Crowsnest Pass (sometimes referred to as Crow's Nest Pass, ) is a low

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

across the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

of the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

on the

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

–

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

border.

Geography

The pass is located in southeast British Columbia and southwest Alberta, and is the southernmost rail and highway route through the

. It is the lowest-elevation mountain pass in Canada south of the Yellowhead Pass (); the other major passes, which are higher, being

Kicking Horse Pass Kicking Horse Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Americas of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta–British Columbia border, and lying within Yoho and Banff national parks. Divide Creek forks onto both ...

(), Howse Pass () and Vermilion Pass (). Crowsnest Pass comprises a valley running east–west through Crowsnest Ridge. On the Alberta side, the Crowsnest River flows east from Crowsnest Lake, eventually draining into the

Oldman River The Oldman River is a river in southern Alberta, Canada. It flows roughly west to east from the Rocky Mountains, through the communities of Fort Macleod, Lethbridge, and on to Grassy Lake, where it joins the Bow River to form the South Sa ...

and ultimately reaching

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...

via the

Nelson River The Nelson River is a river of north-central North America, in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. The river drains Lake Winnipeg and runs before it ends in Hudson Bay near Port Nelson, Manitoba, Port Nels ...

. Summit Lake on the British Columbia side drains via three intermediary creeks into the Elk River, which feeds into the

Kootenay River The Kootenay River or Kootenai River is a major river of the Northwest Plateau in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and northern Montana and Idaho in the United States. It is one of the uppermost major tributaries of the Columbia River, ...

, and finally into the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

to the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

Transportation

Before the arrival of Europeans, Indigenous people used this major breach through the Front Ranges for seasonal migrations, and also for trade between mountain and plains cultures. The

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

(CPR) built the Crowsnest Route line from

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

, Alberta, to Kootenay Landing, British Columbia, through the Crowsnest Pass between 1897 and 1898. This line was built primarily to access mineral-rich southeastern BC via an all-Canadian rail route, and to assert Canadian (and CPR) sovereignty in an area that U.S. railroads were beginning to build into. It also opened up coal deposits in the Crowsnest and Elk River valleys, which were important to mineral smelting operations and assisted the CPR in its conversion of locomotives from wood to coal. The CPR sought and received construction funding from the federal government, partially in exchange for a freight subsidy on prairie farm exports and equipment imports which came to be called the "Crow's Nest Pass Agreement". "The Crow Rate", as the subsidy agreement came to be referred to, was eventually extended from CPR's Crowsnest Pass railway line to apply to all railway lines in western Canada, regardless of corporate ownership or geography, creating artificially low freight rates for grain shipments through the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

ports. The rate also correspondingly limited industrial growth in the western provinces as it was cheaper to produce items in eastern Canada and ship them west under the Crow Rate. This subsidy was finally abolished in 1995. The first motor vehicle to cross the Canadian Rockies did so via Phillipps Pass in 1910, about 1 km north of Crowsnest Pass, and in 1917 a road was blasted around the shores of Crowsnest Lake and across Crowsnest Pass, renamed Interprovincial Highway Three in 1932. It is also known as the Crowsnest Highway. On August 7, 1919, Captain Ernest Hoy flew a Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" through Crowsnest Pass, the first flight across the Canadian Rockies.

Natural resources

The Crowsnest Pass area on both sides of the provincial boundary is rich in coal deposits, which were quickly developed after completion of the rail line. All the mines on the Alberta side were closed by the end of the 20th century as cheaper and safer open-pit mines opened on the British Columbia side of the pass. Some logging and oil and gas exploitation also occur in the area and a sulphur plant has been in operation there for several years. Tourism based on the natural and historical resources of the area remains underdeveloped but is slowly growing. The area hosts the world-class Sinister 7 Ultra Marathon, a 161-kilometre foot race that winds through the mountains around the community. Crowsnest Pass also has a local ski hill, Pass Powderkeg, and an outdoor pool.

History

*The Crowsnest Pass is the richest archaeological zone in the Canadian Rockies. The oldest relics are stone tools found on a rock ridge outside

Frank, Alberta Frank is an urban community in the Rocky Mountains within the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in southwest Alberta, Canada. It was formerly incorporated as a village prior to 1979 when it amalgamated with four other municipalities to form Crows ...

, from the

Clovis culture The Clovis culture is an archaeological culture from the Paleoindian period of North America, spanning around 13,050 to 12,750 years Before Present (BP). The type site is Blackwater Draw locality No. 1 near Clovis, New Mexico, where stone too ...

