A Haven for Hunters & Anglers
Fernie is the logical centre for tourists visiting the East Kootenays; we can give them everything they are looking for, fishing, hunting, climbing, golf, hotel accommodations, garage service, movies and churches, even hard stuff too, if they want it.
- Letter from Joseph Spalding published in the Fernie Free Press (1919)
Elko, BC: capturing the fresh, raw beauty of the Elk River as it spills into the basin below.
Because of his mountaineering skills, Spalding was able to photograph wilderness areas not readily accessible to everyone and his images present a sublime landscape relatively untouched by the incursions of industry and transportation. In a 1905 advertisement in the local press highlighting his photographic studio, Spalding notes that ‘Views of Fernie & the Mountains’ were always on hand, available either as photographic reproductions or postcard images.
Dolly Varden Trout caught in Elk River Fernie, BC.
Evidence of the aquatic riches available in the Elk River.
Spalding’s majestic views of the mountains, lakes, rivers and waterfalls appear to reflect a philosophic and aesthetic vision of nature that is considerably more romantic than in his photographs highlighting the local coal and logging industries, and the building of the railway.
Cloud Effect over Lizard Range Fernie, BC.
The sun peeks through to illuminate the snow-covered peaks of the Lizard Mountain Range.
Although his responsibilities as Tourism Commissioner extended from southeastern British Columbia to western Alberta, Spalding was not afraid to show a hint of bias towards Fernie, evidenced in a 1919 letter to the Fernie Free Press. Responding to an assertion in an automobile guide claiming that Cranbrook afforded better opportunities for fishing, Spalding passionately argued in Fernie’s defense, even inferring that Cranbrook may have falsely claimed ownership to Fernie’s rivers:
Elk Canyon Elko BC. The low-level waters in the canyon expose the jagged rock cuts made by the forceful flow of spring's mountain runoff.
I noticed that they have pictures of [the] Elko and Bull River, which they call their district. Are we going to sit on our haunches and allow them to steal our thunder like that? They have nothing around Cranbrook at all sufficiently interesting to attract much tourist travel so they have to steal from us.
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