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Agricultural history of Rossland: just because it is interesting :-)
Submitted by Gillian on Sun, 25/09/2016 - 2:32pm
A tangent to the response to the warning about a bear in Lower Rossland and agriculture in the area : Rossland does have an agricultural history. During the hey day of mining in Rossland (late 1890s) about 90% of the food consumed by the 7000 + residents was locally produced. There was some importation of berries, fruits and veggies from WA but meat, dairy, and most veggies and fruit were local. There were farms, market gardens, dairies and ranches in every direction of Rossland and small plots in the town itself. Around 1901 there were 20+ farms with over 4,280 acres in farm land in and around Rossland. These acres were not necessarily all directly used in food production in 1901 but were cleared in the following years as market veg. and berry production, grazing lands, hay fields, orchards. There were at least 2 poultry farms, at least 4 dairy farms, cattle and many acres put to vegetables and berries. P. Burns Company of Calgary had a slaughter house near what we now think of as the Chinese gardens and one cattle ranch north of town employed its own butcher. You can read more about it in Ron Sherer's papers linked on the Museum website. To have a clear picture of agriculture and bears in Rossland someone can look up bear relations at the turn of the last century. Then we really know the picture. Cheers, Gill
Town: Rossland, BC 
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Interesting stuff! But 4280 acres is tiny - about 6.5 sections - and that includes grazing land and hay fields for what must have been substantial numbers of horses, donkeys and mules! it is also spread over the area 'around Rossland' which may be a pretty wide area. Given our growing season, changeable climate and poor thin rocky soil I find it highly unlikely that the small amount of that land available for farming (not ranching or for transport animals) could have supplied 7000 people with food on a year round basis! I am interested in finding out what real evidence of such self reliance actually exists; and, to that end will take a critical look at the papers you've referenced. In any event, a brief period of agriculture is probably insufficient to extirpate a species. Took the US at least a century to kill off all the wolves.
I've now read what is available online and cannot find anything like the information you refer to.In fact, it says that until 1896 virtually all food came from the USA. By 1899 it virtually all came from the prairies. By 1904 it came from as far away as Edmonton. Only after the population fell to about 3000 in 1909 does it state that Rosslanders were producing a portion of their own food. This appears to based on comments by the then mayor. The total size of the Chinese market garden was 50 to 75 acres And was used by some Chinese workers to supplement their income from domestic labour. Most 'agriculture' was backyard gardens and fruit trees. http://www.rosslandmuseum.ca/the-history-of-agriculture-in-rossland-exhi...
While I don't doubt there was some subsistence farming in the area it is clear almost no-one came to Rossland, as they did to Creston or the Okanagan, for the express purpose of agriculture. If l am missing the articles you refer to please give their URL.