16219 BC-3A |
British Columbia Tourism Region : Kootenay Rockies
Description From Owner:
Pilot Bay
- After James Crawford ('White Man Jim'). An old-time prospector and trapper in the district, he died in 1914.
- Kootenay Lake - Named after the Kootenay (Kootenai, Kootanae, Coutonai, Kutenai) Indians. This name is probably derived from the Blackfoot Indian pronunciation of these Indians' name for themselves — Ktunaxa.
- The meaning of the word is not known — the often quoted 'water people' is based on a false etymology.
- The Kootenays should not be confused with the Lakes (Okanagan-Colvile) Interior Salish Indians, who utilized the territory to the west of Kootenay Lake, while the Kootenays had that to the east.
- In the early days, the Kootenays were often referred to as the Flatbow Indians, and hence we find references to Flatbow Lake and Flatbow River.
- When David Thompson travelled down the Kootenay River in 1808, he named it McGillivray's River, after Duncan and William McGillivray, his superiors in the NWC.
- Pilot Bay - A corruption of 'Pirate Bay,' its earlier name. The 'pirates' were a raiding party of Colvile Indians who made a night attack on some sleeping Kootenays and made off with their canoes, which they cached in this bay.
- The Kootenay Indians knew the bay as Yakhsoumah, their word for canoe.
- 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/CrawfordBay