KOOTENAY NATIONAL PARK AND VICINITY - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 251

Lodgepole pine is the dominant species here. The area affected by the more recent wild-
fires is an excellent place to see the natural regeneration process at work.
FAUNA
Large mammals tend to remain in the Kootenay and Vermilion River Valleys. White-
tailed deer, mule deer, moose, black bears, and elk live year-round at these lower elev-
ations, as do bighorn sheep, which can be seen at mineral licks along Highway 93. The
most common large mammal present in Kootenay is the mountain goat, but these flighty
creatures stay at high elevations, feeding in alpine meadows throughout summer. Grizzlies
number around 10 within the park; they range throughout the backcountry and occasion-
ally are sighted in spring high on roadside avalanche slopes.
HISTORY
Although their traditional home was along the river valley to the south, the indigenous
Kootenay people regularly came to this area to enjoy the hot springs—a meeting place
for mountain and Plains bands. Natives called the springs Kootemik (place of hot water).
Early European visitors warped Kootemik into Kootenay and applied the name to the local
residents. The natives traveled as far east as the Paint Pots area, to collect ocher for cere-
monial painting purposes.
In 1905 Randolph Bruce, an Invermere businessman, persuaded the Canadian govern-
ment and Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) to build a road linking the Columbia River
Valley to the prairie transportation hub of Calgary so that western produce could get out
to eastern markets. Construction of the difficult Banff-Windermere Road began in 1911.
But with three mountain ranges to negotiate and deep, fast-flowing rivers to cross, the
money ran out after completion of only 22 kilometers (13.6 miles). To get the highway pro-
ject going again, the provincial government agreed to hand over an eight-kilometer-wide
(five-mile-wide) section of land along both sides of the proposed highway to the federal
government. In return, the federal government agreed to finance completion of the high-
way. Originally called the Highway Park, the land became known as Kootenay National
Park in 1920. The highway was finally completed in 1922, and the official ribbon-cutting
ceremony was held at Kootenay Crossing in 1923; a plaque marks the spot.