Crowsnest Pass
Encyclopedia
Crowsnest Pass is a high mountain pass
across the Continental Divide
of the Canadian Rockies
on the Alberta
/British Columbia
border.
and the lowest-elevation mountain pass in Canada south of the Yellowhead Pass
(1,130 m); the other major passes, which are higher, being Kicking Horse Pass
(1,640 m), Howse Pass
(1,530 m) and Vermilion Pass
(1,680 m).
Crowsnest Pass comprises a valley running east-west through Crowsnest Ridge. On the Alberta side, the Crowsnest River flows east from Crowsnest Lake, eventually draining into the Oldman River
and ultimately reaching Hudson Bay
via the Nelson River
. Summit Lake on the British Columbia side drains via three intermediary creeks into the Elk River
, which feeds into the Kootenay River
, and finally into the Columbia River
to the Pacific
.
built a line from Lethbridge
, Alberta
, to Kootenay Landing, British Columbia
through the Crowsnest Pass between 1897 and 1898. This line was built primarily to access mineral-rich southeastern BC via an all-Canadian rail route, and to assert Canadian (and CPR) sovereignty in an area that U.S. railroads were beginning to build into. It also opened up coal
deposits in the Elk River valley which were important to mineral smelting operations and assisted the CPR in its conversion of locomotives from wood to coal. The CPR sought and received construction funding from the federal government, partially in exchange for a freight subsidy on prairie farm exports and equipment imports which came to be called the "Crow's Nest Pass Agreement".
"The Crow Rate
", as the subsidy agreement came to be referred to, was eventually extended from CPR's Crowsnest Pass railway line to apply to all railway lines in western Canada, regardless of corporate ownership or geography, creating artificially low freight rates for grain shipments through the Great Lakes
ports. The rate also correspondingly limited industrial growth in the western provinces as it was cheaper to produce items in eastern Canada and ship them west under the Crow Rate. This subsidy was finally abolished in 1995.
The Crowsnest Highway
operates as Highway 3 in both provinces and runs through the pass parallel to the CPR line, as does an oil pipeline.
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
across the Continental Divide
Continental Divide
The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain...
of the Canadian Rockies
Canadian Rockies
The Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...
on the Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
/British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
border.
Geography
The pass is located in southeast British Columbia and southwest Alberta, and is the southernmost rail and highway route through the Canadian RockiesCanadian Rockies
The Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...
and the lowest-elevation mountain pass in Canada south of the Yellowhead Pass
Yellowhead Pass
The Yellowhead Pass is a mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies. It is located on the border between the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and lies within Jasper National Park and Mount Robson Provincial Park....
(1,130 m); the other major passes, which are higher, being Kicking Horse Pass
Kicking Horse Pass
Kicking Horse Pass is a high mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Americas of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta/British Columbia border, and lying within Yoho and Banff National Parks...
(1,640 m), Howse Pass
Howse Pass
Howse Pass is a pass through the Rocky Mountains. The pass was used by First Nations people such as the Kootenay and Piegan. European explorers first discovered the pass in 1806, and David Thompson explored it in 1807...
(1,530 m) and Vermilion Pass
Vermilion Pass
Vermilion Pass is a high mountain pass in the Canadian Rockies, traversing the continental divide. It connects Kootenay National Park in the province of British Columbia with Banff National Park in Alberta.-External links:*...
(1,680 m).
Crowsnest Pass comprises a valley running east-west through Crowsnest Ridge. On the Alberta side, the Crowsnest River flows east from Crowsnest Lake, eventually draining into the Oldman River
Oldman River
The Oldman River is a river in southern Alberta, Canada. It flows roughly west to east from the Rocky Mountains, through the communities of Fort Macleod, Lethbridge, Taber, and on to Grassy Lake, where it joins with the Bow River to form the South Saskatchewan River, which eventually drains into...
and ultimately reaching Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
via the Nelson River
Nelson River
The Nelson River is a river of north-central North America, in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Its full length is , it has mean discharge of , and has a drainage basin of , of which is in the United States...
. Summit Lake on the British Columbia side drains via three intermediary creeks into the Elk River
Elk River (British Columbia)
The Elk River is a long river, in the southeastern Kootenay district of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Its drainage basin is in area. Its mean discharge is approximately 60 m³/s, with a maximum recorded discharge of 818 m³/s.-Course:...
, which feeds into the Kootenay River
Kootenay River
The Kootenay is a major river in southeastern British Columbia, Canada and the northern part of the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho. It is one of the uppermost major tributaries of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean...
, and finally into the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
to the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
.
