| The Okanagan is a region located in the
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| | Okanogan, following the Thompson and
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| Canadian province of British Columbia. As
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| | Fraser rivers to Fort Langley instead.
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| of the year 2001, the region's population
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| | The Okanagan Valley did not see many more
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| is approximately 297,601. The primary
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| | outsiders for a decade afterward.
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| city is Kelowna. The name derives from an
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| | In 1859, the first European settlers
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| Okanagan First Nations word
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| | arrived when Father Charles Pandosy led
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| S-Ookanhkchinx meaning "Transport toward
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| | the making of an Oblate mission where
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| the head or top end". The region is known
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| | Kelowna is now. In the decades that
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| for outdoor activities such as skiing and
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| | followed, hundreds of ranchers came from
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| hiking as well as for the wine industry.
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| | all directions to settle on Okanagan
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| History
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| | Lake. The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858
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| The Okanagan Valley was home to
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| | drove more settlement as some prospectors
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| Aboriginal people for thousands of years
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| | from the United States took the old
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| before others arrived. The Okanagan
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| | Okanagan trade route on their way to the
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| Nation, an Interior Salish people who
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| | Fraser Canyon. A few staked claims around
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| lived in the valley from the head of
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| | the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys and
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| Okanagan Lake downstream to near the
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| | found gold and copper in places. A mining
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| river's confluence with the Columbia
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| | industry began in the southern Okanagan
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| River in present-day Washington, as well
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| | region, and more farmers, as well as a
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| as in the neighbouring Similkameen
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| | small service industry, came to meet the
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| Valley, numbered in the thousands (no
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| | needs of the miners.
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| precise figure is known) at the time of
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| | Fruit production is a hallmark of the
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| contact with European settlers. They were
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| | Okanagan Valley today, but the industry
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| hunter-gatherers, living off wild game
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| | began with difficulty. Commercial
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| and berries and roots for the most part
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| | orcharding of apples was first tried
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| but travelling north or south to fish
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| | there in 1892, but a series of setbacks
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| salmon runs or to trade with other
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| | prevented the major success of commercial
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| nations.
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| | fruit crops until the 1920s. But until
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| In 1811 came the first non-natives to the
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| | the 1930s, the demand for shipping fruit
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| Okanagan Valley, a fur trading expedition
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| | and other goods did drive a need for the
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| voyaging north out of Fort Okanogan, a
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| | sternwheeler steamboats that serviced
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| Pacific Fur Company outpost at the
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| | Okanagan Lake: the S.S. Aberdeen from
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| confluence of the Okanagan and Columbia
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| | 1886 and then the S.S. Sicamous and S.S.
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| rivers. Within fifteen years, fur traders
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| | Naramata from 1914. The Sicamous and
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| established a route through the valley
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| | Naramata survive as a tourist attraction
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| for passing goods between the Thompson
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| | in Penticton.
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| region and the Columbia River for
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| | While the last half-century has grown
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| transport to the Pacific. The trade route
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| | several resource-based enterprises in the
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| lasted until 1846, when the Oregon Treaty
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| | region, for instance forestry in
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| laid down the border between British
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| | Princeton, the fastest-growing industries
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| North America and the United States west
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| | in the Okanagan today are tourism and
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| of the Rocky Mountains on the 49th
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| | retirement accommodation. Advantaged by
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| parallel. The new border cut across the
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| | its sunny climate, lakes, and winery
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| valley. To avoid paying tariffs, British
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| | attractions, the valley has become a hot
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| traders forged a route that bypassed Fort
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| | destination for vacationers and retirees.
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