In 1807,
David Thompsonrenowned fur trader, surveyor, and map makerwas tasked by the
North West Company to open a trading route to the lucrative trading territories of the Pacific Northwest. He first crossed over the Rocky Mountains and travelled along the Blaeberry River to the future site of Golden. In 1881, the
Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) hired surveyor
A. B. Rogers to find a rail route through the
Selkirk and
Rocky Mountains, and in 1882, he found the pass now named for him. Rogers established a base camp for his survey crew led by a man named McMillan. Initially known as McMillan's Camp, the settlement was the beginning of the town of Golden. In the late 1890s, the CPR began importing Swiss mountain guides to assist travellers attracted to the area to explore the surrounding mountains,
Glacier National Park,
Yoho National Park and the
Rogers Pass region, as part of their efforts to promote tourism to the mountain parks area. The railway built a group of chalet-style house in a section that became known as Edelweiss, some of them still standing, to encourage the guide to bring their families to Canada and remain year-round. The men made many of the first ascents of area mountains and helped pioneer the ski industry in the region. Golden is also the site of notable
South Asian Canadian history, after Sikh settlers first arrived in Golden in 1902 to work at the Columbia River Lumber Company. These early settlers built the first (Sikh temple) in North America in 1905, which burned down in 1926. Much of the town's history is tied into the CPR and the
logging industry. The town's economy still relies heavily on those two influences, but the development of
Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, along with other outdoor adventure companies, has allowed the town to diversify into tourism.
Mount 7, which is just southeast of town, is also an outdoor activity destination. The town forms part of the
Golden Triangle cycle route. Kicking Horse Pedestrian Bridge is the longest freestanding timber-framed bridge in Canada. Planned as a community project by the
Timber Framers Guild, volunteers from Golden were joined by carpenters and timber framers from the United States and from Europe. The bridge structure is long, with a
Burr arch structure. The bridge was completed in September 2001. In June 2021, the Golden Skybridge opened. The bridge is the highest suspension bridge in Canada. The Golden meteorites fell there on October 4, 2021. ==Geography==