A newly published book, Forgotten Moyie, unearths the history of the once-booming mining town through visual storytelling.
The book is the fifth book from local author and historian Keith Powell and the fourth series installment from Powell and fellow local authors and historians Erin Knudson and Derryll White.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Derryll White and Erin Knudson from the Columbia Basin Institute of Regional History,” said Powell.
“We started with Forgotten Cranbrook, then Forgotten Kimberley. We got a request to do Forgotten Moyie and we took that opportunity to take a tour of Moyie over the summer and worked with the Community Association and we’re pleased to now launch this book as well.”
Forgotten Moyie covers about 70 years of the town’s history, dating back to when the community was a booming mining town with a relatively large population in the early 1900s.
“When you delve into the histories of these small communities, it’s amazing what you find. In 1908, Moyie had a population of about 1,000 people or more and it was the largest mine in British Columbia at the time,” said Powell.
The glory days did not last forever, and Moyie’s population dwindled to 266 by 2021, according to Statistics Canada census data.
Knudson provided most of her research on women’s roles in the community.
“It was a wonderful opportunity to see what women were up to in the late 1800s and early 1900s in the pioneering community,” said Knudson.
“I was glad to be able to put together a diverse range of stories to cover the different women in the community.”
Knudson says she found the stories of Moyie’s ‘women of the night.’
“Amid this booming town in the late 1800s, in a very religious area at the time, there were also women of the night in the mix. There were also two houses of ill-repute operating next to churches and schools,” said Knudson.
“It was kind of a contradiction. It seems shocking, but it was nice to be able to tell that story and not gloss over it.”
Forgotten Moyie is available at local bookstores and the Moyie General Store.
“When you focus on a small community, it highlights that town and lets people reflect on the colourful history and characters that were the legacy of that community,” said Powell.
Powell says the team is leaving the door open to more visual history books in the future.
“We’re thinking about putting together Forgotten Fort Steele, but we haven’t put any ink to paper on that one yet, but we are doing some research,” said Powell.
“There are several interesting characters and communities throughout the Kootenays that we could profile, so it lends itself to further opportunity.”
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