this section of the Dewdney Trail travelled southeast via present day Wynndel and Creston, before following the Goat River valley northeastward. On an 1882 hunting trip, William A. Baillie-Grohman and Teddy Roosevelt camped in the vicinity of today's Creston. Baillie-Grohman noted the agricultural potential of the flats if protected from flooding. The Kutenai language is noted for its uniqueness, as were the tribe's distinctive sturgeon-nosed canoes. Members reside in several local reserves. As of 2020, the Lower Kootenay Band is in Stage 4 of the British Columbia Treaty Process. Name origin In 1891, three settlers obtained lots. Of today's town, John Wilson Dow owned the northern portion, Fred. G. Little, the centre, and John Arrowsmith, the southwestern corner. The Columbia and Kootenay Steam Navigation Company twice weekly run between Nelson and Bonners Ferry served the growing community on the edge of the flats. The place was formerly known as Fred Little's ranch and then as the eighth siding during the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) construction. The name of Fisher was chosen for the initial timetable published in August 1898, assumedly after Sydney Arthur Fisher, a politician friendly to the railway. Some confusion existed as to whether a rename to Sirdar would be adopted. Sirdar was the title assigned to the commander-in-chief of the British-controlled Egyptian Army in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Lord Kitchener, who held this position, was equally honoured by the CP station of Kitchener northeast. Sirdar, an existing CP station northwest, would also have needed to be renamed in such circumstances. Residents preferred the name Creston, which appears to have been in popular use. Fred Little selected the name after Creston, Iowa, where he had worked for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, which also stood at the outlet of a major water body. The residents petitioned CP to change the name from Fisher to Creston, a request CP granted before late 1899. Railways CP accepted offers from Little and Dow for a half-interest in their properties. During construction, the CP rail head passed northwestward toward Kuskonook in September 1898. Although construction trains offered passenger service until mid-October, the line was not handed over to CP until mid-November, but services on the western section did not resume until mid-December. The two-storey station was erected that year. In December 1899, the Bedlington & Nelson Railway (B&N), a Great Northern Railway subsidiary, assumed possession of the completed