# The Selkirk Mountains/Chapter 6

CHAPTER VI.
REVELSTOKE.
Revelstoke, originally named "The Eddy," from a circular erosion in the right bank of the Columbia near by, then renamed "Farwell" for the surveyor who laid out the town-site, received its present name in honour of Lord Revelstoke, an English financier and member of the C.P.R. Company who visited the Canadian West in the late eighties.
The altitude is 1,503 feet. It is interesting to compare the altitude of Revelstoke, of Rogers Pass (4,309 feet) near Glacier, and of Golden (2,560 feet). The profile map of the railway shows the reader by what steep ascents the railway line follows the mountain highway. From Golden across the Selkirks to Revelstoke, the distance is 96 miles. Following the map, we observe how the grade falls slightly towards Beavermouth (135 feet in 29 miles), then rises steeply to Rogers Pass (1,874 feet in 21 miles), and descends abruptly again to Revelstoke (2,806 feet in 46 miles).
Revelstoke is picturesquely situated between the Selkirks and I the Gold Range west, on the Columbia River immediately north of its junction with the Illecillewaet. On either side the snow-clad mountains stand: on the south-west in the Gold Range Mt. Begbie's glaciers, eight miles away, seem close at hand; on the south-east rise the sharp spires of Mts. Mackenzie and Cartier; directly west are other white peaks of the Gold Range, and the dark recesses of the Jordan and Tonkawatla Valleys. Southward sweeps a long vista of the Columbia Valley between the Gold and Selkirk Mountains, the river itself a network of islands and channels.
The valley is here a mile wide at the base and 10 miles wide from crest to crest of the mountains; and the river varies in width from 800 to 3,000 feet, its volume greatly increasing since its detour of the Big Bend enclosing the Selkirks north. At Revelstoke the Railway makes its second crossing of the Columbia and enters the Gold Range by the Tonkawatla Valley towards Eagle Pass.
Revelstoke is an important railway town, being a Divisional Point where are the Company's shops for manufactures and repairs and the headquarters of the Divisional Superintendent and his, staff. Also, it is the junction of the Arrow Lakes Branch of the Railway, a short line of 27 miles connecting with the Company's steamers on Upper Arrow Lake. It is the distributing centre of supplies for the Kootenay mining camps, for the lumbering districts, and headquarters for miners and prospectors in all the regions contiguous. There are several large mills and several factories. The soil is very fertile and no irrigation is necessary. Near the town are areas of arable land suitable for mixed farming and fruit raising. A large tract hitherto leased for timber will soon be opened for agrarian settlement.
The timber is very large and includes cedar, pine, spruce, fir, and hemlock. In the country immediately north are mineral deposits including copper, silver, free gold and mica. South, is a rich mountainous country where galena and free milling quartz are mined. Much English capital is invested in timber and mines in the region. ​
| The Club House, Banff | Illicellewart Canyon, Revelstoke, B. C. |
​The climate is temperate, the winters never severe, and the evenings are cool in the hottest summer months.
Behind the town is Mt. Revelstoke on which a bridle-path leads to the park—locally Victoria Park—the fine flowering alp-lands well gladed and well watered, fomnianding wide views of the surround ing mountains (see Revelstoke Park).
Some interesting roads radiate from the town and are being extended from year to year. One running along the Tonkawatla River through Eagle Pass will pass Three Valley and Griffin Lakes and follow the Eagle River to Sicamous and Shuswap Lake. Another attractive road leads through cedars and giant conifers down the Columbia Valley, and one follows the Illecillewaet River to Greely Creek. A long road up the Columbia will, when completed, run as far north as Tête Jeune Cache to a junction with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. These roads by rivers and lakes through mountain forests where there is scarcely a sign of humanity except the road itself and where the small game chatters under the boughs, are not only desirable for riders and drivers of horses and motors, but for the immortal walkers akin to Hazlitt and Stevenson. And many a road in these mountains of the newer world await the walkers who will not only give them "understanding and a tongue" but the written word. Tourists will find a three-hours' tramp going and coming with dinner waiting at the end, a good experience of these forest roads.
The same is true of the trails blazed by trapper or miner, or by the Government for holiday seekers. Among trails recommended for interest and beauty are one to Downie Creek and thence to Canoe River and Tête Jeune Cache on the upper waters of the Eraser (a good country for moose); one up the Jordan River and its tributary, locally named Canyon Creek from the steep forestcrowned gorge through which it flows; one to the park already named, and various trails to old placer-mines.
