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British Columbia Tourism Region : Kootenay Rockies
Description From Owner:
Natal Ridge
- Crowsnest Pass - In very early days, a band of Crow Indians, making a horse-stealing raid into Blackfoot territory, camped here.
- The Blackfeet, catching them by surprise in their 'nest,' massacred them. A Palliser Expedition map of 1859 shows 'lodge des Corbeaux' at the head of the 'Crow River.'
- Another map of the same expedition in 1860 shows 'Crow Nest' river and pass. Captain Palliser, the first white man to learn of the pass, referred to it at times as the 'British Kutanie pass.'
- Crowsnest became a CPR divisional point during the building of the railway's Crowsnest line in 1897.
- Natal Ridge - This preserves the name of Natal, which with its sister village of Michel, has been absorbed into the District Municipality of Sparwood.
- Natal was apparently named at the time of the Boer War in honour of the British Crown Colony of Natal. Natal and the Cape Colony were engaged in hostilities with the Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State.
- Mount Ptolemy - Originally Mummy Mountain since in profile it resembles the head and chest of a person lying flat and gazing upward. Ptolemy was the name of various Egyptian pharaohs.
- Sparwood - In September 1905 the postrnaster at Sparwood wrote to the Chief Geographer at Ottawa:
- 'It is commonly reported here that, at the time of the construction of the Crows Nest Pass Railway, the engineers remarked that the size and quality of the trees here were such as were required for spars; hence the name 'Sparwood.''
- With permission from G.P.V and Helen B. Akrigg 1997 British Columbia Place Names. UBC Press.
Address of this page: http://bc.ruralroutes.com/Sparwood