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William Fernie, the namesake of this city, met a tribe of Indians during a prospecting trip. He noticed one of the Indian Chieftain's daughters wearing a necklace of shining black stones. Knowing the stones to be coal, Fernie asked about their source. The Chief agreed to share the source of the coal, provided Fernie marry his daughter. The Indian Chief kept his word, but upon learning the source of the coal, Fernie refused to uphold his side of the deal. The angered Chief put a curse on the valley, vowing it would suffer from fire, flood and famine.

Over the years the city of Fernie has indeed been besieged with fire, flood and famine. The worst disaster came on August 1st, 1908, when a forest fire nearly destroyed the entire city.

On August 15th, 1964 an important ceremony was performed. Members of the Kootenai tribe led by Chief Ambrose Gravelle, known as Chief Red Eagle, assembled in Fernie and held the ceremonial lifting of the Fernie Curse. As a reminder of the curse, the Ghostrider of Mount Hosmer, as pictured above, can be seen each sunny summer evening on a rock face high above the city. It is a spectacular shadow of the Indian Princess sitting on her horse, being led by her father, the Chief.