Luxor Creek Outfitters - British Columbia Big Game Hunts & Guide Outfitting


	*An excerpt from "The Eastern Kootenay - A History of Exploration & Adventure," by Ken Tyson.* Telling the story of the area in and around Luxor Creek Outfitters is a difficult endeavor. Aside from the small towns of Edgewater and Spillimacheen that sprung up along the Columbia River, the land appears today as it has over the millennia; virtually unchanged. There are no ruins to provide hints of an ancient civilization that rose and fell, nor are there abandoned ghost towns or historical markers that would give clues to the lives of the more recent inhabitants. Instead, the history of our area is a direct function of the region in which we reside. . . the Eastern Kootenay. The very uniqueness of our area is the central proximity of its location to so much of the history that created British Columbia.
			To the north and east are three of the most beautiful National Parks in the world. Luxor Creek Outfitters is literally skirted by the great Canadian Pacific Railway, the very lifeblood to the opening of the Canadian Rockies to the world. Aside from the railway workers in the 1880s, there were also prospectors who undoubtedly panned for gold in the waters of Luxor Creek, lumberjacks who felled the trees that became ties in the great railroad, and of course the river captains who sailed their small steam ships up and down the Columbia, carrying everything from vital supplies and wayward miners, to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.


	In ancient times the Natives undoubtedly hunted game here, or passed through on their way to soak in the healing waters of Radium Hot Springs. We know Arthur Oliver Wheeler was here in years preceding World War I, climbing and photographing the peaks during the first detailed survey of the land, and of course the famous Swiss Guides of Golden. In short, the history of our area is the story of all those who have passed through over the years, always headed somewhere over the horizon, but pausing just long enough to take in the natural majesty of the area. Luxor Creek Outfitters takes its name, of course, from Luxor Creek, which has its headwaters in the area of Luxor Pass, flowing southwest and eventually draining into the Columbia River. In our immediate area, Mount Luxor may also be found. Around the turn of the century, there was a flurry of place names being assigned in conjunction with the first detailed photographic surveys conducted by Arthur Oliver Wheeler, who himself is responsible for naming many of the features in this area.
			Originally, the names "North Vermilion Creek" and "Little Vermilion Creek" were suggested, in reference to the ochre beds just to the northwest of our territory, now known as the Paint Pots in Kootenay National Park; and in fact, "Little Vermilion Pass" does appear on BC Map 1EM (1915). How- ever, 'Vermilion' was jettisoned on account of the duplication of the name in the area, and the inevitable confusion it would have caused. In a letter to the Geographic Board of Canada dated June 6, 1924, it was noted that Vermilion Pass lay on the trail used by rangers en route to Brisco and Luxor, such that "either of [those] names might be adopted." On September 9, 1924, Luxor Creek was officially named and adopted on a Kootenay Park Sheet.


	The origin of the name 'Luxor' in British Columbia is somewhat hazy, but there is little doubt that it does, in fact, refer to the archaeological site in Egypt. Mount Luxor, for instance, which was officially adopted in 1978, had been named decades earlier by the first ascent party that climbed the mountain at the time King Tut's tomb had been discovered in Egypt. The first mention of 'Luxor' is on BC Map 1EM (1915), which labels Luxor Station, a stopping point on the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). Luxor Station is also identified on various CPR timetables around 1915. According to the Royal Society of Canada, Luxor Station was named "Probably after the town in Upper Egypt." There are two theories as to how this may have come about: First, Luxor was frequently in the newspapers because of numerous archaeological discoveries made at the Egyptian site in the years before World War I, and the name may have been adopted

because the Canadian Pacific Railway required a station name at that time. The second theory is that Arthur Oliver Wheeler, the famous mountaineer and surveyor, suggested the name. Luxor Station was constructed in the Brisco Range, which was named in 1859 after Captain Arthur Brisco, a gentleman officer of the 11th Hussars and a hero of the famous Charge of the Light Brigade, who had been part of the 1858-1859 Palliser Expedition. If Captain Brisco had served the Hussars in Egypt at some point in his career, Wheeler and the CPR may have seen 'Luxor' as a clever name. According to Alpine Club of Canada lore, Wheeler delighted in this sort of subtle historical riddle, and he was known to have incorporated historical trivia into place names elsewhere.

Within the boundaries of Luxor Creek Outfitters are many other features that acquired their names in reference to historical figures and events. Mount Kindersley, and subsequently Kindersley Creek after which our own Kindersley Creek Base Camp was named, are all in reference to Robert Kindersley, who was the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company during the early 1920s.

Mount Crook, along the boundary we share with Kootenay National Park, was named after Charles Crook, one of the first pioneers to set up a homestead in the Kootenay River Valley back in 1911. The Crook family continued to live on the land, and operated an Auto Camp there from 1935 to 1956 when the federal government acquired the property and incorporated it into Kootenay National Park. Charles Crook was buried on the site, which is still used as a campground

today.

Towards the center of Luxor Creek Outfitters, at the head of Pinnacle Creek and about half a mile south of Diana Lake, is Mount Norman, which was named in 1965 after Norman Johnson, a firefighter who died fighting the "Pin Fire" during the early 1960s.

