14
Flooding of the flats due to the high water of the Kootenay River.1910
Creston Valley, BC
15
"A word must still be said about the fate of that large block of splendid agricultural land in Lower Kootenay covered by my concession. These 48,000 acres I had proposed to reclaim from the annual summer overflow by turning the Kootenay river. When that intention had to be abandoned, an equally effectual cure presented itself. It was to widen and deepen the only outlet of Kootenay lake. By so doing an increased outflow was made possible, and, in consequence, the dangerous rise of the Kootenay river would have been prevented."I had already spent several thousand pounds in beginning this extensive but perfectly easy work, when I finally decided that to continue my single-handed legal fights with the Government, was beyond my power."
- William-Adolph Baillie-Grohman, as read by John Hopcraft
16
William Baillie Grohman in his home in Schloss, Austria.1880
Schloss, Austria
17
"In 1893 he returned to Europe with a very sore head vowing that he would never listen to anything about the Kootenay River again."- Bill Constable
18
Compass from the S.S. Midge.1885
Creston Museum, Creston, BC
19
The little steamship Midge fared somewhat better. Baillie-Grohman used the vessel to transport people and goods up and down the lake until 1884, when it was moored along the Kootenay River's bank near Rykerts, the customs office south of Creston.20
Steam whistle from the S.S. Midge.1885
Creston Museum, Creston, BC
21
In 1888, J.W. Cockle found the ship there, now sunken and filled with mud; he emptied it out, got it afloat, and purchased it from Baillie-Grohman.22
Davits from the S.S. Midge.1885
Creston Museum, Creston, BC
23
For another six years, under the ownership of Cockle and later Thomas J. Davis, the Midge continued as a means of transportation in support of the growing mining industry surrounding Kootenay Lake. By the summer of 1894, however, it had been abandoned on the south bank of the Kootenay River, where it lay until 1997.24
The rudder from the S.S. Midge. This is one of the few remaining pieces of the Midge.1885
Creston Museum, Creston, BC
25
In 1997, Bill Constable collected what was left of the ship - a compass, whistle, two davits, and the rudder and rudder post - and donated them to the Creston Museum.26
The Midge's abandonment in 1894 came about because its owner, T.J. Davis, had returned to his hometown in Wales to get married over the winter of 1893-1894. Upon hearing that his farm along the Kootenay River flats had been destroyed in the spring flood of 1894, Davis decided not to return to the Kootenays.The flood of 1894 had an impact on far more than one small steamship.
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