, 11,000 years before present. Other sites include chert quarries on the Livingstone ridge dating back to 1000 BC. *1800: Members of David Thompson expedition avoid entering the pass. *ca. 1850: Crow Indians dispersed from area by

Blackfoot Confederacy The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'', or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or "Blackfoot language, Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up ...

. *1873: Michael Phillipps (

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

) traverses pass, reports coal deposits. *1877: The

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

cede their title in the eastern portion of the pass with Treaty 7. The western portion in

is unceded. *1878: Government survey by George Dawson. *1881: first surveys by Canadian Pacific Railway. *1897: CPR enters into farm export subsidy agreement for freight rates in exchange for financing of the railway line between Lethbridge, Alberta, and Nelson, BC. Crow's Nest Pass Coal Company commences operations in British Columbia. *1898: CPR opens the railway line, 10th siding (later Blairmore, Alberta) established. Settlement of

Fernie, British Columbia Fernie is a city in the Elk Valley (British Columbia), Elk Valley area of the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada, located on British Columbia provincial highway 3, BC Highway 3 on the western approaches to the Crows ...

, established. *1900: the Frank Mine opens and the new town of

, is established. Other coal mines and towns spring up between 1900 and 1919. *1902: explosion at Coal Creek mine kills 128 men. *1903: the cataclysmic Frank Slide occurs on the north slope of Turtle Mountain; 82 million tonnes of limestone crash down and partially bury the town of Frank, killing approximately 90 of the town's 600 residents. *1904:

, incorporates. *1908: forest fire destroys Fernie (pop: 6000), which soon rebuilds. *1914: an explosion in the mine at Hillcrest kills 189 men, Canada's worst mine disaster. *1916–1923:

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

in Alberta; "rum-running" across the provincial boundary. *1920: Train robbery and shootout at Bellevue Cafe. *1923: 'Emperor Pic' ( Emilio Picariello) and Florence Lassandro hanged for shooting a police constable; first woman hanged in Alberta. *1932: The portion of the Red Trail through the Frank Slide is realigned as a

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

project and renamed Interprovincial Highway 3. *1946: An RCAF DC-3 Dakota crashes into a mountain, killing all seven people on board. *1966: Communities of Michel, Natal, and Sparwood amalgamate into the District Municipality of Sparwood, British Columbia. *1979: Communities of

Coleman Coleman may refer to: Places Antarctica * Coleman Glacier (Antarctica) * Coleman Peak, Ross Island Canada * Coleman, Alberta * Coleman, Ontario * Coleman, Prince Edward Island United Kingdom * Coleman, Leicester, England United States * C ...

, Blairmore, Bellevue, Hillcrest, and Frank amalgamate to form the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass, Alberta. *2017: The

Ktunaxa Nation The Ktunaxa Nation or Ktunaxa Nation Council is a First Nations tribal council government comprising four Ktunaxa (Kutenai) bands in the south-east of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is one of three Kutenai governments, the others be ...

and the Crown move to Stage 5 negotiations of a treaty that affects the western portion of Crowsnest Pass

Gallery

File:crowsnest_pass.jpg, Crowsnest Lake, near the summit of the Crowsnest Pass, looking east toward Crowsnest Mountain. File:Train heads west into the Crowsnest Pass.JPG, A train heads west toward the summit of the Crowsnest Pass from Coleman, Alberta. File:Goat Mountain from the summit of Crown Mountain, Crow's Nest Pass, British Columbia (HS85-10-20122).jpg, Goat Mountain from the summit of Crown Mountain, Crowsnest Pass, 1908. File:Panoramic view of the scenery along the Crow's Nest Pass, British Columbia (HS85-10-20124).jpg, Panoramic view of scenery in the Crowsnest, 1908.

References

Bibliography

* ''Crowsnest and Its People'', Crowsnest Pass Historical Society, 1979. * ''Crowsnest and Its People Millennium Edition'', Crowsnest Pass Historical Society, 2000.

External links

* *
Pass HistoryPass TimelineCrowsnest Railway Route
{{Authority control Crowsnest Pass, Alberta Mountain passes of British Columbia Mountain passes of Alberta Great Divide of North America Canadian Pacific Railway facilities Rail mountain passes of Alberta Rail mountain passes of British Columbia Regional District of East Kootenay Borders of British Columbia Borders of Alberta