One Man's Quest into the Past

WINDEMERE, B.C. — It’s perhaps the most romantic tale of love and crime from the early days of B.C.’s Columbia Valley.

     They call it the Stolen Church, St. Peter’s—a moniker earned with a touch of mischief and melancholy. Picture, if you will, the year 1900. Rufus Kimpton, a man not unlike any of us in his longing, sought to win back his beloved Celina’s affection. And so, with a resolve one might mistake for madness or romance, he spirited the church away—rail, wagon, riverboat—each conveyance a testament to his devotion. Piece by piece, he reassembled it in Windermere, as if love itself could be rebuilt from scattered timbers and memory.