226 Sport and Life. 



Youthful enthusiasm and a thorough belief in the future of the 

 beautiful Kootenay country I had accidentally stumbled upon caused 

 me to shoulder tasks as novel as they were trying. As the scene 

 of my pioneering has now become an important mining region, 

 where many millions of English and American capital have been 

 invested, it may be as well for me to state, before entering upon my 

 task of devoting a chapter or two to its as yet unwritten history, 

 that I no longer have any pecuniary interests in the district. 



The present division of Kootenay District into West, East, and 

 North Kootenay came into force only recently, many years after 

 my first introduction to this land of silver mines and lovely Alpine 

 scenery. The latter event occurred in 1882, when I made a 

 hunting expedition to the northern part of Idaho, which was then 

 about the most remote territory of the United States outside of 

 Alaska. The southern part of the Kootenay country lies in Idaho, 

 and here comes in a necessary explanation concerning the spelling 

 of that name-, for it is safe to say that it holds the record for 

 variety. In the first Blue Book dealing with Kootenay (Palliser's), 

 we find it spelt Coutanie, Kootanie, Kootonay, Kootenai, and 

 Kootenay. Other writers have varied it into Kutunas, Kootanas, 

 Kutnehas, Kutonas, Coutanies, Cotonoi, Kitunahas, Kootenuha. 

 The derivation is probably to be traced to the word " co," water, 

 and " tinneh," people. To-day the Surveyor-General of the 

 Dominion Government spells it Kootenay in his official documents, 

 while the chief of the Dominion Geological Survey rigorously 

 abides by Kootanie. The British Columbia Government, on the 

 other hand, invariably uses Kootenay, while the United States 

 Government, in its official. maps of that part of the district which 

 lies south of the 49 in their own territory (Montana and Idaho), 

 sticks to Kootenai. As the Governments of British Columbia 

 and of the United States are those most immediately interested, 

 I shall follow the example of the inhabitants of the district and use 

 Kootenay for the British Columbia portion, and Kootenai for the 

 United States part. 



That part of Kootenay now known as West Kootenay was in 