Visitors should not miss an excursion by steamer up the Columbia towards the Big Bend, from Mosquito Landing (local name) to Downie Creek. Its interest is partly of the grandeur of the high mountains rising almost from the river's margin, and partly of associations. Much water has run past these mountains since the early voyagers. Indian, French-Canadian, English, Scottish, American, for discovery and for the fur trade, and even for art's sake and religion's, paddled round the Big Bend down stream and up stream. This old River, ever replenished with new waters, these old mountains clothed with the old forests and crowned with the new snows must forever retain their associations of those daring men who conquered the wooded passes and this turbulent waterway long before the railway was a dream, and made it the trade-route across the dividing mountains.
​at the same rates obtaining in Golden. Also, there are local guides who know where the best fishing is to be found in the streams, and where the caribou, goat, bear and other game, big and little, most frequent the hills on both sides of the river.
The population is about 4.500 souls (1911), and there is a brisk atmosphere of business on the streets. Revelstoke had the first local mountaineering club to affiliate with the Alpine Club of Canada.
Mountains and Places of Interest Reached from Revelstoke.
Mt. Begbie—Name: Called for Sir ^Mathew Begbie, Chief Justice of the old Crown Colony of British Columbia. As Judge Begbie in the sixties, nis Government sent him to the lawless Cariboo Gold Mines up the Fraser River, with instructions to establish law and order. He was another Lord Braxfield. the renowned "hanging judge," with a difference: Begbie feared God but regarded not man. Tradition says that he condemned the criminal without mercy on a Saturday; and on a Sunday, after doing his genuine devotions in public service, went into the woods and chose the tree upon which to hang him on a Monday. By this method of unremitting justice, the evil-doer was terrified into restraint and the country made safe for the honest and law-abiding miner.
Altitude: 8,946 feet—or 7.443 feet above the valley.
Location: South-west of Revelstoke, in the Gold Range, west of the Columbia River and south of the railway: distance from Revelstoke, 8 miles. Route: Crossing the bridge, Mt. Begbie is reached by a waggon-road and trail to its base. Time required for the round expedition: 2 days. A bivouac can be made at timber-line on the first night; and the ascent of the upper part of the mountain, the descent, and return to Revelstoke will occupy the second day.
The mountain is triple-peaked The main peak was first climbed in June, 1907, by the late Rev. J. C. Herdnian. one of the earliest Canadian enthusiasts in native mountaineering, the Rev. J. R. Robertson and Rupert Haggen, with Edouard Feuz. Jr., Swiss guide from Glacier. They slept out two nights and spent three days on the expedition. Although the weather was stormy at times, with considerable rain and snow, the climbing was not very difficult. Mt. Begbie has a number of fairly good-sized glaciers and is well worth the attention of climbers. The two minor peaks on the massif were still virgin in 1910. View: Mt. Begbie stands up conspicuously above the surrounding mountains of the Gold Range. From its upper slopes and summit, there is an especially good view of the Columbia Valley north towards the Big Bend, and of the Clach-na-coodin group of peaks rising out of the wide snowfield with the same Celtic name.
Mt. Cartier—Name: By Order in Council, after Sir George Cartier, one of the fathers of Canadian Confederation. Altitude: 8,562 feet. Location: In the Selkirks, 7 miles south-east of Revelstoke from where it is seen prominently; overlooks the Columbia Valley. Route: Mt. Cartier is most conveniently climbed from a point named "Green Slide" on the Arrow Lakes Branch of the C. P. Railway 9 miles from the town. Time required: 2 days will allow a leisurely round expedition. There are small glaciers. A guide ​is uncessary. View: The summit commands an extensive view of the Columbia Valley, the numerous channels and islands displayed in detail; also, a striking view of Mt. Begbie and other massifs of the Gold Range with their glaciers and snowfields. Mt. Cartier is frequented by goat and caribou. Mr. Wheeler reported some excellent goat hunting on this mountain while making a survey. Indeed it was not hunting so much as shooting, the juxtaposing being accidental.
