The Fernie Curse and the Ghost Rider Legend
A local legend says that William Fernie, on one of his prospecting trips, noticed Ktunaxa Chief’ s daughter wearing a necklace of shining black stones. Knowing that these stones were coal, he asked about their source. The Chief agreed to show Fernie the location of the coal on the condition that he marries his daughter. After learning the location of the coal deposits, Fernie backed out of the deal. Angered by this the Chief cast a curse on the valley— it would suffer from fire, flood and famine.
Though the city did suffer from horrific fires, mining disasters and flooding there is no evidence of the story’ s veracity. But many look to Mount Hosmer on summer evenings, where a shadow of the daughter standing beside the chief on his horse serves as evidence of some mystic curse.
The roots of the Ghost Rider story may be found in the Ktunaxa tradition of avoiding the Elk Valley and considering it a“ bad place.” Early Ktunaxa legends told of a Squirrel and his wife who controlled the entrances to the Elk Valley, letting trails become overgrown and impassable.
Another source for the legend may be gleaned from a 1908 newspaper article:
“ We have been requested to say that William Fernie denies the little after dinner stunt about him and the Indian maiden. We are glad Mr. Fernie does deny it for the future safety of our city.”
Did the story develop from a joke among the City fathers?
No matter the source, the curse seemed real enough that on August 15, 1964, at the City’ s request, members of the Ktunaxa Nation, headed by Chief Ambrose Gravelle, assembled in Fernie for a ceremonial lifting of the Fernie curse.
Fernie is now a prosperous and vibrant community that values its connection to the Ktunaxa Nation.
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