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CRANBROOK, the largest city of the Rocky Mountain region and the sunniest place in British Columbia! Cranbrook is located in the Columbia Valley, offering the best of city and country. The vistas of snowcapped mountain peaks, lush green valleys and crystal clear lakes are sure to take your breath away. For those seeking an oasis of civility in the rough Rockies, there is shopping galore, boutiques and restaruants, an arts centre, several heritage centres and an abundance of other attractions to entertain visitors and homeowners alike.
Cranbrook's history is rather coulourful and filled with interesting characters. It is said, however, that the railway made this city.
Prior to the entire rail goings on, the Cranbrook region was inhabited for over ten thousand years by the Ktunaxa (Too nah hah) Native people. They followed retreating glaciers into the Cranbrook area from the great lakes to the south. As the land evolved and changed, they passed down many legends and stories. The Hoodoos, for example, are said to be the bones of Yawo'nek (Yehwoonik), a great water monster whose bones were thrown up onto the banks of the river. The area now called Cranbrook was called "The Pine Tree in the Centre" in the Ktunaxa language.
Fur traders, missionaries and prospectors soon arrived in the area, calling it "Joseph's Prairie", because the chief of the band was called Joseph. It was renamed Cranbrook by the city's founder who named it after his ancestral home of Cranbrook in Kent, England.
Location: Near the junction of Highway 95A and Crowsnest Highway 3 in the BC Rockies, 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Kimberley.
Population: 20,102 |