Clach-na-coodin Range—Name: Evidently conferred by a Scotsman from Inverness, after the Clach-na-cudden, or "Stone of the Tubs" regarded as the palladium of Inverness. Altitude: 8,675 feet. Location: a group of mountains between Silver Creek, the Illecillewaet River and the Columbia above Revelstoke. At the crest of the range is a wide snowfield of from 10 to 15 square miles in area, reaching out in many arms and at different levels, and cut up in many parcels by separating rock-ridges. At the western extremity are rolling flowered alp-lands studded with irregular groves of spruce, fir, and hemlock and numerous pretty little lakes. Here Revelstoke found its park already laid out by nature without the intervention of any human landscape gardener.
Copeland Mt.—Name: For Mr. Copeland an Englishman. Altitude: 8,500. Location: In the Gold Range, west of the Columbia and north of Mt. McArthur; distance from Revelstoke, about 10 miles. Route: Reached by a trail up the Valley of the Jordan River which enters the Columbia a little north of the Railway. Time required: 2 days. Mt. Copeland has several glaciers.
Greeley Creek—Name: Origin unknown. Location: Joins the Illecillewaet River from the south-east 8 miles east of Revelstoke along the railway. A deep, heavily timbered valley similar to many others draining the lower slopes of the range on its western watershed. On the higher slopes caribou and small deer are plentiful. There is a small mill at the railway crossing which operates spasmodically. Route: Reached by a good wagon road following the Illecillewaet. a drive affording excellent views of Mt. Begbie, the Columbia Valley, and the town.
Illecillewaet Gorge—A box canyon 2 miles from the town. Route: Reached by following the railway track or by a wagon road. The river is confined in a canyon only a few feet wide with high, straight walls, at the end expanding into a pool made by a dam over which it falls in a cataract of some eighty feet, here is the '"City Power and Light Plant" of Revelstoke.
McArthur Mt.—Name: In honour of J. J. McArthur of the Dominion Topographical Survey; originally named Mt. Macpherson. Altitude: 7.800 feet. Location: West of the Columbia in the Gold Range, north of Mt. Begbie and south of Mt. Copeland; (1 miles distant from Revelstoke. Time required for climbing and returning: 14 hours.
Mackenzie Mt.—Name: By Order-in-Council after Sir Alexander Mackenzie, once Premier of Canada. Altitude: S,0(14 feet. Location: Immediatey east of the junction of the Columbia and Illecillewaet Rivers; 5 miles south-east of Revelstoke. A shoulder of the mountain (Altitude: 7,718 feet) having the appearance from the valley of a separate peak, was named Mt. ​Tillev. Route: (1) Reached from Revelstoke by following the railway track for 2 miles eastward to the log jam at the foot of the Box Canyon where the river is crossed and the ascent made directly. Time required: 7 hours; for the round excursion 14 hours. (2) The base of the mountain may be reached by taking the road south across the Illecillewaet and following the river to some suitable point. Mackenzie and its west shoulder looking like separate peaks from the valley early received the local appellation of "Twin Buttes."
First ascent: In 1886 by Messrs. J. J. McArthur and J. J. Klotz. It has several small glaciers. Mr. Klotz describes it as a very stiff climb, partly owing to devil's club on the lower slopes. He told of finding. 4,000 feet above the valley, one of those typical gladed meadows beautiful with streamlets and tarns and flowers; its spruce trees being 12 inches in diameter. The streams were clear and cold "flowing between banks lined with grass and moss." Between the peak and the shoulder of the mountain is a glacier which feeds the stream and lake below. Mr. Klotz reported many tracks of goat and caribou.
Of this mountain Mr Wheeler says: 'The altitude of the railway at the base is 1434 feet, leaving a climb of 6.630 feet to the loftiest summit, which is only 50 feet less than the height of Sir Donald above Glacier House; but it is much more tiring." View: IMt. Mackenzie commands an extensive view of the Columbia Valley north and south, of the Illecillewaet Valley east and of the Gold Range west.
Revelstoke Mt. and Park—A mountain behind the town containing the park (Victoria Park) which covers an area of some 2000 acres of alp-lands at a mean elevation of 6000 feet above sea. The groves are chiefly of spruce, hemlock, and fir: there are numerous lakes, and the mountain flowers follow each other in their season from spring till late summer. View: The view includes snow-capped mountains in every direction, and the valleys of the Columbia and Illecillewaet. Sometimes in sunny weather the visitor in the park may find himself above the clouds. An easy trail for man or horse winds gradually up the mountain. It is a favorite camping ground.
Silver Creek—Name: Local, origin unknown. Location: Joins the Illecillewaet River. 2 miles west of Albert Canyon Village. A large stream, fed by four tributaries and draining a large area, it is the principal drainage on its side of the Clach-na-coodin group of mountains. The tributary streams flow through fine, deep valleys heavily timbered on the lower slopes and with series of turfy alplands rising above towards the glacier which nourish many rivulets winding through them and feeding the streams below. The main stream is renowned locally for the number and size of its trout.
Silver Tip Falls—Location: About 8 miles from Revelstoke and reached by a wagon road through the Columbia Canyon. In places the road follows close to the torrent but 100 feet above it. They are worth a visit, especially in hot weather when the melting snow increases their volume.
​Twin Buttes—Name: Local. Earliest name of Mt. Mackenzie and its shoulder, Mt. Tilley. (See Mt. Mackenzie.)
Twin Butte Station—Name: By the C. P. R. Company in relation to Twin Buttes. Altitude: Rail-level 1907 feet. Location: A siding on the railway 10 miles west of Albert Canyon Station and 12 miles east of Revelstoke. It is from this point that Mt. Mackenzie and its shoulder, Mt. Tilley, are seen to resemble twin buttes.
Twin Creek—Name: Local. Altitude: At the railway crossing 1890 feet. Location: Joins the Illecillewaet River from the south, Mt miles east of Twin Butte Station. Two streams of nearly equal volume flow through deep, narrow, heavily forested gorges and unite almost at the crossing. The bridge is a high, curving trestle, a dangerous place for track-walkers if overtaken by the train.
The Arrow Lakes.
From Revelstoke the Arrow Lakes Branch of the C. P. R. Railway follows the east bank of the Columbia for 27 miles to Arrowhead, the lake port whence the Company's steamers carry passengers into the Kootenay country by the Lake route which connects with the Crow's Nest Pass Railway. The Upper and Lower Arrow Lakes are expansions of the River, lying in a mountainous country of great natural beauty, with plenty of sport for hunter and angler. Between the Lakes, the River flows bending twice, and below the Lower Lake at West Robson it is spanned by a railway bridge. Below West Robson, the Kootenay River, which has made its great detour south of the Selkirks, joins the Columbia, flowing from its own expansion of Kootenay Lake. Since they flowed parallel from their sources, one north and the other south, passing each other by scarcely a mile, these two great rivers surrounding the Selkirk Mountains have run long, long ways. But here they meet at last, and the Columbia continues the journey south to the Pacific Ocean. An interesting history of the Columbia River has been written by Professor W. D. Lvman, Whitman College, Walla-Walla.
On the east side of Upper Arrow Lake are the Halcyon Hot Springs where there is a large hotel with cottages for guests. The most considerable mountain is Halcyon Peak opposite, a trail leading to its summit. Other hot springs named St. Leon are on the same side of the lake, and 23 miles down near its lower end is Nakusp, where the C .P. R. Company builds its lake steamers. The situation of Nakusp is interesting to geologists, being built on the moraine of an old glacier. From here a branch railway runs to Rosebcry on Slocan Lake, to Sandon and other towns in a rich silver-lead mining district, as far as Kaslo on Kootenay Lake across the country eastward. From West Robson, 89 miles below Nakusp, the Columbia and Kootenay Branch Railway follows the banks of the Kootenay River (good fishing water) to Nelson, connecting with a line to Procter on Kootenay Lake some 20 miles south of Kaslo. From Procter a steamer runs to Kootenay Landing south to connect with the Crow's Nest Pass Railway. West Robson at the Columbia Bridge is a railway centre, connecting Trail, the great smelting town, with Nelson and ​Rossland and other mining towns. From West Robson, another branch runs through what is called the boundary country.
All this country south of Revelstoke is of extreme interest to capitalists, miners, farmers and sportsmen. It has been vigorously advertised by the Railway Company and by investors. But the tourist will be very well repaid in a hundred miles or more of as fine, and finer landscape of wooded mountain and valley and lake than can be found anywhere outside the Highlands of Scotland. Indeed, there is nothing in Scotland so expansive and at once so beautiful. More and more to this network of lakes and streams and valleys and dark hills will come the home-seeker from the Old World of mountains and glens and of English fields. And always it will remain a country of delight to the holiday-seeker and the tourist.
Goat's Beard (Spiraea Aruncus)