Okanagan History

Okanagan Travelers 1860

Okanagan travelers first went along a well used path which went along west side of Swan Lake and crossed Vernon Creek at the same spot called the "jumping over point" which is located at the downtown Safeway in Vernon. There has been a monument to commemorate this site of our history. In the 19th century the fur traders' trails were being made to transport our resources to the outside world. Pack trails were than changed to Wagon Roads as transportation improved.

In the 1860's minor gold discoveries brought miners and missionaries and they transformed into settlers followed by the change of camps to ranches in Coldstream, Vernon and Okanagan Landing. The largest village was located between Skaha Lake and Okanagan Lake. The migrants lived in brush lean-tos than in the winter subterranean houses in a circular shape. The circular shape was 15 to 30ft diameter and their dried food was kept in holes dug into the ground used as storage pits. Fish and salmon runs were the source of food that formed the diet of the Okanagan. Hunting parties of ten to fifteen women and men caught deer, elk, and moose to add to the diet. The women cured and packed the meat.

Okanagan History Index

By: Elaine Harrison