Andrew Kitson

Andy Kitson at Birch Creek Lodge, September 1938.

Dates: b. Belfast, Ireland, 20 May 1877 d. 2 April 1955

Cemetery Location: Block G, Row 3, Plot 22

 Profile:

Irish-born Andrew (Andy) Kitson arrived in Revelstoke in 1903, where he became one of the area’s most renowned prospectors, venturing up and down the Columbia River to mines up the Big Bend. The writer Lewis Freeman described him in his book, Down the Columbia, as:

“a big Husky North-of-Irelander,” who was “deliberate and sparing of speech most of the time, but with a fine reserve vocabulary for emergency use.”

Andy worked for Ed Bradley on his prospecting claims at French Creek and took part in the construction of the Big Bend and Standard Basin trails. Later, he prospected at Standard Basin and then Carnes Creek in partnership with Elijah McBean, and between 1911 and 1919 took over the operation of the pack train in the Big Bend from George Laforme, in partnership with Jim Shields.

Andy continued working his Carnes Creek claims for many years, and died at the age of 78 in Kamloops, on 2 April 1955.

Andy Kitson's pack horses on Victoria Road, Revelstoke.