Archeological evidence suggests that the Ktunaxa people may have prospered here more than 5,000 years before the first explorers arrived. In 1864, mountain men and prospectors followed the Dewdney Trail, which had been constructed the previous year from Hope to the gold fields of Fort Steele, through the valley. But it wasn't until 1892 that the town of Creston was born. By 1895, when the railroad came through, our town boased 26 hotels and eateries, one of which still stands today. Later, when the mines grew silent, forestry and agriculture provided livelihoods for those who remained. Reclaimation of the Kootenay River flood Plain by a system of dykes resulted in 20,000 acres fo today's Creston Valley area. Ceston is not far from Cranbrook on Crowsnest Highway 3.