PILOT BAY LIGHTHOUSE & THE MARITIME HISTORY OF KOOTENAY LAKE

This half hour story is taken, in part, from Susan’s book ‘The History of Pilot Bay Lighthouse’.  It chronicles the history of this rare heritage structure which still stands today near Kootenay Bay. This story includes dramatic episodes from the golden days of steamboating on Kootenay Lake and poignant tales about some of the independent minded people who lived along its shores at a time when the lake was the region’s only transportation corridor.

Excerpt:
“Looking west from Pilot Bay Lighthouse, one could imagine it’s a Friday evening in 1919.  A pall of smoke hangs over the water coming from Queens Bay where hundreds of acres of land are being cleared for orchards.  The smoke almost obscures a small wooden launch moving slowly but steadily toward Balfour.  It’s young William Fraser from Kootenay Bay. He on his way to Nelson to visit the new school teacher, Miss June Ink - the woman he hopes to marry. From  the deck of the lighthouse, several miles away, his progress seems painfully slow. But William is actually moving faster than ever before.  Previously he went courting by rowboat!

original pen and ink drawing
by Bruce Patterson of Creston BC

“Or, imagine it’s a summer morning in 1924. Looking down from the lighthouse you would see the S.S. Moyie steaming south headed for Gray Creek.  She is all decked out with cedar boughs and red, white and blue bunting along her railings because it’s the day of the annual Gray Creek Regatta. Her decks are crowded with people from all around the lake; you can see the ladies in their fine dresses and big bonnets, and you can hear a band playing and the sounds of laughter.”