In the northern quadrant of Luxor Creek Outfitters, near the Kootenay River, is Mount Verendrye. A beautiful peak similar to the Swiss Matterhorn, it was named after Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Sieur de la Verendrye, who was a well-known French-Canadian explorer. The peak was originally named in 1884 by geologist George Dawson, and its first ascent was


	accomplished in 1922 during the topographical survey of Arthur Oliver Wheeler. Dawson named the peak during his 1883-1884 geological survey of the southern Canadian Rockies, conducted at the request of the British Columbia government. During the course of the survey, Dawson mapped the Kootenay and Columbia Valleys northward from Columbia Lake to Golden, effectively encompassing the whole of Luxor Creek Outfitters' territory. To the northwest of Mount Verendrye, Foster Peak rises above the landscape, overlooking Luxor Creek Outfitters. Named by Sir George Eulas (Canadian diplomat and delegate to the Versailles Treaty) in 1932 after W.W. Foster who ascended Mount Robson in 1913, Foster Peak was first ascended in 1933 by Katie Gardinier with the aid of renowned outfitter Ken Jones and Walter Feuz, one of the famous Swiss Guides of Golden. Of the climb, Ken Jones later related in the book "Ken Jones - Mountain Man," that the climb wasn't difficult, but he had strong memories

of what happened once the three reached the summit. Ken Jones later recalled: "When we got on top Katie wanted a picture. Walter [Feuz] came up with the brilliant idea of, 'Ken, why don't you go out there on the cornice and take a look, and see if that snow cap at the summit is safe for us to stand on? Katie and I will hold onto you with the rope.' I reached out with my ice axe and stepped out onto the snow. Pffffffft, I was through! I looked down and saw through the hole between my feet, three thousand feet or more straight down to Floe Lake! 'Yep, there is

definitely a cornice here, nice view though.'"

Also in the area of Ken Jones' adventure on Foster Peak is Upper and Lower Quinn Creek, named after John Quinn who established a farm in the area of the Elk River Valley around 1904. The Upper Quinn area is the location of one of our base camps and wilderness cabins, and has some of the most breathtaking scenery to be found in our hunting outfit.

Just south of our boundary, along the border of Kootenay National Park is Mount Berland, named after Edward Berland. Berland was a guide, sent by the Hudson's Bay Company from Fort Colville with a relay of horses for early Hudson's Bay Company explorer, Sir George Simpson.

Luxor Creek Outfitters occupies a unique crossroads of natural and human history, amidst breathtaking vistas of some of the most majestic scenery to be found in the Canadian Rockies. Located in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia, our outfit straddles the Brisco Range, and occupies the rugged territory between the Columbia River to the west, Kootenay and Mount Assiniboine National Parks to the east, and Banff and Yoho National Parks to the north. Luxor is located right in the heart of the complex of National Parks that have been designated as the Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage site by the United Nations.

extant in North America, serve as the wintering grounds for herds of elk, mule deer, and Shiras moose. The fertile soils of the Rocky Mountain Trench are particularly well-suited to farming. The small town of Edgewater, which marks the western corner of Luxor Creek Outfitters, originally started as a small farming community in the years before World War I. Notably, the town still has an operational water flume, constructed in the 1930s for use by the railway, and still in use today for providing irrigation to nearby ranches.

A visit to the Kootenay region of the Canadian Rockies is a feast for the senses and the experience of a lifetime. Jagged, snow-brushed peaks are cleaved by verdant, glacier-carved valleys, ornamented by alpine meadows, crystal clear rivers and dazzling cobalt-blue lakes. To the east, the perimeter of Kootenay National Park is marked by the rugged Canadian Rockies, and to the west of Luxor Creek Outfitters, across the Columbia River, are the weathered and ancient Purcell Mountains.

Geographically, Luxor Creek Outfitters occupies a significant portion of the eastern quadrant of the Rocky Mountain Trench, centered on the Columbia River, and bordered by the Canadian Rockies to the east, and the Bugaboo Range to the west. The Trench houses two of the most important rivers to be found in North America, namely the before-mentioned Columbia and the Kootenay River. The Kootenay originates high in the alpine peaks of Kootenay National Park, and is fed by dozens of creeks and smaller rivers as it flows to the south.

The Columbia River was originally named after an American ship called the Columbia Rediviva, that in 1792 first crossed the bar at the termination of the river in Oregon. The great river begins in the waters of Columbia Lake, and flows northward along the western boundary of Luxor Creek Outfitters, before hooking south and pouring into the Pacific at Astoria in Oregon.

The waterway provides an important stopover point on the migration routes of many different species of wildlife. In addition, the extensive wetlands, some of the largest still

Edgewater has been, and still remains the site of extensive Christmas tree farming in the area around the town.

The lower elevations of the Kootenay and Luxor region of the Columbia Valley are forested predominantly with cedar-hemlock, while the higher altitudes support Engelmann spruce and sub-alpine fir. Habitats throughout the Kootenay region range from glaciers and alpine tundra, to grasslands and even various species of cacti.

This area is equally as rich in fauna, yielding a veritable Sportsman's Dream, providing everything from some of the finest hunting and fishing opportunities in the world, to horseback riding, hiking, skiing, and mountaineering for the more adventurous. The Eastern Kootenay is an ideal habitat suitable for various big game species, and there are exceptional populations of mule deer, elk, bighorn sheep, mountain goats,

grizzly and black bear, mountain lions, wolves, caribou, and moose. Kootenay National Park alone is known to be the home of a herd consisting of a couple hundred Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep.