Lardeau Range

Lardeau is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

, and former

mining town A mining community, also known as a mining town or a mining camp, is a community that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine or a quarry. Historical mining communities Australia * Ballarat, Victoria * Bendig ...

and steamboat landing. The settlement is on the west shore near the head of

Kootenay Lake Kootenay Lake is a lake located in British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Kootenay River. The lake has been raised by the Corra Linn Dam and has a dike system at the southern end, which, along with industry in the 1950s–70s, has changed ...

in the

West Kootenay The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people. Boundaries The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootena ...

region of southeastern

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 ...

. Lardo and Lardeau were used interchangeably for decades before the latter spelling for the settlement prevailed. The earliest reference to the river used Lardo in 1885, but the pass used Lardeau in 1889. This likely reflects the distinction evident by the 1890s that Kootenay Lake settlers preferred Lardo, but those closer to

Upper Arrow Lake The Arrow Lakes in British Columbia, Canada, divided into Upper Arrow Lake and Lower Arrow Lake, are widenings of the Columbia River. The lakes are situated between the Selkirk Mountains to the east and the Monashee Mountains to the west. Beac ...

were more accustomed to Lardeau. Of the numerous theories, one is that early prospectors adopted Lardo to signify a rich or fat land, deriving from the vulgar meaning for a person who was a rich or fat prospect. Although the latter common usage apparently developed later, the root meaning had existed for centuries. The Lardeau spelling suggests a French influence, but the geographical word origin probably had more to do with lard or bacon. By 1892, a Lardeau existed on the northeast arm of Upper Arrow Lake, and plans were promoted to build a railway line to connect Lardo and Lardeau. In 1893, the land registry initially refused to accept the Lardo townsite plan, because the name was too similar to Lardeau. A war of words erupted between the much larger Lardo and the tiny Lardeau. By 1896, the latter site was abandoned and the buildings moved to nearby Comaplix. In reality, most residents of the Upper Arrow Lake area would have preferred their part of the valley not be called the Lardeau mining district. In 1902, the Geographic Board of Canada approved the uniform spelling of Lardo as Lardeau. The mining boom soon ended, followed by a widespread collapse of mining activity after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The name of the Lardo post office, opened in 1899, did not change to Lardeau until 1947. Lardeau today is one of the small communities in the area catering to the tourism industry. The valley comprises mixed

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksUnincorporated settlements in British Columbia Mining communities in British Columbia Populated places in the West Kootenay {{CentralKootenay-geo-stub