Vancouver) and James Douglas as its first governor.

Joe Finlay discovered gold on Finlay Creek, a tributary of the Kootenay River.

The Kootenay Gold Rush began.  Gold was discovered on Wild Horse Creek, a small stream which flows into the Kootenay River just south of present-day Fort Steele.  The creek quickly became the centre of the Kootenay Gold Rush.  The makeshift town of Fisherville was started on the west bank, and by the end of the season it boasted six general stores, four saloons, a brewery, two butcher shops, a blacksmith’s shop, and a large number of miners’ cabins.  Gold Commissioner John Carmichael Haynes was sent to East Kootenay by the colonial administration to establish law and order and to protect British sovereignty in the region.  John Galbraith began a ferry service across the Kootenay River just north of the confluence of Wild Horse Creek and the Kootenay River, on the site of the future town of Fort Steele.

The Kootenay Gold Rush reached its peak, but the decline of the diggings soon became apparent.  At Wild Horse Creek, the Victoria Ditch was completed and supplied water to placer claims located high off the creek bed (this ditch can still be seen today).  Hydraulic mining was introduced in an attempt to recover deeply buried deposits more efficiently.  Peter O’Reilly replaced Haynes as the Gold Commissioner and the Dewdney Trail, extending from Hope to Wild Horse Creek, was completed, providing a direct link with the colonial capital at New Westminster.  Fisherville was demolished because it sat on some of the richest claims, and the community of Wild Horse was established further up the bank.

The Kootenay Gold Rush started to dwindle although many Chinese prospectors were still attracted to the Kootenay Gold Fields.  Vancouver Island and British Columbia were united as the single colony of British Columbia, with the capital established at Victoria soon afterward.

A small rush began on Perry Creek, twenty-five miles north of Wild Horse Creek.

The Kootenay Gold Rush was virtually at an end.

British Columbia joined Confederation as a province of the Dominion of Canada.

Father Fouquet and Brother Burns established the St. Eugene Mission on the St. Mary’s River (now home of the St. Eugene Mission Resort).

Since the 1870s, the Kootenay Indians had become increasingly dissatisfied by the growing white population in East Kootenay.  During this year, however, Chief Isadore of the Upper Kootenay band attempted to protect the hereditary rights of his people by taking matters into his own hands in announcing to the settlers that all the ranges should be free and that no man had the right to build fences.  His declaration caused considerable alarm among the white residents, who feared an Indian uprising.  This led directly to the Provincial Government’s first real attempt to solve the conflict between the Indians and whites in East Kootenay.

Upon the recommendation of Peter O’Reilly, the Provincial Indian Commissioner, the first Indian reservations in East Kootenay were set aside and totaled some forty-two thousand acres.  However, Isadore was dissatisfied with the land that was given to his people so the unrest continued to simmer.

The Canadian Pacific Railway was completed and Golden (232km north of Fort Steele) becomes an important station for East Kootenay.

Chief Isadore quarreled with Col. James Baker, a new arrival in the district, over the ownership of Joseph’s Prairie, which Baker had purchased and where he had established his stock-raising estate “Cranbrook” (named after his home town in England).  Isadore insisted that it was the site of one of his favourite farms and that the government had no right to give it away or sell it in the first place.

Constable Harry Anderson, the district’s law enforcement officer, arrested an Indian named Kapula on suspicion of murdering and robbing Hylton and Kemp.  Outraged by this action, Chief Isadore and twenty-five armed braves broke open the jail at Wild Horse, released Kapula and ordered Anderson out of the district.  The provincial government hastily appointed a commission to meet with Isadore.  The two parties agreed that Kapula and an accomplice, Little Isadore, would be turned over to the proper authorities for a fair trial, and that Constable Anderson should be re-instated.  The commission decided that a detachment of North West Mounted Police should be sent into East Kootenay to conduct a thorough investigation and to insure peace.

In late July, Superintendent Samuel Steele and “D” Division arrived at Galbraith’s Ferry where they established a post.  Steele immediately sent for Chief Isadore and ordered him to hand over the accused.  A trial was held and finding the evidence insufficient, Steele dismissed the charges against the two Indians.  The dispute over the ownership of Joseph’s Prairie was also resolved, by recognizing Baker’s claim to the property while Isadore received another larger and more valuable piece of land along the Kootenay River.

Having settled the problems that had brought Steele and the North West Mounted Police to East Kootenay, the detachment left the district in August of that year.  In honour of the services rendered by Steele, the name of Galbraith’s Ferry was changed to Fort Steele.

Large-scale hydraulic gold mining, backed by outside investment, began on Wild Horse Creek.  The North Star and Sullivan group of mines, both exceedingly rich in silver and lead, were discovered and opened the era of hard rock mining.

The St. Eugene mine was discovered.            
The steamboat era on the Kootenay began with the maiden voyage of the “Annerly”.  It was soon joined by the “Ruth”, “Gwendoline”, “North Star” and “J.D. Farrell”, running between Fort Steele and Jennings, Montana.

The Windsor Hotel (Dalgardno) was constructed. 
Fort Steele’s first schoolhouse was built.

The Fort Steele Prospector began publication.

Work began on the long-delayed British Columbia Southern Railway.  Fort Steele began to boom and was regarded as East Kootenay’s commercial, administrative, and social centre.

A telegraph line between Fort Steele and Kalispell, Montana, was completed.  Fort Steele’s water tower, Masonic Hall (Opera House), Government Building, and St. Anthony’s Catholic Church were constructed.

The citizens of Fort Steele came to realize that the B.C. Southern Railway would bypass Fort Steele in favour of Cranbrook.

The last spike of the B.C. Southern Railway was driven.

The Cranbrook Herald began publication.

The telephone reached Fort Steele and the town’s second schoolhouse and Presbyterian Church were constructed.

Fort Steele began to decline as people and business moved to the growing town of Cranbrook.

Fort Steele’s population, from a high point of over 4,000 in 1897/98, had dropped to only 150, while Cranbrook had grown to more than 2,000 people in the same period.

The Government offices were moved to Cranbrook.

The Kootenay Central Railway reached Fort Steele.

The Kootenay Central Railway reached Golden, linking the CPR mainline with the B.C. Southern.

Fort Steele was designated as an Historic Park of the Province of British Columbia.

Management of the site is contracted to The Friends of Fort Steele Society.  The Province of British Columbia retains ownership of the property and its assets.