Okanagan information

The Okanagan is a region located in the CanadianOkanagan Valley did not see many more outsiders
province of British Columbia. As of the year 2001, thefor a decade afterward.
region's population is approximately 297,601. TheIn 1859, the first European settlers arrived when
primary city is Kelowna. The name derives from anFather Charles Pandosy led the making of an Oblate
Okanagan First Nations word S-Ookanhkchinxmission where Kelowna is now. In the decades that
meaning "Transport toward the head or top end".followed, hundreds of ranchers came from all
The region is known for outdoor activities such asdirections to settle on Okanagan Lake. The Fraser
skiing and hiking as well as for the wine industry.Canyon Gold Rush of 1858 drove more settlement as
Historysome prospectors from the United States took the
The Okanagan Valley was home to Aboriginal peopleold Okanagan trade route on their way to the Fraser
for thousands of years before others arrived. TheCanyon. A few staked claims around the Okanagan
Okanagan Nation, an Interior Salish people who livedand Similkameen valleys and found gold and copper in
in the valley from the head of Okanagan Lakeplaces. A mining industry began in the southern
downstream to near the river's confluence with theOkanagan region, and more farmers, as well as a
Columbia River in present-day Washington, as well assmall service industry, came to meet the needs of
in the neighbouring Similkameen Valley, numbered inthe miners.
the thousands (no precise figure is known) at theFruit production is a hallmark of the Okanagan Valley
time of contact with European settlers. They weretoday, but the industry began with difficulty.
hunter-gatherers, living off wild game and berries andCommercial orcharding of apples was first tried there
roots for the most part but travelling north or southin 1892, but a series of setbacks prevented the
to fish salmon runs or to trade with other nations.major success of commercial fruit crops until the
In 1811 came the first non-natives to the Okanagan1920s. But until the 1930s, the demand for shipping
Valley, a fur trading expedition voyaging north out offruit and other goods did drive a need for the
Fort Okanogan, a Pacific Fur Company outpost at thesternwheeler steamboats that serviced Okanagan
confluence of the Okanagan and Columbia rivers.Lake: the S.S. Aberdeen from 1886 and then the S.S.
Within fifteen years, fur traders established a routeSicamous and S.S. Naramata from 1914. The
through the valley for passing goods between theSicamous and Naramata survive as a tourist
Thompson region and the Columbia River forattraction in Penticton.
transport to the Pacific. The trade route lasted untilWhile the last half-century has grown several
1846, when the Oregon Treaty laid down the borderresource-based enterprises in the region, for instance
between British North America and the United Statesforestry in Princeton, the fastest-growing industries in
west of the Rocky Mountains on the 49th parallel.the Okanagan today are tourism and retirement
The new border cut across the valley. To avoidaccommodation. Advantaged by its sunny climate,
paying tariffs, British traders forged a route thatlakes, and winery attractions, the valley has become
bypassed Fort Okanogan, following the Thompsona hot destination for vacationers and retirees.
and Fraser rivers to Fort Langley instead. The