Wild Horse River facts for kids

The Wild Horse River, formerly known as Wild Horse Creek, is a tributary of the Kootenay River, joining it near the town of Fort Steele, British Columbia, Canada. The river's canyon was the setting for the Wild Horse Creek Gold Rush and associated "war" during the gold rush of the mid-1860s.

Gold Rush

American prospectors first came to Wild Horse River in the fall of 1863. The river was originally known as Stud Horse Creek. The Wild Horse River yielded close to $7,000,000 in gold during the gold rush. The river is considered to be one of the greatest gold creeks in the entire province of British Columbia. A miner named Mike Reynolds who mined the river in the 1860s recovered a 36-ounce gold nugget. This was the largest nugget recovered from the river. The river was mined with many methods including hydraulics, tunnels, and shafts. During the Gold Rush this river went through two eras of great activity. The first era was from 1863 to 1868 and the second was from 1885 to 1900. The river was worked by both European and Chinese miners.