| The Okanagan is a region located in the Canadian | | | | Okanagan Valley did not see many more outsiders |
| province of British Columbia. As of the year 2001, the | | | | for a decade afterward. |
| region's population is approximately 297,601. The | | | | In 1859, the first European settlers arrived when |
| primary city is Kelowna. The name derives from an | | | | Father Charles Pandosy led the making of an Oblate |
| Okanagan First Nations word S-Ookanhkchinx | | | | mission 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 as | | | | directions 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 |
| History | | | | some prospectors from the United States took the |
| The Okanagan Valley was home to Aboriginal people | | | | old Okanagan trade route on their way to the Fraser |
| for thousands of years before others arrived. The | | | | Canyon. A few staked claims around the Okanagan |
| Okanagan Nation, an Interior Salish people who lived | | | | and Similkameen valleys and found gold and copper in |
| in the valley from the head of Okanagan Lake | | | | places. A mining industry began in the southern |
| downstream to near the river's confluence with the | | | | Okanagan region, and more farmers, as well as a |
| Columbia River in present-day Washington, as well as | | | | small service industry, came to meet the needs of |
| in the neighbouring Similkameen Valley, numbered in | | | | the miners. |
| the thousands (no precise figure is known) at the | | | | Fruit production is a hallmark of the Okanagan Valley |
| time of contact with European settlers. They were | | | | today, but the industry began with difficulty. |
| hunter-gatherers, living off wild game and berries and | | | | Commercial orcharding of apples was first tried there |
| roots for the most part but travelling north or south | | | | in 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 Okanagan | | | | 1920s. But until the 1930s, the demand for shipping |
| Valley, a fur trading expedition voyaging north out of | | | | fruit and other goods did drive a need for the |
| Fort Okanogan, a Pacific Fur Company outpost at the | | | | sternwheeler 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 route | | | | Sicamous and S.S. Naramata from 1914. The |
| through the valley for passing goods between the | | | | Sicamous and Naramata survive as a tourist |
| Thompson region and the Columbia River for | | | | attraction in Penticton. |
| transport to the Pacific. The trade route lasted until | | | | While the last half-century has grown several |
| 1846, when the Oregon Treaty laid down the border | | | | resource-based enterprises in the region, for instance |
| between British North America and the United States | | | | forestry 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 avoid | | | | accommodation. Advantaged by its sunny climate, |
| paying tariffs, British traders forged a route that | | | | lakes, and winery attractions, the valley has become |
| bypassed Fort Okanogan, following the Thompson | | | | a hot destination for vacationers and retirees. |
| and Fraser rivers to Fort Langley instead. The | | | | |