The mountainous region of southern British Columbia, known as the West Kootenay district, along the international border with Washington State was the setting for a series of mining booms in the late 1800's and early 1900's. So rich were the discoveries that they rivaled the great Klondike Gold Rush of 1897 and 1898, perhaps not in terms of publicity and frenzied activity, but certainly in the value of precious metals and rich ores produced. At the same time a fascinating and complicated system of rail and inland steamer services developed to promote and support the mining, as well as the saw mills and agricultural economy of the region that soon developed.
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