Transportation
The Canadian Pacific RailwayCanadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
built a line from Lethbridge
Lethbridge
Lethbridge is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada, and the largest city in southern Alberta. It is Alberta's fourth-largest city by population after Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, and the third-largest by area after Calgary and Edmonton. The nearby Canadian Rockies contribute to the city's...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, to Kootenay Landing, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
through the Crowsnest Pass between 1897 and 1898. This line was built primarily to access mineral-rich southeastern BC via an all-Canadian rail route, and to assert Canadian (and CPR) sovereignty in an area that U.S. railroads were beginning to build into. It also opened up coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
deposits in the Elk River valley which were important to mineral smelting operations and assisted the CPR in its conversion of locomotives from wood to coal. The CPR sought and received construction funding from the federal government, partially in exchange for a freight subsidy on prairie farm exports and equipment imports which came to be called the "Crow's Nest Pass Agreement".
"The Crow Rate
Crow Rate
The "Crow Rate" or "Crow's Nest Freight Rate" was a rail transportation subsidy imposed on the Canadian Pacific Railway by the Canadian government, benefiting farmers on the Canadian Prairies and manufacturers in central Canada.-Origin:...
", as the subsidy agreement came to be referred to, was eventually extended from CPR's Crowsnest Pass railway line to apply to all railway lines in western Canada, regardless of corporate ownership or geography, creating artificially low freight rates for grain shipments through the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
ports. The rate also correspondingly limited industrial growth in the western provinces as it was cheaper to produce items in eastern Canada and ship them west under the Crow Rate. This subsidy was finally abolished in 1995.
The Crowsnest Highway
Crowsnest Highway
The Crowsnest Highway, also known as the Interprovincial or, in British Columbia, the Southern Trans-Provincial, is an east-west highway, in length, through the southern parts of British Columbia and Alberta, providing the shortest highway connection between British Columbia's Lower Mainland and...
operates as Highway 3 in both provinces and runs through the pass parallel to the CPR line, as does an oil pipeline.
Natural resources
The Crowsnest Pass area on both sides of the provincial boundary is rich in coal deposits, which were quickly developed after completion of the rail line. All the mines on the Alberta side were closed by the end of the 20th century as cheaper and safer open-pit mines opened on the British Columbia side of the pass. Some logging and oil and gas exploitation also occurs in the area, and a sulphur plant has been in operation there for several years. Tourism based on the natural and historical resources of the area remains underdeveloped.History
- Crowsnest Pass is the richest archaeological zone in the Canadian Rockies. The oldest relics are stone tools found on a rock ridge outside Frank, AlbertaFrank, AlbertaFrank is an urban community in the Rocky Mountains within the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in southwest Alberta, Canada. It was formerly incorporated as a village prior to 1979 when it amalgamated with four other municipalities to form Crowsnest Pass....
, from the Clovis cultureClovis cultureThe Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleo-Indian culture that first appears 11,500 RCYBP , at the end of the last glacial period, characterized by the manufacture of "Clovis points" and distinctive bone and ivory tools...
, 11,000 years before present. Other sites include chert quarries on the Livingstone ridge dating back to 1000 BC. - 1800: Members of David ThompsonDavid Thompson (explorer)David Thompson was an English-Canadian fur trader, surveyor, and map-maker, known to some native peoples as "Koo-Koo-Sint" or "the Stargazer"...
expedition enter the pass. - ca. 1850: Crow Indians dispersed from area by Blackfoot Confederacy.
- 1860, 1873: Michael Phillips (Hudson's Bay CompanyHudson's Bay CompanyThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
) traverses pass, reports coal deposits. - 1881: first surveys by Canadian Pacific Railway.
- 1897: CPR enters into farm export subsidy agreement for freight rates in exchange for financing of railway line between Lethbridge, Alberta, and Nelson, BC. Crow's Nest Pass Coal Company commences operations in British Columbia.
- 1898: CPR opens the railway line, 10th siding (later Blairmore, AlbertaBlairmore, AlbertaBlairmore is an urban community in the Rocky Mountains within the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in southwest Alberta, Canada. It was formerly incorporated as a town prior to 1979 when it amalgamated with four other municipalities to form Crowsnest Pass...
) established. Settlement of Fernie, British ColumbiaFernie, British ColumbiaFernie is a city in the Elk Valley area of the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada, located on BC Highway 3 on the eastern approaches to the Crowsnest Pass through the Rocky Mountains...
, established. - 1900: the Frank Mine opens and the new town of Frank, AlbertaFrank, AlbertaFrank is an urban community in the Rocky Mountains within the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in southwest Alberta, Canada. It was formerly incorporated as a village prior to 1979 when it amalgamated with four other municipalities to form Crowsnest Pass....
, is established. Other coal mines and towns spring up between 1900 and 1919. - 1902: explosion at Coal Creek mine kills 128 men.
- 1903: the cataclysmic Frank SlideFrank SlideThe Frank Slide is a natural landslide feature in the southern Rocky Mountains of Canada, and a significant historical event in western Canada.Frank, Alberta is a coal mining town in the Crowsnest Pass, Alberta...
occurs on the north slope of Turtle Mountain; 82 million tonnes of limestone crash down and partially bury the town of Frank, killing approximately 70 of the town's 600 residents. - 1904: Fernie, British ColumbiaFernie, British ColumbiaFernie is a city in the Elk Valley area of the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada, located on BC Highway 3 on the eastern approaches to the Crowsnest Pass through the Rocky Mountains...
, incorporates. - 1908: forest fire destroys Fernie (pop: 6000), which soon rebuilds.
- 1914: an explosion in the mine at HillcrestHillcrest, AlbertaHillcrest, also known as Hillcrest Mines, is an urban community in the Rocky Mountains within the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in southwest Alberta, Canada. It was once a hamlet under the jurisdiction of Improvement District No. 5 prior to 1979 when the former I.D. No...
kills 189 men, Canada's worst mine disasterHillcrest mine disasterThe Hillcrest mine disaster, the worst coal mining disaster in Canadian history, occurred at Hillcrest, Alberta, in the Crowsnest Pass region of western Canada, on Friday June 19, 1914. At the time it was the world's third worst mine disaster....
. - 1916–1923: ProhibitionProhibitionProhibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
in Alberta; "rum-running" across the provincial boundary. - 1920: Train robbery and shootout at BellevueBellevue, AlbertaBellevue is an urban community in the Rocky Mountains within the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in southwest Alberta, Canada. It was formerly incorporated as a village prior to 1979 when it amalgamated with four other municipalities to form Crowsnest Pass....
Cafe. - 1923: 'Emperor Pic’ (Emilio PicarielloEmilio PicarielloEmilio Picariello was an Italian-Canadian bootlegger and convicted murderer, who was hanged at Fort Saskatchewan in 1923 for killing an Alberta police constable the previous year.-Early life:Picariello was born in Sicily and migrated to Canada in 1899...
) and Florence Lassandro hanged for shooting a police constable; first woman hanged in Alberta. - 1932: Highway 3 built as a Great DepressionGreat DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
project. - 1966: Communities of Michel, Natal, and Sparwood amalgamate into the District Municipality of Sparwood, British ColumbiaSparwood, British Columbia-Newspapers:* Fernie Free Press - Weekly Paper* Elk Valley Herald - Weekly Paper* Kootenay News Advertiser - Weekly Paper* The Valley - Weekly Paper* Fernie Fix - Monthly Glossy Magazine* Black Rock News - Semimonthly-Radio stations:...
. - 1979: Communities of ColemanColeman, AlbertaColeman is an urban community in the Rocky Mountains within the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in southwest Alberta, Canada. It was formerly incorporated as a town prior to 1979 when it amalgamated with four other municipalities to form Crowsnest Pass....
, BlairmoreBlairmore, AlbertaBlairmore is an urban community in the Rocky Mountains within the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in southwest Alberta, Canada. It was formerly incorporated as a town prior to 1979 when it amalgamated with four other municipalities to form Crowsnest Pass...
, BellevueBellevue, AlbertaBellevue is an urban community in the Rocky Mountains within the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in southwest Alberta, Canada. It was formerly incorporated as a village prior to 1979 when it amalgamated with four other municipalities to form Crowsnest Pass....
, HillcrestHillcrest, AlbertaHillcrest, also known as Hillcrest Mines, is an urban community in the Rocky Mountains within the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in southwest Alberta, Canada. It was once a hamlet under the jurisdiction of Improvement District No. 5 prior to 1979 when the former I.D. No...
, and FrankFrank, AlbertaFrank is an urban community in the Rocky Mountains within the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in southwest Alberta, Canada. It was formerly incorporated as a village prior to 1979 when it amalgamated with four other municipalities to form Crowsnest Pass....
amalgamate to form the Municipality of Crowsnest PassCrowsnest Pass, AlbertaThe Municipality of Crowsnest Pass is a specialized municipality located in the Crowsnest Pass of the Rocky Mountains in southwest Alberta, Canada. The municipality formed as a result of the amalgamation of five municipalities – the Village of Bellevue, the Town of Blairmore, Town of Coleman, the...
, Alberta.