The first boom in East Kootenay occurred in 1864 when gold was discovered on a creek in the Rocky Mountains which the miners called Stud Horse, but which sensitive government officials changed to Wild Horse. Among several thousand who stampeded to the area was "Uncle" Dan Drumheller, a U.S. prospector who later wrote: "When we finally reached our destination, Wild Horse Creek, June 15, 1864, northeast of where Cranbrook now stands, we found about 1,500 miners already on the ground and about 200 straggling miners arriving daily."
Another miner, David Griffith, who arrived late in 1864 recalled that: "The money taken out in 1864 brought in about 5,000 people in 1865, and that was the year that millions were taken out. I knew lots of men that cleaned up from forty to sixty thousand dollars that year. I had two partners that year, and my dividends ran over one thousand to fifteen hundred dollars a week, and I would go to town every Saturday night and spend the whole thing. The next year the gold was pretty well cleaned up and the excitement died out and that was the last of the rush to Wild Horse. No one will ever know how many millions were taken out...."

One would-be miner, John Galbraith, recognized the need for an easy crossing of the Kootenay River by miners, merchants and settlers. Instead of working the ground for gold he started a ferry service which prospered and remained active until the first bridge was built in 1888. A small cluster of buildings which grew up around the ferry office became known as Galbraith's Ferry.

By 1865 the gold-bearing ground had been largely claimed and the gold more costly to dig, so many miners moved on. Population declined until by 1882 only 11 white settlers lived in the vast East Kootenay District, most of them around Wild Horse Creek.

Although the initial rush last only a few years prospectors continued mining on Wild Horse Creek and in other East Kootenay locations for over 100 years. For those interested in researching specific individuals, companies and claims, you may search the Fort Steele Mining Collection Database.

In 1995 Wild Horse Creek Historic Site came under the jurisdiction of Fort Steele Heritage Town, with all of the legal protection afforded a provincial historic site. A self-guiding tour of the site takes approximately two hours and is delightful from both a historical and natural history perspective. At the present time Fort Steele is working with the Rocky Mountain Naturalists to develop a new tour brochure that combines natural and Historic features in one presentation.

Visitors are now welcome to pan for gold at the historic site of the gold rush - using a pan and shovel only. Use of other placer mining equipment, including metal detectors, is not permitted. Please leave historic artifacts for others to discover the same way you did. Collecting is prohibited.