A small green space nestled quietly near the heart of Creston became a focal point of local pride and reflection last week.
On May 27, residents, town officials, and history enthusiasts gathered to commemorate the original townsite staking location. The spot, known as Staking Park, is tucked away at the corner of 11 Avenue and Cook Street.
The gathering, hosted by the Creston Valley Seniors Association (CVSA), was part of a renewed effort to honour the land’s deep-rooted Indigenous and settler history.
“We have a rich history here and so often we don't hear about our past. We only live in the here and the now, and we miss all the treasures that came before us,” said organizer Myrna Burton.
A resident who frequently walks his dog in the area, Matthew Lysakowski, had noticed the plaque in the grass and told members of CVSA about it.
John Pawelko, president of CVSA since 2016 and a Creston resident of 61 years, volunteered his time and materials, along with Calvin Germann, to build a new fence around the plaque to protect the site.
The plaque itself was originally installed in 1992 by then-Mayor Lela Irvine on the 100th anniversary of the first staking of Creston, but it had remained largely unnoticed for decades.
Tammy Bradford, manager of Creston Museum, spoke on the historical significance of Creston’s staking in Ktunaxa territory, first named Kxunamaʔnam by the Yaqan Nukiy people.
“If we go back in time, even just 150 years, we see the Ktunaxa people accessing the entire landscape and making full use of the natural resources it provides,” said Bradford. “While much of their activity focuses on the wetlands along the Kootenay River, this area, up on the bench land, has its role as well. It's an area to gather wild berries, to harvest important plants, and to hunt the deer that roam the forest.”
Bradford traced the transformation of the land from Ktunaxa territory to unceded Crown land. Then, once the Ktunaxa were restricted to reserves, the fertile land was claimed by early settlers Fred Little, John Wilson Dow, and John Arrowsmith.
In 1891–92, these men each preempted more than 300 acres of land, paying the government just $1 per acre. Staking Park, it turns out, sits right near the midpoint of those three original parcels.
“It will take nearly a decade and the arrival of two railways to spur things along, but those three lots will be subdivided into a thriving commercial district and ever-expanding residential neighbourhoods, much of what is now the town of Creston,” said Bradford. "Interestingly enough, it is a community that still relies on the natural resources of the landscape, just as it did for the thousands and thousands of years that it was Kxunamaʔnam."
The quiet forest was overtaken by extensive orchards and by 1910, there were over 25,000 apple trees in the Creston Valley.
“The new community will be known by several names. Fred Little’s Ranch, Fisher, Seventh Siding, and even Sirdar will all be tried out before finally settling on the name Creston after a town in Iowa in which Fred Little had once lived,” said Bradford.
Representatives from Creston’s town council were in attendance to honour both the site and the volunteers who brought attention back to it. Mayor Arnold DeBoon, councillors Denise Dumas, Keith Baldwin, and Norm Eisler praised the efforts of the CVSA.
“It's not just a point on a map,” said Eisler, who said he had driven by the site for seven years not knowing about it. “This is the beginning of our town's journey, and I've always felt that our progress is stronger when it's built on a foundation of remembrance that can be shared with future generations.”
Dumas said she appreciated the opportunity for reflection on where we came from.
“This park is extremely tiny, yet it represents and holds a real significance and importance by reminding us, firstly, of the Ktunaxa people that stewarded this land long before us, and in turn, of the origins of our little town,” she said. “Just like Staking Park, we are each a small but very valuable piece of a larger whole.”
